Wow! Less than 3 weeks until the International Teardrop Gathering in Minden, Nebraska. Folks have been calling/emailing/writing asking about details of the gathering. Are there any type of special activities planned? Are workshops going to be held? What about Dutch Oven cooking and I heard rumors of an ice cream social and so forth.
Let’s see if I can answer a few questions with the following “schedule of events”.
Thursday ~ June 23rd
Arrive, *register with campground and receive campsite assignment, **register with the ITG folks, setup, settle in and visit.
If you wish, purchase your Pioneer Village pass to the museum from the campground office when you register. Admission will be for all 4 days of the gathering. The museum is open between 8am to 6pm daily.
No special activities planned.
NOTE!! You will be issued an ITG name badge for the event. PLEASE wear this badge during the gathering. It will identify you as a participant for workshops/potlucks/admission the Pioneer Village Museum, etc.
*Campground registration and campsite assignments will be given at the Pioneer Village Motel office on Highway 6.
** ITG registration will take place in room #119 of the motel. It is the last room on the left as you are heading north on Colorado. There will be signs out front. Just stop against the curb across the street and come to room #119. You will be registered, given a welcome packet and a photo of you and your trailer will be taken. Please do not pull into the campground until you have registered and received a campground assignment.
Friday ~ June 24th
8:30am Dutch Oven Basics Seminar.
Mid-morning/Early afternoon. An opportunity to rush out and purchase Dutch Oven STUFF…
2:00pm Dutch Oven cooking for the Dutch Oven Potluck
6:00pm Dutch Oven Potluck in the meeting room under the main hotel. For those of you not cooking with Dutch Ovens, please bring a dish to share. We anticipate over 300 people! Don’t forget to mark your dishes and your utensils with your name.
Evening. Ice Cream Social. If you have an Ice Cream Machine, BRING IT! Hand cranked, electric, Dutch Oven, etc. Do you have an alternative method of making ice cream? Bring the recipe and the means to make it and share!
Saturday ~ June 25th
9:00am Workshop: Grant Whipp: L’il Bear Tag-a-longs
Teardrop Design Considerations
11:00am Door Prize Drawings
1:00pm Workshop: Craig Edevold: Camp-Inn Teardrops
Teardrop Electrical Wiring
3:00pm Workshop: George Wilkerson: The Teardrop Fix-It Shop
Teardrop Restoration Considerations
6:00pm Potluck Dinner/Awards. Bring a dish of your choice. Once again, remember that we will be feeding over 300 people! Don’t forget to mark your dishes and your utensils with your name.
Sunday ~ June 26th
No events planned
Visit, farewells, pack up, head home.
Explore Minden and surrounding area.
Door Prizes: Some people have already donated "drawing" items for the gathering. Which got us to thinking about DOOR PRIZES. If nearly every party/couple/family brings one nice (teardrop?) item to add to the drawing, it should work. ITG Registration Numbers will be drawn and fastened to each item at random. Distribution will be Saturday at 11 a.m..
That’s about it in a nutshell. I have tried to keep “structure” to a minimum. The whole point of the International Teardrop Gathering is just that, a gathering. This is our time to see friends face to face. Friends from the past, friends that we have only corresponded with. New friends that we don’t know that we have yet! This is our time to share our love of teardrop trailers and the unique lifestyle that is made possible because of the teardrop trailer.
Please remember, we anticipate over 150 trailers and over 300 people so far. This does not include folks that have not pre-registered and that will just show up. We will have a lot of folks that will stop by just for a day to see what a real teardrop trailer looks like, having never seen one in person. The Pioneer Village campground “complex” will be VERY crowded. Space will be at a premium. We need to show Minden what type of folks Teardroppers are. We will be making a very large statement about Teardrop Trailers and the type of folks that own them. Essentially, we will all be “Teardrop Ambassadors” from the time that we pull out of driveways until the time that we return home.
When I started to organize The International Teardrop Gathering, I knew that it had the potential to be a large event. Little did I know how large! Only time will tell if we have another International Gathering and if so, where and when it will be. With your help and cooperation during the gathering, this could become an annual event. Please make note of ways that we could improve the gathering as it unfolds. Please be realistic with your suggestions. And please, play nice.
George Thornton
