Gateway Burners

2022 GATEWAY BURN UPDATE/ANNOUNCEMENT

To the Gateway Burners Community,

As we get closer to the end of 2020; a year in which the term “unprecedented times” has been thrown around like a baseball at a Cardinals game; the Gateway Burners Board of Directors has been meeting to discuss what we can do with regards to our community and our Burn.

We won’t bury the lede here. After a number of discussions and reviewing feedback provided by community members over the past month (via the Gateway 2021 Event Input Form), the Board of Directors doesn’t feel like we can safely and reasonably plan an event for summer 2021.

Planning an event of this size takes a considerable amount of time, and right now we have no idea what we’ll be looking at with regards to COVID-19 infection rates, nor vaccine availability (things a number of you pointed out on the Input Form).

Even if those things were more certain, there would be significant added costs to the organization; event insurance would likely go up in cost, if it was even available; additional toilets would likely be needed; hand-washing stations would need to be made available as well; any sort of rapid-testing kits that might be available (which currently aren’t completely effective) would come with added cost, too.

Then we’d also have to look at state mandates which change month to month, and consider capping our event at a lower number of participants than we currently have.

All of these considerations, and others, makes us feel like any attempt at an in-person event would fly in the face of the Principles of which Burning Man is supposed to be about. While no one on the board was happy about that conclusion, the decision was unanimous.

We know this isn’t what anyone probably wants to hear. We certainly miss Burning, and we miss interacting with our community, both at Gateway Burn and elsewhere. This year has been rough for each and every one of us. There is hope on the horizon, though, and we are cautiously optimistic that we’ll be able to hold large, in-person events in 2022. Ultimately, that will be a decision for the 2021-2022 board of directors.

As for 2021, we’ll be trying to hold some online events so that our community can still come together safely, albeit virtually. We’re still trying to figure out what that looks like and we’re taking other events that have been held in a digital medium into account.

We have no doubt that there will be some feelings, questions, comments, concerns, inquiries, rants, raves, obscenities and more that you want to share with us. We encourage you to do so, and we’ll try our best to engage with you. Feel free to leave comments on our Facebook post, message any of the board members (Evin Fritschle, Una McGarry, Pettrov Pterodactyl, Kevin McPherson and Mike Howell) or email us at board@gatewayburners.com.

Sincerely,

The 2020-2021 Gateway Burners Board of Directors

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Community Resource Share

Greetings from Just Fucking Lance,

Things have gotten hectic out there. Some of our community are essential workers, some are protesting and some are home alone.

While our events couldn’t happen this year, we can still be there for each other.

I am looking for those who have resources to share, and gathering information on who is able and willing to give to others in the community that may end up with powerful needs. I want to create a compilation of Gateway Burner resources in case of emergencies.

The plan is for this to be a living document that will morph as needed, depending on what the future brings. For now, I would like to start building a collection of resources.

I would also like to have some volunteers to help Buttercup and I maintain this information, as well as pair needs with resources available. 

If you want to volunteer to assist with this endeavor, contact Buttercup or myself at ResourceSharing@gatewayburners.org.

If you want to participate in providing resources for community members in need, we will need some information. Please include:

• Name
  • Preferred name or burner name is ok
• Phone number
  • I would prefer to not use social media for this contact information
• Address
  • This is only necessary if you have somewhere people need to find for whatever you are offering. Please remember we’re still in the middle of a pandemic.
• Resources you can provide
  • Whatever you can do or help with; a profession, skill, or talent (from a first aid all the way up to being a medical doctor). If you can fix a flat tire or are a mechanic; if you can provide a good home cooked meal, water and a snack, a tent to sleep in for the night, or space for someone to set up their own, please provide that information.
  • Add whatever stipulations you desire, (i.e., I can only fit one tent and maybe 3-4 people in my yard, external water access, can provide bathroom accommodations, would prefer no one come in the house). Set whatever limitations you are comfortable with. We are looking for people to help out, but not to put themselves at risk.

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2021 BOARD UPDATE/ANNOUNCEMENT

The 2020-2021 Gateway Burners Board of Directors is as follows:

President – Evin Fritschle
Vice President – Una McGarry
Treasurer – Pettrov Pterodactyl
Secretary – Kevin McPherson
Top Hat Wearer – Mike Howell

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OTHER RESOURCES

Gateway Burn Facebook Event Page

https://www.facebook.com/groups/115522076743

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CONTACT US

Have a document for the Archives send them to: gatewayburners@gmail.com