Allan made some excellent points. People that attend TCR without paying are stealing from others, short and simple. Even the organizers, cooks, and other volunteers pay. I pay, and so does my family, and I'm running the whole circus this year. Dozens of people work long hours hauling trailers, running registration, cooking, setting up (and cleaning up) the mud wrestling pit, organizing Speleolympics events, maintaining of the sauna area, cleaning and restocking porta-potties, taking care of Vendors Row, and on and on. They don't even get a chance to fully enjoy the whole TCR experience like the non-volunteers do, and still they pay their registration fees. We have even come up with several options to make this even less of a financial burden to attendees, including an Old Timer discount and a non-banquet option. We GET that there are still some folks who are undergoing real financial hardship, and if they come talk to us we can work something out, as Michael said. We're not trying to keep anyone away from TCR, just the opposite. We want this to be an event for ALL cavers, young and old (and future!), active and inactive, Texas residents and former residents. But it costs money these days to put on the kind of show that people have come to expect. We're not in the 70s any more, for better or worse.
Heather has been doing a great job maintaining the TSA records and handling registration, usually by herself. It is unfair for folks to be beating up on her for doing her job. If you don't like something, volunteer a while and see the other side of the situation before offering public criticism. With all the caving organizations around here (grottos, TSA, TCMA, TSS, and so forth), it is increasingly difficult to attract good volunteers to fulfill the necessary roles of officers, board members, and committee chairs. And the criticism, which seems more prevalent in today's digital world, makes those positions even less appealing to potential candidates. To deviate from the TCR topic just a bit, I have seen a fair bit of complaining about the recent lack of *The TEXAS CAVER*. If you want to see a magazine, submit articles, people! As for registration, I hope more folks step up to volunteer for a shift, to spread out the workload so that everyone gets to enjoy a bit more of TCR. I'm going to be up to my eyeballs in crap all weekend long, but I will volunteer for a shift myself if no one else does. And there are cookies! And don't forget to sign the liability waiver for Paradise Canyon, even if you don't pay. I look forward to TCR every year, and budget both my time and my money to be able to participate. I also support the TCMA fundraising breakfast, help set up and sell pubs at the TSS bookstore, and attend the TSA and TCMA meetings. And I still have fun at the wine tasting, parade, contests, and hot tub. I get a lot out of TCR and the Texas caving community in general, and feel that I am giving something back so that others can also enjoy those experiences. Cavers are usually pretty generous folks, so hopefully this discussion about selfish, non paying TCR attendees is a bunch of rhetoric about a non-issue. Jim "Crash" Kennedy current TCR ringmaster and cat herder
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