2011 Wrap-Up
Consider the following facts:
- Man Weekend 2011 was the BEST MOST AWESOME MAN WEEKEND EVER!
- Glenn wasn’t there.
I let the reader form his own conclusion.
Glenn’s absence means that Allen is the last of the Founding Men to attend all Man Weekends. He was very modest about it and generously promised next year to print up and provide a free tee-shirt to all other men with perfect attendance.
It was cloudy and rainy Thursday. Ty, Adam, and John all reported a massive thunderstorm on the Adirondack Northway. Highgate Springs got a classic 30 minute cloudburst Thursday evening, soaking the contents of porches and revealing a whole new set of roof leaks in the Tobey cottage.
Adam arrived in his latest vehicle, a used police car. Most of the police equipment had been removed but there were still three antennas and the strobe lights still work if you connect some wires in the glove compartment. Adam says that it’s really annoying because, although the car is unmarked, on the Interstate all the other traffic slows down to the speed limit when he comes into view.
In addition to the usual suspects (except for Charles who had a family medical emergency) Man Weekend was graced (so to speak) with the presence of Jimmy Atwater who finally got his Man Weekend hat with three stars, two of which were earned in the pre-hat era.
The lake was still high, higher than anyone had ever seen it before. The dock stairs were gone and a few tons of driftwood and logs clogged up the Shipyard Bay boat put-in ramp, which itself was badly beat up. The weather Friday morning was sunny but the lake was rough. There was a continuous parade of people going out to Shipyard to see if the blockage had been removed. Finally Richard put on some shorts (!) and was able to to toss, heave, and push away the driftwood. (An area resident promised to spread the word crediting “summer people” for the work.) The Aquapimp showed up just as Richard was finishing and Gilbert and Scott got out on the water. They were later spied in the general area of the creek going “offroad,” boating between trees that are normally in ground three feet above the water level.
The Ty-tanic’s engine wouldn’t start. Ty had to replace some electrical components but later Ty, Adam, Allen, and Patrick went out. There weren’t enough guys willing to brave the waves to warrant putting out the HAM.
This year the big dinner was Friday with clams, shrimp, and steak. Scott had some kind of personal bug repeller device that seemed (at least to me) to work for the entire group.
Saturday many of the Men went for an unnecessary breakfast at Joey’s Junction Bakery in Highgate Center. Joey’s is doing the cooking for the Clubhouse this summer. The Bakery food is rich and the portions are massive. If the Clubhouse meals are going to be like that then campers this summer are going to go home happy and waddling. Joey’s gives out two dollar bills for change and some of the Men were able to make good use of them later. (No, no strippers were involved.)
The weather Saturday was opposite of Friday. The sky was cloudy but the lake was calm. Both boats went out again and the Aquapimp stayed out during a period of rain. Of course Scott caught the biggest fish, he probably caught the biggest ten fish. He has pictures of two different huge pike, one six pounds, and a three pound smallmouth bass that jumped clear out of the water during the fight to bring it in. Scott released the big fish but kept a mess of perch that he cleaned up and cooked for Saturday dinner hor d’oeuvres. Delicious!
Saturday evening Man Weekend celebrated its first horse race. The Edgewood TV was tuned to the Belmont Stakes, twelve men put two dollars each in a pot and received a random ticket in exchange, and there was a lot of squinting to try to identify one’s horse as they appeared on the track and the tiny TV screen. The excitement was electric and in the end Scott’s 1 in 24 odds horse won. Camp Randolph gambling odds suck, his payoff was only 1 in 12.
The Saturday dinner was more clams and shrimp, and hot sausage patties. The sausage was even hotter than last years’. Patrick and Allen outdid themselves again. This brings up a massive horrifying problem. PATRICK MAY NOT BE ABLE TO ATTEND MAN WEEKEND NEXT YEAR! What do we do? Maybe we should hold Man Weekend XIV in Rochester. Do you think Patrick’s wife will mind if we rent the house next door to theirs for a weekend?
Uncle Arthur scavenged Highgate Springs for Stuff To Burn. He borrowed a truck to gather dry driftwood from Shipyard and constructed a massive fire. A chair, a rotten barrel, a broken table, and an old stump were soon added. John McCall tossed on the magnesium plate he brought last year but unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) it didn’t catch fire. Uncle Arthur may find another interesting globule in the ashes, but made of magnesium instead of aluminum this time. Adam scared the hell out of the fire watchers by driving up onto the ridge in his cop car with all the lights flashing.
Attention please, the New York Museum of Modern Art would like to talk to the Man who created the chair sculpture Sunday morning. Their phone number is 212-708-9400.