4th
Annual Western
New York Letterbox
Gathering
It’s a WNYld
Ride 2006 (last updated August 21, 2006)
General Info: Couldn’t quite hit the Southern Tier for our gathering this
year, so we got as close as we could! We’re going to be near the home of one of
New
York’s best theme parks for the It’s a WNYld Ride 2006 gathering. It's on August 26th and will go from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM for those interested in a day trip, but we’ll
also be camping out on August 25th-26th
and doing some NIGHT BOXING! For that, we’ll be
around can check in Friday night and stay until Sunday morning. We’ll be at Darien Lakes State
Park, about 5 miles from Six Flags Darien Lake
in Darien
Center, NY (Genesee County).
Directions: The park is off Route 77, which is an
easy jump from the New York State Thruway
Exit 48A. Once you take the thruway exit, head south on Route 77 (a
right turn) all the way to Route 20 (you’ll
actually see Six Flags to your left, but don’t stop there). You should see
signs for Darien Lakes SP, so keep your eyes peeled for them. Head west (turn
right) on Route 20 until you reach Harlow
Road. Make a right onto Harlow and drive until you see
the entrance to the park on the right and you’re there! For those more familiar
with the area, you can also take Route 20 in from Buffalo or points east, if you
know what you’re doing. Click here for a Yahoo
map of Darien Center to help you. Once inside the park, head toward the
pavilions (or ask for directions to the pavilions) and we’ll be at the smaller
of the two.
Event Schedule: We’re trying to maximize your boxing time,
so the schedule is simple:
11:00am—Event
begins. Come
stamp into the event book, get the event stamps, exchange with other boxers and
get some food. You can do this at ANY time between 11:00 and 4:30, but the food
DOES run out and people will be in and out all day! IF YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN TO A GATHERING, BE SURE TO COME AT
THIS TIME SO WE CAN HAVE TIME TO MEET YOU AND HELP YOU GET ORIENTED!
11:00-4:30pm: Boxing all
over the park & Genesee/Orleans County. You can also use this time to exchange at the
pavilion or just talk to other folks in the area
4:30pm—Group
photo. Be
sure to come back in time to get everyone in the shot so we’ve got something to
share on the boards!
4:45pm—Raffle
& Award time! Pay
a $1 per ticket and get a shot at winning some great boxing supplies or win an
stamping award for the day!
5:00pm—Event
ends. Join up
with the local folks for dinner at one of the nearby restaurants (TBA) or head
home/to your hotel to relax. If you’re staying overnight for camping, night
boxing starts as soon as the sun goes down that night! Come back Sunday to get
what boxes you missed!
Food: Like
all gatherings, our bounty will be potluck, so bring your favorite dish and let
us know what it is (so we don’t have too little or too much of anything!).
We'll provide hotdogs and soda if you bring the side dishes!
Accommodations: Unlike Rochester, Darien Center is a tiny place. Your
first choice for lodging that weekend should be camping at Darien
Lakes, since you’ll get to do the extra evening events that day visitors
can’t be part of. If you click on Book Now at the park site, you’ll be taken to
the Darien Lakes reservation site. We’ll
all be staying in A Loop at the park, which says it’s for trailers, but is
really set up for both. Just choose a site between #15-#35
to be close to the action. If outdoor
living’s not your bag, baby, then there are a few hotels to choose from. This
is what Yahoo gave me for hotel
search results, but I would avoid the Econolodge
like the plague! We’ve NEVER had good luck at any of them and this one doesn’t
seem to be rated much better. Six Flags also has its own hotel and campgrounds,
but the cost is outrageous (unless it includes the cost of going to the park,
which I don’t know). There’s also the Dollinger’s Motel in Medina, which is also about 15
minute minutes away and is small, but very nice. The best place for staying
overnight if you aren’t camping is Batavia,
which is a little further, but would get you to the gathering in about 15-25
minutes or less. Keywords to search for are Six Flags Darien Lake (of course).
Boxes: Boxes
will be placed all over Darien Lakes State Park for this event, some of
which will be picked up a month afterward and returned to their owners. Clues for the park boxes will be posted on our gathering clues page
on Thursday the 24th, so no peeking until
then (and if you stay overnight, you’ll get first crack at them!). We’ll also
have a booklet of the park clues to give out at the pavilion, but only until we
run out! Our box theme is all about amusement and theme parks, so let us know
if you’d like to donate a box based on your favorite ride! More importantly, though,
let us know if you want to donate raffle items!
Any boxing supplies or fun items you can send to add to our list would really
help make the whole thing worthwhile. Proceeds for this raffle will go toward
the cost of the pavilion, the grill food and...well, other raffle items! :-).
Getting Around & Other Boxes: There’s the Thruway boxes
on your way into town, but also check Atlas Quest for Darien Center boxes (you’ll want to
expand your search to at least 25 miles). On LBNA, check for boxes in Monroe, Genesee and Orleans County (Niagara and Erie if you have a weekend to
spend! If you DO want to make a weekend
out of it, don't forget that the Royalton Ravine boxes from the 2nd
gathering are only about 30 minutes from where we'll all be, so check any
cities along Route 31 for more boxes within reach (Medina, Albion, Holley &
Elba come to mind) or cities along the thruway (Batavia and Williamsville especially!).
Mapworks
sells an EXCELLENT map of the Western New York area with all the little
side streets and rabbit runs, so you might want to invest the 4 or 5 bucks on one.
The only catch is the DETAILED map of Rochester & Monroe County or of
Buffalo area is a separate map, so a little extra, but still inexpensive for
the detail.
Questions?: Let us know (the
Sprite & the Highlander) if WE can be of more help. This is the third
WNY gathering we’ve planned (fifth for the area) and we always strive for a
relaxing weekend amongst friends, old and new. Celtic Quinn and the Quinn Clan
should also be among us, so be sure to keep your pockets zipped and your bags
closed (unless you WANT the King of Cooties attacking you)! If you know of
anyone else that's interested, please feel free to pass this info along to them
and have them sign up on Atlas Quest, either for the day event or the whole weekend!
Hope to see you there!
The (already buying glow in the dark stuff and hoarding Speedycut) Sprite & the (watching the whole summer
budget fly out the window) Highlander
Click here to return to the Sprite and the Highlander's home
page.
E-mail us at dasprite222@yahoo.com
so we can keep you informed of updates to this page and the event.
