Here's an email off of the purple martin forum.
http://forum.purplemartin.org/forum/

Blake Iverson
Arlington, WA
coopershwk at hotmail.com



Martinfest 2003
From: Chuck Abare, yankee11 at charter.net
Date: 1/28/03
Time: 4:01:41 PM
Remote Name: 67.97.57.147


Comments
MartinFest 2003

Folks: A few years ago when the Internet was fairly new there were a few of
us that were in communication with each other via our computers. A few of us
had purple martin web pages and one by one, we all got to know each other.
We obviously all talked martins and seemed to genuinely enjoy these birds to
the fullest. Then, one day a couple of us (Chuck Abare, AL & Kent Justus,
AR) bumped heads and decided to have a SMALL get together in Finger, TN at
another friend's (Victor Stoll, TN) purple martin super colony. We decided
to invite the others and see what happened. Since most of us knew each other
from the web, we thought it would be fun to all get together on a Saturday
in June, meet each other in person and view the martins at what is
considered to be the largest purple martin colony in the world. We all
booked reservations at a local motel and when the day arrived we spent the
night there talking and initially getting to know each other. Then, when
Saturday arrived, we all assembled in lawn chairs in the shade of some large
trees in Victor's front yard and talked and actually put some faces with the
very people we had been e-mailing for a couple of years. We talked about
Victor's birds, our birds, our occupations and our hobbies. We talked about
many things that we all had in common and a few we didn't. At lunchtime, we
gathered a few dollars from each one present and we sent out for some
delicious barbecue and cold drinks. We then sat in the shade of those big
trees and had us a good ole country picnic. We had young and old and a few
in between and everyone genuinely had a great time. That day, one of our
attendees (Vic Jodts, MO) coined our little get together as a regular
"MartinFest" and it stuck. In fact, we had such a good time, we all decided
to repeat the event the next year.

Well, in the following years and as the event grew, in order for us to foot
the bills we asked for donations up front from the participants primarily to
cover lunch. As purple martin merchandise vendors found out about the event
they contacted us, asking to set up and show off their wares, so we agreed.
In return for the free advertising, many of them donated a selection of
their housing to be raffled off; thus we were able to cover some of the
growing bills without digging deeper into the participant's pockets. This
enabled us to bring in tents, port-a-potties, unique guest speakers, a sound
system, etc. These raffles covered costs of things that one just wouldn't
think about at an event of its size.

Well folks, what originally began with only 13 people has now grown to over
500 purple martin maniacs from all over North America. What was originally a
Saturday-only get together has how exploded to the point that we (The
MartinFest Committee) have decided to turn the event into a two-day affair
since a majority of participants travel great distances and the single day
usually flies by too quickly. Originally, we had a rule that no selling of
wares by the vendors was to take place and that the event was to be for fun
only and completely not-for-profit. However, many participants have
suggested that we change that so that people coming this far can purchase
items of their choosing that the vendors have available to sell. So, after
some discussions, it was decided this was a good idea. After all, these
vendors had been supporting us, so we felt it only fair to reciprocate. If
they're coming all this way with their products, why not allow them to sell
them to interested parties and at least make enough to cover their trip
expenses.

So, this is MartinFest 2003: The dates will be: MartinFest Vendor's Day -
June 20th Traditional MartinFest - June 21st

On the new Friday Vendor's Day, vendors will be allowed to set up shop,
advertise and sell their products to the public. Anyone with a product that
they wish to sell will be allowed to demonstrate and sell that product as
they wish. This can be actually selling the product or simply taking orders
for a later delivery, however, registration must take place first so we can
keep things somewhat under control.

On the traditional Saturday MartinFest Day, vendors may display one of their
products to the public if they choose. However, we ask that vendors donate
these displays toward our fund raising raffle so that we may continue to
cover our expenses for hosting the event. We also wish to add that ANY
displays, public or private displayed on Saturday will be available for
raffle 'as displayed'. This way, if someone wins the display it will come in
its entirety and the winner isn't forced to purchase the rest of the display
to make it functional.

Questions: Anyone having a question about MartinFest many contact either
myself, Chuck Abare, email: yankee11 at charter.net or Kent Justus, email:
KDJUST at aol.com

Vendors: For any questions about vendor displays, selling products, or the
Saturday raffle, or for registering, please contact myself, Chuck Abare, at
email: yankee11 at charter.net. I can help identify your needs and set you up.
At present, we do not plan on charging a fee to vendors for their product
displays, simply a registration from each vendor to ensure that we make the
proper plans. If you think you want to become a vendor at the largest
gathering of purple martin landlords today, then now's your chance to get
started. Simply contact me with your needs and we'll get you started.

Folks, we would like to extend an invitation to everyone to make plans now
to attend MartinFest 2003. It is an event you will not soon forget. We plan
on keeping the focus for this event primarily on the beautiful purple
martins, the fellowship of new and old friends alike, and the bond that is
formed between all participants to ensure the future appreciation, survival,
and prosperity of this wonderful species of bird. In the following weeks
there will be more information made available for those wishing to attend
such as recommended motels, eateries, etc. so please keep watch.

Sure do hope to see you there! We would also like to extend a special
invitation for folks that have attended before but missed last or previous
years. Trust us, the event gets better and better each year!

Chuck Abare Kent Justus



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