There will be a gathering of LDotters on June 13th and 14th, 2008. The locations will be in Townsend, Tennessee, about 35 miles southeast of Knoxville, and at Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, nine miles from Townsend. Three facilities have been reserved for Friday, June 13th and Saturday, June 14th. They include the following:

Friday, June 13th, 6:00 P.M to 9:00 P.M.: The Barn Event Center of the Smokies in Townsend, Tennessee.

Saturday, June 14th, 9:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M: The Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center in Townsend.

Saturday, June 14th, 3:00 P.M onward: A pavillion at the Cades Cove campground (in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park)

Here are links to some of the facilities:

The Barn Event Center of the Smokies

Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center

A buffet dinner will be served at the Barn Event Center on Friday evening. More informal lunch and supper plans are still being finalized for Saturday.

The Barn Event Center will accomodate 150 or more people. The Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center has an auditorium that will seat 100 people, plus two classrooms that will hold an additional 50. If the weather is nice, we can also use the amphitheatre outside, which will seat 500. The pavillion at Cades Cove will probably only seat around 50, but I'm guessing that there will be many folks who will opt to tour the Cove instead of staying at the pavillion. In conjunction with the pavillion rental, there are also nine tent camping sites that have been reserved for Saturday night. Picnic tables are available at the site. There is also an additional picnic ground nearby with picnic tables available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The only required cost for participants will be associated with the dinner at the Barn Event Center. It will be $22.50 per person, plus $5.45 for tax and tip, making a total cost of $27.95. The menu will consist of a garden salad, chicken with cranberry/orange sauce, marinated pork loin, creamy mashed potato with roast garlic, sweet potato casserole, mixed vegetables, and chocolate cake. There are tentative plans to have barbeque catered for lunch Saturday (for around $10 per person), or you can go to one of the local restaurants if you prefer. We are looking at the possibility of having some snacks or sandwiches or chicken available for a small fee for supper (hopefully less than $5) at the Cove--or you can grill out at the campground or at the nearby picnic area.

The Heritage Center will allow for us to have group rates for touring the museum at the Center. It normally costs $6. Those with our group will be allowed to tour for $3 if they wish. The rate applies for June 13th through June 15th. One of our group's name tags (which we will give out) will be required to get the discount rate.

Hopefully within about three weeks I will provide a list of some of the more desirable places for housing, ranging from camping facilities to motels, cabins, and even a five-star resort. I will also at some point provide a rundown of the better eating places in the area. Finally, perhaps mid-April, I hope to have a complete program/agenda finalized.

I will be covering the cost of the rental of the three facilities, which at this point amounts to around $875. Incidental costs for the meetings will probably push that to around $950 to $1000 total, not counting the security/damage deposit (which, if ya'll don't break stuff, I'll get back). I will not pass those costs along to the participants, but any donations to help defray the costs would be welcomed. (If we have 100 people show up, and every other person contributed $10, that would cut the costs in half for me.)

The Barn Event Center requires the majority of the payment for the approximate number of meals, as well as the rental of the facility, 120 days in advance. (That would be mid-February.) We can add to the numbers later, but I guaranteed spaces for 35 people. Therefore, I need to start collecting some of the money for the dinner within the next couple of weeks. If you would like to reserve a spot at the dinner, money ($27.95) may be sent by PayPal. My e-mail address is randywendy@att.net. If you would rather pay by snail mail, payments may be sent to A Gathering of LDotters P.O. Box 214 Townsend, TN 37882.

One other thing that I almost forgot: As part of the contract with the Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center we have to have the following disclaimer when their name is used in our announcement. (It's nothing personal against us. It's a standard item on their contract.) "Except for providing meeting space, the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center is not in any manner connected with this meeting, and neither the Center nor the Board of Directors endorse any position expressed by the group."

How many people will show up is yet to be seen. It may end up just being me and Mrs. Engraved. However, thus far we have had people from at least ten different states indicate serious interest in coming. Judging from responses that I have received thus far, mostly by e-mail, I am guessing that we will have 100 people or so. Time will tell.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Randy
(Engraved-on-His-hands)