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.