well for those that couldnt make the rally, you really missed one of the best ones! not to rub it in or anything but dan,denise,gat and everyone involved pulled it off in grand style! leonard and the ccc boys also complimented the rally with some after hours entertainment! and dan talked jessy into letting us come up to his mine(vics) for some highbanking and dredgeing. garry olsons son (chris) was the first person (according to jessy) to ever use a suction dredge in this creek on his property. i was the dredge tender! we all really enjoyed the rally and denised smothered whatchacallits! and jessy kept everyones interest with his tales/knowledge of gold from his mine and the proccess he has been using over the years! i wish i had my video camara or a tape recorder to record this great info that he learned over the 30 years he has been mining. i couldnt of had a better time(unless i had won the dredge) it was the best of times!!!!! i wish we could of gotten dave(redpaw) there to also enjoy the time! we were thinking of you dave!!!!! plus i got to show off my new MRT "T" shirt! heck i had new "T" shirts for every day! a big thankyou to dan,denise,gat,dave k.(redpaw) and all for all that youve done to help others when most turn and run to hide! i hope this attitude grows on all that read this message and spreads to all who hear of it! lets have a rally in every state to get the word out that we (the small scale miners ) are here, and we aint leaving!

Dan and I are still enjoying all the people that came to the rally. :)
We just dropped Keith off at the air port this morning. What a great guy, and funny! :D
Here are a few pics of the After the rally...rally.
This one is of Garry, Chris and Russ at Vic's having fun.

Everyons sure knew how to work together!! :o :o :D B)

On a more personal note......
The last week I have just been blown away by all the GREAT people that Dan and I have met.
I knew you all were a good bunch, but I had no idea to what extent till now.
I have watch people practically giving the shirt off their back for their buddies, people going out of thir way to help someone in need that they dont even know, and people helping eduacte one another to help make this world a better place.
This has been one of the best times in my life!!
Thank you all who helped make this rally a success. We could'nt have done it without you. ^_^

Sincerely,
Denise
:)

Denise,
What you saw and participated in this year is exactly what I witnessed last year at the Myrtle Creek DEF Rally.
Goldminers are a special breed, their ability to reach across the table and offer a hand when needed is one of their finer traits.

It seems everything the DEF touches adds class and character to a event that is sorely missed once it is over. Russau said it best when he wanted a rally every month in a different state....I can easily see 9 rallies a year in 9 different states without much effort in the future.

God Bless the DEF, CP, GAT, GENO, MATT, LEONARD, ED, and countless others that would fill this page beyond the scope of saying thank you to all.

Rallies are worth fighting for....Just ask CC from Oroville ( she'll fight, she has fought, she will fight again ) as she'll be the leader of the pack as usual.

Ya just gotta love these Mining Women, we would be scratching our heads and dropping the ball without them.

Cheers to the Women in Mining.

It takes a little of everyone Dave to make a good thing happen. I wish you and the family could have been here, but we kept you close in our hearts.

Here are a few more pics at Vic's.

B)

^_^

:)

B)

:D

:)

Tom and Emily had to leave early, so they didnt get to play in the dirt with us.
Thanks for coming Tom, It was great meeting you and Emily. We will have to do it again just to get everyone back together. B) And maybe Redpaw can make the next one.

as the late Bob Hope put it,"thanks for the memories"! to all that gave of their time and shared them with us!!

There really are no words to say how much it meant to me to be able to take my daughter to this rally and meet everyone. She loved it and kept telling me how much she liked everyone,,,,,,,,,THANK YOU ALL. My girl is a good judge of character, and i kept telling her we sure met a lot of characters. She thought that was funny, but loved meeting you all. Hope to see you all again sometime!

wish i was in better shape or i would of came, but things dont always work out like we want them too, looks like i missed alot of fun, if i was there denise would of went for a dunk too dan...lol... ;) If there ever is another i sure would try hard to make it...hope to see some of you soon, maybe later this summer, if only for the weekend....wyooooooo

that picture of leonard,mat,and geno looks like their secrat spot where they found all them nuggets! haha gary, do you remember this spot!!!!!!

No gold there. Pay no attention and move along . . .

perfect caption with your pic matt!!! hahaha

Actually our secret spot wasn't very secret after the rally. I have kind of a big mouth. Ed filed the paperwork at the county on it this morning. Next will be at the BLM in a couple of weeks. We'll soon have another close-to-Denver spot to go to. Geno kept the concentrates from when we dredged it but he says it looked good. Next we'll have to spend some time and find a spot or two that the old timers missed. Thats where the bragging gold will be found. They found $100 gold pans about a couple of miles upstream in the old days. And I don't mean gold pans that cost $100.
Leonard

Sweet pan Matt!!

Let me know if you need some help digging on that new claim Leonard. :D

The rally was a memory I will never forget! Next time wyodust. ;)