New Year’s Hootenanny 2017!
New Year’s Eve is such a special time at BCYC. If you have been a member for long, then you know how unique and multi-faceted our club is. How many boating clubs have their own rock band? The Scallywags just completed the fall Rock The Boats Tour, and if you saw the performance at one or more of the clubs we visited, then you know what fun it is. New material has been added to the repertoire since the tour and the most popular favorites will be back for your listening and dancing pleasure. Just –try- to sit still.
For you newer members, the BCYC New Years’ Hootenanny is a casual kind of a thing outside and you are invited to dress warm and bring your own cooler. And it is FREE. Now, where else can you go to a great free show and not be pressured to buy food and drink? Bring a dish to share if you like; but make sure you provide your own dinner as this is a DIY Party. Usually, a pot luck springs up, but know that no main dish is provided.
The main show starts at 8PM. The DIY part comes when you see trash or clutter; just pick it up, clean it up, take it out and go right back to partying. This is our club. We have such a nice club because we take care of it like our own home. The Hoot has an awesome tradition of neatness, so please continue this by self-volunteering when and where needed, THANK YOU, Thank you very much. (in the words of Elvis…)
We would also like to feature other acts. John McLeod will kick things off around 7PM (before the main show,) and if you have a musical talent, or you want to do a 5 minute stand-up comic, or skit, contact me and I will put you in the line-up. There will be an open fire pit for all you pyros and warmth seekers, right where you can enjoy the music. Please begin bringing firewood to BCYC now so we will have plenty for the Hootenanny.
Does this sound like pure fun?
But wait. Don’t decide yet until you’ve heard about the Cooler Drop. At midnight there will be a (provided) champagne celebration following the legendary BCYC-only tradition, the lighted Cooler Drop orchestrated by Dropmaster Steve Butcher. This tradition began 12 years ago with the very first Hootenanny, a renegade affair with some well lubricated revelers poking a fire and trading songs on one guitar. About 11:45 PM somebody said: ‘Hey. Let’s put all our remaining beers in a cooler and hoist it up on the boat hoist. Then we’ll get our flashlights from our boats and all shine them on it as we slowly lower it down at the stroke of midnight!’ Well, to a bunch of drunks sitting around a fire, this sounded like a fabulous idea. Of course it made no sense to do it, but that was part of the appeal. We did it because we wanted to, and we felt like it. Little did we know we were beginning a tradition which has now become part of the BCYC DNA.
Celebrate the end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017 with your best friends at BCYC. And please take a moment to think of others less fortunate than we are, as we revel. We also support Meals On Wheels. While the show is free, we do ask that you be generous with at least a few dollars for this fine charity which helps struggling seniors and shut-ins who can’t drive, who may have outlived their own loved ones, stay in their own home where they really do want to be. Sometimes when that Meals On Wheels volunteer shows up at their door with a hot meal, that is the only live human the recipient will see or talk to all day. We have a goal of $600 to raise at the Hootenanny, and I know we can do that easily. Last year we raised $500.
This total will be added to the efforts of the Shady Lady crew in the St Pete Classic Regatta, where Shady Lady, representing BCYC, has won the prestigious Good Neighbor Award 6 years running for raising the most funds toward Meals On Wheels. As a matter of fact, we can be proud to know that BCYC, through Shady Lady, is the only club to have ever won this award since inception! Over the years, we have raised over $10,000 towards Meals On Wheels. Please remember to bring some cash or a check made out to ‘Neighborly Care Network,’ and we can get the M.O.W. Marathon out of the way quickly during the evening, and get on with the music, the dancing and the fun!
News Flash: 2017 will be the final year for Shady Lady doing this. I am torn about it, but have decided to sell Shady Lady. She’s not up for sale just yet, but if you want to make her your own and carry on this tradition, please see me and let’s talk. Otherwise, we need another boat owner from BCYC to think about doing the St Pete Classic Regatta in 2018 and carry on this BCYC tradition. If this might be you, please understand you will have the full support of BCYC and the Scallywags behind you. It’s fun and easy to fund-raise in this way. Basically, you fill you boat with people, and challenge them each to raise or donate $100. If you have a dozen people on your boat for the short 7 mile course (which you don’t even have to race in – just enter the fun class like Shady Lady has been doing,) there’s $1200. Add the $600 from the Hootenanny and you’re almost up to $2000 already!
Make sure you’ve got a plan to stay aboard and off the streets after the Hoot; or other safe way to get home late, because this is a rite of passage and an unparalleled moment of togetherness at BCYC that you don’t want to miss. Also plan to bring a pot-luck midnight munchies offering so we can keep the party going; because after midnight we open up and kick back with whatever feels right to the band and whomever wants to join in. The after-midnight open Mic set is often when some of the most inspired music takes place, so maybe even squeeze in a nap that afternoon so you can poke the fire and kick back late.
This will be the 12th Hootenanny, and the Hoot has always been fortunate to have mostly fair weather; but if need be, the show will go on inside. Let’s all channel our good weather thoughts for Dec 31st so the outside tradition can continue. Contact Steve Honour at 727 743 3000 for details and/or performer sign-up.
See YOU at the HOOT! (and remember the firewood…)
