Official 2012 SS Ga Rally Info thread

[FONT=&quot]24.June.2012 addition:[/FONT]
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18-July-2012 update. IMPORTANT!

You need to read every word of this post. If you have a short attention span, go get some Ritalin and come back and read every word of this.

Last week I received an email from Mike McCommons, the owner and operator of Durhamtown. He informed me that the field we have had for the last 4 years has been significantly changed. They added mobile homes where our MKT and vendor areas were and are in the process of adding more. They had also removed the fence separating our area from the RV area. Mike said they had a new place set up for us, on the other side of the road, on the other side of the lodge.

Squirt-truck and I went to Durhamtown Sunday (15-July) and spent almost the entire day talking to Mike, looking at the old and new locations, scouting out a convoy route and destination (more on this later). We were there from 0900 to almost 1600. ST and I laid out the new area and the map is posted below in .pdf format.

There are issues you need to be made aware of:

• We now have wi-fi over our entire area, as opposed to just parts of last year’s field.
• We have 12 water/power spots that can be rented for $25 an evening. Some of these have 3 pin/30A power, and some have dual 3 pin/30A as well as 4 pin/50A power. All have water spigots, but they do not have a sanitation hookup, so if you are hooking an RV to this, you’ll use your brown/black tanks for this.
• 12SSGR rally attendees who have rented an RV space at the old field (the dirt road leading to our field) can have their reservation moved to our new field if they wish. It is a walk of about 1,000’ from the old location to the new, so if you keep your old spot, you’ll have a short walk. This is your call. I think Dumpster and BlythewoodJoe have rented RV spaces at the old space, but I do not know of anyone else. If you do not wish to move your reservation, you do not have to. It’s your call. But if you wish to move, you need to call Durhamtown and tell them you are coming for the MV rally and need to move your reservation to the new field. If the employee on the phone does not know about this, ask for Mike McCommons.
• The MKT will be taking 2 spots for its water and power needs. This leaves 10, minus the people who already have reservations and wish to move.

The field has 2 “sections”-an upper section that is very flat and a lower section that is heavily wooded that we will use for camping. The wooded area will give excellent shade from the sun and protection from the wind if it’s chilly (doubtful in this year’s climate).

The upper section of the field will be for swap meet vendors, the large campfire, the MKT/first aid/eating area and vehicle day parking. Attendees are welcome to park their vehicles during the day in this area to make it easier to arrive and depart for trail rides, convoys and such.

The lower section of the field will be for camping and a smaller campfire. You may keep your vehicles and trailers in your campsite, just as we did last year.

You guys who like seclusion on the “lower 40” have been accommodated and will have equivalent positions.

There are 2 ingress/egress points shown on the map- the red arrows indicate these points.
We will also have a “rear” access to the North park. That will allow us to leave our compound and travel to and from the North park at will with no interference with the other campers.

A huge improvement this year will be the registering process. Previously, upon arrival at D-town, SSGR attendees had to go over to the lodge, pay for their camping arrangements and their off-roading passes and the off-roading passes would have to be done each morning. This led to many people not paying because a trailride would be leaving and they wouldn’t have time and they’d just take off. To remedy this, Durhamtown has offered to place one of their employees at our registration table, with a laptop, a cash box and wristbands, so you will no longer need to go to the lodge for off-roading or camping signups. I suspect cabin renters will still have to go to the lodge to get their keys and check in.

We will still maintain our registration desk, with SSGR volunteers giving out maps of the field and a flyer giving pertinent rally info like trail ride info, meal times, etc.

Important!
Since the field layout will be totally new this year and no one will know where to go, I need additional volunteers to work the gate and assist attendees by answering questions and directing them to the correct areas. We will need a gate attendant at all times from Probably Wednesday to Saturday around lunch. Probably no point in it after that point. All I ask is 4 hour shifts: maybe 0800-1200, 1201-1600 and 1601-2000. Even if all you want to do is one shift, one day, that’s fine. I just need time to brief you so you are knowledgeable about the rally particulars. Please do not volunteer unless you know you can handle the assignment: Not only am I relying on you, but the other rally volunteers are, the staff of D-town and ultimately, every single rally attendee.


In short, there is a lot of benefit to us with this move. We gain a larger area, which is horse poop free (!!!!!), more Wi-Fi, more power/water availability, a larger area of shade, room for our swap meet vendors to spread out and room to grow in the future, better ingress/egress points, less confusion with D-town registration issues, etc. There are 2 downsides: The layout is a little more complex and we are near a dirt bike track. I have been assured there are no races scheduled for that weekend and riding will cease at 5, but there may be those few riders who show up just to ride by themselves. I know the bikes may be an annoyance, but I ask that everyone keep a positive attitude because we have no choice in the matter.

Thank you for your attention.

Carry on.

8-October-2012 update

Hardball Convoy!




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