USC meals - Competitors families do not have to buy a banquet ticket this year, however they do have to RSVP to reserve a seat in the ballroom.
For those of you returning to Bakersfield, you will recall that we had the buffet dinner with 4 different seating times starting at 5:30. This will happen again. That way families with small kids can eat early and those people who are helping to tear down the site can eat last. People will go through the buffet line then sit in the bar, or at the tables and chairs set up for them pool side. Guests will need to have a wristband to eat. At 7ish we will begin seating in the ballroom. So if people don’t want to pay the extra $35 for a buffet meal they don’t have to. The competitors meal is included.

The ballroom will be setup theater style. Each chair will have a label with a seat number. (Nice little mailing labels) This year we will leave a U-shaped area for pictures to be taken. Hopefully when people check in they will receive the appropriate number of wrist bands for meals on Saturday and seating tickets to match the meal count. If the competitor has guest(s) who don’t want the meal they will be issued a seating ticket only.

IMPORTANT – I will be sitting in my RV for 16 plus hours driving to Bakersfield – this is when I plan on laying out the floor plan for who sits where in the ballroom. So if someone does not reserve a seat for their guest they will be sitting in the back of the room. So please make sure your competitors understand RSVP is required.

Janet has so graciously offered to setup for the banquet again this year. If you would like to help her, please let us know.

We will  be looking for people to head up different dept – registration, ice & water, garbage, parking, banners, etc.  We will also be looking for good volunteers, we will need announcers, drivers, judges, recorders and back up judges, dock starters. Dock starters are very important; they keep the event running in a timely manner. Please ask your competitors if they are willing to help, then please let Mark Miller and Mike Riffle know who they are and what they can do.

Rules -  we will not be talking about rules, so if you have comments, questions or things you would like to see changed for 2009, please email them to me AND Mark Miller for slalom, Mike Riffle for wakeboarding and to me for kneeboarding. Now is the time while things are fresh  in your mind. Don’t say you want something changed without a suggestion of how it should be changed.