Online! ...Fall Var Report
Online! ...Fall Var Report
Fall VAR 2008 Report
By, Susan Burr
Both Blue Ridge Grotto and James River Grotto co-hosted the 2008 Fall VAR. This event took place at the Covington, Virginia Moose Lodge, on September 19 – 21, 2008. We couldn’t have ordered better weather or a better turn out. We had a final total of 276 people attending, which from past Fall VAR numbers this wasn’t bad at all!
It was a huge success because the BRG and JRG members came through and did their part. Registration ran very smoothly, cave trips seemed to get off without a hitch and we had a lot of led cave trips offered. Dinner was excellent and we didn’t run out of food; each night we had an awesome campfire, the DJ was great & the speaker was fabulous. We had 2 vendors attend, both Inner Mountain Outfitters (IMO) & Speleobooks. We also had plenty of wine, beer & soft drinks for Saturday night. The campground and facilities were great as well, other than the train running next to it about 4 times per night.
Even the people who didn’t go caving had a good time. Since I had to stay on the grounds while the rest of you were caving, I saw people fishing and swimming/playing in the creek. Several people went hiking in different areas and some went antiquing. Overall I think we had something for everyone. Even the kids had fun. After caving they came back and had a really nice playground to play on.
I had more people come up to me, shake my hand and tell me how this was one of the best VARs they have ever been to. I, of course, couldn’t have done it without all of you who helped. Thank you ALL very, very much!!!! Both the NSS chat room and VARlistserv have had numerous emails about how good this VAR was.
I think the koozies were a really nice touch to our VAR and many people let me know they appreciated them. We did run out however, since we had only ordered 250. We also had a lot of very nice door prizes, with our grand prize being a 100ft. rope donated from Inner Mountain Outfitters (IMO).
All of our planning and hard work paid off. Even with the unexpected $600 extra charges for dinner, we still made a very nice profit of $1681.49. It wasn’t worth arguing over the dinner charges when everything else was great. We paid such a small amount for the campgrounds and facilities, and they allowed us to use both of the kitchens next to the pavilion as well. The Moose Lodge also provided the ice for icing the drinks for free.
Overall this VAR will be remembered as one of the better VARs in years. We have been told that we have set the bar high for future VARs. WAY TO GO TEAM!!!
FALL VAR 2008 FINANCIAL REPORT
INCOME:
Pre-registered adults with meal ($27.00 X 92) |
2,484.00 |
|---|---|
| Pre-registered adults w/o meal ($17.00 X 55) | 935.00 |
| Pre-registered 5-15 with meal ($23.00 X 7) | 161.00 |
| Pre-registered 5-15 w/o meal ($13.00 X 1) | 13.00 |
| Pre-registered 0-4 (free X 3) 0.00 On-site adults with meal ($30.00 X 45) | 1,350.00 |
| On-site adults w/o meal ($20.00 X 56) | 1,120.00 |
| On-site 5-15 with meal ($26.00 X 1) | 26.00 |
| On-site 5-15 w/o meal ($16.00 X 8) | 128.00 |
| On-site 0-4 (free X 4) | 0.00 |
| Special circumstance prices (4) | 46.00 |
| On-site VAR fee only ($3.00 X 3) | 9.00 |
| Total Income | 6,272.00 |
EXPENSES:
Campground rental (includes use of pavilion, kitchens, permanent bathrooms, trash removal, & ice) |
$200.00 |
|---|---|
Dinners |
2,578.00 |
Portable potties (6) |
315.00 |
Koozies (250 ct.) |
155.00 |
Name tag holders |
52.00 |
Guidebook (250 ct.) & registration form printing |
75.61 |
Soft drinks ( 9- 12 packs) |
36.45 |
Beer (19 cases) |
292.17 |
Wine ( 2- 5 liter boxes) |
34.62 |
Tickets (double for door prizes) |
5.96 |
VAR fee ($3 X 255) |
765.00 |
Firewood |
0.00 |
9” X 12” envelopes & markers |
18.14 |
Plastic spoons |
1.56 |
Misc. travel expense |
61.00 |
Total Expenses |
4,590.51 |
Event Profit |
1,681.49 |