ARE YOU READYYYYY?!!!!!!!!!
LET THE SCREAMING COMMENCE!!!
PLANNING FOR FHV BEGINS HEREWITH!!!
Once again Martin Luther King, Jr weekend will be the occasion. By popular demand (meaning Gumbo said so) the “weekend” has been extended. You may come as early as Thursday and stay as late as Tuesday!! WooHooo, more time in the cold!
We’ve grown every year and we expect FHV to be the biggest Florida Hang yet. Once again we are expecting a great time with the biggest and best raffle, the best weather and the most (and easily the best) feed! In the past, the Florida Hang has drawn 100+ HF members and friends and vendors from all over creation and promises to keep growing.
In addition to lots of just hanging around, you can expect some great times eating at the DO epicenter of the universe. You can learn hanging, cooking and general camping techniques. You can check out all sorts of gear, take day hikes as well as kayak around the lake on your own or join in group trips on nearby rivers. There will be lots of eating and swapping of tales around an endless camp fire. There will be hopes and prayers to win some amazing raffle prizes followed immediately by more eating!
Every attendee who signs up on the spreadsheet gets a commemorative patch and a name badge. The Florida Hangs have historically gathered all sorts of folks in the woods: hardcore (and not-so-hardcore) backwoods campers and trekkers, kayakers and car campers in and around a trail-laced campsite that enables folks to stay close to other folks or to push off into a more secluded spot—the choice is yours. But no matter where you like to set up your set-up, FHV will have something to offer. Also for the first time this year, the Florida Hang will have flush toilets and hot showers on site!! I'm not sure what the weather will be like but I promise we'll have some. Last year we set a new record at 25.5*!!
The planning committee has been hard at work getting things in line, but our process keeps the doors wide open to anyone with ideas, vision, or just a desire to help out. Our model is to have scheduling for those who like to have things planned out while also enabling lots of space for those who prefer to just flow with it. As of now, and given precedents from previous years, planned activities include:
Group hikes on the Florida Trail - daily
River kayak excursions - daily
General gear show off - non-stop
Vendor Gear Show & Sell - Saturday
Gearage Sale (swap meet) - Saturday
A GINORMOUS raffle (gear, great and small from many of your favorite HF vendors and buds) - Saturday
Children’s (and big kids') workshops and raffle - Saturday
Hammock Varietals petting zoo (bring your favorite rig, test out others) - ongoing
Tiny stove cook-off and Water boiling race
Knot tying demonstrations and workshop
Knife sharpening workshop
KP Parties! Whooo Buddy!
Survival Classes including navigation and foraging
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY EVENING GROUP FEEDS
Dutch Oven World (they don't have this many DOs in Holland!)
And of course—hours of socializing with your fellow hangers.
And more….
Cost: There is no cost for anyone to participate in FHV. You read that right - you don’t have to pay to come and have a good time with everyone. So please don’t let cost keep you home. Of course, some specific events may have fees to participate.
That said, a mass hanging of this magnitude is not free either. We expect the whole event to run around $3k. Donations are accepted, encouraged even - recommendation: $5-10 a day per person. Raffle ticket sales also help cover the expenses.
All funds go to the hang. There is no paid staff and any unused funds are donated to the Fl. Trail Assn., Friends of Fl State Parks, and/or other similar outdoorsy, do-gooder organizations.
Funds: To keep it simple, Gumbo & I will handle the funds again this year. We are open to someone stepping up to take this over. We feel that the same one or two people shouldn't get too comfortable handling the money year after year, but for FHV, we're it. So if you would like to make an advance donation - which would be very helpful and very appreciated, please Paypal (as a gift) to [email protected].
Raffle Tickets: Raffle tickets will go on sale at the Hang on Saturday and are also available in advance. Tickets are $5 each or 5 for $20. To encourage folks to buy tickets in advance, $20 will get 6 tickets (instead of 5) if you buy them before the end of 2014. The funds have to be in Gumbo's Paypal account before 1/1/15. If you would like advance tickets, you can Paypal a gift of the appropriate amount to [email protected]. Please include your HF name as a note with your Paypal submission. We may not know your real name and may not (read: will not) recognize your email address. Your tickets will be with your name badge upon your arrival.
Vendors: Any vendors planning on coming this year please shoot Gumbo or me a PM letting us know you're coming and how we can best serve you.
Don’t wait to the last minute - start staging gear in your living room NOW!
Here’s some links to get you started.
Location: Doe Lake Group Site, Umatilla, FL:
http://www.recreation.gov/camping/do...O&parkId=75493
Some pictures:
http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fs...null&ss=110816
Scouting report:
https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...couting-Report
Map & Directions:
http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/ocala...40231&actid=33
FHV Attendance Spreadsheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...uSVlka3c#gid=0
FHV Planning Spreadsheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...3c&pli=1#gid=0
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