[Springboard] Springboard Gathering #3

[Jack Gilles]

Dear Colleagues,

Below is a copy of the email sent to a small team of us by Marshall  
Jones on August 30th.  I think for continuity I would like to ask  
Marshall if he would be willing to be the registrar for the event  
("OK Marshall?").   We hope a lot of you will decide to attend and  
the rest of you find a way to be connected electronically.  As I  
mentioned we will be holding the gathering on the weekend of November  
30th, December 1-2.  Some of us may stay an additional day to do some  
pull together like we did in Denver and Abbey North.

Jack

Hello colleagues,

Today I spoke by phone with my old friend and colleague Paul Ervin,  
the past CEO of the United Methodist Foundation for Evangelism and a  
colleague of Bishop Jim Mathews, who's been the guiding light of the  
Foundation.

He recently had a long visit with the Bishop and Eunice, and Eunice  
reported that Bishop Jim had a finer afternoon than any since his  
stroke.

Paul is eager to have us meet in the large conference room in their  
brand new building at Lake Junaluska. They have 18" tables (required,  
of course), wi-fi, satellite hookup, projection video conferencing,  
and a catering kitchen. The room is large enough for breakout space,  
and I don't imagine us having to limit the size of the gathering  
because of space constraints.

Heres a pic of the front of the new building:
http://evangelize.org/resources/photos/display_photo/? 
tx_jmgallery_pi1%5BalbumUid%5D=37&tx_jmgallery_pi1%5BimageUid%5D=623

We could import the food, like takeout chicken, and/or have some  
meals catered by the food operation located at the hotels.

Paul said, 'Marshall, if you're there, of course it's free.'  
Otherwise, there may be a small fee for the conference room to cover  
the heat and somebody to open the building for us.

And there are a variety of plentiful accomodations at the Lake or  
directly across Highway 19 @ the Lakeview Motel. You may choose to  
stay in one of the midprice hotels on site. There is also a  
'minister's special' @ http://www.lakejunaluska.com/specials.aspx? 
id=534&ItemId=534 and, unbelievably, it's only $29/night for a room  
with up to four single beds. Some of these are at the Junaluska  
Apartments directly across the street from the meeting space. The  
Apartments are older accommodations featuring shared bath,  
kitchenette, and two bedrooms each.

Since it's off-season, we'll have no problem getting accommodations!  
Call 800/222-4930 during business hours.

There's lots of touristy stuff to see, from Asheville's Biltmore  
House to the elk grazing in the meadow at Great Smoky Mountains  
National Park just a few miles away. Plus horseback riding through  
the mountains, golf if you're a golfer, and much more.

Of course we could go the route of meeting in one of the hotels at a  
conference rate with all meals included. But I wanted to give you the  
cheap option as well. Knowing most of us are not millionaires.

Flying into AVL is possible, but it's a dinky airport and the service  
is not great. Other options are to fly into ATL (2+ hours) or CLT (2.5 
+ hours) and carpool.


Marshall
  
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