Chattanooga, Tennessee
March 2 – 5, 2000
From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank each and everyone of you for helping make Gulf Games 5 one of the best experiences of my life. I was simply overwhelmed by the free flowing spirit of friendship and love. It is an experience I will never, ever forget.
Although I eagerly anticipate the arrival of each Gulf Games, I also approach it with some trepidation. I always get a bit worried: Will folks enjoy the experience? Have we overlooked anything? Will there be unexpected problems or developments? Will everyone have fun?
All of these things race through my mind and churn in my stomach for weeks prior to the event. That’s one reason I am easily distracted during the course of the get-together as I am constantly trying to make sure everyone has a game to play and any problems are instantly dealt with. I apologize to my fellow players who had to endure my periodic absences during various games I was involved with. I trust you understand.
Well, in spite of my angst and worries, Gulf Games 5 was an incredible success. The theme of Blue vs. Grey was brought to life in so many ways:
1)The Button Men Contest: Everyone was placed on a side … Blue or Grey. Their name badges delineated which side each attendee was on, as well as displayed the seal of their home state and the dice they were to use during the Button Men contest.
Mark Jackson prepared a table in the center of the room for the battles. Each participant donned an appropriate Civil War cap (Union or Confederate) and fought the battle. The winner drew a slip of paper from a box listing the name of the battle which was just fought and proudly mounted it on the victor’s side on the chart. Then, the victor would saunter to the tape player to boom out the victorious song … ‘ When Johnny Comes Marching Home’ or the ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’! It was simply incredible!
2)The Battle Board: A large map (from A House Divided) was mounted on the wall and contained medals posted at various famous Civil War battle sites. Each medal depicted a game (expertly scanned by Tim Watson … who else?). If someone won this game, and at least one player from the opposite side (blue or grey) participated in the game, the victor could claim the medal and in its place mark it with a blue or grey bead. The medals were worth 2 points to the individual victor, while the Battle Board kept track of which side won the most games! Brilliant and tons of fun!
3)Medals: For each victory, players claimed a medal which they proudly wore beneath their name badge. It was great fun to see player’s accolades mount … or tease Craig Berg for his lack of notoriety!
4)Shirts: The Golf shirts and T-shirts, again expertly designed by Tim and Vickie, displayed both Blue and Grey soldiers and flags, as well as other appropriate decorations. In addition, surrounding the entire logo was pictures of some of our favorite games. The shirts were beautiful … so much so that many folks purchased extra shirts upon seeing them!
Did we have special events and contest? Tons of ’em! Here are just a few:
1) The ‘Mr. Friendly’ Contest: We were forced to rename this contest as the ‘Friendly Person‘ contest when Cassie Berg pointed out that we were not being politically correct! Many folks played with over 40 individuals, which is the idea of the contest. Mark Jackson proved to be the friendliest, playing games with 55 folks!
2) Team Trivia: On Sunday morning, everyone was divided into three teams. Each team would send three representatives to the front to participate in a trivia contest, having to correctly answer questions on Designers, Rules Snippets and Slogans. The most hilarious answer was offered by George Michaels to the question:
“No sound effects or noises may be made, such as explosions or engine noises. However, feel free to break into song”.
George’s answer, which caused hysterical laughter, was: 1830!
The correct answer, by the way, is Taboo.
Team A was short-handed (8 members to the other teams’ 9 members), so Frank Branham was sent to the table twice. This caused Derk Solko to go into a frenzy, but his protestations were overruled. Frank’s team carried the day!
3) Liar’s Dice Tournament: Five tables of madcap dice rolling and bluffing. Our table of he-men (Derk Solko, Ken Girton, Stven Carlberg, Ian Borthwick and I) were bested by little Kayla Berg, who has more energy wrapped in that tiny body than the rest of us combined. The finals were ultimately won by Ben ‘Mr. Bluff’ Baldanza.
4) Welcome Party: Ted Cheatham again guided us through a wonderful Welcome Party, which included a Personality Bingo game wherein everyone scurried about trying to correctly identify which folks matched the snippets of information provided on a Bingo sheet. My wife Gail proved the most accurate. We also had our traditional Take it Easy tournament, with my title being stripped away by Michael Bland.
5) Gulf Games Gauntlet: Ted also ran everyone through the Gulf Games Gauntlet, a series of dexterity style games. The games included a variety of games, including an evil game wherein you had to maneuver this prong around metal bars without getting shocked. The concluding game was the bizarrely funny ‘Bunny Bowling‘. Don’t ask!
6) Ty’s Mystery Box: Ty Douds (yes, he IS alive!) had 13 game pieces from American games inside a box. Participants had to correctly identify the pieces. Amazingly, I recognized ALL 13 pieces, including the storm cloud from Dune.
7) Game Equations: The MetroGamers (Derk Solko, Ken Girton, George Michaels and Neil Carr) provided a mentally taxing contest wherein participants had to figure out a statement based on cryptic messages. My mind fried after 5 or 6 lines!
8) Winner’s Circle: Who won the most games? Previously, that title had been held by both Buster Williamson and myself. We were not destined to repeat as Ty Douds was on a mission, winning an astounding 24 games during the course of the get-together! Amazing!
In addition, we also had a wonderful group dinner at a local seafood restaurant, followed by a fantastic prize giveaway. This was, by far, our most outstanding prize table, with tons of great (and some not-so-great) games donated by attendees and sponsors. Many thanks to Avalon Hill, Board Not Bored Games, Boulder Games, Fun Again Games, QED Games, RC Games & Hobbies and Rio Grande Games for donating prizes.We gamed until near 4AM every morning. The games were simply outstanding, especially playing the new Nurnberg games displayed and taught by the tireless Jay Tummelson. But much, much more important han the games was the outstanding friendship, fellowship and camaraderie which was freely shared. There were no biases or tand-offish attitudes. We all genuinely enjoyed the company of each other and had a wonderful time socializing and gaming together. It was a personally enriching experience. God bless you all!
The fun didn’t end with the close of Gulf Games, however. Following the official close of Gulf Games on Sunday afternoon, many of us remained to continue the socializing and visit the attractions and sights of Chattanooga. The Douds, Bergs, Cheathams, Watsons and Schloessers, joined by Michael Bland, Ian Borthwick, Lenny Leo and Desmond Middleton, visited Rock City, Ruby Falls, Lookout Mountain Point Park, Chickamauga National Battlefield and many other area attractions. We enjoyed spending time together outside of the gaming room, although we did adjourn every evening to the game room for even more family gaming!
Sure, a few problems arose during the get-together and were hopefully dealt with properly, mostly by the completely inexhaustible Vickie Watson. I hope everyone realizes just how much Tim and Vickie do to make Gulf Games the experience it is. The t-shirts, decorations, medals, name badges, ‘battle’ board, food, drinks …ALL were the product of Tim and Vickie. I thank God for their involvement and friendship. An incredibly BIG ‘ THANK YOU‘ to Tim and Vickie.
Gulf Games is more than gaming … although it is quite simply the best gaming experience of my life. More importantly, Gulf Games is about family and friends. I’ve said it many times before … I’d attend even if there were no games involved. I simply love the people and the friendship and love which is shared. I cannot begin to thank everyone enough for attending and sharing so freely with each other. I cannot wait till I see you all again in Navarre Beach for Gulf Games 6.