At the Clifford Ball

The Clifford Care Bears were organized to help maintain the scene at the Clifford Ball by keeping it a "clean, happy, and safe" place -- controlling trash and collecting recycling (both of which the Green Crew also do), keeping an eye out against problems (like a Neighbordhood Watch for on-tour Phish fans), and promoting glee and fun (like Merry Pranksters with a tangible purpose).

For the Great Went

Dave Baltner and Ali attempted to pull together a similar effort for the Great Went. Here are their posts:

Dave Balter, "Clifford Care Bears & Great Went" 4/12/97:


CLIFFORD CARE BEARS & THE GREAT WENT: (sorry for yelling!) This message is for the Clifford Care Bears and anyone else who is interested in helping ensure that the Great Went is a success. If you were a Care Bear last year - especially Gustin - please contact me. While I don't plan on heading up the group (the folks last year did a phenomenal job) I do want to start the ball rolling early. If you were not a Care Bear last year and want to get involved, hold tight. We will be looking for lots of help, but new set-up info will come a little later - stay posted to the net!

For those of you still reading, here's where we stand today. I've been contacted by Michael A., who has more involvement with the public utilities end i.e... trash disposal and is needing input as well as a labor force to work with a group from UNH who will be handling that department. Michael is flying up to the base later this month to do a site survey and to nail down the set-up, so he wants us to start thinking about how we can avoid the trash hell we left behind last year.

aLi, "Artists Formerly Known as the Clifford Care Bears", 6/19/97

For those of you who remember us, we're back! The group of volunteers that got together last year to help keep the Clifford Ball a safe, clean, and happy place have gotten together again and have begun to discuss what we can do this year for the Great Went. First things first: we're looking for a new name. We need one that we can use indefinitely, instead of pertaining to just one specific event. Any suggestions? E-mail them to me...

Now, for those of you who have no idea what i'm talking about, around this time last year six of us got together to form a group that would keep everything mellow at the Ball. The group extended further out beyond our six "Core members" to a family of about 50. We ended up cleaning up trash more than anything else, because, if you were at the Ball, you know what a pit the air force base became after 70,000 Phish fans came trampling in. The festival was so huge that it was impossible to get all of the Care Bears together at one time and place, but even those who didn't meet up with everyone else did a great deal anyway.

This year, things are going to be a little different. First of all, everyone who goes to The Great Went will be, in a sense, a member of our group. This means that everyone can do a little to help, even if it just means putting the bottles ontop of the recycling bins *into* the recylcing bins, or merely keeping track of and throwing away your own trash. This may sound like a silly thing to ask people to do, but there were many people who left a great deal of trash behind last year. In order to help, just bring a trash bag and pick up some trash. Bring three or four trash bags and give extras to people who may not have them. (Run around the campsite shouting, "I got yer extra trash bag!")

Anyway, if you're interested in hearing about our general progress and want to work on what this year will be like, please e-mail me and i'll add you to our list of "family." Even though everyone will be a part of efforts by merely being there and taking care of themselves, we need help to get the message out to people who don't see this post and don't hear about our group. I'll be posting to r.m.p. regularly once things get underway, just to keep everyone informed. Family will hear from us more often, and will be asked to help out for whatever amount of time members feel they can contribute. T-shirts are also a possibility this year... maybe. We'll keep you posted.

So i'll say it again, we need all the help we can get. The more the merrier. Please e-mail me if you have any ideas or comments or concerns. More later...
peace and love-
aLi
Gustin
Marie
Eric
Tom
Mindy

Thanks also to Chris Kazacos.