2007 Rendezvous Contract Signed

Today I signed and sent off the contract with Circus Circus in Reno for next October's Gun Blogger Rendezvous, AKA GBR-II. The good news is that the room rates will be exactly the same, and we have added Thursday night and Sunday night special hotel rates, too. Sky Tower room rates will be $89.00 per night for Friday and Saturday nights, and $49.00 per night for Thursday and Sunday nights. We will also each receive a VIP package which gives us discounts in the Circus Circus restaurants and stores, two free drink coupons, and a voucher for one free slot tournament entry. Also included is one free "fun book", but it doesn't say what exactly that contains.

The Tahoe room will be our hospitality room, same as last year, except that we will also have it available on Thursday and Sunday, as well as Friday and Saturday. We will also have free wireless internet available for our attendees. Our banquet dinner will be on Saturday night, the same as last year, in the Mandalay room, as last year.

The group rate identifier codes for the discount room rates has not been set up yet, but it should be available soon. As soon as it is assigned, I'll get a post up so you can book your rooms. Registration information for the Rendezvous itself will be posted soon, once a few more of the details are sorted out.

It looks like this year's Rendezvous will be an international event, with a number of French shooters and bloggers planning on attending. Now we need some Canadians, Brits, Aussies, and other countries to send along a few shooters and bloggers to join in on the fun!

It's gonna be a blast, so circle the dates on your calendar now, October 11th., 12th., 13th., and 14th. in Reno.

gun Blogger Rendezvous - How it got it's Name

The question of how the Gun Blogger Rendezvous got it's name has been brought up several times in the last year or so. Says Uncle thinks we should change the name because it's too hard to spell. Actually, the rendezvous has a lot of history behind it, and with that history in mind, the name was chosen.

One of the best articles on the North American "Rendezvous" is on the Bed & Breakfast Inns and Ranches of Wyoming website:

The rendezvous system was the innovation of William Ashley of the American Fur Company. He had been trying for several years to find a good way to retrieve the year's collection of furs, and at the same time outfit his trappers for the upcoming year's operations. When he hit upon the idea of establishing a central meeting site where all trappers and traders could gather to do their business, the fur trade came into its own. Since an animal's winter fur is more valuable than its lighter summer coat, trappers were basically off work in the summer and the rendezvous became an annual party to end all parties. The traders brought in mail, newspapers, and gossip, plus supplies, including raw alcohol which they watered down and flavored with tobacco, ginger, or chilies, then sold as whiskey.

With alcohol as a lubricant, everything else seems to have fallen under the heading of drunk and disorderly behavior. The trappers rejoiced greatly in their reunions with friends rumored dead. Representatives of all the Indian tribes came for the festivities, and their women folk were a major attraction. New recruits, missionaries, artists, newspaper reporters, and other "tourists" traveled west with the traders, and the mountain men and Indians delighted in initiating them into the spirit of things with rowdy welcomes. Tall tales, dirty jokes, feasts, gambling, horse races, fights, wrestling, shooting contests, songfests, and similar activities filled both day and night. A suit of ancient English armor was given to Jim Bridger at the 1837 rendezvous. Trapper Joe Meek tells of borrowing it and parading around camp in fancy dress.

A rendezvous was apparently great fun, unless you happened to be one of the unfortunate souls who got knifed, shot, raped, or as was the case at one rendezvous, bitten by a rabid wolf that rampaged through a group of men rendered defenseless by alcohol. Meek told of seeing four trappers playing cards using the dead body of a comrade for a card table, but whether it actually happened or not is hard to say -- Meek was a better storyteller than he was a historian.

To this day there a a number of clubs around the world that re-enact the rendezvous gatherings of the early 1800's, wearing authentic clothing, shooting black powder firearms, throwing axes, cooking over an open fire, and more. Last Summer I did a post on a local Black Powder Rendezvous at our local gun club.

Fortunately for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous attendees times have changed, and such carrying on would be a bit extreme, even for our Reno! The spirit of the old rendezvous' continues, however, in the meeting of old friends, making of new friends, swapping stories, partying a bit (!), and also getting in some friendly shooting out at the range.

This year's Rendezvous will be held at the Circus Circus Hotel and Casino in Reno in early October.

Hope you can make it!

Melissa Theuriau Coming to the Rendezvous?

The Header from Melissa's website.

Last Summer Fodder at Ride Fast - Shoot Straight put together a "TV Picture" featuring Melissa Theuriau to help promote the upcoming Gun Blogger Rendezvous. Melissa is a Television news broadcaster in France, and also does a Sunday night news magazine program called Forbidden Zone. She also has her own website, both in French and English.

Fodder's handiwork.

Through the magic of the internet a number of American Gun Bloggers have now met and gotten to know Manfred of Armes Et Mir Passion, his French gun blog. Manfred and a bunch of other French shooting sports enthusiasts are now making pland to attend next October's Reno Gun Blogger Rendezvous (GBR-II). In the course of varous emails, someone (probably Fodder!) suggested that he should also bring along Melissa Theuriau to the Rendezvous.

With that in mind, Manfred tracked down Melissa's email address and sent her an invitation! The invitation is in French of course, but you can click on the Babelfish dealie at the top of his left sidebar to (crudely) translate the invitation into English. The translation leaves a bit to be desired, but you can read it and get the point, anyway.

I have also sent her an invitation as follows:

As the coordinator of the Reno, Nevada Gun Blogger Rendezvous to be held next October, I would like to invite you to attend our event.

I understand that Manfred from Armes et mir Passion has also invited you to attend, and we would all welcome your attendance.For more information on the Rendezvous have a look at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous website.

We hope to see you in Reno!

If you would also like to encourage Melissa to attend the Rendezvous, you can contact her HERE. The more invitations she gets, the more likely that she would suggest it to the TV network as a good story. Let's hit her email with invitations!!

Who knows, she just might be able to convince the TV network that it would be a good story for her news magazine.