TOTAL MELTDOWN at the BURNER HOSTEL

[hageymon]

In a nutshell, the authorities are SHUTTING US down, due to complaints
by a FEW neighbors who know how to use "The System" to their advantage.

We were BOMBARDED today by officials from the City of Sparks, County
Health Department, Sparks Police, and Sparks Fire Department.

Effectively, we cannot house or assist most of the people who are
expecting to find friends here, an oasis, shelter, rides, and support.

We need people to come here, but park away from here, and NOT park on
this street, walk down here, and ADOPT people who need your help, and
take them away from here as rapidly as possible, starting tomorrow and
all through Monday and Tuesday, and do whatever is necessary to give
them the Burning Man experience they were expecting, and the
hospitality they were expecting.

Please show the World what Burners can do to support one another when
they are unified and inspired.

We need a MIRACLE here!

TWO ENORMOUS setbacks this year is too much to bear...

Please do not e-mail us or call us on the phone, which only makes
things worse.

Please help these people.

This BRIBH is now effectively only a footnote in History after many
years of success and will no longer exist at this location in the
future.

Please pass along this message to any and all list of concerned
Burners.

Hagey. Very sad, in tears, frustrated, angry, and exhausted.

[can't sit still]

HAGEYMON, I'm a virgin so I have to ask questions. Where is the Hostel,exactly? I have heard that there are a high percentage of virgins coming. I'm sure that some of them are bringing a sense of community with them and would be happy to shuttle a few people. They may need directions to your location,,,I do.

How much baggage will the average person have? Where do they need a shuttle to? What % have NO place to shuttle to. I read about your suburban and tent. I'm sorry to hear about your troubles. A miracle would be nice but I think that you need resources and organization.

What plan do you have to get people out to the playa in regards to "early entry" ?
I could hook on my trailer and bring it, but I can't go on-site early.
From what countries? Any language problems? Fragile health? Gender split? I'm sure that this last one will get me in deep shit but your situation is desperate.
There are plenty of upright guys who would go out of their way to accomidate a female without assuming that she would be their bunkmate. At least I hope there are.
Give us some info and make it easier to respond. You said no calls or emails. This forum appears to be the only place that WE can get info and plan accordingly.
Thanks, Dan

[Will]

Damn. When it rains, it pours. They have knocked you down. Let others jump up to take your place!

[HughMungus]

Hagey, what's your address so people can go pick-up people on their way in? I thought I saw it somewhere but can't find it now.

[zorro sings]

Yes the address would help.Not sure how many people,without any way of communicating with you,will be able to make it over and lend a hand.Especially out of towners. I mean I have lived in Reno/Sparks for 18 years and don't have a clue where Hageymon hangs out.Would be glad to help but bit difficult with the information given so far.

[swampdog]

Here's my guesses and interpretations as to how to best help. THIS IS MY INTERPRETATION FROM OTHER NOTES ON THE EPLAYA.

What I'm reading is that folks who showed up at Hagey's expecting a place to wait for a ride, etc, are all being pushed out - whether that's "Leave now" or "leave real damned soon" isn't clear from the notes.

So the first and foremost thing we can do is to pick people and gear up from Hagey's. The quicker we get these folks onto the playa the better. If you have any spare room at all and are going thru Reno, it's probably best (my guess) if you call Hagey and see what you can do. He posted his numbers after the first disaster as: HAGEY at 775-358-5080, FISH at 219-614-1835, SANTA at 219-614-1835. From this note: DO NOT CALL unless you are inbound or have some specific contribution, it sounds like they are going crazy enough already without well meaning calls of support or chat. I'm guessing that the gate will be pretty flexible with early arrivals to accomodate this disaster, but that's JUST A GUESS on my part.

An address was posted elsewhere: "through Tuesday, pick up people at 1350 Breaker Way Sparks, NV 89431 near the N McCarran shopping centers (Safeway, Target & many more)." As noted here, BE DISCRETE and don't clog up the roads trying to help. Hagey says here: "but park away from here, and NOT park on this street, walk down here"

I don't know if people who arrive from other directions running shuttle trips out to Reno and back is likely to be helpful or not, it may be worth a try. I plan to visit the on-playa BRIBH and ask.

The other thing is, I'll bet they need money. I expect that people who showed up in Reno expecting a free night's stay and a pot of beans to share are being forced to stay in motels, buy dinner, and maybe pay for taxis. From another thread, "Hagey has given out his official pay pal account: fhagemeister@prodigy.net "

Oh, and last thing I can think of is, if you're planning to stay at Hagey's but have a plan B or meet some nice burners on the plane who are renting a car, or have some other way to bypass Hagey's, I think you should try to do so.

[BigBeare]

It's called the Wildwood and it's on West 4th. Costs $28 per person. Here's a link to their reservation site:

http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetail ... -Reno-2906

Yeah, it's not BM, but it's something and it's cheaper than a hotel.

[the fire elf]

[the fire elf]

[callmecrazy]

Anyone know what the final outcome of all of this was? Did people make it to the playa? Did some of Hageymon's travelers get taken into other camps?

[Timber]

I know some of them must have made it, because I was invited to the Burning Sporrin event and had a fantastic time. What a great bunch of people who know how to have fun and not take themselves too seriously. Just a hell of a great crowd.

[akatom]

We had a good time. People pitched in to bring people out. DPW provided shade. Hagey made it out for a couple days. The afterburn at his place was toned down. Aside from some extra logistics, things were smooth. Hagey was worn out but recovering when I left on Wednesday.

[spectabillis]

BTW: the two cats we picked up turned out to be the greatest and most outragous of our campmates. You always hear horror stories about bringing in the wrong people into your camp: drama, psychosis, assholitis... and many times this is from people you know. It was a really pleasant surprise to have worked out this well with a couple of absolute strangers.

[dougaldutch]

Yeah the hostel came good in the end, the burner community rallied round, shade was donated and much appreciated by all. The camp was still full of energy (as displayed at the ceilidh, glad you enjoyed yourself Timber) and it was going to take more than some thieving b@stard or petty minded so and so to damp it down.

Hats off to Hagey and all those who helped make the hostel possible this year.

[Kinetic IV]

I know that the Hostel got their people to the playa and the DPW saved the day. But I recall reading somewhere that the City of Sparks was giving Hagey flak over code violations and the like so I'm wondering what's up with that. And is he doing this again next year? And if so can he do it from his current location and in the same fashion he's accustomed to over the past few years? Yeah it's still decompression time and a bit early to be thinking of next year but if the city is still riding his derriere perhaps there's some more things the rest of us could do to mitigate that?

[dani]

I have to say that the response from the burner community was pretty amazing in the wake of Hagey's hell - authorities and theft. As I waited for a lost bag to arrive at Hageys on the 27th and 28th, so many people stopped by to grab burners to take out to the playa - on saturday and sunday, there were even more rides than riders. International hostel burners were granted early entrance onto the playa, shade structure provided, and though I didn't camp with em, their camp vibe was great.

As for next year, to answer your question, he states that he will not be defeated. He is not planning on running the International Burner Hostel out of his home but when we last spoke about this, the Hostel will likely happen at another location to be determined. Bigger and better?

I am so grateful to ya Hagey for the hospitality. This man gave me his bed and slept on the floor my first night back from the burn! I met burners at his house from the UK, New Zealand, Israel, Canada, the US....all over... burner hostel is the shit.

This guy is a gift.

Yah, I know, Im gushing.

Thanks Hag