Thank you to all who have followed the VT 100 and have been asking questions about results. ?Most rewarding for all of us working the event were the many riders who walked up and thanked us for our efforts. ?We cannot tell you how much that was appreciated. ?As Bill Stevens says, we were like ducks on a pond, looking good from the top but paddling like hell under the water. Just to let you in on some of our "surprises". ?Jo Steele, ride secretary and OC, had to admit her father in to the hospital on Wed. morning. ?By the time she arrived at camp to finalize the paperwork, she got a call that he was gone. ?The vets decided to check as much FEI paperwork as they could by going to trailers in order to relieve that pressure on Friday. ? We did not see her again until Thursday evening and several people volunteered to help her get everything ready early Friday morning in time for registration at 10AM. ?Thank goodness for on-line entry and all of those riders who had their FEI paperwork in order. ?We had to wait until last minute to set up holds until hay came off three fields. ?Wednesday night, after getting one hold set up, the truck with the full ?tanker was accidentally backed into the pond! ?Amazing how many pieces of equipment it takes to pull a full, 800 gallon tanker out! ?In the meantime, landowners offered to fill the water troughs from their wells and considering how wet it had been, it seemed like a good idea. ?Each hold had 800 to 1200 gallons of water to fill and those water pumps simply could not handle it without a break. ?No problem, we had a 1,000 gallon maple sap tank on a truck. ?The truck would not start despite considerable pleading and cussing ?With the original tanker out of the pond and back in action we knew we were behind but did our best to catch up but once the crew trucks started into the hold, the tanker could not get in without digging up the already soft ground of the landowners. ?No problem, the landowners got out their tractors, strapped a 100 gallon water tank to the bucket, filled it from a pond or the tanker and drove into the hold and dumped the water! ?I am not sure how we can thank those good folk enough for supporting this event like that! ?We are also blessed with many, many landowners who every year put out water tanks along the road for passing horses, and the?occasional?runner to stick his head in, as well as hoses to spray off horses. ?Even after 17 years of being involved with the Vermont 100 I am still overwhelmed with the community support for this event which is why I keep coming back as manager. ?There are some more stories, later, after we have gone over to camp and taken down some trail. ?
