I know it's too early to bring up tarp line suggestions, but...

[completejohn]

More random thoughts (the only kind I ever have!):

- 70 feet with a bean bag toss ain't no tarp - that's a campground!

- I met up with a friend who was bragging about how her tarp mates had perfectly lined up their chairs so that nobody could pass through.  I think that was actually kinda rude, especially knowing that people NEED to move in and out of their area throughout the day.  She was noting how effective it was at night.  Yeah, effective for them, but if you're in front and want to go to the bathrooms, everyone should help you by allowing you to pass.  Especially at night when it's even harder to see.

- The soundboard area really needs a no-parking zone on either side to let people up front get in and out.  I was able to lay my tarp on the left side every day, but instructed my tarp sitters to keep their chairs away from the fence so people would be able to pass without trouble.  The only problem popped up when latecomers wanted to squat there (understandably!).   Last year (or was it '08?) there was a lane built for "no tarps" there.  Perhaps it needs to return!

- Not tarp related, but...   On Friday morning, there were some high school age kids walking around asking for cigarette butts - supposedly helping to keep the camps clean.  Friday night, my case of beer that was soon going to be put on ice suddenly disappeared.  I know we can't do much about getting ripped off, but we must remember at all times that not EVERYONE has the festivarian spirit.  I guess I'm just happy that they didn't see my guitar when scouting our camp.  But I DID find my case of beer near the river on Saturday morning - too bad it was empty.

[Matt and Becky]

- Not tarp related, but...   On Friday morning, there were some high school age kids walking around asking for cigarette butts - supposedly helping to keep the camps clean.  Friday night, my case of beer that was soon going to be put on ice suddenly disappeared.  I know we can't do much about getting ripped off, but we must remember at all times that not EVERYONE has the festivarian spirit.  I guess I'm just happy that they didn't see my guitar when scouting our camp.  But I DID find my case of beer near the river on Saturday morning - too bad it was empty.

I got to chime in here.  I busted the beer bandit red-handed on Saturday night and let me just say that it was NOT high schoolers like you might think.  I am not going to name names, but I will just say that it was a woman in probably her mid 40's. Turns out she was camping near us by the river with a nice group of TP regulars.  I busted her when I went to my tent to grab my mandolin.  I had left the ez-up to go grab my axe and when I returned I noticed a stranger stumbling into our ez-up and looking around to see if anyone was there.  She didn't notice me and then I saw her grab a bottle of Stoli from our table and start walking away.  I confronted her and then she gave me the bottle back and stumbled away into the dark.  I was bummed that I didn't get a picture of her that night, but then the next morning I saw her stumble by and I recognized the stumble so I talked to her and she admitted to it and said 'sorry'.  I took a good mug shot of her so I could report her and I later learned that she already had the police looking for her.  I guess she had already gotten a DUI on the way into town and wasn't supposed to be drinking in the first place.  Just goes to show you though, you can't always be so quick to blame those pesky kids! 

[Bevin]

Gigantic tarps, booze thieves, shade chairs; where will the un-Festivarian behavior end?

On the other hand, there were almost no empty chairs in line this year, so we're making progress there.

[completejohn]

I sit corrected.  If it was that woman, I totally apologize to any HS-age people reading this forum for assuming it was them.  I just remember that the only time I stole beer was when I was in high school and it was only from my father's stash.  A woman in her 40s should know better, even if she was drunk!  All she would have had to do was ask and I probably would have given her one.

I guess it's my fault for just assuming that the festivarian spirit is so universal that I don't have to worry about ANYthing.  Taking a few seconds to put my beer under a tarp or making sure my guitar is hidden away in the tent is something I'll just have to remember to do in the future, even at TBF.  If I was camping at Coachella or one of those huge fests, I wouldn't even THINK of leaving anything laying around.  I just get too complacent in Town Park for my own good.

And yes, the empty chair syndrome seems to have subsided - peer pressure is a strong motivator!  Way to go, tarp-ees!

[HuckinFappy]

We had a lot of issues with visiting thieves this year.  We had one camp member who liked to keep an eye on things, playing Sheriff, and he cchased out several folks who didn't belong and didn't have good intentions.  He actually collared one guy and had Randy call the sheriff.  Turns out they were hoisting beer from campsites, but it could have been worse.

Sunday night was really freaky, when a guy comes tearing through camp, and a few minutes later the police were looking for him.  Turns out he had just "assaulted a federal marshall".  I know they hung around Town Park a long time looking for him, anyone know if they found him?

The overall lesson we took away was that (as always) it's up to us to look out for each other.  The police force can't do it without help.  We're all (marginally adults, and when we see something that seems fishy, suspicious, odd, creepy or wrong, it's up to us to try and figure out if it's harmless, or if we should bring it to the attention of the authorities.

It's more fun to just pretend we're all in a little safe bubble, but it's not true.

~Jeff

[UselessJo]

"We're all (marginally) adults, and when we see something that seems fishy, suspicious, odd, creepy or wrong, it's up to us to try and figure out if it's harmless, or if we should bring it to the attention of the authorities."

Does this include Ron? For the most part he seems harmless!

[TellurideTom]

"We're all (marginally) adults, and when we see something that seems fishy, suspicious, odd, creepy or wrong, it's up to us to try and figure out if it's harmless, or if we should bring it to the attention of the authorities."

Does this include Ron? For the most part he seems harmless!

Hell, sometimes even I act like a kid.

[darbwa]

I like Bevin's idea that the problem is the behavior and not the rule (this one being the tarp size).  But as we can see from some of the descriptions of events, it is much easier to enforce a rule like tarp size than it is to enforce festavarian-like behavior.  A 10x10 or even a 12x12 tarp is very reasonable.  If you want a 25x25 tarp, there should be an area for that... in the back.

 Listening to: Grateful Dead