Report for Saturday, July 29, 2000

That's right. It's finally here! Today marks the beginning of NOAC 2000, and as always, the Shu-Shu-Gah contingent is here, ready to get things started. But, true to form with Shu-Shu-Gah, the road down to Tennessee was a bit rocky.

The most recent addition to the Shu-Shu-Gah contingent this year is the new Lodge Trailer (shown above). Eloquently adorned with OA decals and sashes, this rig was in pristine condition for about 24 hours. At around 2AM on Tuesday July 25, Stu Nemkowitz was awoken from his sleep by a call from Marty Maher to let him know that someone had rammed into the back of the trailer while it was parked in front of his house. The person must have been going very fast, because she smashed in both rear doors of the trailer, part of the side panel, and cracked the rear axle. In addition, there was enough force to cause the trailer to pop off its hitch, and go careening through the rear doors of the van (see the photo below). Marty was able to get the trailer repaired in time for our departure on Thursday afternoon, though it is still dented pretty badly, and requires further repair.

Friday, July 28

The contingent departed from Camp Aquehonga, Ten Mile River at approximately 7:30 AM. The goal was to make it to Roanoke, VA by the mid-afternoon and stay there for the night.

At 4:50 PM we noticed a burning rubber smell, and saw some pieces of tire falling from the rear of the van. Marty pulled over, and we checked it out. We thought we could make it to the next exit. At 4:55 PM we were riding on the rim, and Marty decided it was a good time to change the tire. Naturally, exactly at this moment, the rain began to threaten worse than it had at any other point during the day. The adult leaders worked quickly to change the tire, with the support of the rest of the contingent. All in all, it did not take very long, and we were back on the road only slightly more wet.

Saturday, July 29
9:45 AM. We pulled into a rest stop and met some brothers from Owaneco. They also had a trailer, though it was not nearly as impressive. In short, we could fit their trailer inside of ours. One of the Owaneco members aproached Tom and said, "Oh, Shu-Shu-Gah, huh? We're from Owaneco." Tom responded, "We're sorry." That basically ended the conversation. Within minutes, we were back on the road.

1:00 PM. We arrived at NOAC. The patch trading officially began 2 minutes after we parked the van, with Andrew making the first trade. The unofficial trading, however, began a few hours earlier, as Marty attempted to execute a few drive-by trades while we were stuck in traffic.

6:00 PM. The whole contingent was at the Trading Post. Even though the lines were long, everyone was making sure they bought their official NOAC "toothpick holders".... yeah, right.

7:00 PM. We made it to the Northeast Region gathering with just enough time to receive the pieces of our "NOAC Cube." (don't ask... it's too hard to explain). By 7:30 we had left to return to the dorms, but were relegated to the shelter of a nearby awning as a monsoon swept across the campus. To make it even worse, Marty was almost reduced to tears as a trailer twice the size of ours rolled by. The only thing that stopped him from having a complete breakdown was the fact that ours was decorated more nicely.

Several of our members who were down here in 1992 remember the Krystal Burger orgy that year. Can you imagine the joy in our eyes when we were able to see the actual Krystal Burger shop from our dormitory window? At 11:00 PM. Krystal Burger feast continued (we went there earlier in the day as the pre-dinner snack at 4:30). This time around, we ordered 50 to be shared among the contingent. Needless to say, the succulent White Castle-esque aroma is still lingering in our rooms as we sit to type this.

And, throughout the feeding frenzy, Andrew felt it necessary to continually ask if anyone had found his 2 chicks. We're still trying to figure out what he really meant by this ... we're not sure we really want to know, either.

That's it for today. Check back tomorrow, because nobody knows what else will happen! And, with all this activity, it is very curious that our Lodge Adviser, Stu Nemkowitz, still has not stopped by to visit his contingent. Hmmm.

Today's Krystal Burger Count: 110