September 12, 2005

Hi to all,

The Virginia Association for Parks Fall Conference will be held at Fairy Stone State Park from arrival on Thursday, September 29 through Saturday noon, October 1. Fairy Stone is located south of Roanoke and northwest of Martinsville. The Park’s 170-acre lake abuts Philpott Reservoir and is minutes away from the Blue Ridge Parkway. You can access the Park by Route 57 from Bassett or from the Blue Ridge Parkway via Routes 58, 8, and 57.

The Park has cabins, a lodge, and a conference center. As usual Nancy Heltman will be handling our lodging needs. Call Nancy at 804-786-5057, tell her your arrival and departure date, and she’ll set you up. You may have to leave a voice mail message if you call. Another option is to email her at nancy.heltman@dcr.virginia.gov. Before you call or email, read the rest of this letter because there’s something else you may want to include in your message to her.

In terms of Friday activities, we’re going to deviate a bit from past practice. We often schedule so many activities involving travel that we don’t have time to truly experience what the host park has to offer. We’re not going to make that mistake this time. The upcoming conference will feature several “in-park” activities on Friday morning from which you can choose.

For example, activities will include a guided hunt for “fairy stones”, a guided hike, a guided canoe trip, a guided “birding” outing, and/or time for you to simply do “your own thing”. We’ll have a menu of Friday morning activities from which you can choose available at the Thursday night “conviviality gathering”.

Another possibility, depending on the number of you who are interested, is a Friday morning trip to Mabry Mill on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Mabry Mill is approximately 45 minutes distant from the Park each way. If you are interested in a visit to Mabry Mill on Friday morning in lieu of the “in park” activities offered at Fairy Stone, please let Nancy know that when you call her to make your lodging arrangements. If a sufficient number prefer this option, we’ll see if we can arrange group transportation. If the number is small, you’re welcome to make the Mabry Mill visit on your own.

Friday afternoon, we’ll have our training/educational components along with some free time. Saturday morning will be taken up with the business meeting which will include officer elections and member votes on proposed by-law changes. We’ll plan to adjourn at noon on Saturday.

As with the activities, we’re also going to take a different approach to the food arrangements for the upcoming conference. Fairy Stone does not have food service and I haven’t had much luck in dealing with the “local” caterers. So, given that plus increased fuel costs and the need to keep your overall conference attendance expense as low as possible, we’ve opted for the following approach.

Since we’ll be lodging on the Park and will have access to refrigerators, microwaves, coffee pots, etc., you should plan on bringing your own breakfast for Friday and Saturday mornings. At the Thursday night “conviviality gathering” or first thing Friday morning, we’ll take a “head count” of those who will be eating lunch on Friday and Saturday as well as those who will be having dinner on Friday night.

The VAFP Treasury will advance the money to buy the needed lunch materials for the group and the requisite items for a cookout on Friday night. On Saturday, before adjournment, we’ll divvy up the lunch costs and the cookout cost depending on the number(s) participating in the respective meals and you can reimburse Ann Lipp for your food.

That’s it in a nutshell. More specific agendas for Friday and Saturday will be available on Thursday night. If you arrive too late for the “conviviality gathering” on Thursday night (at the lodge), we’ll all convene at the conference center at 8:00 a.m. on Friday morning (having had breakfast).

So, there’s nothing for you to fill out, send in, or pay in advance for this conference. All you need to do is call or email Nancy ( 804-786-5057 ; nancy.heltman@dcr.virginia.gov), give her your lodging needs, and let her know if you would prefer a trip to Mabry Mill on Friday morning in lieu of the “in park” activities that will be offered at Fairy Stone.

I think this is going to be a great conference and I look forward to seeing you there….Johnny