Go Volunteer!
We’re 22 days away from the craziest rodeo a pirate has ever witnessed. I know we’re all equal parts excited and stressed: excited for the adventure and community that awaits us, and stressed as we hot glue the final googly eye to the labor of love art piece we’ve been working on for months, add that last song to the final playlist, and take the last sample from the gallons of apple pie mead we’ve made. But here’s the thing – this isn’t a music festival that you buy a ticket for and then show up and enjoy what the musicians have made for you. This isn’t an art show where you walk in, have a beer, and open your heart to an emotional outpouring embodied in a sculpture of a creature that is half capybara, half mermaid, and 100% the love of your life. This isn’t a performance piece at your local community theater where you laugh and cry so hard that you throw an extra $20 in the tip jar on the way out. You don’t just spectate here, that’s not how this works. We need volunteers or this thing doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do. And our volunteer shift schedule is looking quite BARE in a few places. Sanctuary, the helpful listeners and keepers of quiet spaces… have no one scheduled during any of the evenings. Zone Guides, the fine folks that help everyone figure out where they are going… on a very busy day for them, Friday, there is only ONE person scheduled from 4 to 8, and no one covering from 8 until the gate closes. And when I say no one, I mean there isn’t even a Shift Supervisor. Rangers, the friendly do-gooders of the event ready to sort out any situation… on Friday night, from 4pm until midnight there is only ONE Ranger scheduled and for more than half of that, there is no Khaki/Supervisor either. From midnight until noon the next day, there are NO Rangers. Saturday during the effigy burn we have 3 Rangers, but no Khaki. Sunday during the temple burn we have ONE Ranger and no Khaki. MEATS, our dedicated medical team… for most shifts there’s at least one person signed up, but, in many cases, that’s all there is: ONE person. During the effigy burn there’s only one. During the temple burn there are none. The list goes on and on. We need volunteers! For those of you who have been to so many burn events you’ve lost count… you know how critical volunteering is. You know these events don’t happen without community involvement. You don’t even need to read this because you’re either already signed up (THANK YOU!) or you’re planning on doing it and have just been so busy with the googly eyes. I get it. But we’re all busy. So take 5 minutes, go put your name on the list somewhere, and then we can all stop worrying about it. For the rest of you, we need your help. Even if you’re the “I don’t need anyone on any shift to support anything” type person, we still need your help. Without volunteers the event doesn’t happen. If the shifts are all empty this year, that helps indicate how many tickets we can make available next year. With fewer tickets, there are, naturally, fewer volunteers and, well… it doesn’t take a math wizard to see that this means we eventually have 0 tickets and no event. I’m literally begging you right now… VOLUNTEER, please! Go sign up and Volunteer! –Tripod Batcave AF Update 9/15: We found replacement instructors - please see latest blog post here: http://www.ntxb.org/blog/new-moar-safety-extravaganza-updates Unfortunately our MEATS lead has just tested Covid positive, a risk inherent in her healthcare profession. We appreciate everything Miera has put into prepping the Safety Extravaganza so far.
The bad news for y'all is that Miera is our current CPR/First Aid/AED trainer. This means that WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO OFFER CPR/BLS/AED TRAINING THIS SATURDAY (9/16) AT THE SAFETY EXTRAVAGANZA. Gritt, MEATS assistant lead will be training department protocols for MEATS. If you have been considering learning the fine art of Rangering or developing your skill in active listening, Rangers and Sanctuary will be offering their full training sessions. This may be a good cross training opportunity for prospective MEATS volunteers who would like to broaden their skillset. Please consider coming out this Saturday even if you can't get your certification at this event. Watch here on NTXB.org for updates about future CPR/BLS/AED training opportunities. Much appreciation as always for keeping Myschievia safe! Are you volunteering on the piney playa this year?
Do you want a fancy pre-printed badge for your efforts? Make sure you sign up for your shifts by Thursday, September 21st or you'll only get a hand-drawn one at the event. That's only two weeks away! Fill out the volunteer registration form and sign up for shifts here! Update 9/15: We found replacement instructors - please see latest blog post here: http://www.ntxb.org/blog/new-moar-safety-extravaganza-updates
VOLUNTEER ALL-CALL. Get your training in before you go on land! WHO: Rangers, MEATS, and Sanctuary volunteers who have not had training this year. If you do not have a ticket, please reach out directly to the Lead and see if we have any Critical Volunteer shifts available for you. DATE: Saturday September 16th TIME: 10am-5pm details on shift training times below. You will either be here 10-3 or noon-5. The Radio training and ICS Drill is mandatory for all attendees. If you aren’t being department trained and want to join us for the drill please let us know. We would be happy to have you, we just need to accommodate for the headcount. REGISTER HERE LOCATION: 7700 Swan Park Dr, Denton TX 76210 Corner lot, plenty of parking, but carpool if you can. We are in an HOA but we've had no noise or neighbor complaints so far, let's keep it that way. 3 dogs live here, my gentle giant and Eric's 2 old Chihuahuas. Please don't bring any more pets. If any of ours have a hard time they'll be put in our bedroom. There is a bathroom downstairs and upstairs. If you are bringing a service animal please let me know so we can expect their presence with you. VIRTUAL TRAINING will be simulcast for Sanctuary. ON-LAND TRAINING will be done on Friday. Rangers from 1-5 pm, Fire from 5-6 pm, Sanctuary from 6-8 pm, Meats from 8-10 pm. Please complete your independent ICS training prior to the Expo if you are not previously certified. If this training is not completed by burn you will have to be reassigned, so please try to have it done by the expo. Roles that require FEMA Training - ICS 100: Shift Supervisors and MHA Roles that must ALSO have FEMA Training - ICS 200: Leads and Duty Chiefs and MHA You know the drill - it's a burner event, so bring along everything you need, but at the very least bring a folding chair or a comfy floor cushion, your water, a snack to share if you can, and anything else you know you will be wanting. Timeline:
See you there! Here are all the bits and bobs you need to register YOUR event for Myschievia 2023: Rapscallion Rodeo!
Event registration ends September 20th for printing, October 1st digitally. BURN-WIDE event registration - register your event here if it's taking place at your camp, at a specific non-effigy location on the piney playa, or if it's a multiple location event. EFFIGY event registration - register your event here if it takes place in the rodeo arena, stalls, or announcer box. For a list of burn-wide or theme camp events, click here. For a list of event in the rodeo arena, stalls or announcer box, click here. Do you like feeling the gratification of putting in a hard day's work? Do you enjoy the outdoors and working with like-minded people to get a big job done? Have you heard about this cool thing called Work Weekends? LET'S TALK ABOUT IT! WHAT ARE WORK WEEKENDS? We all head out to Armadillo before the burn to get the land ready for the event. Work weekends are used to clear roads, move deadfall, mow trails, and carve out campsites. Sometimes we create new sections and sometimes we maintain what already exists. It mostly requires clearing dead branches and felled trees from established areas, moving the wood or using it to outline existing trails, and mowing down tall grass. WHEN ARE WORK WEEKENDS? Work weekends generally start in late August and go through the end of September. The specific dates change every year, so check out the Myschievia calendar for this year's dates (and integrate it with your own so you don't forget!). WHO CAN COME? You don't need a ticket, or even to intend to go to Mys this year. Several burners have attended work weekends who just wanted to volunteer for the community, but were taking a year off the actual burn. Many new burners decided to start their experience at work weekends, as well. Every work weekend will have at least one LLC member, a Land Ops lead or assistant lead, and the landowner onsite during the duration of the work. Kids that are old enough to help out are welcome. They need to be supervised by their parent/guardian at all times and minor waiver needs to be signed. No one under the age of 18 will be allowed to use power tools. Dogs that are supervised and behave are also okay but also need to be supervised the entire weekend. IS THIS A PARTY? Not really. We work. Most of Saturday and Sunday will involve lots of manual labor. After work ends on Saturday, we all relax and hang out, usually around a campfire (unless it's too hot). Libations are had, food is eaten, and stories are told. It's more like camping with friends. SO THERE WILL BE A BONFIRE? If there is no burn ban and it's not too hot, we will likely have a small firepit. But no, there won't be anything you could call a bonfire. WHEN CAN I SHOW UP? Each work weekend, the Land Ops lead or assistant lead is on land with the LLC member du jour by 8 pm Friday night. The landowner is usually onsite before that. If you want to show up Friday night, great! Just try to get there at a decent hour, understanding that we'll need to be up-and-at-em early the next day. You can burn in anytime Saturday before noon. We'll leave the gate open. WHAT'S THE SCHEDULE LOOK LIKE? Most of the crew rolls in Friday evening, the rest Saturday morning. Friday, we set up tents and cars, make a game plan and chill. Saturday we begin work by 9am at the latest. Work continues until 5-6 pm, or if the heat sucks, a little earlier. Then we all go off-shift, as it were, and chill out. Sunday, we wake and work by 9am, but only on small projects. Most people flee by noon Sunday, (with the exception being if there is a work weekend over Labor Day Weekend, which goes through Monday). You can leave whenever you're ready to head out but we'd love for volunteers to stay at least until the work is done on Saturday! CAN I DRINK WHILE WORKING? We're going to be using chainsaws and mowers and gators and vehicles. Own your experience and be responsible while the work happens. Stay baseline. Don't endanger yourself or others. There will be plenty of time for of-age participants to drink after work ends. But if you're 21+ and like a cold beer during the work, we won't stop you. On that note, you WILL BE REQUIRED TO SIGN A WAIVER UPON ARRIVAL and this waiver will basically say that you can't sue any of us if you do stupid shit. WILL THERE BE PORT-O-CANS? Yes. Same rules as the burn - nothing in the portos except human waste and toilet paper. IS CAR CAMPING ALLOWED? Absolutely. Find a shady spot to park and crash out in your ride! WHAT SHOULD I BRING? Everything you would bring for camping in the woods for two days while clearing detritus. Personal supply list
Helpful tools
DO YOU ALLOW PEOPLE TO LEAVE AND COME BACK? Unlike the burn, if you need to go into town to get something, it's totally cool. Hell, you can even stay overnight at the Wildflower Inn or a motel in Daingerfield overnight and come back, instead of camping. We won't judge. WHAT DO WE GET FOR THIS? First off, you get the knowledge that you helped make the burn itself happen. It seriously CANNOT happen without work weekends. The NTXB community is all about volunteering, and if you drive a few hours to spend a weekend or more to sweat and haul wood and make the hundreds of campsites available? That's something you can be proud of! Secondly, the LLC grants Volunteer Incentive Program (VIP) tickets to volunteers who attend work weekends. This means you'll have two tickets reserved for you for next year's burn. You still have to pay for them, but you don't have to worry about them selling out! Third? Work weekends are just a hell of a lot of fun. Hard work with friends and new faces fosters a level of camaraderie that you don't get in a lot of other situations. You also get sweet swag, like stickers, patches, or even tees! Because of the holiday, we can extend the work weekend over Labor day through Monday. That's right! You can come chainsaw, haul, chop, and hack with your friends for four whole days. And look! There's even a sweet and adorable puppy on land you can love up! Head on over to the shift sign-up sheet, click that Pre-Event tab, and get your name on the list of bad asses who will be clearing the land for our temporary community September 1st through 4th. See you there! HIPPIE KAI YAY MOTHER LOVERS! Let's get this shindig started, ya scallywags!
Got an event you're excited to bring to the Piney Playa? Here's where you can register such shenanigans. Thinking you'd really like to utilize our Rodeo FEG space? We have event registration for that, as well. Come play! Just remember, the effigy will close Saturday at 3pm to prep for the incident so make sure you finish your event by then. Calling all Theme Camps!
Have you registered your theme camp yet? If not y'all better get to it lickety split! This year Theme camp Registration closes Aug. 23rd. That's less than a week away! THEME CAMP INFO, MAP, AND REGISTRATION For any theme camp related questions, tip your hat at GoldStar. RV Registration If you are planning to bring an RV to Mys, it's high time you register it! As a reminder, you MUST register RVs using the RV registration form. Registration closes Aug 23rd. RV INFO AND REGISTRATION For any RV-related questions, give Havoc a holler. Why so soon? We know it can be stressful to not be able to plan where your theme camp is going to be until the last darn second before you've got boots on the ground for the event. So we're closing registrations earlier so that we can draft a preliminary placement map that can be sent out to select Theme Camp Leads. That way y'all'll know where your hitchin' post will be. This gives y'all time to plan and possibly head out to work weekends to assess, clear some brush, and really make a comfy spot for your shenanigans. -Havok, City Planning Lead Tickets for Myschievia 2023 are completely sold out.
There will not be a second sale of tickets for this year. After all critical volunteer tickets were purchased, we have very nearly reached our ticket cap. Need a ticket? Have a ticket you want to sell? Join the Ticket and Rideshare Facebook Group! Once you've found a match, use the ticket exchange form here to transfer them. There will be no Texas Ticket Fairy for Myschievia this year. **If you're selling tickets to someone or purchasing tickets from someone, BE WARY OF SCAMS. NTXB LLC is not responsible for loss of tickets or funds if you get hornswoggled!** Thank you to our volunteers for continuing to show up! This doesn't happen without you! |
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