So, another Palmetto State Hangers Fall Sprawl has come and passed, and with it growth for PSH, growth for Fall Sprawl, and good work done for the SC State Park system. Beyond this (and almost more importantly), great friendships were forged and I met so many new people this year that I already can’t wait for next year.
Chops and I got to Santee State Park around 5:00 on Friday, as expected. The decision to reserve the entire primitive area turned out to be a good one, as we ended up hosting a total of 80 people over the course of the weekend. I set up down in what I called “Gator Hollow” (pronounced “holler”) because of the fact that gators frequent the area. After setting up on the lake shore in Gator Hollow, I joined the rest of the group around the fire for one of HotLips patented “bloody good meals” that she is so famous for. I tucked in to my plate and inhaled my meal before going back for an ill-advised second plate. A valuable lesson to be learned: no matter how good something is, if you’re already full and fit to pop don’t fill your second plate all the way up. The vittles were goooood, but I may have done permanent damage to myself.
I slept like a rock on the shores of Gator Hollow, looking so forward to sleeping late since I’d left the baby (whom in retrospect would have served me well as gatorbait in the night) home with SWMBO. Alas, it was not to be as a Ranger woke me up at 8:00 and advised me that I and the others set up along with me were not in the primitive area and would have to move...so I did. It was for the best, I suppose - I needed to start my day anyway. After running to the store to get vittles for the group lunch I came back to a few slices of bacon slapped on a fresh biscuit. I enjoyed the biscuit while I watched Phantom Grappler give what I found to be a surprisingly interesting demonstration on knot-tying. I’m no knotsmith myself, so I didn’t expect it to be as entertaining or interesting as I found it. Well done and thanks to Phantom Grappler for that! Lunch found me taking a trash run (seems like I’m always busy come mealtime) but I did manage to scoop myself up a hot dog when I got back, which is all this big boy needs to keep going!
The gear garage sale saw more participation this year than last year’s “experimental” version had, which was largely thanks to more organization this year I think. Some horse trading happened, some money exchanged hands, and all in all it seemed successful - I think it’s a feature we’ll keep for next year. Anticipation hung in the air like a dense fog as the raffle time grew nearer and nearer. 2:00 was when Nucking Futz hosted his Amsteel Splicing Demo (which I unfortunately didn’t get to attend) before the vendor demos from 3:00-4:00...it was getting closer and closer to time for the main event!
5:00. Raffle Time. It’s what we wait all year for. This year’s raffle not only went off without a hitch, but saw over 60% growth over last year’s raffle. All said and done, after the dust settled we raised over $1,600 (close to $1,700) for the SC State Park system. $400 of that was given to Santee State Park this morning, and the remaining funds will be split among other SC state parks (we’ll be taking nominations on our Facebook page). As always, 100% of the proceeds go to the parks. PSH doesn’t keep a single dime of that.
On top of that, we finished the 2013/2014 year with a registered 35 Supporting Members. We finished our first event of the year today with an already registered 45 Supporting Members with even more anticipated to join throughout the year. We continue to grow thanks to the efforts of our existing members and new ones, and we very legitimately appreciate it from every one of our members.
I would especially like to thank REV for kicking off the organization of this year’s event (having taken over this year, I can’t believe you did this on your own for three years. Good on you, sir), HotLips and Kingsford for doing what only they can do, and that’s feed all us mangey peasants for a weekend - you guys are awesome, and I’ll love you forever for it. Finally, I know I’ve said this before but I want to thank our members (old and new) and event attendees - without you all this REALLY wouldn’t have happened. A lot of folks stepped up to the plate and either brought stuff to the meals, the pot luck, helped with dishes, firewood, set-up and break-down, gave demonstrations, and more. I’m being very honest when I say that it’s a legitimate honor to be the president of such a club full of so many fine, upstanding members and individuals.
We’d like to acknowledge those who helped make the raffle possible, as well. I’m sure I’ll leave somebody out somewhere (I didn’t get EVERYBODY on the spreadsheet), but we received contributions from the following members and vendors as the 2014 Fall Sprawl Event Sponsors:
Dream Hammock
Underground Quilts
Appalachian Hammock
Terrapin Outfitters
Tacoma96
Bonefire Gear
2QZQ
Batchstovez
Butt In A Sling
Byer of Maine
Darn Tough Vermont
Dutchware Gear
Eagle’s Nest Outfitters
Enlightened Equipment
GSI
Hammeck
Hammock Forums
Jacks R Better
Maverick Gear Australia
Ribz
SimplyLight Designs
Sluice Gear
Sheltowee Hammock Co.
TaTo Gear
WhoopieSlings.com
Wilderness Logics
Zpacks
Also, we’d like to formally announce that Palmetto State Hangers is officially and proudly sponsored by Dream Hammock, Underground Quilts, Appalachian Hammocks, and TaTo Gear. We’re extremely grateful to have these vendors supporting us at a club level, above and beyond their support at the event level and we look forward to being able to bring an appreciation of the outdoors and hammock camping to more people through their generous contributions and support.
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