To Rob or a moderator.

Rocky

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I would like to post about our New Year's Eve Champagne Bash.
As it is NOT a money making event, but rather a night where we give things away, I would like permission to post the details.
Regards, Marco.
 

Kiwicanuck

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Be carefull Kiwi

Rocky said:
I would like to post about our New Year's Eve Champagne Bash.
As it is NOT a money making event, but rather a night where we give things away, I would like permission to post the details.
Regards, Marco.

I thought of trying a funny response but think I had better not.

Ken might chastise me, again, lol.

Kiwi Bruce (just trying to get my posts up, trying to make silver)
 

amy2761

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Kiwicanuck said:
I thought of trying a funny response but think I had better not.

Ken might chastise me, again, lol.

Kiwi Bruce (just trying to get my posts up, trying to make silver)

That's allowed when you get close to 500 to make 'gold'. Until then .... :lick:


Hey Marc - if for some reason the moderator says "No!" then please PM me the details. Thanks!

Stay well,
Amy

P.S. if I make it ...... may I bring a bottle of champ or wine? I think I've used enough of your power during 'down time' to owe you a bottle ;)
 

Rocky

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Kiwicanuck said:
I thought of trying a funny response but think I had better not.

Ken might chastise me, again, lol.

Kiwi Bruce (just trying to get my posts up, trying to make silver)
\
Go for it, man.
We all need a bit of Christmas cheer.
If we can't laugh at ourselves, well....
 

Rocky

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amy2761 said:
Hey Marc - if for some reason the moderator says "No!" then please PM me the details. Thanks!
Stay well,
Amy
P.S. if I make it ...... may I bring a bottle of champ or wine? I think I've used enough of your power during 'down time' to owe you a bottle ;)
I would love it if you could make it Amy. When we go out on the "champagne runs" and hand out free champagne & presents to the kids, well, it's the most incredible feeling.
I know of nothing that thrills me as much as that night.
And you sure as heck don't have to bring a bottle. It's open bar from 8 PM to 2 AM.
 

amy2761

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Rocky said:
I would love it if you could make it Amy. When we go out on the "champagne runs" and hand out free champagne & presents to the kids, well, it's the most incredible feeling.
I know of nothing that thrills me as much as that night.
And you sure as heck don't have to bring a bottle. It's open bar from 8 PM to 2 AM.

Free champagne for the kids? Does that include me? ;) Hannelie may enjoy handing out presents too ..... DAMN IT!!! Let it out! What date? What time? My brother's here and we're having Xmas dinner early to accomodate his schedule so I may have to do some juggling ....

Stay well,
Amy

P.S. Open bar ..... in that case I sould at LEAST bring the lime juice as I'm sure Ted is sick and tired of squeezing the limes for my vodka and lime juices ;) Either way - I'll think of something to bring with ..... Xmas time and all.
 

Rocky

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What the heck..

I may as well post what I wrote into the event calendar, and if the mods do not feel it is acceptable, they can delete the whole thread.

Rocky's New Year's Eve Champagne Bash.
This is the night that we assemble for the last supper of the year, which consists of a steak filet, baked potato with sour cream and a salad, topped off with home made chocolate cake & ice cream, and cheesecake.
After eating, we convoy out of here in our cars & trucks, and go into some less than affluent barrios and share champagne with the adults, while distributing presents to the kids.
We colour code them for boys, girls & toddlers.
Last year, we had 125 bottles of champagne along with 550 presents.
We already have more champagne on hand for this year's event, and somewhere around 300 presents.
Anybody who would like to contribute to the presents fund, would be greatly appreciated. So far, we have always managed to make it bigger & better than the previous year, but I am running a bit short of cash, for the presents.
For those who would like to join us for the party, please make an advance reservation, as we cannot feed more than 100 people.
The entrance fee of $20 US, or 660 pesos, includes the meal & dessert, champagne and open bar.
This is the one night of the year that I get flat out drunk and party like there's no tomorrow.
If you have never come to one of these events, I promise you that you will remember it for the rest of your life.
There are no words to describe how awesome it is, when we go into the barrios and party with our Dominican brethren.
Anybody who would like to reserve or donate to the kids, may get in touch with me directly by my cellphone, at 809-841-6961.
Regards, Marco.
 

AnnaC

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Marco this isn't my forum but I say put up the info and if there's any objections it will be deleted and I'll take full resposiblity. ;)

It's for the kids!

Ok I see you posted while I was signing in. Isn't it better to start a new thread with the right heading. There may not be too many around this week to fix titles
 
A

apostropheman

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I had the incredible pleasure of being involved, in a small way, with the Champagne Run last year. Infact I booked a 2 week vacation around New Years specifically to be there.

For those that don't know every year for over a decade (lucky 13 this year) Marco, the owner of Rocky's, has donated his time and now thousands of dollars to organize and supply the gifts for the children and champagne for the adults although onations gratefully accepte.d

This tradition started well before Rocky's and was originally run from a huge vegetable delivery truck. Today it's a major undertaking involving in excess of 125 bottles of champagne and about 550 presents for the local kids. Not to mention all the fine people that get involved in the convoy to deliver the gifts before the party at the bar.

I wish I had pictures of all the presents piled under the Christmas tree and the dozens of bottles on the bar and the shelf over it. I'll be taking tons of pics this year! That's right, I got the FEVER!

You can read about the preparation for my adventure here
http://www.dr1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45821
http://www.dr1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45791
and I'll be posting a little trip report later.

BUT this is not about me!

Last year, New Years Eve about 9:00...in a thunderstorm, the convoy was loaded with coolers full of ice and champagne and hundreds of presents, wrapped colour coded for boys, girls and infants. Marco in the front car leading us deep in to the campo on a muddy road to a little settlement in what seemed the middle of nowhere. The people that live here are wonderful, gentle folk that happen to be very poor in material things...but certainly not in spirit!

We arrived, horns honking, and got the glasses assembles and filled about the time the crowd started to gather. Realize that it's raining heavily, had been for days, and the mud was ankle deep.
No one cared! There must have been about 150 people that seemed to come out of nowhere.
We spent about an hour there handing out drinks and gifts. All the while Marco is toasting them, the Dominican Republic and the fine people that live there and make it the best home in the world.The smiles on their faces made it worth any price to be there and make this happen!

We returned to the bar, loaded up the vehicles again and set off in the rain to Los Charamicos.
Totally different scene here but rewarding just the same. Back to the Bar and the New Years Party began!

Earlier in the evening there was a steak dinner and the partying went on with and without us until we returned. Hell of a great party too but i digress.

This event grabbed me by the heart like little else in my life. Enough so that I'm returning this year, with some personal difficuly, to participate again. I urge you all to seriously consider joining us. This is NOT a money maker for anyone and is done totally in the spirit of giving back to the community.
 

Rocky

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Anna Coniglio said:
Marco this isn't my forum but I say put up the info and if there's any objections it will be deleted and I'll take full resposiblity. ;)

It's for the kids!
Thanks Anna.
As there is an admission fee, and there may be those who don't understand that 20 bucks doesn't even come close to covering the costs of the supper dessert and 1 bottle of champagne, they might think it was a commercial event.
The tradition was started 7 years before we opened Rocky's, and we didn't charge an admisssion the first 5 years, but clients were billed for their food & drinks, which invariably would cost more than 20 bucks, but we unfortunately started to attract some rifraf, who would do things like drink other people's drinks when they weren't looking, or stick a few bottles of champagne under their shirts and take them home.
So, as of last year, we started charging admission, but stopped charging for the meals & drinks, and it was a lot better.
In fact, it was the best party ever.
It lands up costing me a bit more this way, but it's the only night of the year that I get down and party, so, cost what it may, I love it.
 

Rocky

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apostropheman said:
This event grabbed me by the heart like little else in my life.
\
That says it all.
I never know how to explain it to those who have never participated, but your words are as close to describing it, as any words can be.
When we stopped in that poor barrio, with no power, and we lit up the neighbourhood with our headlights, and even though we were standing in mud in a light drizzle, nothing could dampen the spirit of the event.
Those were some of the finest peope I ever had the pleasure of meeting, and I was so touched, when one of the men, walked up and embraced me, it almost brought tears to my eyes.
I know it sounds sucky, but one has to be there to believe it.
 
A

apostropheman

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It's not sucky at all. I was there and, for me, it was a life changing experience.

I've been planning a move to the DR since that night. One day soon i'll find the guts to do it...
just as soon as I get things settled here, and that night made the difference.

The people in the barrios have next to nothing by our, north american, standards but from my limited experience they're generally much happier than the people I see here every day.

The appriciation, not for the gifts or the drinks but for the respect...honour, shown them was amazing. I'm sure they, the adults anyway, could live without the "stuff" but I'm betting it's not every day they see that they're cared about and hear that they're respected. Don't even get me started on the kids :)

When you said "usually it's one gift per child but this place is different. Make sure that every kid gets atleast two or three, this village is so poor the kids will likely get nothing else" that I started to get it.

Thank you. I'll see you as soon as I can get there from Punta Cana...save me a seat in the lead car, will ya! ;)
 
A

apostropheman

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guess i should mention thet i met lots of great people too...i fondly remember getting repeatedly squeezed into the back seat with a couple of lovely ladies....it ain't all charity :eek:






you'll have to forgive my lapsing back into all small caps...i hate punctuation:surprised
 
A

apostropheman

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ya,

landing about 9:40 pm in PC and catching the bus next day at 7:00 am.
hope to be in Sosua by 5:00 pm or so.

not sure where i'll be spending the night. if i can find a reasonable place fine, if not i'll amuse myself till the bars close, wait at the bus station and sleep on the bus(es).

gonna be a looong day:nervous: :classic:
 

Rocky

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apostropheman said:
Marco in the front car leading us deep in to the campo on a muddy road to a little settlement in what seemed the middle of nowhere. The people that live here are wonderful, gentle folk that happen to be very poor in material things...but certainly not in spirit!
BTW: We are planning to go back to that very same barrio, then off a bit farther to the small village, near that watering hole with the waterfalls.
I can't remember if we've been there together, but it's just another mile or so, past that first barrio.
 
A

apostropheman

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terrific! i think that's near where we took the dogs to swim.

it sure felt like a loooong drive that night...really dark, in the rain and PUMPED!

i can hardly wait...i can't sleep even though i have to get to work in just a few hours...i'll sleep when i return i guess :rolleyes:

when i told my boss why i wanted to go he just gave me the time off...i don't have any vacation days left...he said he'd cover for me! hell, he wants to come with us but....the wife has other plans :devious:
 

Rocky

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apostropheman said:
terrific! i think that's near where we took the dogs to swim.
That's exactly where it is.
There's a small village there and they don't look very wealthy.
Then, if we have anything left over, we'll stop at the police station, as we always do, and maybe one quick run into Charamicos.
 
A

apostropheman

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perfect...forgot about the police station :cheeky:
what a night!
 

Chris

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Hey Rocky, edit this here post and change the title to Rocky's Children's New Year's Gift Caravan, or something else that you like. Like Anna, I don't find anything in here that violates any of the DR1 rules... It is of course up to Rob and/or the forum moderator.