Friday, September 21, 2012

What A Great Week!

As our week here in Sedalia progressed and picked up speed, we were entertained, amazed, and educated.  We have been reunited with old friends and met new friends.  Join me now, for a look at our past few days

Tuesday was the day set aside as "Donuts For Care".  Lois and Carol,  better known as

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The Donut Diva's orchestrate their mission to sell their donuts for lots of dollars.   And, they are serious about taking your money, all donations!

Some donuts went for $1.00, some for $5.00, some

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for $10.00.

But, with the help and cheers from our

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cheerleaders, the winning donut was purchased by Alliant Credit Union for a donation of $500.00.  And, by the end of the morning, the Donut Diva's had collected

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$2,085.13.  All monies go to CARE!  Great job girls!

We had an great time...our annual get-together with our

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class of 2007.  And, with this group...the food always comes out!

We adopted several

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new members, including Jim and Chris...better known as The Geeks on Tour!

Escapades is not all

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play, even though the staff did try out the playground one afternoon.

And, the days have been filled with many awesome educational seminars.  Thanks to Wanda for organizing them and thanks to all the speakers!

This year, we had our first Chili Cook Off, another CARE project...we had the

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Fireman, Bob, Mark, and John, with their Firehouse Chili,

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Brenda made Pork Green Chili,

while...

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Nell and her mom, Blondie, made good old Texas Chili.

And, Donna and Marcia chose

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Hawaiian Chili!

These were just a few of the competitors.  And...

The winner, chosen by how many $$ which equaled votes was collected in their donation bucket was

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the one and only Miz Kay, the founder of the Escapees Club.

The total from all the participants for our first chili cook off was just shy of $4,000!

What a great week, but, yesterday the closing ceremonies and last night's dance party wrapped up another awesome Escapade.

This morning, several of the staff was up really early and by 5 am, we were

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preparing 364 biscuits and sausage in

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preparation for the

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Hitch Up Breakfast.

After lots of hugs and see you laters...it was time to start packing up! And, now tonight, all that is left is

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Big Red, waiting at the loading dock to pack up and carry off the memories of Escapade 2012...

but, we, are hoping that you like us are already planning for Escapade 2013.  So, mark your calendar and join us in Gillette, Wyoming June 30 - July 5, 2013.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Let The Fun Begin...

Yesterday, the campground filled up

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and

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registration was in full swing.

The market vendors

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were open for business and the

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first timers were in orientation.

Three o'clock came before we knew it, and the

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Opening Ceremonies were underway for Escapades 2012.

The Row

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had the parade of chapters...of course, I picked Texas!

Scott and Karen

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had door prizes under control and

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Mary was everywhere with her camera...so watch out!

Last night's entertainment was Yakov Smirnoff from Branson...he was awesome!  Lots of laughter and fun!

Today dawned a little foggy and cool.  There were a few early showers, but soon we were enjoying a beautiful day.

There were

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jammers, jamming, and

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shoppers shopping, and

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lots of hamburgers and hot dogs to be served.

Everyone seemed to have a great day.  Tonight we headed back to the Mathewson Center for the

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evening announcements and

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more door prizes.

We concluded the day with

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George Dyer, another Branson entertainer.

What a great start for Escapade 2012.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Escapade Staff Week

A little over a week ago, the 2012 Escapade Staff started

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arriving and the

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fellowship,

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fun, and

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food was soon to follow.

As every day passed the

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group grew and

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grew.

In the middle of all the food and fun, there were even a couple of informal

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staff meetings.  Here, the Parking Chairs are getting an early briefing, while...you guessed it, the rest of us were

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waiting on the food.

As the weekend came to an end and Monday morning dawned, it was time for all to get to work.

With everything already unloaded from

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Big Red, we

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were just waiting for

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Mark and Wallace to bring

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the materials to us for distribution.

Once everything was unloaded, it was time to get to work.

Donna and Keith, recruited Bob's help and got to work making

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welcome packs for the vendors.

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There were lots of staff meetings going on throughout the week.

Mark and I, along with Norm and Mary have been busy all week

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hanging sponsor banners,

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and past Escapade banners.

While Mary and I decorated for

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staff Happy Hour and dinner,

Marcia and Bea were busy

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in the kitchen preparing lots of

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beautiful food trays!

As the week moved along, the

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golf carts were delivered,

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signs were hung,

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Welcome Bags were stuffed and

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and delivered to registration, and

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rigs started arriving.

By Friday, the pace was picking up.  The

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staff meetings,

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and staff registration were successful.

The

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Market area was made ready for the vendors to move in and set up their products.

As Saturday dawned, these lovely ladies were all smiles as they

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served the staff lots of coffee and donuts.

And,

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with the finishing touch made to the stage, we are ready for tomorrow's Opening Ceremonies of Escapades 2012, brought to you from Sedalia, Missouri.