August 2008 – updates, blogs, the WindChill BBQ finally arrives!

August 30th, 10:25am: Good morning everyone – where does the time go! Been too long since we’ve sat down and had coffee together, hasn’t it? For the past couple of days I’ve been working more on the WindChill Legacy sites, adding to the blog, and posting pictures, etc. I’m trying to upload more of the BBQ today, hit a snag in the upload feature which had delayed some of those posts but it’s fixed and I’m starting to get more of them up there. Remember we’re doing the Windchill posting on the official blog so I won’t be saying as much about him here. This is just a place for us to hang out, have a steaming cup of coffee together – if you’re so inclined light up a cigar and just relax and watch the world race by.

August 17th, 2:56pm: Whew. What more can I say… We’re wiped. Still have clean up to do so you can watch us as we drag along…but what a GREAT BBQ. What a wonderful group of people you all are. I heard it time and again – it was like we were all family – only we got along well! Such warmth and friendliness. We didn’t get near as much time as we’d like to have with everyone so I’m sorry about that. At last count there were 105 that showed up and we probably missed more than that. I’ll get some pictures up soon but wanted to say thank you thank you thank you to you wonderful people!

August 16th, 9:26am: The day has arrived. The tents are all set up, volunteers have started to arrive to help get things ready, shortly the rest of the crew will be here to start chopping up all the onions, watermelons, etc. needing to be prepared. It’s looking like another beautiful day after a cold start. Supposed to be 83 degrees F today, so be prepared with sunscreen and it wouldn’t hurt to toss a jacket and umbrella in the car for those sudden changes of weather up here. Given how blue that sky is though it’s looking like it’ll be gorgeous out. I’m going to change into shorts, thought it was going to be a cooler day today and fortunately I turned out to be wrong. Bring your appetites, lots of food ready for folks. That poor refrigerator truck ran all night long. Hopefully there won’t be leftovers!

August 15th, 11:04pm: What a day! I can’t believe how it all came together thanks to the hard work of our official farm engineer, Gary Niemi, who is somehow able to measure things with near precision using paces, arm lengths and looking at something. I have yet to come close even using a tape measure – for some reason I always seem to buy inaccurate tape measures. It couldn’t possibly be my mistakes – not that many times in a row…  The whole BBQ committee was here – the barn looks amazing with all the silent auction items. So many people donated such incredible things – the barn is filled with baskets and gifts. There’s a whole stall of Deb Sprague paintings and work – and Deb’s here! She’s even more dynamic in person! And she doesn’t miss a thing. Darlene is here from Hawaii – our climate is very similar to Hawaii as you all know so she feels right at home. We’ll try to convince her it’s the same in January…  Eilene is here from Florida. Judi is here from Michigan. Northland Foods refrigerator truck looks really cool sitting in our pasture (no pun intended). It’s keeping all the food cold and we’re going to see if they’ll leave it so we can store all our frozen pizzas and coffee in it.

We had a WindChill Legacy, Ltd. board of directors meeting after the pizza party for all the volunteers. LOTS of great ideas from our educational folks and Darlene B and her daughter who are working on some great pieces. Several new fundraising ideas are coming down the pipe thanks to Deb’s creativity. A fire extinguisher was kept nearby for safety reasons and the board was instructed as to its location and proper useage as two of the directors ‘partook’ of wedding cigars given to them by Judi and her husband, Doug. It’s really exciting to see the Legacy moving forward on so many initiatives and see this all come together because of the hard work, energy and caring of such dedicated individuals. If you do come to the BBQ tomorrow, please tell Paula, Polly, Gary, Deb, Barb and Kathi ‘thanks’ for pouring their hearts into this non-profit. They’ve worked diligently and methodically on each initiative and it shows in the results. I’m honored to work with these individuals and see them carry on Windchill’s fight. Thank you all so much. Time to get ready for bed. Tomorrow’s going to come quick and I hear the herd’s a-comin’!

August 15th, 10:08am: Wow, in less than 24 hours around 150 people will converge on our little farm for the Raindance WindChill Memorial BBQ. Amazing. So much left to do, even with the committee of women who have planned this in exquisite detail there’s still lots to do. Starting at noon people begin arriving to help get the tents set up, the porta-potties arrive, refrigerator truck comes in the evening, grills and tables will get set up….AAAAHHHHHH. Wow, so many people making this happen. Yesterday we picked up tables and chairs from the air base who generously loaned them to us for the BBQ. I’ll have a long list of thanks to add to the WindChill Legacy site along with those we’re still updating from past donation. Hey guys on the base (148th Fighter Wing – if you’re reading this THANK YOU – and also if you’re in charge and can arrange a flyover we’ll save you some burgers and hotdogs!). I’m working on the cams right now – I’ll remove passwords and set them for open access, just click on the links  above and theoretically they should work. If you get a blank screen it’ll probably mean the max number of viewers are watching and you’ll have to keep trying.

August 14th, 6:56pm: Okay, I know it’s been awhile – sorry! But I had to log in quick and let you know that you can log into the various barn cams right now and see all the friends you’ve made online as they brush horses and have fun!