Re: [VincentVL.] If you have attended BD before.......
Of all the "longtime" Bridge Day Organizers, and I've said this before, Jason is doing the best job - hands down.
Every BDO in the past has been somewhat pummeled over "cost" issues at one time or another. And they all handled it differently. During the time Jean Boenish ran BD, and also later Andy Calistrate, I was always one of the henchmen (the staff members in the yellow shirts) and I saw the turmoil firsthand.
Jean would usually "receive" a few disgruntled jumpers in her "chambers" each year but they'd never found the satisfaction they were seeking. But even before they were granted that exalted audience they had to get by us. And even as some of the henchmen (including me) had serious reservations about Jean's methods, we all saw her as the Queen Mother of B.A.S.E., the widow of our late patriarch Carl Boenish, and as so we protected her.
Jean, however, had her own secret defense mechanism. It wouldn’t be fair to call it doubletalk, because it was something more than that. It was the language that royalty used and it wasn't meant to be understood by mere mortals. Jean was charging $35 in those days and the amenities of BD consisted of an old wooden box to help mount the rail, some white plastic chains to hold the wuffos in check, and a small ribbon windsock in the LZ, and that was about it. There were no free pizza parties, no free kegs of beer, no nothing and we knew to bring our own consumables and invent ways to entertain ourselves.
A typical meeting with said disgruntled jumper, who had done his math, would go something like this, "So Jean, what happens to the thousands of dollars you collect every year?" And that was our cue to settle in for the show.
"Well, as you know," Jean would begin slowly, "Our plenary meetings indicate a myriad, and by myriad I'm sure you know I mean, a larger degree of universal divergence in certain areas that entail more than the natural diligence in what would otherwise be considered status quo. So towards that final result we abrogate rather than abbreviate, thus finding a commonality in all things pertaining to the task at hand." This would be about the time Jean would draw her first breath and the questioning jumper's head would begin to spin. They sometimes looked around the room perplexed only to find solemn looks on the henchmen's faces and heads bobbing up and down in total agreement. Another ten minutes or so would usually finish the poor sap off, and it was rare, that once outside, they even had enough left to ask, "What the fuck did she say?"
Everyone knew the real truth of it and that was the majority of monies collected kept Jean comfortably for the rest of the year. But, in public anyway, most of us didn't care. Jean was our only living link to Carl, and we turned a blind eye.
Andy Calistrate had his own method too. Having none of the natural goodwill accorded to Jean, and much less dedicated henchmen, he needed a bit of artificial help. His answer to any questions involving fiduciary shenanigans was, "Here, swallow this little pill, in a few minutes you won't give a shit anymore."
In those days profiting from BASE was generally a dirty idea. But it was a matter of degree and result. We didn’t mind that Carl made money from his movies, or that Jakey made some from his book. These were guys making something out of nothing and not people that take that something, and well, just take and take . . .
The wha wha wha mentioned upboard; the work that goes into today's event is a totally different animal. Jason deserves certainly not to lose on Bridge Day, but also deserves to profit from it. His events are angst free for the most part. I mean you can go, you can jump, and you can party, and not worry about much else. Before he ran Bridge Day there was always the Sword of Damocles hanging over our heads, there was always something going on that detracted from the event, trouble with the Rangers, trouble with the townies, and the politics of Bridge Day were palpable and a pain in the ass. I'm sure some of those issues are still there, but unlike Jean or Andy, Jason somehow seems to handle them behind the scenes. And that right there is worth whatever few bucks he may be putting away for his daughter's education . . .
This year's event sounds like it's going to be a barn burner, I'm in school and can’t attend this time so hoist a few cold ones for me and have a good Bridge Day everyone!!!
NickD
BASE 194
