Nashville, Tennessee
August 2 – 5, 2001
Wow! Just when you think it cannot get any better, the event rises to new heights. Gulf Games 8 in Nashville,Tennessee (August 2 – 5, 2001) was simply awesome. I was once again blown away by the kindness, friendliness and civility of the people present. The sense of ‘belonging’ and ‘family’ is incredible. Words cannot adequately describe it. The event and people change you and help make you a better person. It is that special.
Since we were meeting in Nashville, Music City U.S.A., we opted for a ‘ Rock vs.Country‘ theme. Everyone registered was divided into two teams, half representing ‘rock’ and the other half representing ‘country’. Further, each person had pre-selected a band or singer to represent, so we had a good time attempting to uphold the honor of our chosen musical heroes!
Each team had unique name badges, all expertly designed by the dynamic duo of Tim & Vickie Watson. Opponents squared off throughout the four days in one-on-one ‘Button Men‘ matches, with the exact dice each person was to use being printed directly on their name badges (along with their band name)! A special table was decorated and set in a prominent position for these grudge matches. The winner of a match had the honor of listing their band name on the appropriate side (rock or country) on the Billboard Top 100 chart, and we kept a running tally of which side was having more ‘hits’. After a swift start,the country team fell behind by as many as 7 hits. However, on the final day, we began a furious comeback and bested our rock counter-parts, proving once and for all that country rules!(Actually, I’m more of a rock fan, but the country team needed players!)
The theme tie-ins didn’t stop here, however. Along the walls were actual album (albums … remember those?) covers depicting various rock and country bands and singers. The magical thing is that due to some expert computer wizardry courtesy of Lenny Leo, faces of our fellow Gulf Gamers had been transposed onto these covers. Plus, all song names had been doctored to relate to games or the Gulf Gamers. So,we had such fantastic album covers as:
The Beach Boys, featuring the smiling faces of Ted Cheatham, Ty Douds, Craig Berg, Mark Jackson and myself. Songs on this album included:
“I Wish they all could be German gaming girls!”
“The Lady in Ted”
“Shari, Shari and Baby”
“I Ain’t Won Nothing Yet!”
“Ty Can’t Drive 55”
“Wouldn’t it be Dice”
Meet the Beatles, featuring the mugs of some of our Gulf Games kiddies: Zane Douds, Timothy McCarthy, Calvin Douds and Kyle Berg. Songs included:
“I wanna hold Mike Bland”
“Eight Days, No Sleep”
“Baby you can drive Neil’s Car”
“All the young Douds”
“You say you wanna play Revolution”
Aerosmith, featuring Jim Cobb, Dennis Mills, Ward Batty and Neil Carr as Joe Perry. Among others, songs included:
“Games in the Attic”
“Ward, What is he good for?”
“Jane’s got a Gun”
“Douds looks like a Lady”
In all, there were over 20 different album covers, each more hilarious than the next. No one escaped Lenny’s satirical wit. I’ll never forget such great covers as Ben and Marcia Baldanza as Sonny & Cher; Sheldon Smith as Ted Nugent; Kayla Berg as Brittany Spears (“Oops, I beat daddy again!“); or Craig & Kim Berg as Meat Loaf and Bonnie Tyler (“2 out of 300 ain’t bad!“). It was truly an amazing site, all put together by Lenny. Henry Hunger tells us Lenny was obsessed with this for months and got very little sleep!
Lenny’s creativity continued, however, as he had recorded a Gulf Games 8 theme song, set to the music of Johnny Cash’s ” Folsom Prison Blues“. He completely rewrote the song and sang it himself, calling himself “Johnny Maracash“! The song was played periodically throughout the get-together and never failed to elicit laughs and applause. Here’s just a sampling:
“I hear the Freight Train coming, it’s rolling down Hell Rail Track, And we won’t see the sunshine till we’re on our way back!”
and
“Those kids love Mamma Mia, but I can’t bake those pies. I’ll get revenge in Quackshot and put out someone’s eye!”
It was simply a fantastic piece of work! Problem is, he now must do this each and every time! Kudos to Lenny for really spicing up GG8!
But wait, there were more tie-ins! From each album covers hung small medals, each depicting a different game. In all, there were over 200 medals. Anyone winning a game depicted on these medals removed the medal from the album and attached it to his (or her!)name badge and wrote the name of his/her band on the album cover.The person who collected a medal from the most album covers had successfully achieved the most hits and received a special prize! Magnus Lundgren and David Vander Ark proved the most musically talented by having the most ‘hits’!
If you own a game which did not have one of these ‘game’ medals, you grabbed one of the ‘special’ humorous medals. Each of these medals contained a humorous saying or artwork, most directly related to games, songs or the participants. These are always a BIG hit and it is fun to see which medals individuals opt to wear. The person collecting the most medal receives a special prize. This year, the award was captured by our favorite Swede, Magnus Lundgren!
We had other events and contests, too, including the always popular ‘Cassandre’s Friendly Person Contest’. This was formerly known as the ‘Mr. Friendly‘ contest, but Cassandre Berg had accused us of discriminating against females! So, we renamed the contest awhile back in her honor. The idea is to play with as many different people as you possibly can during the course of the convention, placing a mark on the large chart by the name of each person you play with. Those playing with the most people received special awards. This year,the three most friendly people were
Craig Berg, Michael Glanzer and … me! Hooray! It was also funny to see Michael Glanzer roaming around the room, getting everyone he met to play him in a game of Buffalo!
Ward Batty and Jim Cobb tested our ability to recognize games from game pieces. They had a large chart depicting 94 (or was it 92? Hard to tell!) different game tiles. Tono one’s surprise, Frank ‘Moo’ Branham correctly identified over 60 of them! I was next, but had to disqualify myself as I had submitted over 30 of the tiles to Ward!
Other events added to the fun. Ted Cheatham again hosted the Welcome Party, designing a ‘get to meet you’ event tied into the musical theme. Everyone was secretly given the name of a musical instrument. Seven other individuals in the group had the same instrument. The challenge was to locate those people by sound only! Ted gathered everyone into the center of the room and had us close our eyes. We then each had to begin making the sound of our musical instrument and roam around attempting to find the other members possessing the same instrument! It was so funny to hear all everyone humming those musical sounds. Once a group located all of its members, it stepped aside and was able to watch the hilarity continue! Once all groups had been formed, each group was given the task of assembling games that matched a set of criteria given to them. It was a mini-treasure hunt and was fast and fun. Kudos to Ted for yet another fantastic idea! The Welcome Party concluded with our traditional ‘ Take it Easy‘ contest, this time won by Gulf Games first-timer Larry Levy!
Following the Welcome Party, we all gathered fora group meal in a separate room. This meal was simply the best we’ve ever had for our group dinner. It was delicious. It was also very special to spend some time around the table with some good friends and enjoy some excellent conversation.On Saturday morning, the traditional Liar’s Dice tournament was held. Unfortunately, reigning champion Ben Baldanza was unable to attend, so the title of ‘Best Liar‘ was up for grabs. Once again, Tim Watson fell just short, falling to the new champ, Frank Branham!
Prior to our Prize Table giveaway, Derk Solko and Ken Girton treated the group to Quiz Pong,another trivia contest testing our knowledge of games and movies.The four teams competed against each other, earning ping pong balls for each question they successfully answered. These balls were then tossed into an elaborate grid Derk and Ken had assembled on the game room floor. The idea was to capture majorities in as many regions in the grid as possible. Hey! That would make a good goal for a game! Oh … it’s been done. We had lots of fun answering the questions and tossing the balls. Another fun contest by Derk and Ken!
The prize table was again incredible. We had enough games for each person to walk away with four games. The quality was also greatly improved, which is a tribute to everyone.
On Sunday, several of us traveled the short distance to the Church at Hickory Hollow, the home church of our own Mark Jackson. Mark is pastor at this progressive church which caters to a younger congregation, helping them on their spiritual journey. The atmosphere is casual and upbeat, with Christian rock music setting the tempo and mood. It is always a personal joy for me to share my faith with my friends.Thanks to Mark for a moving experience.
Sadly, each Gulf Games must come to an end. It really is gut-wrenching as folks depart for home. It’s not often grown men (and women) feel comfortable enough to cry and hug in public, but Gulf Games is one of those special events where this occurs freely. The friendships and bonds which have formed thanks to this incredible event are something truly special.It is, without a doubt, one of the highlights of my life. I have been truly blessed by the friendship and love of all of you. I cannot begin to thank you enough for the kindness, friendship and love you freely share with me and my family. I am truly blessed.
Although I am terribly sad when a particular Gulf Games comes to an end, I am warmed by the knowledge that we get to do it all over again in just six months! I can’t imagine life without Gulf Games and the wonderful people who make it so special!
See y’all in Pensacola in February!! Don’t miss it!