North
Dakota Mensa’s Regional Gathering, 2004
Dates: June
26-27, 2004
Place: Valley City,
North Dakota:
Chautauqua
Park
The
President’s House Guest Inn, www.presidentshouse.com
Medicine
Wheel Park
The
Broken Spoke
Click here for maps and directions.
Activities: Admission
Test, Potluck Picnic, Party, Fireworks, Overnight Stay, Brunch
Cost: Registration is FREE.
Rooms
are $35 for a double room, $20 to share a double, or $25 for a single. (People
who live nearby also have the option of attending the picnic and fireworks and
driving home afterwards.) Yes, these prices are incredibly low for such fine
accommodations; they are possible because our group is renting the house as a
whole!
A
dish to pass at the picnic and fireworks if you can get them are requested.
Brunch
on Sunday morning is on your own.
A
small donation to help cover the group’s expenses is appreciated but optional.
Contacts: Ann
Knudson and Shirley Starke, Co-Chairs (mailing
addresses and phone numbers are on the contacts page).
Who Is Invited? All Mensans, especially our neighbors in South Dakota,
Minnesota, Montana, and Canada; their spouses, kids, friends and (if you have a
place to stay overnight with them) pets; and those who test for Mensa
membership at our June 26 testing session.
RSVP by June
20 to Shirley Starke or Ann Knudson. This will be
appreciated so LocSec Brian knows how much Polish sausage to bring (he is going
to grill for the picnic), though late-comers certainly will not be turned away.
And the sooner you let us know, the better choice you will have if you want a
room at the President’s House.
Schedule:
Saturday, June 26:
1 PM: Unofficial Early Bird Start: Meet at The President’s House Guest Inn, VCSU, for coffee & conversation, golf, antique-shopping or whatever.
2 PM: Mensa Admission Testing, The President’s House.
6 PM: Official RG Start, Chautauqua Park: potluck picnic; canoeing, any outdoor games (lawn darts?) you want to bring.
9? – 11:45 PM: Party, The President’s House. Coffee, munchies, games and conversation. BYOB; no alcohol for those planning to shoot fireworks.
12 Midnight: FIREWORKS, Medicine Wheel Park. (For those who still feel up to it, VCSU has a short wooded hiking trail from the President’s House to the park. Others can drive.)
Sunday, June 27:
11 AM: Brunch, Broken Spoke restaurant; official end of RG.
Noon - Afternoon, optional extra time together: Golf? Canoeing? Hitting the fireworks stands on Opening Day? Please send suggestions to Ann or Shirley.
RSVP by June 15 to co-chairs Ann Knudson or Shirley
Starke (our contact info is on the contacts page). Please tell us if you
want to rent or share a room at the President’s House. Registration is FREE; a
dish to pass at the picnic and fireworks (if you can get them) are requested.
Brunch is on your own. A small donation to the group for its expenses is
appreciated but optional.
More Detailed Info:
From The Prairie Dawg, May/June 2004:
We are planning an RG for the last weekend in June! Tony Jackowski suggested in his latest column that local groups hold a Regional Gathering, and we have been planning since August to hold one event each year in Valley City: a picnic to which members could come from all over the state. The two ideas just came together. We will have a potluck picnic, party, "bring your own fireworks" fireworks shoot, overnight stay, and brunch. North Dakota Mensans from east and west can finally meet, and members from other states are invited, especially our neighbors in South Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, and Canada. So are your spouses, kids, and friends. We will give a Mensa admission test, and those who test will be invited to the RG.
Our headquarters will be The President’s House at VCSU, the former residence of the college president which is now a guest inn. Since the group is renting the entire house, which has five bedrooms and sleeps nine, rooms at this beautiful bed and breakfast are priced at in incredibly low $35 per room (one or two people; 3 rooms have double beds; one has two twins, one has one single bed). Rooms at the President’s House are on a first come, first served basis, with the overflow going to the Wagon Wheel Inn (about $40/night, (701)-845-5333), which also has an RV Park.
We will meet officially in Chautuauqua Park, Valley City, at 6 PM on Saturday, June 26, and unofficially at 1 PM at the President’s House for those who want to spend time together on Saturday afternoon chatting, antiquing, or whatever they prefer. The group will provide a main dish for the picnic – either roast chicken or, if some of the guys enjoy grilling, a charcoal fire and food to grill. Members are asked to bring something to go with it (the food that Brian, Ann, and Gay brought last August was fantastic!) and fireworks to share if you can get them: Ann Knudson has already bought enough to insure a very good showing. At midnight – the first moment they will be legal – we will go to Medicine Wheel Park and shoot our fireworks!
The group will provide a Continental breakfast at the President’s House. We will meet for brunch at 11:00 Sunday morning at the Broken Spoke restaurant (AKA the BS). Of course, going to church is an option. Ann is bringing her canoe, Valley City has two golf courses and is crawling with antique shops, and everyone is encouraged to bring games, Frisbees, guitars, or whatever you’d like to do and share.
As Ann said, “I like fireworks. Better yet with friends.” Ann will be there – and Brian and Allan – so we will have friends, and the friends will bring fireworks. We plan to have a bang-up time!
Plans are still being made for the event, and updates will be posted on the ND Mensa website at http://northdakota.us.mensa.org. The floor is open to suggestions: please send them to RG co-chair Ann Knudson, kann2@qwest.com, 701-223-2962. Please watch this page for further details, maps and directions, and please plan to come!!
Updates:
Click here to read about the President’s House Guest Inn, which will be ALL OURS from 1 PM Saturday, June 26, to 3 PM Sunday, June 27!! The website includes a “mini-tour” with photos of all the rooms – it is absolutely beautiful! Have a look at that grand staircase! To reserve a room ($35; sleeps two) or put in a request to share one ($20.00), please email Shirley or Ann. One room with a double bed, one with twin beds, and a maid’s room with one single bed ($25) are still available.
LocSec Brian Tinker is going to bring Polish sausage from Sam’s and grill it at the picnic. Of course, you are also welcome to bring your own grillable main course if you wish!
If anyone wants to swim, there are swimming pools at both the VCSU student center (very close to the President’s House) and the Wagon Wheel Inn (our inn of choice for RG-goers who sign up after the President’s House rooms are filled).
Ann Knudson asked me to add this info on Valley City’s two golf courses:
Bjornson Park Public Golf Course
Valley City, ND 58072
(701) 845-5452
Country Club
500 12 Av NE, Valley City, ND 58072-2433
(701) 845-4626
The Country Club is very close to Chautauqua park (right across the
river), but I don’t know whether it is “members only.” The Bjornson course is
south of town. Anyone who is interested in golfing, please let us know!
Personally (this is Shirley), I played golf briefly as part of gym class at
Concordia, and thought it completely unreasonable that such a small ball and
such a small club could be expected to ever come into contact with one
another…but I am REALLY looking forward to the canoeing, party, hike, and
fireworks!