2015 MN Pony Meet: September 5th in Bloomington! (FIRST PAGE INFO UPDATED 9/4!)

[Silver Glade]

Hey Northern pony peeps!   

This year's Minnesota Meet is scheduled for -

Saturday, September 5th!! 

Our host pony this year will be -

visitors can't see pics , please register or login
Applejack!  visitors can't see pics , please register or login
 


WHO'S GONNA BE THERE?

Here is an ongoing list of attendees I've compiled so far.  Please post here or PM me to let us know you'd like to come over and play!  I'll add you to the list to keep a head count going. 

Attending: (27 thus far)
silverdawn
loverofbalto
Aurora +1
Aquatic Neon +1
BethyVic
ponyqueen +1
Delphian
nessa16 +1
wizzer218
bubbles171
Nimrodel +1
himmie
scarlettkitty81
MoondancerMilkyWay
mngusty +3
Sapphire Rain
Kazzellin
rosierjay +1


Maybe:
RedRedRover


Unable to Make It:
ringlets_
seaponey

  FOOD & DRINKS

We're once again having a potluck for this year! Below is a list of categories and a few slots within each.  Please post here or send me a PM with what you would like to contribute!  Apple-themed dishes have been requested in honor of our host pony. 

[[[[Food Allergies]]]]:  Let us know if you have any special dietary restrictions, and we'll do our best to accommodate you!!

Main Dishes: (Suggestions: Potato, Pasta or Veggie Salads, Casseroles, Cocktail Shrimp)
1. Silver Glade - Hot Dogs & Hamburgers (+condiments)  Let me know if you would like a vegetarian option and what you would prefer!
2. loverofbalto - Pasta Dish
3. ponyqueen - Salad! (With spinach, red cabbage, shredded carrots, other veggies and garnished with berry vinaigrette, nuts, cheese, and dried fruit)
4. Kazzellin - Chicken Legs with Italian Marinade

Sides & Snacks: (Suggestions: Cheese & Crackers)
1. Silver Glade - Fruit Salad (Nectarine, Raspberries, Strawberries, Kiwi)
2. Delphian - Fruit/Veggie Platter
3. rosierjay - Japanese Treats
4. Aurora - Some Delicious Non-Dessert
5. BethyVic - Chips & Dip
6. bubbles171 - Watermelon
7. nessa16 - Chips & Salsa

Desserts: (Suggestions: Bars, Pies, Cobblers)
1. Silver Glade - Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting
2. BethyVic - Apple Dessert
3. Aurora - Apple Cobbler

Drinks: (Suggestions: Pop [in a few varieties], Fruit Juices, Sparkling Water/Cider)
1. Silver Glade (bottled water in a cooler & punch in a bowl)
2. BethyVic - Pop
3. silverdawn - Sprite and Juice

Apple Dishes (Sweet or Savory):
1. Sapphire Rain - Apple Pie Cupcakes
2.
3.


Other Supplies:
1. ponyqueen (Paper Plates & Napkins)
2. BethyVic (Plastic Cups & Utensils)


SCHEDULE

10:00-11:00 Arrive and set up
11:00-4:00ish Shopping!!
12:00 Fire up grill
1:00pm People group picture, then Pony group picture
2:00 Announce contest winners
2:00-3:00 Play games
3:00-4:00 Group show and tell
4:00ish Door prizes / farewell
(Note: You're welcome to say later if you want to - I'll probably get a bonfire going come nightfall in any case.  I've had a hankering for s'mores lately.  LOL!)



ACTIVITIES
•Buying and selling ponies!
•Show and tell - rare ponies, customs, first ponies etc
•Group photo of host pony (Applejack)
•My Little Pony cartoons (playing on the house's lower level)
•Wear something pony-inspired
•Vote for contest entries
•Free bin for all your get-rid-of stuff

  GAMES
•$10 Mystery gift swap (optional, one gift per participant)
•Gift Grab dice game ($1-$3 prizes, many small gifts)
•Aurora's Bag Game, Icebreaker Game, and "What's in the Box" Game
•Guess How Many candy jar(s)
•Raffle!
     (Raffle details: I was thinking all guests get two tickets at the door, and additional tickets are 50¢ each.  Selective raffle boxes can be made up for certain groups of items (e.g. MLP prizes vs non-MLP gift set prizes, etc.)

CONTESTS
•Art Contest featuring Applejack (Any kind - paintings, digital, sculptural etc)
•Haiku Contest - submit an Applejack related haiku to me and I'll print them for all to vote on their favorite!  Funny, poignant, witty - anything goes!

•Can I get a head count on who wants to do the custom pony contest?  Please let me know if you would like to participate!!


  PRIZES
•Game prizes
•Art/craft contest
•Raffle prizes
•Custom pony contest (if doing)
•Door prizes (if leftover prize table prizes)



visitors can't see pics , please register or login
 ATTENDEES!  PLEASE BRING THE FOLLOWING: visitors can't see pics , please register or login

•Ponies and other merch to sell/trade
•Cash, including a good mix of smaller bills
•Your potluck food contribution
•Haiku (submitted to Silver Glade) and art contest entries, if participating
•Items for prize table, unwrapped (maybe like 2 or 3 things? Small/inexpensive; pony or non-pony okay)
•“Gift Grab” dice game gifts, wrapped (if participating. Not mandatory but super fun. These are $1-$3 gifts, the fun is in the game!! Works best if each person playing has brought at least two gifts)
•$10 Mystery Gift, wrapped (if participating, not mandatory. One to one swap.)
•Ponies for “Show and Tell”
•Items for free bin
•A spare table
•Camping chairs/folding chairs

Definitely bring tables if you have them!  I have a feeling we'll run out of surface area fast at my house, though I do have several folding tables I can set out.  I have about 14 outdoor chairs and (of course!) furniture indoors, but the more chairs the merrier, I say. 

Would anyone like to volunteer to be a photographer?  I have small digital cams, but a big honkin' Nikon or somesuch would work even better!   

Please let me know, if you haven't already, what you're bringing for potluck.  That should be it - any questions you may have, ask me!  We'll be seeing each other soon!   

[rosierjay]

YAHHHH!!!
*cough*
i would think if we are based in bloomington, maybe people who are traveling farther may want to double up on events like renaissance or state fair (great call listing them)
as i don't attend either. i'm open and will hold my vote for now.
this totally brightened my day.

maybe we could have a cosplay or pony clothing appreciation contest. *totally in cosplay mode, excuse my one track mind*

[Aurora]

Hooray! I'll take a look at my schedule at work tomorrow and put in my vote (with commentary notes, of course!) later this week. I'm good with a pony costume contest, though I like the idea of a "pony wear" contest thing, so we can include custom pony clothes that aren't exactly costumes. Like custom-made t-shirts and such.

I have a few boxes of sort of random things to bring for sale. I have ponies, of course, but I want to find good homes for this other stuff, too.

This is good. I want to think about ponies.

[Kazzellin]

Days that work for me:
June 1 - 23 (Though I assume we;d want to wait until after the Fair...)
July 15 - 31
August 1 - 27 (First weekend of State Fair, and Furry Migration convention in Bloomington, where I hope to be a dealer; won't know until first week of June, though.)
September 1, 8 - 30 (Labor Day weekend holds another convention we're hoping to go back to , again as dealers.)
October - wide open, but probably too late in the season. :/

Edit: Also, Yay pony meet! Hopefully I can make it twice in a row! 
In the meantime--sleep. 

[rosierjay]

i just remember, i'll be leaving town for several weeks in august, but i can't remember what days.
once i figure it out. i'll post it.

[ponyqueen]

Excellent! I have all my notes from hosting last year to share, can't wait for this year's get-together!

Post Merge: February 04, 2015, 08:06:21 AM

Can we vote for more than one weekend? I favor August 22nd, but others could work too.

[bubbles171]

ok just saw like to come to this. As I drive a long distance from ND I hope to go to the Ren fest again so hoping for august sept. Will look at calander

[ponyqueen]

Hey bubbles! The drive to the meet will be like 5 miles shorter than last year- Bloomington is a little closer to North Dakota. 

[bubbles171]

I favor September 5th as I do not have to take as many days off of work but other days work as well in augest seems like 22 is the only day that works for Kazzellin

Post Merge: February 04, 2015, 08:23:44 AM

hi ponyqueen lol yes the 5 miles willl make a huge difference. hey now that I think of it there are a lot more people in ND I will let them know as well

Post Merge: February 04, 2015, 08:33:26 AM

yes I was a little mad the pony fair was in June this year I almost couldn't go. I can try to pick up stuff for people if they pay me ahead of time from the fair. I know last year people were looking for things.

[Delphian]

I voted for early August just because it always seems to get busy for me by the end of August through to the end of the year. With that said, I'm pretty sure I can arrange my schedule to fit in the meet whenever it happens!

I loved the games we played last year! I hope we can do them again.

[Silver Glade]

Can we vote for more than one weekend? I favor August 22nd, but others could work too.

Ack!  Good idea, PQ!  I just tried to edit the poll, but apparently I can't reset the number of allowed answers after the poll is posted.    Not sure if a mod could help with that or not...

[ponyqueen]

Hmm... not sure if mods can change poll options? Maybe we could create a new poll-only thread that just addresses the dates preferences? I think last year I tracked date preferences by reading all the posts, but that's not exactly efficient.

[Kazzellin]

My vote is in.

You might be able to only change the poll options if you wipe the poll completely and start it over. It's been a long time since I've done a poll.

I'm also in favor of doing games like last year. Having a bake off could be fun too - pony-inspired desserts, anyone?

[Aurora]

I had a great idea for a game the other night, and now it's gone... I'm sure I'll find it again, though. Something easier than last year!

I also have an idea for the craft contest we did last year with Tex-themed projects, but I need to know who are Pony of the Year is first... Silver Glade, do you have any thoughts? It's your party, after all!

I put in my vote for the first weekend of September. Other weekends will work for me, but definitely not the first two weekends in August.

[Silver Glade]

I also have an idea for the craft contest we did last year with Tex-themed projects, but I need to know who are Pony of the Year is first... Silver Glade, do you have any thoughts? It's your party, after all!

I had to think about this one for a while!  There are a few ponies that are significant to me for various reasons.  But I have finally settled on Applejack.  G1 Applejack specifically, but I like her multi-generational aspect too.  It was G4 Applejack that I really fell in love with when FiM first aired - I see a lot of myself in her.    And I really like the idea of apple-related activities and stuff too - Minnesota has such a connection with the crop (lots of varieties developed at UMN, etc.), and I think it'd be fun to do apple variety tastings, or an apple recipe contest, or apple crafts of some sort. 

I also like the idea of an alternate rehair contest, maybe focusing specifically on Applejack, or another pony.  Rehairing is fairly easy to do compared to full-blown customs, so I think we could get enough people on board to have a great selection of entries.