Fellow 2009 Extravaganzers:
Well, it has taken me the better part of three (count 'em!) weeks and a quick return trip to the Scene of It All (Wednesday afternoon, while at the Pt. Richmond office, I was musing about just what I was going to do the coming weekend and, before I knew it, I was on the phone to Delta Air Lines with a Thursday return flight ticket in hand!), but I think, to the extent humanly possible, I have finally fully recovered from the unabashed awesomeness of Extravaganza 2009...what a blast that was (and, with it now forever etched in my mental hard-drive, still is!)!!! In every sense of the word, 57 strong this year, we came, we saw and we conquered all that this stunningly beautiful wonderful corner of the Earth known simply as "Montana" has to offer.
Indeed, the wonderful sights, sounds and peals of yet-ringing laughter that were part of Extravaganza 2009 may have passed on the calendar but they will forever live in our extravagant history together. Kathy and I each thank each of you from the bottom of our hearts for taking time out of your otherwise busy lives to spend the better part of a week with us this summer--we love you and we loved every minute of the precious time that we spent together. In many respects for both Kathy and me, as witnessed by the attached photo, the Extravaganza has become a permanent part of our joint life, and, simply stated, we just can't intelligently imagine a summer without this event in our lives--it provides us the opportunity to share with you the internal and external beauty that we discovered here just seven short years ago; it also provides us with the special opportunity to extravagantly thank each of your for being the importantly special parts of our life that you each are and have become.
In many ways, each Extravaganza, as it begins, is like a framed blank tapestry--we know its four corners of time but no one in their wildest imagination could fully anticipate the resultant painting that would evolve over our collective three weeks together. Who, by way of example, would have thought that this year's event would be forever known as "The Year of the Girl"--from the Glennon Sisters of Group A, to the Hooters Girls of Group B to the bedazzling smiles of appreciation of both Group C's Eliza Shepard and our Florida-based Rookie of the Year, Olivia Kingsland, yes, this year's extravagant event that, in its early years, was initially thought of a "guys' trip" and that then quickly evolved into a "father-son trip", fully blossomed itself into a trip that will forever be know as a safe-haven and playground for the fairer sex of all ages.
And who in their right mind would have thought in advance that Extravaganza 2009's initially blank canvas would give sight to four (count 'em) new species of fish: Group A's discovered global warming's product of the never-before-discovered "Billtrout"; Group B's brazen discovery of the ever elusive "Bullshit Fish" and land-resident "Deer Trout"; and Group C's first-ever Montana landing of the thought-to-be- venomous-but-probably-not "Snake Trout...indeed, what non-asylum-committed mind could ever have envisioned these discoveries?!?
From (a) the youthful enthusiasm of the Rosenbaum children in Group A to (b) the multi-year return of seasoned veterans like Group A's John "SOS" Reimann and Rich "Pink Panther" Kotoff; Group B's Doug "Popeye" Hamilton, "Squawfish Tim" & "Shanna Banana" Rodgers, Lori "The Fawn" Ware and the Bedfords Two; and Group C's Larry "Moon River" Klaustermeier, Cam "Mend" Carlson, and the now-Shepards Four to (c) the bevy of beauties and brawn that spent their rookie years with us, this year's Extravaganza was, indeed, "one for the ages--all ages" thanks to each and every one of you. And, most importantly, both Kocktail Kathy and I hope that you forever took home a piece of Montana with you...that you do wake up in the middle of the nights to come to re-hear the rustling of the wind through boughs of her trees, that you frequently set aside moments of an otherwise hectic day ahead to reflect back upon the silent beauty that you witnessed here in her bosom, and that, proudly, you know that you were here among a selected few to share all that we did together for the simple reason that you belonged here.
What Kathy and I have learned in our surprisingly few years together here in Montana's Western regions is that all of the beauty that is here is not here by accident, but, rather, by divine guidance. As Group B's Tim Foster so elegantly stated in our Extravaganza-produced music video "Montana Matters" (which you and the world can now view on YouTube by typing in the magic words "Montana Matters"), Montana matters in no small part because "it may be one of the last places where we can prove that we can co-exist with a beautiful environment." What we have also learned is that that co-existence will be a successful experiment if, and only if, we curb the naturally unnatural inclination of man to destroy something that shines of pristine beauty. To that end, as recent extravagant beneficiaries of the intrinsic value of that pristineness, we have to pledge to each other to work together to fight for victory in that co-existence--we each have shown in our own extravagant ways that, yes, we can come into this Montanaesque environment, enjoy its bounties and yet leave it a better place...to that end Montana matters to each of us and, as I did during our awards night ceremonies, I entreat you to visit, often, our Montana Matters website at www.montanamatters.com and to give, and to give often, of your time and your wealth so that this wonderful place known simply as "Montana" retains is natural wealth for time on end. Kathy and I have proudly done and, on a daily basis, continue to do so, and, just as we did while you were here with us this summer, we would proudly welcome your enthusiastic company in this wonderfully rewarding cause...simply because Montana, indeed, matters.
Again, as we put this final bow on Extravaganza 2009, Kathy and I each thank you for being here with us, for sharing your time and your sprit with us all and for remembering that we each now have the solemn duty to preserve for the ages what others before us have enabled us to so much enjoy.
Bless each and every one of you Extravagant Ones!
Best to all from the now-concluding scene of it all,
Rock Creek Ron
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