PA > 2017 Spring MAHHA April 22-23rd Official Planning Thread
Time to start officially preparing for the fun!
WHEN: Friday April 21st - Sunday April 23rd.
WHERE:Pine Grove Furnace State Park
1100 Pine Grove Rd.
Gardners, PA 17324
http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/statepar...=FindUs#FindUs
WHO: This is a Family Friendly Event!
-There is a Google Spreadsheet for sign up. There are 3 tabs at the bottom on the left of the page. An "Attendance signup" tab, a "Breakfast/Supper Items needed" tab, and an "Activities/Demos" tab.
-We have the Furnace Stack Pavilion reserved for the entire day Saturday. The cost for this is covered with the raffle monies.
-Vendor Sales...As with all MAHHAs...there will be no vendor sales. The MAHHAs are for fun, fellowship, food, relaxation, etc. We, as a group, do not have a sales permit from PGFST, and have no interest in obtaining one.
-Demonstrations/instructional times...To be determined. If someone whats to "take charge"...go for it!There is a tab at the bottom of the Google Spread sheet (above).
-Cell Phone Coverage...There is limited coverage in the park. I have been able to text more often than call.
-All 6 of the group sites have been reserved. The cost for these sites is covered with the raffle monies.
Each of these group sites has their own campfire ring. Firewood will be supplied by the “Friends of Pine Grove Furnace State Park”. We have donated to the park, through this group, every year we have had the MAHHAs at PGFSP. The Friends have supplied the firewood for most of the spring and fall MAHHAs.
-Parking...With the amount of attendees, there is always a concern for parking. There is a large parking lot at the group sites. Our group will be the only one using this parking lot, but we need to park conservatively. As in previous years....There will be no parking allowed along the entry road into the group camping area. And there will be no parking allowed on the main road.
-Anyone coming for the day Saturday will need to park in one of the day use areas...not in the group camping parking lot.
Note: As mentioned in year's planning threads...It is a good idea to place your name and Hammock Forums name on the dashboard of your car. This way, the owner of the car can be found in case someone is parked in...lights were left on...etc.
-Pre Hikers/Post Hikers...There will be NO parking in the group parking lot before Friday or after Sunday afternoon. Please do not go to the office and ask. You can use the Parking area available for the Appalachian Trail located near the Furnace Stack Pavilion. You will need to register your vehicle with the office. You may also use the parking lot down the road...at Caledonia State Park...on the other side of Rt. 30. You might need to register your vehicle there also.
Anyone arriving to the Group Camping area before Friday may reserve one of the sites for Thursday evening or before. The person reserving the site will be responsible for the cost.
-Family Campground...It is just up the road on the right. Sites can and should be reserved for anyone not wanting to hang or tent in the Group Camping Area. There are sites with electric. There are sites that allow dogs. Sites with electric that allow dogs have the highest demand. There is a bath house with showers and flush toilets for those with sites. The person reserving sites in the Family Campground is responsible for the cost.
-Dogs are not allowed in the Group Camping area, but are allowed leashed at the pavilion.
-Service dogs are allowed anywhere in the park.
-No alcoholic beverages allowed in the park. Rangers will be patrolling the area and might be attending the dinner.
-Name Tags... We are checking with [O]TTeR to see if he will be coming and making name tags for attendees. If he is, please use the signup sheet to let him know what name you want on the tag.
-Hammock Stands...Depending on the number of attendees we have...we might need some hammock stands. If you have one, please consider bringing it. If needed, either you use, or be willing to loan to another hanger. The need will be determined closer to the hang date.
-Saturday morning Breakfast…8am-9:30am at the Furnace Stack Pavilion. The contact people are Dutch or Donna (contact me via a PM thru 2Questions or this thread). Please use the signup sheet to register your attendance.
Dutch will be cooking pancakes and french toast again this year!
We will have sausage again this year. We are asking for volunteers...each to bring enough to serve 10. We are requesting sausage patties only…no links. The links are take too long to cook. Please sign up on the spread sheet. If you sign up to bring the sausage patties, please make sure you give Tim (2Q) the sausage Friday evening.
-We will have a large pot for hot water. We will have Instant coffee and hot chocolate…or bring the hot beverage packet of your choice.
-There are additional items listed on the spread sheet...Please sign up to bring something if you are able. Thank you!
-Saturday Supper…5:30pm at the Furnace Stack Pavilion. The contact person is Donna (contact me via a PM thru 2Questions or on this thread.) Please use the signup sheet to register your attendance.
-We will be serving Pulled Pork. The cost of the pork is covered with the raffle monies.
-We will be having Pulled Chicken for those not eating the Pulled Pork. CM Pig Out has improved the pulled chicken...much better than last year. Please sigh up on the sign up sheet.
-We will be grilling Kosher Hot dogs any children not eating the Pulled Pork or Chicken. Please note the number of hot dogs you want cooked on the signup sheet.
-Everyone is encouraged to bring a food contribution for the supper. What to bring isn't limited to what is listed on the sign up sheet. Although the pulled pork will be the main event…Anyone is more than welcome to cook something to share! People enjoy all varieties of food, and that is the fun of a pot luck type supper!!
If you do plan to cook something…You should plan on bringing your own cooking surface...cooking on a picnic table outside the pavilion is a possibility. If you want to use the ground, the pavilion is surrounded with grass...just plan on protecting the grass. We don't want to damage the grass. Portable stand up grills should be fine on the grass. Outside the grass area is gravel parking and road. The parking area will be full. The uncovered concrete area at the pavilion isn't very large, and we will have over 100 people milling around the pavilion before, during and after supper. There were a few cooking on this area last year, which isn't a problem as long as there isn't too many doing it. Note: electricity for cooking will be limited, if available at all. Any questions, please contact me.
Any cooking can be started over in the group camping area.
There are other items needed...if you don't want to or can’t bring a food contribution, please sign up to bring something if you are able.
For suggestions of what to bring…please see the sign up sheet.
-Group Picture...We will take a group picture after the supper and before the Raffle.
-Raffle…After the meal, we will be having a raffle. The tickets are $10.00 each. Purchase at least one ticket for each member of your family attending the dinner. (Those that can...consider buying 2 or more) The monies collected cover the cost of the Group Camping Area, Pulled Pork & chicken, Pavilion, Name Tags(if made), and miscellaneous breakfast and supper expenses. Additional monies collected are used for reservations for the following spring MAHHA. Any additional monies are donated to the Appalachian Trail Museum, and The Friends of Pine Grove Furnace State Park.
-Last year's spring raffle collected $3782.00. $862.00 was paid to CM Pig Out. $540.00 was used to reserve the sites and pavilion for spring 2017 hang. $500.00 was donated to the Appalachian Trail Museum, $500.00 was donated to the Friends of Pine Grove Furnace State Park, and $200.00 was donated to Hammock Forums.
We purchased some tables and Canopies (in case of rain)...hope they are not needed! We had some misc. expenses for food, etc for the hang. We have a balance of $354.00 that we put in a MAHHA checking account.
Please read post #110 and #143 in the 2014 planning thread, of Pan's discription of the raffle.
MAHHA 2014 post #110
MAHHA 2014 post #143 Some specifics have changed since these posts, but the message hasn't changed.
-After the meal and raffle…Please make sure you clean up your eating area and take with you, or dispose of, any food containers you brought. This will help to leave the pavilion area in the same or better condition than when we arrived.
-Sunday when leaving group hang area…Please look around your area before you leave to make sure everything is cleaned up...again...let's leave the group hang area in the same or better condition than when we arrived. If someone forgot something, take it with you and post on HF. If you don't want to take it with you, leave it on a picnic table. Tim and I will be walking the group area before we leave.
If there are any details I neglected to include here…please let me know.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Donna
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Originally Posted by georgecarr
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