Freaktacular Wrapup/Beach Cleanup

[Parsec]

Thanks to all that made our 2008 Fall Freaktacular one of my favorite
events to-date! Many thanks to those that braved the elements (turns
out it wasn’t too bad) to come out and share the weekend with our
chosen family. In all we had about 80 folks (plus about 15 staff)
turn out for the event and about 30 or so that donated funds and sent
us positive energy from home.

In all, we raised $500 for Canyon Lake Park in the name of Burners
Without Borders!! Furthermore, we gathered $30 for Art Garden and $35
to fund local Burners Without Borders activities.

I am very pleased to report that this Fall Freaktacular was the
cleanest ever! Not only was there no trace left behind by any of the
attendees, we had lots of recyclables that were reclaimed. Nila set
up recycling stations for aluminum, plastic, and steel (clink clink)
and they were a great success. It was really cool to have not only a
greeter station but also recycling at our event.

The entertainment and workshop were wonderful successes, with special
thanks to DJ Polyhymnia, who filled the night with melodic beats that
got the crowd on its feet, to Dave, who filled in the gaps with some
wonderful electronica, and to Allen, who led a wonderful “Steampunk
your Junk!” workshop. All that were in attendance to that workshop
received a really cool pair of goggles of their own to decorate.
Finally, a special thanks to a surprise appearance by Josh Meredith,
who gave Peggy a much needed break and fueled the dance crowd with an
awesome display. The Freaktacular potluck had some great Thanksgiving
leftovers and we had a great turnout for my Sunday morning traditional
Freaktacular Chili Dogs.

The beach cleanup was awesome and I thank all those that
participated. We gathered lots of trash off the beach, but we were
staggered by the vast amount of stuff to pick up. The water is over
10 feet below where it should be and this has uncovered refuse that
was thrown into the lake for the past 30 years. We now realize that
it is going to take an organized and concerted effort to even make a
dent in it. I would like to host a proper beach cleanup day on
Saturday, December 19th. We are going to gather from 10 am until 2 pm
to gather trash off the beaches. We will be meeting at Group Shelter
1 to muster and divide into teams. This will be followed on Sunday
here in Austin by the wrapup of our first playground installation!!!
Stay tuned for more info.

I was at the gate a good portion of the time and I forgot my camera.
If anybody got any decent pics of the event, holler because I would
love to get some from you to update our website.

If you pre-ordered a t-shirt, I will mail them out this week.
Spring Freaktacular Registration will open January 1st and attendance
will be limited to 250. The projected date for the Spring
Freaktacular is April 4th-6th.

Patrick Brown M.Ed.
Aka “Parsec”

You must be the change you wish to see in the world. -Mohandas Gandhi

[Brooke Rosel-McSorley]

Hello Arc-Attacker,

When are you going back on the road again? It was good to see you again at Makers Faire.....I wish I still living in Austin. I miss working with Burners-Austin...we rock!!!!! Hope all is well with you.

-Brooke
Oh yeah, do you have Bonners email? If so, can you give it to me?