North
Dakota Mensa’s Regional Gathering, 2008
Ragtime, Pizza, Picnic, Boat Races, and Fireworks!
The fifth annual Regional
Gathering of North Dakota Mensa will be held at the beautiful President’s House
Guest Inn at Valley City State University, Valley City, North Dakota. It will
include a musical evening at the President’s House, potluck picnic, fireworks,
and races between the Mensaboat and the Knudson canoe – and a contest to name
the Mensaboat with a prize yet to be determined.
RG08 is over now,
and it was wonderful!
Click to see pictures of the RG in
a thumbnail gallery.
(Pics are by Peggy
Pannke-Smith – or at least by her camera – unless otherwise indicated.)
Click to see
Peggy’s gallery of photos (4-MB pdf file).
Click here to see
pictures from the 2006 RG in web page form.
Click
here to see pictures from the 2006 RG in thumbnail gallery form.
Click here to see
pictures from the 2004 RG.
Click here to read
the LocSec’s column about our 2004 RG.
Click here to read
the Editor’s column about our 2004 RG.
Click here to see the
2005 RG web page.
Click to read more
about the President’s House from a Mensan viewpoint.
Dates: May
30-June 1, 2008
Place: Valley
City, North Dakota:
The
President’s House Guest Inn, www.presidentshouse.com
Chautauqua
Park
The Broken Spoke Restaurant
Click here for maps and directions.
Activities: Musical
Evening, Pizza Lunch; Potluck Picnic, Name the Mensaboat; Canoeing and Boat
Race, Fireworks, Restaurant Brunch
Contacts: Shirley
Starke (email)
Ann Knudson - (701)-223-2962
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.
Registration: Please email to let us know you are coming. Walk-ins won’t be turned
away, but might accidentally miss us, and the sooner you let us know, the
better choice you will have if you want a room at the President’s House.
Registration and room fees can be mailed to Shirley Starke, 3408 120th Ave. SE,
Valley City, ND 58072; make checks payable to North Dakota Mensa.
Schedule:
Friday, May 30:
1 PM: President’s House opens; Mensans begin to arrive and settle in
5 PM: RG officially begins
6 PM: Supper: We will pick up subs at Subway, then indulge ourselves by eating them on good china and crystal in the formal dining room!
7 PM: Mensa conversation; a musical evening with the President’s House antique player piano, and all the talents/instruments you’d like to bring
Saturday, May 31:
12 noon: Pizza lunch with lemonade, coffee, Zota Soda (a special treat from Vermont)
2 PM: Name our new Mensaboat!
4:30 PM: Potluck picnic, Chautauqua Park; canoeing and races; horseshoes; any other outdoor games (lawn darts?) you want to bring
10:00 PM: Fireworks outside city limits (in Shirley Starke’s yard)
Sunday, June 1:
10 AM: Brunch at the Broken Spoke restaurant
11 AM – 3 PM: Church attendance optional; conversation; relaxing; cleanup at President’s House
3 PM: President’s House closes; end of RG
Costs:
Registration: $12.00
(Includes pizza lunch with Zota Soda. Coffee and lemonade included throughout
the RG.)
Rooms at the President’s
House:
Double room: $50
Single room: $40
Share a double: $35 (one
room with twin beds available). This option becomes available if two guys or
two women request it.
The President’s House also
has a roll-away bed which can be placed in the attic room or cool basement; see this page for
details.
Those who
sign up after the President’s House is filled can stay at the nearby Wagon
Wheel Inn, about $50/night, where they will do their best to give the Mensa
group adjacent rooms. The Wagon Wheel also has an RV park – BYO RV. J
Friday dinner: Subs from
Subway about $2.50 (6”) to $6 (12”).
Potluck Picnic: A dish to
share. (Locally-purchased deli food is fine if you are coming far or don’t
cook.)
Fireworks shoot: FIREWORKS
to share if you can get them!
Restaurant brunch: Order
your own from the Broken Spoke’s excellent menu, which includes delicious
omelettes as well as more affordable pancakes, etc.
(Why are costs so low?? This is a full-scale RG, and it might just be the best one you’ve ever attended! Registration and costs are low because were aren’t using the RG as a fund-raiser but only want to have a great time and cover our costs – and by keeping costs low, we hope to attract as many Mensans as possible. The more Mensans, the more fun – call it a “fun-raiser”…groan…)