Posted by Rich/Mohican Press on January 10, 1999 at 06:47:19:
So ... Before retiring last night, I gazed, for what seemed like hours, at myself ... looking long and deep into my soul, searching, for the reasons why. I HAD to, you understand! It is not often that I am asked to do so by someone on a mission (commanded by God, I presume?) for the benefit of humankind. I felt I owed it to her/him/it. I spent an extremely restless night, tossing and turning, wondering, "Why US? Why were WE the chosen ones?" It came to me like a flash! I had seen the light! It was ALL so VERY clear now! There had been no PURPOSE to my life. But now, I'd been SAVED! So ... the Site will be torn down immediately, MohicanLand will be burned to the ground, She-Who Tracks, Sassy, Old Crone, The 3 Little Piggies, The TowneCryer, Traders of ALL nationalities, Dr. Mary, E. Lane, even Hawkeye, Uncas & Chingachgook ... and ESPECIALLY that whiney old sap, Alice ... will all be shot on sight! All copies of Cooper's masterpiece, "The Last of the Mohicans", will be burned, as well - Cooper himself dug up and desecrated - along with ALL film versions, anybody in them, any artifacts & history books about the French & Indian War, all Inuit Art made by any cast members ... DESTROY IT ALL! As for me, my new mission, my new way to utilize my precious time, will be to flit from board to board warning all those who partake of their evil vices to flee ... to repent ... to be SAVED! Then ...
I woke up. This whacko might not know it, but we CAN track her/him/it down. It's very easy, really. Simply compare the post times to the ISP addresses on our Access Watch. But who cares, really? Not I. Now THAT would be a waste of time, eh BILLY Jean?
Enough on that ... On to The Gathering ...
A few things I want to mention before getting into the big screen showing. 1 - The Gathering Page is NOT yet updated. We are awaiting the final price on the Chimney Rock Park Packages. As soon as we have those, the page will be completely updated reflecting all information we have to date. The prices currently on the page are accurate within a couple of dollars. 2 - Don't assume The Gathering to be an annual event, though it very well may be. One never knows. If you want to be a part of it, do it this year! 3 - You may notice that the Packages are a bit more pricey than they were last year. There are good reasons. We now have a big breakfast included on the CRP day, to go along with last year's lunch & dinner. The commemorative box costs a bit more than last year's keychain. There are 4 nights at the Bunkhouse included in Package #2, rather than last year's 3. All in all, more for your money! 4 - We have tried to organize the flow better this year, reducing, a bit, driving. Friday: Appropriately begins with a sunrise at the scene of The Opening Vistas. Then, an exploration of the sites in and around Linville Gorge. With such an early start, there should be much free time later in the day to mingle, view displays at the Bunkhouse, or shop. No meals provided this day. Saturday: A rare chance to visit the scene of The River Walk (on private property). We will see four waterfalls this day. The movie in the evening. Should be some free time in the afternoon to perhaps mosey on over to Asheville. Lunch is provided at The River Walk. Sunday: All day at Chimney Rock Park. All meals provided. The end comes, at night, across the road, with a bonfire, The Gael, and raffles.
OK?
The movie:
As I mentioned in an earlier post, the film will not come so cheaply this year. Here's why:
Last year, the theatre owner, at the local movie house, & I quickly reached a gentleman's agreement on obtaining and showing LOTM. He could procure it for $275. If we could bring enough people in to cover that, he would not charge us. He figured to make some profit off the popcorn sales. VERY reasonable, I thought. We laid out the $275 deposit. It would be refunded if we had ticket sales to cover that amount. At $5 per ticket, we needed 55 people to show up. No problem, I thought. Well, there were only 38 of us at last year's Gathering. Maybe 10 or 15 locals showed up to see the movie. We were still short. Soldier # 2 took up a drive to collect the extra money from the Gatherers, so that Elaine & I would not get stuck. Much more than was necessary was generously donated. We were, I thought, covered, and the theatre surely made a little on it. Then, early on, we discovered the film was spliced backwards - remember that?? The theatre people offered to run it again for us, correctly, any time we chose the next day. Popcorn & soda (their profits) on the house. It was THEIR offer. Well, the owner's story goes that the film company that put out "Armegeddon" had one of their flicks running there at the time. They found out about LOTM's showing, apparently a violation of some sort. They would not allow "Armegeddon" to play at that theatre as "punishment". The owner figured he would lose thousands by not having that blockbuster play. He decided WE must share in the loss, and refused to refund our money. So, in effect, Elaine & I each paid $142.50 to see LOTM on the big screen ($5 apiece/ticket plus $275). WHAT A DEAL! :)
This year, we HAD to do it differently. Acting on suggestions, we contacted the Skyland Arts Cinema in Hendersonville. They obtained the film for the 12th of June for us, and were more than happy to do so. The setting sounds great. This works nicely because it's relatively close to The River Walk. The owner has invited Elaine & I to come over, see a movie on the house, and check out the accomodations. He feels we'll be very pleased with the overall set-up. So do we after discussing the place with him. So, why so high? And, why can't we yet give a definite price? The rental of the theatre costs $350. The film is another $300, plus $50 shipping costs EACH way. Total = $750! Nothing is due, however, until the night we arrive at The Gathering. So, do the math. If we repeat the 38 attendees this year, each ticket costs nearly $20. We EXPECT a bigger turn-out. Let's say as many as 50 people come. Then, the price drops to $15. If we pack the house by some miracle, (it's capacity is 75), then the final price would be only $10. That's why we are asking for a $10 deposit. The tickets will not cost less than that. With a really good turn-out, they won't be much more. Whatever the balance, we'll collect it from all of you at The Gathering, early on, and have the grand total of $750 ready to turn over to the theatre. We simply CANNOT lay out all that money, at risk, like last year. All in all, considering the much improved setup, the "once in a lifetime"-type atmosphere, seeing it in its natural habitat, and with fellow Mohicanites, its still not that bad a deal.
For those of you who have never seen LOTM on the big-screen, the color & detail are simply spectacular! Nothing at all like what you see on video. A real treat! Speaking of video, the theatre could run the letterbox version on the big screen for us. That would only cost the $350 theatre rental. We quickly ruled that out. For us, it's worth the extra $$ to see the REAL THING!
Do start thinking SERIOUSLY about whether or not you want to attend this year's Gathering. There are 24 spaces at the Bunkhouse, 75 movie tickets, unlimited CRP Package #1's (meals, admission, commemorative gift) ... everthing else has no limit. Gathering T-Shirts are being designed and will be offered, as well.
Coming next week ... Mark A. Baker's review of the script! Interesting stuff!
Happy Trails!