Gentlemen,
I'm an eternal optimist and I've worked my ass off trying to put everything together here for Dave to review and modify or sign off on. It would be an understatement to say that trying to plan something during all the insanity going on in the country today has been maddening. Every great hotel I wanted to book was shut down completely and barricaded for a couple months. They didn't even answer their phones. Finally, I worked out a deal with an incredible hotel and we had almost all the pieces in place for a late October Rally.
But several obstacles beyond my control keep throwing up roadblocks. Arizona has been on a Covid-19 testing blitz for the last six weeks and of course that showed up a ton of mild or symptom-free cases but that still has our Governor threatening to shut down the bars again and all of Maricopa County requires face masks just about everywhere which is total buzz kill. I understand some states now require people returning from Arizona to quarantine for 14 days when they get back to their home states which is a big problem. And with the start of flu season in October/November some sort of a resurgence could result in all bars being closed here again which would kill one of the very best parts of our Rallies, the end of the day gatherings at the bar.
Nobody knows anything for sure but the team at my medical office told me that some sort of a vaccine may be available by the end of this year which would go a long way toward getting things back to normal.
As such, and after a lengthy talk with DBK last night we think it's best to delay Rally 13 for 2 to 5 months and plan on holding it around February/March. I'm genuinely sorry but things are what they are. I may well throw another one of my GT parties in October but a full-blown Rally is going to have to wait a few more months. Thanks for your understanding and I still look forward to seeing everybody here in Arizona at Rally 13. All the best.
Chip
I'm an eternal optimist and I've worked my ass off trying to put everything together here for Dave to review and modify or sign off on. It would be an understatement to say that trying to plan something during all the insanity going on in the country today has been maddening. Every great hotel I wanted to book was shut down completely and barricaded for a couple months. They didn't even answer their phones. Finally, I worked out a deal with an incredible hotel and we had almost all the pieces in place for a late October Rally.
But several obstacles beyond my control keep throwing up roadblocks. Arizona has been on a Covid-19 testing blitz for the last six weeks and of course that showed up a ton of mild or symptom-free cases but that still has our Governor threatening to shut down the bars again and all of Maricopa County requires face masks just about everywhere which is total buzz kill. I understand some states now require people returning from Arizona to quarantine for 14 days when they get back to their home states which is a big problem. And with the start of flu season in October/November some sort of a resurgence could result in all bars being closed here again which would kill one of the very best parts of our Rallies, the end of the day gatherings at the bar.
Nobody knows anything for sure but the team at my medical office told me that some sort of a vaccine may be available by the end of this year which would go a long way toward getting things back to normal.
As such, and after a lengthy talk with DBK last night we think it's best to delay Rally 13 for 2 to 5 months and plan on holding it around February/March. I'm genuinely sorry but things are what they are. I may well throw another one of my GT parties in October but a full-blown Rally is going to have to wait a few more months. Thanks for your understanding and I still look forward to seeing everybody here in Arizona at Rally 13. All the best.
Chip
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