2008 Elk Toss Video

Many of you have seen this before, but it is worth another look at Simon's attempt at elk tossing last year. The video is here.

Food Bank Donations

The economic downturn has put a lot of extra demand on food banks. Please try to bring non-perishable food to donate to the Danville-Riverside Food Bank. For ideas of what to donate to the Food Bank, check out the needs list on the website of the State College Area Food Bank. If you would like to donate a grocery store gift card, you should know that there is a Giant and a Weis store in the Danville area.

2009 Elk Toss Schedule

We've "finalized" the schedule for this year's Elk Toss. We've posted a .pdf file of the schedule here. If there are any schedule changes before February 21, we will post them on the blog.

Presidential Inauguration

The Danville German Society has sent representatives of our organization to attend the Inauguration of President Obama in Washington, D.C. The DGS Treasurer and Secretary will be witnessing the historic event.

Elk Toss Reminders 2009

Here's a few reminders for the what you should bring to the Elk Toss:

Items to Auction
Cash (or checks) to pay for events and the auction
Non-perishible food to donate to the Danville-Riverside Food Bank
Pot Luck Food to share with others
Lederhosen
Ability to speak Pennsylvania Dutch

If you plan to stay in Danville overnight, you should book a room. We recommend the Pine Barn Inn. It is within walking distance of downtown, and they like Lederhosen.

For the auction, please bring stuff that you think someone else will actually want to buy. The Charity Auction is not a way to get rid of your trash.

Digital Television Transition

The conversion to digital television is planned for 4 days before the Elk Toss. If you are worried that you may lose your television service that week, we have an easy solution: Come to the Elk Toss! You do not need a converter box to toss an elk.

Additional information about the digital conversion can be found at this Public Service Announcement video.

UPDATE: the final deadline for the conversion has been delayed until June 12, although some channels still may switch on February 17. Just come to the Elk Toss, and you will not have to worry about it.

Prohibited Items

We have received several questions about what you need to bring to the Elk Toss. We will get to that later, but you should know what you should not bring. Note that we borrowed this list from the official website of the Presidential Inaugural Ceremonies, so some items might not apply to the Elk Toss. Use your judgement.

Prohibited items include, but are not limited to:

Firearms and ammunition (either real or simulated)
Explosives of any kind (including fireworks)
Knives, blades, or sharp objects (of any length)
Mace and/or pepper spray
Sticks or poles
Pocket or hand tools, such as “Leatherman”
Packages
Backpacks
Large bags
Duffel bags
Suitcases
Thermoses
Coolers
Strollers
Umbrellas
Laser pointers
Signs
Posters
Animals (other than service animals)
Alcoholic beverages
Other items that may pose a threat to the security of the event as determined by and at the discretion of the security screeners

Mobility Aids such as canes, including those with a fold-down seat, walkers, wheelchairs, and scooters are allowed.

Microbrewery in Danville?

Yes, it is true. The Old Forge Brewing Company on Mill Street opened recently, and we plan to add it as one of our stops on the annual Tour of Danville.

Preliminary 2009 Schedule

We plan to generally follow the same schedule as we have done the past several years. It will probably look something like this:

8:00 am - Pappas Restaurant for Annual ScrappleFest
9:00 am - Salvation Army Shopping Trip
10:00 am - Jerseytown Tavern in Jerseytown
· Jerseytown Burger Eat-Off
· Presentation of Certificate of Appreciation
11:30 am - Arrive at Wagner Farm
· Scrap Iron Toss, Salad Toss, Ice Roping, Sled-Dog Race, Chicken Race, Block Shoot, Beard Contest, etc.
· Charity Auction and live music will be held between each event
· Annual meeting and officers reports
· Pot luck style food
4:00 pm - ELK TOSS followed by more competitions and auction
6:00 pm - Leave Wagner Farm and head to downtown Danville
7:00 pm - Tour of Danville begins at Pine Barn Inn bar
· Mulberrry’s, BJ’s, Old Forge Brewing Company, LT Evans, etc.
10:00 pm - Music by Slimfit and Van Wagner, and magic by Fred Iobst at the Pub
Late - More Tour of Danville and Cheese Cosmos at Danville Sub Shop

In previous years we have had a bit of trouble getting the events rolling at the Wagner Farm. So this year, we will begin events as soon as we get there. We won't wait for stragglers, and that means you, Joey.

We will post the final schedule here and also as a .pdf file on the DGS Website.

2009 Charities

Happy New Year...

We've been tossing around some ideas for charities for the 2009 Elk Toss and have come up with the following:

Gatehouse Shelter
Heart-to-Hand Ministries (www.hearttohandministries.com)
Centre County Women's Resource Center (www.ccwrc.org)
Milagro House (www.milagrohouse.org)

There is a chance we may add another one before February 21, so stay tuned.