The Gathering 2K10 Official Thread.

[Graaille]

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Children of all ages. It's getting to be that time again. Last I heard, the official date is the last full weekend in July, July 24th and 25th, 2010 at Creekside Lanes. (Winston Salem, NC) I thought I'd start a thread to keep people informed so that vacation time can be planned out, schedules adjusted, excuses can be perfected, etc.... I'll add more to the initial post when I receive more information. The 2nd annual ThongPrincess Memorial Bragging Rights Tournament is still on for Saturday. The last 2 years I believe women took the top 3 places -- guys, it's time to show up and shoe up.

RSVP to this thread. Many thanks and hope to see 24 full lanes for the Tournament.

Thanks to the efforts of one SrKegler, The Gathering is now sponsored by 900 Global, Storm and Lane 1.
900 Global has provided a ball for a raffle/giveaway, Storm and Lane 1 have donated accessories and other assorted swag.

And for those who don't know:

Creekside Lanes.
1450 Trade Mart Blvd.
Winston Salem. NC. 27127.
Phone: (336) 771-9800

[JAnderson]

When the official site is available, I'll post it somewhere on this site.

Until then, anyone else posting official Gathering threads, please get your post approved through corporate headquarters first! :D

[Graaille]

Aaaah, and who, other than myself or Kev would be so bold as to post an Official Thread? It just hit me a week ago that we're only 4-5 months out - and our beloved TP would have started posting about it in October - so I was just starting the 'buzz' (not to step on Kat's toes of course).

[JAnderson]

Not at all - just teasing you. The more publicity the better. We love bowlers and would love to get 50 participants this year.

[mrbill]

I hope My wife and I can get away this year> I need a break lol

[Graaille]

If people are looking for other things to do in the area (pre or post bowling, or to keep spouses interested) I can provide some suggestions, I'll be compiling a list over the next few weeks.

[kev3inp]

Bump for the new NC denizens.

[JAnderson]

No Official Site yet - sorry gang. I blame pure laziness and a 70-hour a week job on my part.

[Graaille]

No Official Site yet - sorry gang. I blame pure laziness and a 70-hour a week job on my part.

Well at least you have something to blame other than guacamole overdose.

[kev3inp]

We just made our hotel reservations for the Gathering. Usually I make them in Feb, but things are different now. We'll be at the Extended Stay again.

[Graaille]

Three months to go, plans are being made, reservations reserved, excuses being polished. Join us - you know you want to.

[kev3inp]

SrKegler has gotten Richie at Lane #1 to kick in a few trinkets to be used as prizes. Possibly more to come. We had ball giveaways a few years. I'll relay anything I hear.

Anyone seen Senior Stroker? He's the reigning red leader this year. It's been me and him the last 2 years, it's someone else's turn. :)

[Graaille]

Edited for good news.

[kev3inp]

Sr said Global 900 will be donating a ball. Yay!

[mrbill]

Sr said Global 900 will be donating a ball. Yay!

I hope its the bounty hunter:cool:

Still trying to get there this year...

[kev3inp]

Hey! It's 3 weeks away! We're compiling our list of things not to forget to bring, and counting the days in anticipation. We've got a few other NC members here, too, it'd be great to meet them. It's a 12 hour trip each way for us, so anyone less than that far away has no excuse. :) We're hoping for a big turnout this year. Ron has posted the info on his bowl4fun site, too. Anyone know how I can sort my Facebook friends to message the NC'ers about it?

[Alakazam]

Hi all, we're home from our vacation just in time to get the house clean, stock up the groceries and head back out to the Gathering, LOL. We're looking forward to seeing everyone again, perhaps this will be the year we beat Kev and Di to the sign-in sheet.

[bowlerdawg]

were getting ready too, not like we have alot to do, other than allocate the time
but Amanda is excited to see everyone again , and so am I
get your buts up here it's a great time for all

[JAnderson]

It looks like we'll be bringing 4-6 new bowlers from the Atlanta area this year. None of them post to any bowling forums, but they all like to bowl.

The web site is just about ready. Better late than never, but it will have an updated schedule of events. I'm waiting to hear back from a couple of people who host/run events during the weekend and a restaurant schedule.

I'll have my laptop at the lanes, so any changes or additions to the web site (for both 2010 and 2011) can be made "live".

[kev3inp]

Yay! It's almost here! We'll be pulling into Winston-Salem sometime Thursday afternoon. My clothes are already packed, and we're working through the checklist. We can't wait!

[JAnderson]

This site is, finally, up. Thanks to all contributors, you know who you are.

http://www.gatheringofbowlers.com

Looking forward to seeing everyone this weekend.

[Paralipsis]

Damn, I'll be out of town for it. Shame, I would've enjoyed it.

[kev3inp]

Well,I'll hoist a cold one in your honor. Not that I need an excuse. We're on the road tomorrow.

[kakcpa]

This sounds like a blast. does the city change every year?

[kev3inp]

No, it's at Ron Clifton's center in Winston-Salem every year. I'll try to hold up lefty honor and refuse to adjust to tick off all the haters. LOL! Graille from here and BR is a local. Great guy.

[JAnderson]

This sounds like a blast. does the city change every year?

To date it has not, but there have been other mini-meetings arranged at different locations. It's difficult to fully appreciate how well the bowlers are treated at Creekside Lanes until you experience it for yourself. That plus the affiliation Ron has with the lanes allows us to enjoy greatly reduced lineage, paddock area for locking up equipment, other tournaments around the official event, and lane availability throughout the weekend. I'm not sure how many bowling centers would host such an event...

[Paralipsis]

Should do this more often. If you guys did, no way in hell would I miss one. :D

[Alakazam]

Really nice job on the website Jay, much appreciated!!! Right now we're in Savanna GA and will be there tomorrow afternoon so see you soon.

[kev3inp]

We're here! Chillin' in the room for a bit before we stop in at Creekside.

[Graaille]

Going to Creekside Friday @ 1. Already warned the family members.

[JAnderson]

We arrived early this morning in Winston-Salem. We'll be at the lanes at 11. In our excitement to leave for The Gathering, I decided to forget my "kit" which contains unimportant things like my bowling shoes, tape, tools, towels, ball cleaner, and so on. *sigh*

[Graaille]

Well day one is in the books. A great time was had by all, it was good to see everyone again. As an extra bonus, we got asked if we'd mind if Tom Baker could bowl next to us -- like we would say no to having a PBA / Senior PBA legend join us on the lanes. He was a great guy, gave autographs, patiently allowed just about everyone to take pictures with him (silly me for forgetting my camera). I'll find out tomorrow how our blind draw doubles and the Friday night Scotch doubles went -- I had a prior engagement from 6pm on. But I'll be there all day tomorrow - and hopefully some of our wayward folk will wander in tomorrow as well.

[bowlerdawg]

I think you and I took the blind draw J
figures, we win the one that doesn't pay anything :( just my luck..........lol

WHAT AN AWESOME EVENT this year
thanks to all

[Alakazam]

We finally made it home, the wife and I had a great time as usual, it was really good to see some new faces this year along with some old friends. We had dinner with Kev and his wife along with Ron Clifton on Saturday night here in Tampa at a good restaurant called 'Logan's Roadhouse'. Good food, cold beer. and good company, you can't beat that.