Who's up for an end of July Midwestern DU Meet Up? [View All]

[Gonzo Gardener]

Most of you might be thinking, “Isn’t it awfully early to begin planning a July meet up NOW?!”

Well, yes it is, but it will give us all something to look forward to and, as we all know, herding a bunch of DU’rs is not a simple task.

I’ll start by throwing out a couple of ideas that I hope might interest the group, but I would love input from anyone who’s interested in helping plan some kind of meet up.


Plan #1. I thought it might be fun to do a DU Meet Up revolving around the 4th Annual Traverse City Film Festival scheduled for the last week in July through August 3rd, 2008.

The festival kicks off with some amazing events prior to opening night, shows some great movies in several area venues, has free panel discussions each morning with prominent writers, directors, and actors. There's a free feature movie each evening outdoors and after sunset at the 'Open Space' on West Traverse Bay.

The surrounding area is beautiful... rolling hills dotted with orchards, wineries, small inland lakes, roadside artisan shops, quaint little villages... It's an awesome vacation spot.

I've got room for a few people plus outdoor space for tents and a couple of campers or RVs. The cottage is about a 30 minute drive from TC. I'd be up for hosting a mid-week day tour of local artists studios, or wineries… a studio or winery crawl, if you will and DU-weenie roast Saturday, August 2nd! Also, there are plenty of hotels, condos, and cabins in the area and campgrounds nearby.

Check out the TC Film Fest here: http://www.traversecityfilmfest.org/
(some travel and accommodation info is included on the TCFF site)

Link to TC Visitors Bureau here: http://www.visittraversecity.com/


My second idea may be a bit ambitious and help from several people would be needed to plan for this…

Plan #2. A DU Weekend Retreat somewhere in the Midwest where they have group facilities, like, The Cuyahoga Valley National Park at the Environmental Education Center in Peninsula, OH. They have a lodge that is a passive solar, “green” building and group bunk-rooms that sleep up to 60. There are other facilities similar to this, like, Huston Woods in Ohio or Mc Cormick Creek State Park in Spencer, Indiana. A place with a lodge or meeting space, kitchen, and with little cabins would be great. This event would take some serious organizing... It would be awesome to have a couple of speakers come in to talk about political/environmental activism and I would be happy to arrange for live music around the bonfire on Saturday night.

Well, there it is…

What say you DU... Yea or Nay?

Please, keep this kicked!

:hi:
Happy 2008 everyone!!!