Auction Action

The numbers from last night's auction have been tabulated and audited by the firm of Doughty and Doughty. The official total take as is follows:

Cash receipts $741
Checks received $361

TOTAL $1102

Thanks to everyone who participated.

After Mike submits his expenses for this year's tour (personal bar tab excluded), we'll have an update on where we sit from an overall financial perspective. We're also looking for suggestions on how we might best spend this filthy lucre on next year's tour.

Tom's suggestion for blaze orange oil containers is under consideration.

Sounds Like A Plan

Less than a week away from the 2009 Doughty 500 kickoff and things are starting to come together nicely. We still need a host for Thursday's happy hour, but other than that the details have been flushed out. Here's an itinerary update straight from the horse's Mike's mouth:

Mon
Hayward via Weyerhaeuser and Ladysmith Depart 0830
Lunch: Burdie's Bar & Grill in Weyerhaeuser
Arrive: 1530
Happy Hour Hosted by: Paul & Bernie
Dinner: Angry Minnow

Tues
St. Croix National Scenic Riverway and Spooner Depart 0830
Lunch: 1130 in Spooner @ Tony's Riverside
Arrive: 1600
Happy Hour Hosted by: Dave
Dinner: Family choice

Wed
Mx Group:
0830 - 1100 - Mx Training
1100 - 1300 – Lunch – Family choice
1300 - 1530 - Mx Training

Drive Group
Free play day: Self guided tour of Hayward or points beyond.
Happy Hour: Pay bar in auction room partially funded by Doughty Auction proceeds (A very worthy cause!)
Auction 1645-1745 Hosted by: Jay and Chad
Dinner: Flat Creek Eatery and Saloon

Thur
Cable and Namekagon Lake
Depart 0830
Lunch: 1130 outside Cable @ The Rookery Pub
Arrive: 1530
Happy Hour - Hosted by: ??????
Dinner: Family choice

Fri
Home to Eau Claire via Rice Lake, Chetek
Depart 0900
Lunch: 1130 in Rice Lake @ Family Choice
Arrive: 1600

Two Drink Minimum

The 2009 Doughty 500 planning sub-committee unanimously approved a plan to release funds from the rainy day account to jump start activity at Wednesday evening's auction. The plan calls for each person in attendance at said event to be provided with two vouchers that may redeemed at the bar in exchange for various and sundry beverages. The impact of this stimulus plan is expected to be felt immediately, especially given the historical record of the multiplier effect on the drinking activities of Doughty family members.

2009 Logistics Review

Attention, attention please. We've just received the official orders for Operation Doughty 500 2009 from the joint chiefs of staff. Please review and pass down the chain the command as appropriate. This is not a drill.

Doughty 500 – 2009 (Mike, Sean, and Tom)
July 27 – 31
Hayward, WI

Latest News:

-Hotel: 21 rooms are booked! (1 more than the block). Some rooms are still available. The name has changed--Now the Flat Creek Inn & Suites.

-Wednesday: Will be a "Hands On" Maintenance Training Day. The "younger" generation will complete a procedure (such as changing a timer) while the experts watch and advise. Subject areas to follow.

-Help Wanted: Please volunteer for the happy hour of your choice (Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday). Also and Auctioneer for Wednesday night.

-Spread the word! Make sure everyone you think might be interested / coming gets the latest news. A hard copy is going out also.

-Water Bottles: We will have D500 water bottles again this year thanks to Chad and Danette.

Hotel:

Flat Creek Inn & Suites (formerly Ramada Hayward)
10290 Hwy 27 South
HWY 27 S & CTY RD B
Hayward, WI 54843 US

Phone: 715-634-4100
Fax: 715-634-2403
E-Mail: ramada-hayward@cheqnet.net
Rate: $85
Block #730

Itinerary:

Mon
Hayward via Weyerhaeuser and Ladysmith Depart 0830
Lunch: Burdie's Bar & Grill in Weyerhaeuser
Arrive: 1530
Happy Hour - Hosted by: –––––––––––
Dinner: Angry Minnow

Tues
St. Croix National Scenic Riverway and Spooner Depart 0830
Lunch: 1130 in Spooner @ Tony's Riverside
Arrive: 1600
Happy Hour - Hosted by: –––––––––––
Dinner: Family choice

Wed
Mx Group:
0830 - 1100 - Mx Training
1100 - 1300 – Lunch – Family choice
1300 - 1530 - Mx Training

Drive Group:
Free play day - Self guided tour of Hayward or points beyond.
Happy Hour – 1700 at Flat Creek Banquet Room (Pay Bar)
Auction: 1715 – 1800 Hosted by: ––––––––––––––
Dinner: Flat Creek Eatery and Saloon

Thur
Cable and Namekagon Lake
Depart 0830
Lunch: 1130 outside Cable @ The Rookery Pub
Arrive: 1530
Happy Hour - Hosted by: –––––––––––
Dinner: Family choice

Fri
Home to Eau Claire via Rice Lake, Chetek
Depart 0900
Lunch: 1130 in Rice Lake @ Family Choice
Arrive: 1600

That is all.

The Soul of the School

Bill Kauffman reviews the book "Small Wonders" which examines the rise and fall of the one-room schoolhouse:

Decades after consolidation had obliterated one-room schools, researchers discovered their advantages. The child in the small school is not just a statistic on a government chart. She receives "individual attention and recognition." She works at her own pace. She has, most important, a place. As Mr. Zimmerman remarks, recent alternatives to "the large, alienating modern school," from charter schools to homeschooling, have sought to foster "the snug, communal aspects of the one-room school." But the one-room-school model entails community control, which liberals and conservatives alike resist if the "community" sings from the wrong hymnal.

The idealization of the little red schoolhouse, Mr. Zimmerman concludes, reflects a rueful awareness that in modernity Americans "gained the whole world of technological conveniences and lost the soul of their communities."

Even after Mr. Zimmerman's unsentimental accounting of its defects, the one-room school shines in comparison with the over-large and remotely controlled warehouses in which too many children are educated today. Reading "Small Wonder," one wonders if Americans will ever tire of chasing after the gods of Progress and Bigness and rediscover the little things, red schoolhouses among them, that once gave us our soul.