Top Ten Reasons to Come to the Elk Toss - No. 4

The Number Four reason to attend the Elk Toss...

...the Tour of Danville and Entertainment at the Pub II.

Following the events and auction at the Wagner Farm, everyone is welcome to join us for an unorganized Tour of Danville that will start at the bar at the Pine Barn Inn at about 7pm. Locations of potential stops on the tour can be found on a pdf map of downtown Danville and also on the Google Map that we created for the event.

Starting at 9pm, there will be live music at the Pub II on Mill Street starting with Van Wagner. At 10pm, Slimfit will follow Van.

If you plan on drinking adult beverages during the evening, please think twice about driving. We do not want anyone to get hurt. We recommend staying overnight at the Pine Barn Inn. It is within walking distance of downtown, and they like to see people wearing Lederhosen.

Updated Charity List

We added two more charities to the list. We will also be donating to another charity or two, but the majority of the proceeds from the 75th Annual Elk Toss, Charity Auction and Winter Festival will go to the following organizations:

Gatehouse Shelter, Danville
Ronald McDonald House, Danville
Food Bank of the State College Area
Compeer Lancaster

Preliminary Charity List

We have already selected two organizations that will receive proceeds from the 75th Annual Elk Toss, Charity Auction and Winter Festival. We plan on adding a few more charities to the list. For now, our preliminary list includes the following:

Gatehouse Shelter, Danville
Ronald McDonald House, Danville

Top Ten Reasons to Come to the Elk Toss - No. 5

The number five reason to come to the Elk Toss is...

...for the competitions.

In our 75 Years, many competitions have been held, although some are not held every year due to weather or other considerations. The competitions have included:

• Scrap Iron Toss
• Salad Toss
• Ice Roping
• Sled Dog Race
• Beard Competition
• Jerseytown Burger Eat-Off (see Reason No. 10)
• Elk Toss
• Chicken Races
• Block Shoot
• Elk Bugling

Some photos of the various events...

Scrap Iron Toss

Beard Competition

Chicken Races

Block Shoot

Salad Toss

Sled Dog Race

Elk Bugling

Top Ten Reasons to Come to the Elk Toss - No. 6

The Number Six reason to attend the Elk Toss is...

...the Wagner Farm.

The Wagners will once again host the Elk Toss, Charity Auction, and Winter Festival. This year is even more special since it is our 75th Year!

If this will be your first Elk Toss, you should know a few things about the activities that take place at the Wagner Farm.

1. You will be outside, or in a poorly insulated barn, so you should wear warm clothes and boots if there is snow on the ground.

2. There is a double-seater outhouse.

The Wagner Farm does have a few rules:

1. No Dogs Allowed. The Wagners raise rabbits, chickens, and a peacock named Kevin, and have already had several animals killed by dogs. The Wagners also do not want to clean up frozen dog feces from the yard after everyone leaves.
2. No Smoking inside the barn. Also, please do not toss cigarette butts in the yard, as the chickens will eat them, get sick, and die. Please throw your butts in a designated butt can.
3. Drive and park carefully. There could be snow and ice on the gravel driveway and grass parking area, so 4WD is usually recommended. Parking is limited, so carpooling is recommended. Also, watch out for children and the previously mentioned animals.

Make sure you thank the Wagners for hosting the event.

Post Elk Toss Entertainment

Although the details are still being finalized, it looks like we will again feature live music at the Pub II after the Elk Toss. The tentative schedule is...

Van Wagner at 9pm

Slimfit at 10pm

Top Ten Reasons to Come to the Elk Toss - No. 7

The DGS Committee for the Generation of Top Ten Lists has chosen the following as the Number 7 reason to attend the Elk Toss:

The Charity Auction

In years past, we have auctioned items such as furniture, gift certificates to restaurants and other businesses (feel free to ask the owner of your favorite restaurant/business for a donation), hand-crafted beverages, clothing, glassware, artwork, and more.

This year, we have a vintage mandolin that has been donated. Check out one of our previous blog posts for more information about the mandolin.

As always, the success of the auction depends on the quality of the items that are donated. Please try to bring items that you feel that someone would actually want to purchase. The Charity Auction provides the majority of the funds raised by the DGS. More information about the charities will come in a future post.

Top Ten Reasons to Come to the Elk Toss - No. 8

The Number 8 Reason to attend the Elk Toss is...

...for the great weather.

The DGS Weather Department, in consultation with local groundhogs, carefully selects the Elk Toss date based on long term weather forecasts to ensure the highest quality weather for your enjoyment. Take a look at our results below for the past 10 years, and try to tell us that we could have done better.

From the archives of the weather station at the Selinsgrove Airport:

2/20/10 - Low 23, High 42
2/21/09 - Low 18, High 39
2/16/08 - Low 12, High 32
2/17/07 - Low 10, High 32, light snow
2/25/06 - Low 23, High 53
2/26/05 - Low 12, High 39
2/28/04 - Low 17, High 50
2/23/03 - Low 24, High 41, rain/snow
1/26/02 - Low 21, High 55
1/20/01 - Low 23, High 33, light snow

We once again expect a beautiful day this year.

Related to the weather, getting up the driveway and parking at the Wagner Farm can be tricky if there is snow, ice, chickens, rabbits, etc. on the ground. We will provide updates on the road conditions closer to the date of the Elk Toss. Please follow our recommendations, or else...

Vintage Mandolin to be Auctioned

DGS President Van Wagner is donating one of his mandolins for the Charity Auction to help celebrate our 75th Year.

The mandolin was made in 1941, most likely by Kay. It has been used by Van Wagner himself for many performances including a live show with the Hard Coal Boys At Kenny's Castaways in Greenwich Village in January 2004. The photo below was taken after the concert on a NYC subway singing a Woody Guthrie song. How many mandolins can say that?

Since 1967, Kenny's Castaways has been the house that Rock built. Bruce Springsteen played his very first New York gig here. The New York Dolls, Patti Smith, Aerosmith, Rod Stewart and the Ramones are all part of Kenny's history. This Mandolin played a 3 set concert on this same stage.

DGS on the World Wide Web

In addition to this blog, the Danville German Society has

a website (http://www.danvillegerman.com)

a Facebook page

and an email address.

For now, the blog is the best place to get up-to-date information about the DGS and the Elk Toss.