Posted 10:06 PM by brad
The STAMPEDE is well underway. Friday and Saturday down and just Sunday to go. It has gone very well despite some weather problems during set-up on Thursday evening. A severe thunder storm blew through Bristol at about 4:00PM and we had three tents and canopys go down. One of the 2 inch tent poles was bent into a "C". It was a downpour for a little while. There were a few things broken and several things that got so muddy and wet that they had to be discarded. South of the village got worse weather. Less than a mile from where we set up, trees were uprooted and a chimney was blown off a roof. The loss we suffered was minimal as there was plenty more stuff to replace what we threw away. We had 2 tractor trailers full of donated goods and all day Thursday people were dropping items off at the site. Several people made 3 or 4 trips. It`s really something you have to see to understand.
The weekend has been very busy. A constant stream of people coming and then going with bags of goodies. I work in the electrical/electronic tent. Our main task is to check out radios,tvs,fans,heaters and all sorts of items to be sure they are in working condition. We also try to do computers, but most of what we get is so outdated that they are useless. We also tried not to accept contributions of computers this year. We got a lot less than in previous years.
I will put the finishing touches on my report tomorrow evening but it looks like we are even with or a little ahead of dollars compared to this time last year.
ADDED 7/29/03
Thanks to all the wonderful volunteers and the great support of the people, the Stampede raised $65,000.00. A nice donation to the ongoing research to find the cure to Cystic Fibrosis.

Posted 2:14 PM by brad
I have been on vacation for a week and still have a week more. Then I work a week and have another week off. We have our pop-up camper parked at River`s Bend Campground in New Haven. It`s about 7 miles from home. We have to travel home twice a day to take care of our dogs. A pain in the butt but totally neccessary. The weather has been pretty good. Some rain(like today) but not a complete washout. We have really enjoyed ourselves. Swimming,fishing and just relaxing.The end of this week brings the Stampede. I will devote a lot of my time there on Fri,Sat, and Sun. I just feel so good when I hear the total of what we send for Cystic Fibrosis research. Last year was $63,000.00. Well, it`s back to camp. It seems to be clearing up.