HesH SesH 6

The biggest session to date. Also the most eventful session so far. The morning started with picking up the boxes and quarterpipe. That was a hell of an ordeal. Crystal Soucie drove 3 boxes and a rail to the park while Sam Carey and I drove the quarterpipe back. This is a solid ramp made of the most dense 2x6's I have ever encountered. It took 4 of us to walk it into his truck. In the process we bent the tailgate from the weight. Afterwards it came straight up almost 9 feet out of the truck bed. When we got there some souls had already began to collect and assemble. Sam Carey drove his truck down to the spot so we could unload it. With the help of a few kids we managed to wiggle the quarterpipe out of the truck and into place without anyone getting hurt. At that point the guy delivering the astro jump showed up so I talked to him and got him started. As I returned there was a man in blue talking to Sam next to his truck that was still parked on the sidewalk in the park. Not good.

I walked back over and asked what the problem was. The officer explained that no vehicles are aloud within the park and this event required a permit from the city. This was appalling since I had spoken to the La Mesa Parks and Recreation department about this shindig. In fact this was the 3 time I had checked in about having one of these events. An event we have had every other month for a year. Politely, but aggressively, I preached my case and spelled out everything that I had done. He budged but not far enough out of my way. I then pointed out the permit that I had for the astro jump already. Still nothing. Finally I gave notice to the band of ancient warriors swinging sticks and thrusting swords at each other only a hundred yards away. "They are joisting eachother right over there. Do they need a permit too? They are actually trying to hurt each other. Where do you draw the line?" With nothing to say he took Sam up to his car and we all waited in suspense. Waiting for the final result. Was today in vane? Do we have to tell 20 kids and growing that they must all go home now? That would be devastating considering all the planning and money already spent. All the money coming out of our pockets.

Sam returned slowly without the cop. He then explained to us that the officer looked through 3 different law books trying to find the exact code that says we cannot be here. He didn't find anything. Not even one about Sam driving in the park. We won! Joyous days!

This was the biggest turnout to record. At one point we had 45 people. The astro jump was a hit as it will be next time. In the spirit of our joisting friends we might have a battle theme this time.

Thanks to John Snay, Crystal Soucie and Black Wax, Mellissa Leyendecker and Theresa Leyendecker (implied thanks to Steve Leyendecker), Lori Swain and everyone else that contributed.

Thank you everyone.
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