Walking the Dog 186, June 2006

WALKING THE DOG …
… Is the electronic newsletter of FOSSILS (Fermenters of Special Southern Indiana Libations Society); a home brewing and beer appreciation club located in New Albany, Indiana. It will be sent out on the first of each month from now on. Visit FOSSILS on the Web at www.fossils.org
Since 1990 … FOSSILS: Carbonated – Not Carbon Dated!
The newest compiler of "Walking the Dog" is I, Scott Boyer (admin@fossils.org). Don’t hesitate to contact me with anything you like, dislike, or want to see changed about the newsletter or web site. Submissions for the Dog will be credited to the author of the submitted material, but please be sure to get yours to me early; I need some time to get everything together.
Fossils is generously supported by the following beer friendly businesses (In no particular order):
• Youngstown Cigar Shop - Tobacco lovers will find cigars, pipes, pipe tobacco, lighters, humidors, and many other accessories at Mike's fine establishment. The shop is located behind Regions Bank, East 10th Street in Jeffersonville, 1 mile from I-65 (exit 1).

• RichO's & Sportstime Pizza - Roger & his crew have always been an integral part of the Fossils Club. They graciously host many of the club meetings and have always given us their support. His establishment has the best beer selection in the area, and his food is excellent. As for the beer brewed there: Indiana State Fair's professional best of show '04 - Bourbon Barrel Stout. What can I say; we know it, we love it. Keep it up Roger & company!

• Cumberland Brews - Matt Gould has some great beers on tap. The atmosphere is great, and the food is very tasty. Our club meeting there was a lot of fun, and I know we will all be back again, again, and again! 1576 Bardstown Rd., Louisville, KY. (502) 458-8727

• Memphis Meat Processing - These are the guys who donate the very cool buffalo femurs we make into lamps. They offer great quality buffalo meat at good prices. Click here for their contact information & a full price list.

• Old Mill - These guys have a great selection of both beer & wine. They are so good that they made '03 best of Louisville. Old Mill is in the modern shopping center at Blackiston Mill and Charlestown Roads, just off I-265 south of the Charlestown Road (IN 311) exit. (812) 941-1350

• Destinations Booksellers - New to Southeast Indiana, the store is located just west of St. Mary's Catholic Church, at 604 East Spring Street. The owner is Randy Smith, and he helped us out with our new library cart & some nice additions to our brewing library. Randy has a nice selection of beer and beverage books, and out-of-stock customer orders are usually filled in a day or two. Call the store at (812) 944-5116 or e-mail. FOSSILS members are especially welcome.

• Sarah Ring with Harrison Realty - Understanding the needs of beer drinkers since 1993 through Bluegrass Brewing Company, Now wheeling and dealing houses for FOSSILS and Friends in Southern Indiana. Referrals always welcome, Call 502-550-9503.

• The Keg Liquors, located in Clarsksville, now carries a nice selection of micro and imported beers. Over the past several months Todd Antz has brought in the selection of beers that "FOSSILS" drink. Check some of the beers out at 617 East Lewis and Clark Parkway, Clarksville, IN (812) 283-3988

FOSSILS sponsorship is an effective way to reach discerning and intelligent readers who are your friends and customers. Not Dog advertising is bartered for goods and services donated to the club. If you are interested, please contact me (admin@fossils.org).

ISSUE NUMBER 186 - June 2006.
As many of you know, the Fossils web site is in the process of changing. Be sure to check it out (www.fossils.org). If you see anything you would like to add or modify, feel free to contact me (admin@fossils.org). You will be seeing significant expansions & additions in the future as I get the time. In addition, I need help rebuilding the email list of all of our members; much has been completed, but I want to make sure I have not omitted anyone. Have anyone you know who should be receiving the newsletter contact me at the address above. If you see anything that isn’t working or needs to be updated on the web site, please let me know; I’m an amateur webmaster doing this in between a lot of other activities.

FOSSILS notes from President Dave:

…brought to you this month by his lovely wife Beth (I can say that since I’m writing it) because the Howard’s computer went tits-up this week.

Greetings!

First and foremost, a hearty congratulations and a huge thanks to Kira & Ed Tash for their expert leadership and organization of Brewriana 5 on May 13. Changing the event date from a Sunday to a Saturday, moving into the Prost! Room (thanks, Roger!) and partnering with Roger’s inventory reduction sale seems to have put us in a new and exciting direction for this event. It’s a process…and it looks like we’re on to a winning formula.

On a personal note, we’ll apparently be building an addition on to our home to accommodate all of Dave’s new Brewriana treasures…thanks a lot, y’all.

The crowd lingered after the Brewriana event and we even roped in a few new members at the May meeting. Congratulations to FOSSILS Treasurer Denny Stepp for brewing the winning English Mild entry in this year’s President’s Choice competition – nice work! Kudos, too, to Bob Capshew for his two entries…and for dashing back home to retrieve them before the meeting.

At the May meeting, outgoing LAGERS President Deneen Hooper indicated that nominees were sparse at the club’s recent leadership election. We’re pleased to hear that situation was resolved and offer congratulations on behalf of FOSSILS to the newly elected officers of LAGERS.
President: David Schardein; Vice-President: Bob Reed; Secretary: Dan Flaherty; Treasurer: John Grant.

We look forward to working together with LAGERS on projects such as the picnic, Kentucky State Fair and whatever other trouble we can find.

Next stop – Otter Creek Park for one of the highlights of the year as FOSSILS and LAGERS gather for our annual picnic and homebrew fest the weekend of June 9 - 11. We’re excited that group from BOCK in Lexington will be joining us this year. Details are listed below - thanks largely to my talent for cutting and pasting Maureen’s notes from the LAGERS website.

2006 FOSSILS/LAGERS Picnic Scoop:

It’s pretty appropriate that I’m listening to Parliament Funkadelic as I write about the picnic…I have such fond, yet somewhat fuzzy memories of dancing in the glittery light of the disco ball while singing “We’re gonna turn this mutha out!” with Barrie at last year’s event.

A quick note about finances…this is a relatively costly event, as you can imagine with campsite rental, food for approximately 100 guests, paper goods, etc. over two days. Please consider that fact when purchasing raffle tickets and/or making a cash donation at the taps and be as generous as possible. We come close to breaking even each year – and that’s a good thing, because it keeps this event possible!

Date: Friday, June 9 (after 2 p.m.) – Sunday, June 11 (we MUST be out by 11 a.m.)

Location: Otter Creek Park – Camp Tecumseh (map of the park and lots of info online at www.ottercreekpark.org); we’ll have bunkhouses and a mess hall plus plenty of outdoor space for camping/romping.

Cost: $5.00/night/adult. Children under 16 are free. This cost is the same whether you are camping in a tent or RV, OR staying in a bunkhouse. Cost includes dinners Friday and Saturday night as well as lunch on Saturday…plus BEER.

Bunkhouses: At last check, bunkhouses were nearly full, but contact Deneen Hooper if you’re interested. Deneen's phone: (502) 448-9695. Those staying in the bunkhouses need to bring their own bedding/pillows, etc. Deneen will be posting names on the doors of each bunkhouse identifying those staying there- if your name is not on the door or you're not with someone whose name is on the door, back off, bucko!

Menu: Friday night: GUMBO! Saturday lunch: Fish fry! Saturday night: Burnt Flesh Buffet!
Leah has volunteered to be in charge of the Saturday evening cooking crew. She needs assistance. You can also volunteer to help Steve with the fish frying or Barrie with the gumbo.
Important note: There will not be a breakfast on Sunday this year, because check-out time is 11:00 on Sunday morning. There is another group arriving on Sunday and the rules of the park state that check outs after 11:00 are subject to additional charges….and we just can’t have that!

Beer: cold plates will be available for kegs. Those bringing beer will receive 2 raffle tickets/gallon of beer. FOSSILS purchased a large tent so we can place the beer outside of the mess hall. Just like a big-time festival!

Clean up: volunteers being accepted for an official clean up crew. Hopefully everyone will clean up after themselves so that this should not be a BIG job, but we do need some people to commit to being there between 10-11:00 Sunday morning to make sure we're leaving the place in good shape.

What to bring:
Camping equipment or bedrolls
Flashlights
Insect repellant
Drinking vessel
Cash for camping fees & raffle (& donation box if you aren’t around for the raffle)
Raffle items
Breakfast items for Saturday and Sunday mornings
Side dish/dessert for Saturday dinner
Lawn chairs
Sunscreen
Games/Frisbees/Music
If you bring your dog(s), remember to: bring food; clean up after them; and be prepared to put them up at mealtimes.

Key Rules from Otter Creek:
• Quiet time begins at 11 p.m. Please respect other guests." (our thought is that we'll all be in the mess hall by this time so our noise will be contained)
• Guests are asked to take out the trash, leave the kitchen clean, wash any dishes used, and lock all doors and windows before leaving.
• Guests will be charged for excessive house cleaning not covered under general housekeeping services
• Guests will be charged a minimum of $25.00 for excessive cleaning due to pets. (scoop your poop!)

Thanks to Maureen Capshew for keeping such copious notes. If you have any specific picnic questions, she’s a good person to ask. Her e-mail address is: mormsc@epowerc.net

Really looking forward to seeing everyone next weekend – this is always a fun, relaxing and often hysterical gathering of great friends and one of the best weekends of the summer. As of now, the weather’s looking to be 78 degrees and sunny on Saturday….think good thoughts.

Cheers!
Beth (on behalf of Dave)


Beth Howard's Pizza Box Wisdom and The Purple Fuzzy Book (PBW/PFB)

Chronicling the overheard, wisely said and/or often under-appreciated wit of FOSSILS and friends.

Congratulations to those of you correctly matching the last PBW/PFB quotes with the appropriate owners. For the record if you're keeping score at home:

"I’m two beers away from being interesting.”
Attributed to Tom Henderson one night at RichO’s, allegedly quoting an anonymous source.

A two-parter: "That thing's been lit for 4 or 5 hours!" "So have I."
Part one: Cory Lewison, referring to a candle. Part two: Beth Howard…well it was my birthday in 2002. Enough said.

"I've taken so many edges off I should be whittled down to a nub."
Amy Baylor at the Women’s Brew In, March 2006.


Here are three from the 2005 FOSSILS/LAGERS picnic. Do you remember who said:

• “The blues? I can’t table dance to the blues!”
• “I must be having oral hallucinations.”
• “Another FOSSIL just got their wings.”

Cheers and remember…I'm listening and I have a pen in my purse.
Beth Howard


Hurricane Relief Raffle

As we did with the 911 tragedy, FOSSILS decided to donate an entire raffle to the hurricane relief fund. The raffle was held during the October meeting & raised $370. Your generosity was greatly appreciated. Here is the thank you that we received from the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund. If you would like to contribute again or if you didn’t get a chance to participate in the fundraiser raffle, here are a few links to assist you:

http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate3/
http://www.bushclintonkatrinafund.org/

As some of you already know Rich O's and the BBC Tap Room have sold pints of Abita Gold and Abita Purple Haze to raise money for The American Red Cross. Abita Brewing Co. is near New Orleans, and it is one of the largest craft breweries in the area with distribution across the country. Their web site is www.abita.com. On it they are selling items whose profits go to disaster relief.



FOSSILS dues are $18 a year for an individual, with the privilege of bringing a guest to meetings. The dues-paying individual only is considered to be an active member for the purpose of voting in elections and other member benefits (sale-priced t-shirts, for example). Dues are $18 a year for a family: you and your husband/wife/significant other. Both designated adults are considered to be active members for the purpose of voting and other member benefits. Make sure your dues are current.

The End.

Walking the Dog 183, February 2006

WALKING THE DOG …
… Is the electronic newsletter of FOSSILS (Fermenters of Special Southern Indiana Libations Society); a home brewing and beer appreciation club located in New Albany, Indiana. It will be sent out on the first of each month from now on. Visit FOSSILS on the Web at www.fossils.org
Since 1990 … FOSSILS: Carbonated – Not Carbon Dated!
The newest compiler of "Walking the Dog" is I, Scott Boyer (admin@fossils.org). Don’t hesitate to contact me with anything you like, dislike, or want to see changed about the newsletter or web site. Submissions for the Dog will be credited to the author of the submitted material, but please be sure to get yours to me early; I need some time to get everything together.
Fossils is generously supported by the following beer friendly businesses (In no particular order):
• Youngstown Cigar Shop - Tobacco lovers will find cigars, pipes, pipe tobacco, lighters, humidors, and many other accessories at Mike's fine establishment. The shop is located behind Regions Bank, East 10th Street in Jeffersonville, 1 mile from I-65 (exit 1).

• RichO's & Sportstime Pizza - Roger & his crew have always been an integral part of the Fossils Club. They graciously host many of the club meetings and have always given us their support. His establishment has the best beer selection in the area, and his food is excellent. As for the beer brewed there: Indiana State Fair's professional best of show '04 - Bourbon Barrel Stout. What can I say; we know it, we love it. Keep it up Roger & company!

• Cumberland Brews - Matt Gould has some great beers on tap. The atmosphere is great, and the food is very tasty. Our club meeting there was a lot of fun, and I know we will all be back again, again, and again! 1576 Bardstown Rd., Louisville, KY. (502) 458-8727

• Memphis Meat Processing - These are the guys who donate the very cool buffalo femurs we make into lamps. They offer great quality buffalo meat at good prices. Click here for their contact information & a full price list.

• Old Mill - These guys have a great selection of both beer & wine. They are so good that they made '03 best of Louisville. Old Mill is in the modern shopping center at Blackiston Mill and Charlestown Roads, just off I-265 south of the Charlestown Road (IN 311) exit. (812) 941-1350

• Destinations Booksellers - New to Southeast Indiana, the store is located just west of St. Mary's Catholic Church, at 604 East Spring Street. The owner is Randy Smith, and he helped us out with our new library cart & some nice additions to our brewing library. Randy has a nice selection of beer and beverage books, and out-of-stock customer orders are usually filled in a day or two. Call the store at (812) 944-5116 or e-mail. FOSSILS members are especially welcome.

• Sarah Ring with Harrison Realty - Understanding the needs of beer drinkers since 1993 through Bluegrass Brewing Company, Now wheeling and dealing houses for FOSSILS and Friends in Southern Indiana. Referrals always welcome, Call 502-550-9503.

• The Keg Liquors, located in Clarsksville, now carries a nice selection of micro and imported beers. Over the past several months Todd Antz has brought in the selection of beers that "FOSSILS" drink. Check some of the beers out at 617 East Lewis and Clark Parkway, Clarksville, IN (812) 283-3988

FOSSILS sponsorship is an effective way to reach discerning and intelligent readers who are your friends and customers. Not Dog advertising is bartered for goods and services donated to the club. If you are interested, please contact me (admin@fossils.org).

ISSUE NUMBER 183 - February 2006.
As many of you know, the Fossils web site is in the process of changing. Be sure to check it out (www.fossils.org). If you see anything you would like to add or modify, feel free to contact me (admin@fossils.org). You will be seeing significant expansions & additions in the future as I get the time. In addition, I need help rebuilding the email list of all of our members; much has been completed, but I want to make sure I have not omitted anyone. Have anyone you know who should be receiving the newsletter contact me at the address above. If you see anything that isn’t working or needs to be updated on the web site, please let me know; I’m an amateur webmaster doing this in between a lot of other activities.

Message From Your FOSSILS President:

Hello FOSSILS folks, I want to start by thanking all the fine people who entered the Pungent and Funky Appetizer Competition. This was one of, if not, the best turn out (20 entries, I think) ever! Bob Capshew deserves a pat on the back for his best of show winning calamari and plum sauce; it was fantastic. In addition, a special thanks goes to my better half (Beth) for all her work organizing the competition. Both Jessica Waters and Ed Willard showed incredible judging stamina; we will all lift a pint of Alka Seltzer to them!

Moving to February, we are taking our meeting on the road! Our next meeting will be Sunday February 12 at the BBC Tap Room on Clay and Main Street in Louisville KY at 6:00 PM. This will be a fine meeting including a tour of the brewery, and tasty BBC beer for all! And yes, my normal lecture; don't forget to bring a cool raffle item! If you don't know how to get there do not hesitate to email me at beersnobs@msn.com.

Also, plan to brew a beer for our upcoming competitions. April is the Magical Mystery Brew. Just brew magical and mysterious, no guidelines are allowed! May is the President’s Choice competition. This year’s challenge is to brew the best British mild ale.

Cheers,
Dave Howard


WINE-RELATED LEGISLATION IN THE INDIANA LEGISLATURE AS OF JANUARY 26, 2006

The Indiana House killed the direct shipping bill of Indiana wineries (HB1036). Senate bill SB110 will probably not pass out of committee. These bills would allow wineries located in or outside Indiana to sell and ship wine directly to an Indiana resident.

The only bill left is House bill #1190, sponsored by the wholesalers which would:

1. Forbid shipping by Indiana wineries to Indiana customers.
2. Forbid shipping by wineries outside Indiana
3. Compel Indiana wineries to sell their entire product intended for retail customers to wholesale distributors.
4. Establish rules that would force small wholesalers out of business.

Indiana wineries cannot afford to do this! Many will have to close their doors! The Indiana Small (Farm) Winery Act (since 1972) has granted wineries permission to sell directly to retail customers without the profit-robbing need to sell to a middle man. If this bill is passed, the price of wine will increase when sold at beverage stores, grocery stores, and restaurants. Wineries would also lose their freedom.

Please let your legislator know that you opposed bill HB1190.

To find and email your legislator, simply click on the link below. You will be asked for your zip code and what elected office you wish to inquiry. After clicking “Go”, you will get a map and a list of legislators for your area. When you click on the name, you will be able to send an e-mail. It’s that simple!

Thank You,
Charles R. Thomas, M.D., President, Chateau Thomas Winery

http://www.in.gov/apps/sos/legislator/search/

Simply copy and paste this message and e-mail it to your legislator:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX,

I support HB1036 and SB110

I oppose HB 1190

Signed _________________________________
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Other Items of Inerest:

We are excited about the March meeting featuring NABC beer and Jessie as our speaker. He will speak about the growth of the brewery and the beers that will soon be flowing. Cheers to NABC beer!

Brewerania 2006 is coming soon! The sale is Saturday, May 13th and will be held in the new party room at RichO's. Things will start at 10:00 AM and continue until 5:00 PM (Maybe longer, if the vendors are still doing good business). Roger will be opening early and will have his rare and limited beer sale. The FOSSILS meeting will start at 5:30.

The July meeting will be at the Thomas Family Winery in Madison. The date is Saturday, July 15th. Jim and Debbie Frazier spoke with Steve Thomas about the menu. We recommended the menu be the same as last year, except we preferred no bread pudding for dessert. We asked the attendees at the Organizational meeting about a dessert preference and the recommendation we will present back to Steve is that no dessert is needed. Kira and Debbie said that if there is dessert, it should involve chocolate. Steve asked about our music preference and it was decided that it was up to Steve. Debbie has already contacted the Broadway Hotel about reserving the entire hotel for our use. More details will be available soon.


PICNIC NEWS: PLEASE TAKE NOTE!!

Deneen and I met last week and discussed plans for the picnic. It will be on the weekend before Father’s Day weekend. The difference this year, and the reason we need to be thinking about this now, is that we will be in a new location this year. Specifically, we'll have 5 bunkhouses each sleeping 16 people. The cost is greater and we need to figure out how we will not only cover our expenses but also get the people who want bunkhouse space into them! It has been suggested that we invite other homebrew clubs to join us and rent bunkhouses to them. Deneen and I thought that before we do this we should see how many members of Lagers and Fossils are interested in reserving bunkhouse space. If you think you might be interested in staying in one of the bunkhouses, please email me at mormsc@epowerc.net or call Deneen at 502-448-9695. You don't have to commit to it right now, we're just trying to get an idea if we'll fill them ourselves or should invite other clubs to come to this event. If you have children and would be interested in sharing a bunkhouse with another family (or 2), maybe even hiring a teenager to stay in the bunkhouse with kids while the party's going on, let us know that as well. If you have any other ideas about how we should handle this please let us know. Please contact us ASAP if you're interested in bunkhouse space at the picnic!!!

Mor Capshew

Hurricane Relief Raffle

As we did with the 911 tragedy, FOSSILS decided to donate an entire raffle to the hurricane relief fund. The raffle was held during the October meeting & raised $370. Your generosity was greatly appreciated. Here is the thank you that we received from the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund. If you would like to contribute again or if you didn’t get a chance to participate in the fundraiser raffle, here are a few links to assist you:

http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate3/
http://www.bushclintonkatrinafund.org/

As some of you already know Rich O's and the BBC Tap Room have sold pints of Abita Gold and Abita Purple Haze to raise money for The American Red Cross. At this time Abita Brewing Co is New Orleans' largest craft brewery with distribution across the country. Their web site is http://www.abita.com/. On it they are selling items who's profits go to disaster relief.


FOSSILS dues are $18 a year for an individual, with the privilege of bringing a guest to meetings. The dues-paying individual only is considered to be an active member for the purpose of voting in elections and other member benefits (sale-priced t-shirts, for example). Dues are $18 a year for a family: you and your husband/wife/significant other. Both designated adults are considered to be active members for the purpose of voting and other member benefits. Make sure your dues are current.

The End.

Walking the Dog 182; January 2006

WALKING THE DOG … … Is the electronic newsletter of FOSSILS (Fermenters of Special Southern Indiana Libations Society); a home brewing and beer appreciation club located in New Albany, Indiana. It will be sent out on the first of each month from now on. Visit FOSSILS on the Web at www.fossils.org Since 1990 … FOSSILS: Carbonated – Not Carbon Dated! The newest compiler of "Walking the Dog" is I, Scott Boyer (admin@fossils.org). Don’t hesitate to contact me with anything you like, dislike, or want to see changed about the newsletter or web site. Submissions for the Dog will be credited to the author of the submitted material, but please be sure to get yours to me early; I need some time to get everything together. Fossils is generously supported by the following beer friendly businesses (In no particular order): • Youngstown Cigar Shop - Tobacco lovers will find cigars, pipes, pipe tobacco, lighters, humidors, and many other accessories at Mike's fine establishment. The shop is located behind Regions Bank, East 10th Street in Jeffersonville, 1 mile from I-65 (exit 1). • RichO's & Sportstime Pizza - Roger & his crew have always been an integral part of the Fossils Club. They graciously host many of the club meetings and have always given us their support. His establishment has the best beer selection in the area, and his food is excellent. As for the beer brewed there: Indiana State Fair's professional best of show '04 - Bourbon Barrel Stout. What can I say; we know it, we love it. Keep it up Roger & company! • Cumberland Brews - Matt Gould has some great beers on tap. The atmosphere is great, and the food is very tasty. Our club meeting there was a lot of fun, and I know we will all be back again, again, and again! 1576 Bardstown Rd., Louisville, KY. (502) 458-8727 • Memphis Meat Processing - These are the guys who donate the very cool buffalo femurs we make into lamps. They offer great quality buffalo meat at good prices. Click here for their contact information & a full price list. • Old Mill - These guys have a great selection of both beer & wine. They are so good that they made '03 best of Louisville. Old Mill is in the modern shopping center at Blackiston Mill and Charlestown Roads, just off I-265 south of the Charlestown Road (IN 311) exit. (812) 941-1350 • Destinations Booksellers - New to Southeast Indiana, the store is located just west of St. Mary's Catholic Church, at 604 East Spring Street. The owner is Randy Smith, and he helped us out with our new library cart & some nice additions to our brewing library. Randy has a nice selection of beer and beverage books, and out-of-stock customer orders are usually filled in a day or two. Call the store at (812) 944-5116 or e-mail. FOSSILS members are especially welcome. • Sarah Ring with Harrison Realty - Understanding the needs of beer drinkers since 1993 through Bluegrass Brewing Company, Now wheeling and dealing houses for FOSSILS and Friends in Southern Indiana. Referrals always welcome, Call 502-550-9503. • The Keg Liquors, located in Clarsksville, now carries a nice selection of micro and imported beers. Over the past several months Todd Antz has brought in the selection of beers that "FOSSILS" drink. Check some of the beers out at 617 East Lewis and Clark Parkway, Clarksville, IN (812) 283-3988 FOSSILS sponsorship is an effective way to reach discerning and intelligent readers who are your friends and customers. Not Dog advertising is bartered for goods and services donated to the club. If you are interested, please contact me (admin@fossils.org). ISSUE NUMBER 182 - January 2006. As many of you know, the Fossils web site is in the process of changing. Be sure to check it out (www.fossils.org). If you see anything you would like to add or modify, feel free to contact me (admin@fossils.org). You will be seeing significant expansions & additions in the future as I get the time. In addition, I need help rebuilding the email list of all of our members; much has been completed, but I want to make sure I have not omitted anyone. Have anyone you know who should be receiving the newsletter contact me at the address above. If you see anything that isn’t working or needs to be updated on the web site, please let me know; I’m an amateur webmaster doing this in between a lot of other activities. Message From Your FOSSILS President: Hello Folks, I wanted to start things off by thanking Bob and Maureen Capshew for hosting the Christmas party again this year, Brad Maddox for grilling some of the best pork BBQ and beef brisket I have ever had, and Denny Berry for all his work brewing 3 yummy beers for the party. Also, let us raise a glass to Dave Pierce and the folks at the BBC Tap Room for giving us one heck of a price on a keg of porter beer. In addition, we certainly don't want to forget all the fine FOSSILS who donated kegs of yummy homebrew. Before we turn our sights to 2006 let's all congratulate Scott Boyer, 2005's FOSSILS of the year award winner. This year we had the best turn out we have had for the Christmas party for a long time, and thanks to all the cool raffle items the raffle almost paid the whole bill this year. Jumping ahead to January let's all get funked up for the Pungent and Funky appetizer competition. I am planning on having an entry; and I hope all of you are, as well. See Beth's article elsewhere in this issue for all the Pungent facts! UPCOMING MEETINGS: In February we are planning our meeting to be off sight at the BBC Tap Room on Clay and Main St. (More info to follow soon on this). In March we are planning to showcase the beers of the newly updated NABC brewery. April will be the magical mystery brew competition, and May will bring us the annual Brewerania sale and President’s Choice competition (This year I'm thinking British mild ale!). Well That's All For Now Folks.... Cheers, Dave Howard FOSSILS Items and News for January Happy New Year FOSSILS!!! Here’s to health, happiness and prosperity to us all in 2006. Before we move on to new business and new items let us take a moment to pause and reflect on last year, or at least our last FOSSILS event: the annual Holiday party. Firstly, big thanks to the Capshews for hosting the holiday happening again this year. Their hospitality was appreciated and heart-warming. Also a HUGE “Thanks” to Brad “The Meat Man” Maddox for his expertise and hard-work manning that big smoker and putting out the meat for this year’s party. It was yummy. Scott Boyer, our hard-working Internet scribe, webmaster, and real-life Teddy Ruxpin, deservedly won our FOSSILS of the Year award. Thank him, congratulate him, and give him a cigar next time you see him, cause he’ll also be a new daddy by then. Thanks to everyone for coming out. It was a packed house, we had a lot of raffle items, and lots of participation enabling us to put a little money in the plus column even after paying for the food and Brad’s time. Now on to 2006: First official FOSSILS meeting is this Sunday “SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY” the 8th at RichO’s “We’ll sell you the whole seat, but you’ll only need the edge” for Funky and Pungent 2006. Time to bring out your beef parts, pig parts, bird, amphibian, reptile, heck, any kinda’ parts (after all parts is parts) to impress our judges and members with your funkiest, stinkiest, spiciest, weirdest, strangest, most pungent, off the wall, yet, most delectable dishes. Don’t miss it. Your madam secretary is looking up recipes for cow udders and spam shakes as this goes to press, so be prepared. You may want to bring some Rolaids or Pepto too. We will have judges in four different categories and some great prizes. More information is forthcoming from our First Lady, Beth Howard, in this edition. Resolve not to miss! Also January is officially the time to renew all FOSSILS memberships so please bring your membership dues for the new year. As always, bring raffle items and money to purchase many tickets for said raffle items. Without the raffle, it would be hard to operate this dog and pony show. Upcoming events: In February, we will be meeting at the BBC Clay and Main. March’s meeting will feature NABC brewer Jessie Williams at NABC. We’ll see you there. Goodbye, goodnight, and thank you for your support. Your Honorable (don’t snicker!) Madam Secretary, Michelle Kennedy Wycoff Annual Pungent & Funky Appetizer Contest: In the January FOSSILS meeting we will be hosting our annual Pungent & Funky Appetizer Contest Sunday, January 8 at RichO’s. Trek into the culinary abyss with the ever-creative and courageous members of FOSSILS as we bravely voyage beyond customary hors d'oeuvres... far, far beyond the world of mozzarella sticks and potato skins. Entries should embody the spirit of pungency and funkiness in which this contest was fashioned by the founding members of FOSSILS nearly 15 years ago, yet be edible (by most, anyway). Interesting presentation may net additional points. Awards will be presented in four categories: • Most Pungent • Funkiest • Brew Food (pungent, funky & beer as an integral ingredient) • Best of Show We're anxiously awaiting confirmation from this year's panel of guest judges - judging will begin promptly at 6:30 PM, so please sign in with your entry/entries before then. Do you have questions about the Pungent & Funky contest? Contact Beth Howard at beersnobs@msn.com or (502) 541-1984. First Lady, Beth Howard Our president, Dave Howard, will introduce me as the new treasurer at the January FOSSILS meeting, and I will be prepared to collect dues for the New Year. Please try to take care of your dues payment at this meeting. The amount is still only $18. For anyone who cannot attend, you may send payment to me. Denny Stapp FOSSILS treasurer 7037 Haynes Rd. Georgetown, IN 47122 Just a reminder of what a great bargain it is, your membership entitles you to attend the meetings, vote on club issues, participate in the raffles, bring a guest, compete in the brew and food competitions, and enjoy complimentary beer. I hope to see many of you there! Thank you, Denny Pizza Box Wisdom and The Little Purple Fuzzy Book - Beth Howard, apparently FOSSILS’ unofficial historian It all started with The Donner Party. No, not the ill-fated group of emigrants crossing the Sierras in the 1840’s, but a moniker adopted by a group of us gathering at RichO’s on occasional Friday or Saturday evenings and reserving the “big table” by the front bar at 7:30 p.m. The legend goes something like this… As The Donner Party’s leftover pizzas and sandwiches (now there’s some irony) would make their way into to-go boxes, we’d mark them with the name of the person to whom they belonged. After a while, it seemed only natural to expound upon the simple name adorning the box. Thus began the custom of decorating these containers with a customized selection of descriptive phrases, random doodles, overheard one-liners and witty quotes from various Donner Party members and guests. We’ve all done it – heard or said something either so amazingly profound or freakin’ hysterical that you swear you’ll never forget it, only to realize that it’s gotten lost in the laughter or that your memory’s dimmed after tipping the last pint of the evening. Collecting these gems of insight and hilarity by inscribing them on to-go boxes assures that The Donner Party’s collection of witticisms – appropriately dubbed “Pizza Box Wisdom” – will be preserved for future generations. Now for a while, it was rumored that Ben Tash (Ed & Kira’s son) stashed these boxes away under his bed as fodder for his memoirs entitled, “All I Ever Needed to Know in Life I Learned From The Donner Party at RichO’s.” God, I hope not. But if he did and Cameron Crowe makes Ben’s book into a movie, I want to pick who plays me and have a hand in the soundtrack. Over the years, media for collecting Pizza Box Wisdom diversified to include coasters, margins of the most recent edition of LEO, Palm Pilots and, most famously, my Little Purple Fuzzy Book. I kid you not – it really is a tiny notebook covered in purple faux fur, on a key chain, no less. Seldom do I arrive at RichO’s or a FOSSILS event without the Little Purple Fuzzy Book and a pen, because you just never know when inspiration may strike. For example, see if you can remember or guess the origins of these clever remarks: “La Chouffe…La Chouffe…La Chouffe is on fire!” “Being married has nothing to do with what you really like.” “You guys have a higher level of alcoholic knowledge.” “The last time I went to a fraternity party, I ended up on crutches.” Find out who said what (and in some cases when, where and why) – plus more Pizza Box Wisdom and Purple Fuzzy Book entries – in future editions of the FOSSILS newsletter. Hurricane Relief Raffle As we did with the 911 tragedy, FOSSILS decided to donate an entire raffle to the hurricane relief fund. The raffle was held during the October meeting & raised $370. Your generosity was greatly appreciated. Here is the thank you that we received from the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund. If you would like to contribute again or if you didn’t get a chance to participate in the fundraiser raffle, here are a few links to assist you: http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate3/ http://www.bushclintonkatrinafund.org/ As some of you already know Rich O's and the BBC Tap Room have sold pints of Abita Gold and Abita Purple Haze to raise money for The American Red Cross. At this time Abita Brewing Co is New Orleans' largest craft brewery with distribution across the country. Their web site is http://www.abita.com/. On it they are selling items who's profits go to disaster relief. FOSSILS dues are $18 a year for an individual, with the privilege of bringing a guest to meetings. The dues-paying individual only is considered to be an active member for the purpose of voting in elections and other member benefits (sale-priced t-shirts, for example). Dues are $18 a year for a family: you and your husband/wife/significant other. Both designated adults are considered to be active members for the purpose of voting and other member benefits. Make sure your dues are current. The End.