The 99 RG in Capsule |
Those of us who were fortunate enough to be able to stay at the hotel during this year’s event were afforded the supreme pleasure of immersing ourselves in things Mensan for more than three days. We shut out the outside world and enjoyed ourselves and each other in a wonderfully friendly atmosphere. The hotel staff treated us like family and were very accommodating. Since a Regional Gathering is not a fund raising function, and we were able to get great prices on a lot of the things we provided, it was a fantastic bargain.
It was also innovative. We had the usual Joke-Off, which was as hilarious as ever, and we also had a Clean Comedy Challenge, not only for the benefit of our young people, but for those who are offended by raw jokes. It was just as much fun as the Joke-Off, and I hope it becomes a regular event at future RGs here and elsewhere.
We had a hot tub party every night, we went home with some interesting prizes, we renewed old acquaintances, and we made some new friends. The tours on Monday were very well attended. Visiting Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross this year was a thrill of a lifetime, and the people who went to the Mystery Castle were charmed with it.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio started the party off with a bang on Friday after dinner. He is a very entertaining speaker. One of our members called the day before, asking for his money back because he had learned that Sheriff Joe was speaking. I asked why he didn’t just not attend the presentation and he said he didn’t want his registration money to go to "that Nazi." I was happy to be able to tell him that Sheriff Joe believes in free speech and wasn’t charging us anything. I guess we should give fair warning that at an RG we go out of our way to shake folks up with all kinds of off the wall presentations. Heck, you can get ordinary stuff on the boob tube, and we ain’t boobs.
Our Banquet speaker on Saturday was Steve Benson, the Pulitzer prize winning political cartoonist from the Arizona Republic, and he was an absolute delight. He gave a great presentation and then enjoyed being with us so much that he stayed until 4 a.m. He attended the Joke-Off and told some great jokes. Since I was his Speaker Shepherd, I stayed with him most of that time and spent the evening falling in love with him. I had to resist the urge to paw him and kept telling myself "Pretend he’s the Pope".
The RG must have been a success, because we have people ready to step forward to improve on success for RG XXI in 2000. Stevie Crowley and husband John Seeliger want to be co-Chairmen, and Jason Grimm, who is a trained chef, wants to be Hospitality Chair. This time, dear reader, remember that if you plan to make up your mind whether or not to attend at the last minute as so many people did this year, you will spend an hour or so in the lobby, champing at the bit, waiting to register amid a big crowd, there won’t be any hotel rooms left, and if you don’t stay at the hotel, you miss half the fun. There is absolutely no comparison. When I go home to sleep during an RG, I get all out of the mood. Stay at the hotel!