PETIT JEAN 2020 - UPDATE
Friends, this is not the usual Early Bird PJ Update. It's finally time to make the call on the 2020 RV Gathering. Our first impulse is to say we can handle it and come on....but the problem is ... we really can't! Jerry Homsley and others in our PJ planning crew have come to the conclusion that there is no way we can realistically address the separation and masking required and still make this a safe and fun event. Many have called and written to say they were committed to come and others said they wanted to badly but would have to wait and see. Unfortunately, we can't postpone the decision because our planning window is closing fast.
The size of the event mandates food services, gathering for meals, proper sanitation, and transportation all over the mountain. The Rockefeller Center is working hard to help but they are currently restricted to 1/3 capacity in all communal areas which means no dinners and no breakfasts, etc. They expect to still be at 1/3 capacity in the fall. While we can handle the food at the campground with our usual expertise and newfound safety methodology, we can't cover weather events if we can't gather under the big tent. Once we get to the campground, now we have to deal with the State Parks and they have a fairly intensive set of restrictions which are ..... restrictive.
As you know our campsites are shared which is a ton of fun but hard to maintain 6 foot spacing and share one picnic table and firepit. Showers and rest room facilities at the campground are fine for our normal year but not if you have to maintain distancing. Last year, we had to rent the 3 transport vans which was a $1,700 bill. We covered that pretty easy but we think we would need twice that many if the usual crowd showed up. That means twice as many drivers and twice as many food service folks to do it right..... and that's the only way we know how to do it!
The last and biggest issue is just that we really care about all of our Petit Jean friends. Obviously, no one would come with symptoms, but what happens if they develop while they are here.... what do we do! We can't quarantine people with airplanes and we wouldn't even try. You are all friends and family to us and we care about your safety maybe more than you do. Also, if you haven't noticed, most of our volunteers are in that "experienced" stage of life where they are justifiably concerned with health conditions that are not limiting but won't play well with a dose of C19. We really need that crew and don't feel good asking them to take unnecessary risks.
So as much as we hate to make the call, we feel like the prudent thing to do is to postpone the 2020 Gathering. We plan on taking another hard look in December and if there is interest, we are thinking there might be a 2021 Spring Fling on the RV Mountain.
We know this is a disappointment but it's the right thing to do. It's the only thing we can do if we want to put friends, worker folks, and our mutual RV Family first.
God bless, be safe, and think about the Spring Fling on the Mountain! .... Life is still good, almost GREAT! It's just different for a while!
See you on the Mountain! ..... Bill & Jerry, the EAA 165 Volunteers and all the other Petit Jean Repeats that help make it all happen!
PS .... To make sure the airport stays in good shape, we will be doing the full bale, cut, and trim in September anyway so the campground itself should be in good shape for a Spring Fling. That's a hundred hours work just to make sure we can think about something early in 2021. We assume it would be open for normal camping this fall but can't say for sure right now.
Friends, this is not the usual Early Bird PJ Update. It's finally time to make the call on the 2020 RV Gathering. Our first impulse is to say we can handle it and come on....but the problem is ... we really can't! Jerry Homsley and others in our PJ planning crew have come to the conclusion that there is no way we can realistically address the separation and masking required and still make this a safe and fun event. Many have called and written to say they were committed to come and others said they wanted to badly but would have to wait and see. Unfortunately, we can't postpone the decision because our planning window is closing fast.
The size of the event mandates food services, gathering for meals, proper sanitation, and transportation all over the mountain. The Rockefeller Center is working hard to help but they are currently restricted to 1/3 capacity in all communal areas which means no dinners and no breakfasts, etc. They expect to still be at 1/3 capacity in the fall. While we can handle the food at the campground with our usual expertise and newfound safety methodology, we can't cover weather events if we can't gather under the big tent. Once we get to the campground, now we have to deal with the State Parks and they have a fairly intensive set of restrictions which are ..... restrictive.
As you know our campsites are shared which is a ton of fun but hard to maintain 6 foot spacing and share one picnic table and firepit. Showers and rest room facilities at the campground are fine for our normal year but not if you have to maintain distancing. Last year, we had to rent the 3 transport vans which was a $1,700 bill. We covered that pretty easy but we think we would need twice that many if the usual crowd showed up. That means twice as many drivers and twice as many food service folks to do it right..... and that's the only way we know how to do it!
The last and biggest issue is just that we really care about all of our Petit Jean friends. Obviously, no one would come with symptoms, but what happens if they develop while they are here.... what do we do! We can't quarantine people with airplanes and we wouldn't even try. You are all friends and family to us and we care about your safety maybe more than you do. Also, if you haven't noticed, most of our volunteers are in that "experienced" stage of life where they are justifiably concerned with health conditions that are not limiting but won't play well with a dose of C19. We really need that crew and don't feel good asking them to take unnecessary risks.
So as much as we hate to make the call, we feel like the prudent thing to do is to postpone the 2020 Gathering. We plan on taking another hard look in December and if there is interest, we are thinking there might be a 2021 Spring Fling on the RV Mountain.
We know this is a disappointment but it's the right thing to do. It's the only thing we can do if we want to put friends, worker folks, and our mutual RV Family first.
God bless, be safe, and think about the Spring Fling on the Mountain! .... Life is still good, almost GREAT! It's just different for a while!
See you on the Mountain! ..... Bill & Jerry, the EAA 165 Volunteers and all the other Petit Jean Repeats that help make it all happen!
PS .... To make sure the airport stays in good shape, we will be doing the full bale, cut, and trim in September anyway so the campground itself should be in good shape for a Spring Fling. That's a hundred hours work just to make sure we can think about something early in 2021. We assume it would be open for normal camping this fall but can't say for sure right now.
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