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.

2009 Elk Toss Highlights

Things to look for at the 2009 DGS Elk Toss, Winter Festival, and Charity Auction:

Breakfast at Pappas Restaurant
Salvation Army Shopping
Jerseytown Tavern
Charity Auction
Block Shoot
Salad Toss
Scrap Iron Toss
Mystery Events?
Elk Toss
Tour of Danville
Slimfit?
Fred Iobst?
Chickens

2009 Elk Toss is Scheduled

The 75th Annual Danville German Society Elk Toss, Winter Festival, and Charity Auction will be held on February 21, 2009. All events will be held in and around Danville.

This year promises to be an Elk Toss that is dumber than any of the other 74 Elk Tosses. If you do not attend, you will miss out on the stupidity that is the Elk Toss.

The most up-to-date and useful information about the event will be posted to this blog, so be sure to check back often.

Note: if you have access to a large and docile elk, please email us if that elk would be willing to be tossed.

Elk Toss Thanks

Thank you to everyone who attended the 2008 Elk Toss, and special thanks to the following people:

The Wagner Family for hosting the event and supplying plates, forks, outhouse (and video camera), spoons, warmth, knives, guns, toilet paper, cups, snow, scrap iron, and more
Everyone who helped clean up afterwards
Pam Shellenberger for collecting money and organizing events
Jamey Canterbury for elk toss measuring
Todd Summers, Rich Pawling, Van Wagner for auctioneering
Fred Iobst for his awesome magic at the Pub II
Slimfit for rocking out at the Pub II
Curt Wolfhope for finding elk and Marc Lewis for turning it into elk barbeque
Aaron Jensen, Tamara Wagner, and Karen Hagemeier for general help and money collection
Everyone who helped bus auction items to the stage
Joe McMonagle and Stoudts Brewery for supplying beverages
Franz Klingermann for handling the elk
Everyone who brought canned goods to donate
Everyone who brought items to auction and/or bought items in the auction
Everyone who brought food
Everyone who helped free the cars that got stuck on the driveway
The Jerseytown Tavern for opening up early for us and cooking the massive burgers

2008 Results

The 2008 Elk Toss, Charity Auction, and Winter Festival was the most successful year in the 75 year history of the DGS. We raised over $2000. The final total will be determined soon, since there is some money still floating around.

Photos and the results of the events will be posted on the website soon, but for now here are the results. We do not have full names for all of the winners, and we would appreciate that information if you have it. Just comment to this blog post and we'll get the info posted.

Jerseytown Burger Eat-Off
1st - Dave McGovern 3:43
2nd - Gary Gagliardi 3:50
3rd - Jason Zerbe 3:56

Elk Bugling
1st - John Zerbe

Scrap Iron Toss
1st - Gregg Davis

Salad Toss
1st - Caroline Keicher and Simon Hunt

Beard Competition
1st - Tim Stengel
2nd - Karl Shellenberger

Elk Toss
1st - Dave McGovern 58'6"
2nd - Mike Wilkinson 50'7"
3rd - Eric 46'0"
4th - John Zerbe 44'8"
5th - Sean Harmann 43'2"

A few videos:
Elk Toss by Tim Stengel
Elk Toss by Simon Hunt (or Simon Toss by Elk?)

Please send us photos and video links (we don't have the server space to post video) and we'll add them to our website.

Final Charity List

Here's the list of charities for the 2008 Elk Toss, Charity Auction, and Winter Festival:

• Central Susquehanna Opportunities
• Centre County Youth Services Bureau
• Columbia County Volunteers in Medicine
  
• Montour County Rec Authority (to assist with development of canal path)
• Montour County Summer Concert Series
• Team in Training (Ryan Zerbe plans to run a half-marathon in Alaska to raise money to fight cancer)