We've had a terrific response from Mudcatters since we issued an invitation to the FSGW Getaway and everyone is very excited. But it's a good wind that blows nobody ill, and the Getaway spaces are filling up weeks earlier than usual.

This shouldn't have been a problem. There are plenty of beds, either in cabins or in the reserved motel rooms. But the ovens at this camp are smaller, and the menu that Debbie McClatchy has contracted to provide depends heavily on baking chicken, etc. We're working on the food problem and hope to lick it, but Debbie's in England, having already prepared everything for the Getaway before she left, and won't be back in time to change the menu or prepare more meals.

In the meantime we need to be sure that FSGW Getaway regulars have a chance to register.

The compromise we've reached is this: For NEW registrations ONLY, we're going to give FSGW members and previous Getaway attendees priority UNTIL SEPTEMBER 20. Mudcatters and other new people who apply in this period will be put on a wait list until that date.

If you are on the wait list, we'll let you know on Sept 20, probably by e-mail, whether we have the extra room. By then we hope we will solve the food problem. If we do, we'll have plenty of room.

PLEASE NOTE: If you've already mailed your registration, or if the postmark is NLT today, or if you've signed on to do a concert or workshop, you do not have to go on a wait list, ie we can give you a firm "yes." If you decide to register after today, we'll hold your registration until Sept. 20 and let you know then.

You can e-mail me for more info, or just post an entry to this thread. To anyone who's missed me -- I've been trying not even to log onto Mudcat lately, because I can't read just one thread -- once I see all the tempting titles, a little switch turns in my head and I have to read everything that interests me. It uses up my time and exhausts the hamsters.

- Rita Ferrara