On behalf of NaturFest Association, I would like to announce that
NaturFest 2011 ( a.k.a. The East Texas Caver's Cookout ) was a huge success.
Many milestones were reached, this year.
Cavers from central Texas, north Texas, southeast Texas and deep east Texas were
there, and lots of caver socializing was done.
There was a delicious cook-out.
Also,
9 non-cavers, and 7 children got a small taste of what a major caver gathering
is like. This would not have been possible without the perseverance of
NaturFest Association.
[ It turned out that one of the non-cavers had done quite a bit
of caving in 1972 back in Illinois, and had interesting stories to tell
about passing thru tight squeezes in cold wet mud, and leaving the cave,
and hiking back to the cars in the freezing snow. ]
Better land-owner relations were developed that should seal this event for
next year, at this incredible campground.
We had an amazing party and concert Saturday night. Below is just one
song of dozens that were peformed. Even 2 cavers performed on the guitar,
one of which did a nice rendition of, "One Ton of Guano."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EscgKEAJqc&sns=fb
[ If NaturFest Association can confirm in advance next spring that
this will be one of the
scheduled activities for NaturFest 2012, than preparations can be made to make
the concert more fun ]
The weather Sunday was spectacular, and the kids really enjoyed the pool.
[ The pool was purchased by NaturFest Association and set up by
one member all by himself ( in the middle of the night in the rain, I
might add ). ]
This proved that next year, there must be a pool, and hopefully 2 pools or a
bigger pool.
Tons of excellent photos were taken and will hopefully be posted in the coming
days. Leonel Leyva deserves some credit here, as he makes money as a
photographer and seemed to know what he was doing.
Up until Saturday afternoon, all the entire work and financial burden
was done by
NaturFest Association. But by Saturday afternoon, everyone that
came was making
a great effort to help, and re-imburse NaturFest Association.
I would like to especially thank Guillermo Guerrero. Without him,
NaturFest would have
been just a picnic.
Thanks to 2 anonymous cavers for making donations, and thanks to
Dave McLung and Rick Corbell for making repairs to the pool.
The camp owner provided NaturFest Association with tons of hospitality.
( NaturFest Association had the entire camp for 4 days, with all the electricity
and water included in the fee ) Members of NaturFest Association got to camp
3 nights using the camp cabin, and one night in the woods.
Anyone that wanted to bicycle should have had the opportunity to do so.
The small pool was cold and relaxing and everyone who got in it was glad
they did.
After the cookout, we had tons of food left over, especially cold watermelon,
and soft-drinks.
NaturFest Association learned a few things during the planning, and de-rigging
of the event. This will make next years event much easier to plan.
I also had some personal milestones that were achieved:
I have been involved with caving activities for 27 years, and this was
the first time,
that my mom has ever participated in one. That was a big deal for
me. And most
of the cavers there got to meet my wonderful mother.
The event lost quite a bit of money, but that was all due to
unexpected things, some
of which will be fixed by next year.
Please mark your calendars, NaturFest 2012, for May 19th, 2012,
and tell your friends about it.
David Locklear
President of NaturFest Association
P.S.
If anyone would like to contribute financially to NaturFest Association, you
may do so by mailing a check to:
Bank of Brenham
501 S. Austin St.
Brenham, TX 77833
Make check payable to NaturFest Assciation, and put a note to deposit
in account: NaturFest Association
Our monthly expenses are $85 for storage of event stuff. And about $ 30
a month in gas. The expenses to put on NaturFest, are renting the campground,
putting down a deposit, and purchasing food, beverages, ice, propane, charcoal,
etc. And renting a U-haul truck in Brenham for the event, because
there are no
attendees with a truck that live within 1 1/2 hour of NaturFest.
For the past 2 years,
these expenses have been covered by one dedicated obsessed caver who insist
that NaturFest has great potential.
Feel free to forward this e-mail to other list-serves, or caving groups.
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