Ken and I arrived on Thursday and visited with many whom we already knew and met many whom we were Facebook friends but never met face-to-face. It was great to finally be able to place the actual face to the person. The hospitality room opened at 4:00 and most all of the GPs were milling around, snacking and enjoying the open bar provided by Texas Hill Country POD, The Buzzard Bar Cooking Team, and some of the liquor sponsors Jim Ezell snagged. We had such a great time that evening!
Friday was filled with meetings, gatherings, a round table discussion with the current board members and those running, and even a class on how to become a better table monitor which was helpful for everyone. I know I learned a lot and I'm betting everyone else picked up a tip or two as well. The hospitality room opened again at 4:00 and we were served fajitas for dinner. Many stayed up until the wee hours enjoying the "hospitality" as well as the hotel's bar. (I didn't make it as long as many others.)
Saturday was "THE" day of the Great Pepper Meeting. It began at 9:00 and was run professionally and as swiftly as possible. We followed the agenda perfectly and were only delayed a few times for clarification discussions. Renee Moore gave her final Presidential speech which was moving as well as touching. She's served as CASI's president for many years and has done an amazing job. The other directors also had their chances to give their points. Not one speech made me yawn or lose interest.
When it was Dana Plocheck's turn she introduced the 2011 TICC poster and asked me to stand to be recognized. It was an honor for my poster design to be chosen. She read to the crowd my explanation on how I came up with my design and I felt pride listening to her read it. What I said was:
"I thought about the things at my first TICC that were not only memorable, but could be used as a design. Being a Houstonian, gazing at the night sky with the infinite number of stars isn't something that happens. And even though I was raised in a family that camped a lot and witnessed many beautiful starlit skies, there was something about the night sky at Terlingua that was unlike any vast night sky I'd seen. So when I thought about submitted a poster design, the one thing that kept coming back to me was the night sky so I knew I wanted to focus on that. I then started thinking how everyone who attends TICC has one thing in common, the desire to win the pepper.
I was a Girl Scout and I remember one badge was an astronomy badge and I learned, and surprising retained, a lot about finding constellations. I thought that, probably, every person who attends TICC, at one point or another, gazes at the stars and wishes their number would be called at TICC. So how cool would it be if there was a pepper constellation that all CASI cooks could find and make their wish. So I made the Pepper Constellation and it seemed simple but appropriate and I thought most everyone could relate on some level."
This is a copy of the small poster that will be given away and posted for advertising purposes. There is also a large poster that is a little different from this one that has pictures of the winners from last year's TICC as well as the sponsors' logos.
When we had our first break after the poster display many, many people came to be to congratulate me on my design. I heard over and over that they've always wanted a poster that had to do with the Terlingua night sky and now they do. They also stated they thought my story only made the design better. Lots and lots of kudos and I was certainly beaming with pride!
Around noon we broke for lunch, which was provided to us and was delicious. We got a see a presentation of cookoff and TICC pictures during lunch that was wonderful.
After lunch we started on the "meat" of the meeting which involved the rules changes. There were 17 pages to get through, but many PODS withdrew their changes so it really didn't take as long as it could have. At the end we passed some good changes and put off others until the next rules change year.
Just before it was over we voted on the new directors and the board voted on the new vacancies. There are now 4 new directors and Ed Blair is the new CASI President. Dana Plocheck and Jim Ezell are co-vice-presidents. We did not hear where or what the new directors' jobs would be, but I'm sure we all will soon enough. Congratulations to everyone! And for those 4 not returning to serve on the board next year, your service has not gone unnoticed and is greatly appreciated!
The meeting was adjourned and the hospitality room opened for service. Everyone was winding down and trying to catch up on 2 days of hard partying so it was somewhat more mellow on Saturday evening. People were saying their good-byes and their see-you-in-Terlingua comments and there was a little sense of melancholy in the air.
Ken and I drove away feeling as though we really are a part of CASI in many ways other than cooking a pot of chili.
...more on CASI and Chili to come!
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