2007 gathering news articles here.

That 'Digging in' comment is very true...& in the most literal sense He was thru the mkt in Austin some time in spring 2006 (I think) & I saw pics of his place. It's very nice.

 

hahaha do u mean robbie by that grouchy old farts comment? i never thought of robbie as grouchy but yea dogman is livin on the mesa with robbie & them
he looks lil more grey then last i remember tho..lol
and that wasnt that long ago i saw him

 

"An officer on the scene Wednesday afternoon said one reason for such tight security is because the "Rainbows" hadn't secured a permit from the government to hold a large gathering of people on public land.
Ottaviano confirmed that, saying groups of 75 or more are required to secure a permit for a gathering of any kind so Forestry officials can help them find a proper campsite while not disturbing "archaeological sites."
But the Rainbows, "as is customary," haven't gotten such a permit, Ottaviano said, although Forestry officials are still trying to work with them on locations."

So I sent the reporter a copy the letter from Mark Rey.

 

turnup what letter is that? was that posted here somewhere & i missed it?
if its not too much trouble could u post what u sent him? just curious
or a link to it if its already online somewhere

what i love about that statement
your required a permit so fs can help with site selection
we dont have a permit but theyre helping with site selection anyways
sooooooooooooooooooooo
we dont need no stinkin permits!!!!!!

 

We have the right to peacefully gather. they just want money. I'm sure if we gave them money then they'd leave us alone. it's horrible that we have to pay for peace.

 

Hippiestead posted it here in the thread "conference calls" a couple pages back.

 

what cost money, i thought the permits were free. every gathering i went too permited or not didnt cost any money, other than donations to magic hat or gas or somthing. I dont think i ever paid for peace, well i have paid to have my children gone for the weekend.

 

I think the permits are free. I also think the reason that Gatherers get hassled is because they are free...

 

LMFAO Oh my God, that is sooooo funny. You have a sense of humor, my friend.

 

[size=+2]Rainbow Family attendees begin to gather on Ozark National Forest[/size]

National event runs July 1-7
For The Courier
FORT SMITH — Rainbow Family National Gathering attendees have begun to arrive on the Ozark National Forest in Arkansas.
The event, which runs from July 1-7, draws thousands of people from all parts of the country and all walks of life. Some Rainbows describe themselves as hippies, hobos or even gypsies, according to a press release. This year’s National Gathering is expected to have a lower attendance than previous years and may only draw 5,000-10,000 people.
Gathering organizers could not agree on a location for this year’s event, so they are occupying two different areas of the Ozark National Forest. Several hundred people are camping on the Big Piney Ranger District of the Ozark National Forest near Fallsville (in Newton County, a few miles north of Johnson County on State Highway 21), and another group is reported to be camping on the Boston Mountain Ranger District north of Mulberry (Crawford County). [My Italics WT] Participants will continue to arrive for the next couple of weeks and then migrate back out for several weeks following the event which culminates on July 4.
Because of the magnitude for this event, the Forest Service utilizes an agency National Incident Management Team (NIMT) in coordination with local Forest Service personnel to manage the impacts of this event.
The Forest Service NIMT will be working in Arkansas throughout the duration of the event and is coordinating with various agencies to manage and minimize environmental, social and political impacts. Forest Service resource specialists are working on the ground with gathering participants to develop an operating plan that will mitigate resource damage and provide for the safety of gathering participants and the public.
Local businesses can expect to see large numbers of gathering participants visiting stores and buying food and supplies along routes to the gathering sites, according to the release. Roads leading up to the gathering sites are soon expected to get very congested, so the public should use extra caution while driving. Copyright 2007 Russellville Newspapers, Inc.
http://www.couriernews.com/story.php?ID=15171

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Northwest Arkansas edition:
​

Newton County : Rainbow group keeps deputies, foresters busy

BY TRACIE DUNGAN Posted on Tuesday, June 26, 2007


The group known as the Rainbow Family is descending on U. S. Forest Service land in cash-strapped Newton County, the chosen site for this year’s annual pilgrimage to pray for world peace. “Group” might be too strong a word for the latter-day hippies, who on their “unofficial” Web site, www. welcomehome. org / rainbow / index. html, claim to have no members, “no leaders, and no organization.”

So far, the Newton County sheriff ’s office is having few problems managing the influx of people who are camping on the federal lands, said Chief Deputy Marshall Metzgar, other than an estimated 20 to 25 arrests since Thursday.

That wouldn’t be a big deal if the county had more resources.

“We’ve been keeping our little jail full every day,” Metzgar said, adding that most of its 15 beds have been taken by people attending the gathering arrested for drug possession, public intoxication or on warrants.

Metzgar figures any large gathering — and Newton County doesn’t attract many — might yield that many arrests. He’s mostly worried about a Forest Service estimate that the gathering could eventually attract 5, 000 to 10, 000 people, and its reputation for, at times, attracting upward of 25, 000.

“With 2, 500, we can probably handle it,” Metzgar said, adding that the Rainbow gathering had grown to that many Monday, from about 800 on Thursday.

“But if 25, 000 show up — then we’re in a bind.”

The county’s small crew of sheriff’s deputies is working 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, as long as the Rainbows stay, and the Forest Service has offered to pay their overtime, he said.

Other counties have offered help, including Madison and Boone, which donated command posts.

“We’re just about bankrupt right now,” he said.

Two-thirds of Newton County’s land is owned by the Forest Service and the U. S. Park Service, Metzgar said. That and a sparse population leave little in the way of a tax base and other revenues for the county.

“We only have about 8, 800 people total in the whole county,” he said. “So pretty soon, there’s going to be more of them.”

Each year, the Forest Service sends a special team into the gathering spot chosen by the Rainbows.

This “National Incident Management Team” helps law enforcement and other agencies prepare for the visitors. It also tries to work with the Rainbows to select the best site, prepare the land for a large gathering and restore it to its original condition afterward.

Often with mixed results on the front end, said Denise Ottaviano, a spokesman for this team.

“It’s definitely something to be managed, because the sheer magnitude of the event presents some big challenges for the Forest Service,” Ottaviano said, adding that her agency tries to steer visitors clear of archaeological sites or endangered species habitat.

“The Forest Service does not infringe upon the right of the Rainbow Family to hold this gathering,” she said, adding that it is the natural-resource agency’s responsibility to work with them and uphold its mission of protecting the land.

The federal government does have its rules and regulations.

Ottaviano said the team is specifically trained to handle “non-commercial, group-use events on national forest land.”

The Rainbow Family is the only group that’s ever required its expertise.

A typical non-commercial group visiting the forest lands would be a family reunion or club outing. Even one of those would require a permit if was a large enough gathering.

“When there are 75 or more people gathered,” Ottaviano said, “they are required to get a free, special-use permit.” This allows the agency to communicate its restrictions on the exact location, length of time, and use of the land, as well as all Forest Service regulations.

Historically, the Rainbow Family rarely has furnished a person to sign the permit for one of its national gatherings since it began gathering on national forest lands in 1972.

“They refuse to,” said Ottaviano, who has worked on the 1998 and 2004-2006 Rainbow gatherings. “They claim they are all individuals, and they are not part of the group, and they have no leaders, and they are not organized, and no one person can speak for anyone else.”

This year, the Rainbows are working with the Forest Service on its alternative — an operating plan that requires no signature but accomplishes about the same thing as the permit, she said.

The Rainbows had a conflict between two sites in Northwest Arkansas this year, said Ottaviano, who follows their plans on Internet message boards and whose team has been meeting county, state and federal lawenforcement agencies and others, such as the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission to prepare them for the visitors.

Some Rainbows preferred to camp on the Boston Mountain Ranger District north of Mulberry, and her agency has received reports of a group camping there. [My Italics WT]

But most are believed to be heading to the Newton County site, off Forest Service Road 1463, nearly two miles north of Fallsville.

“They’ve been trickling into the area for a couple weeks already,” Ottaviano said. The peak of the event runs from July 1 through July 7, with the migration and the exodus lasting for several weeks before and after that week.

The Fourth of July is the group’s “Circle for Peace,” according to the Rainbow Web site.

“Join us for a silent circling of people to pray for world peace,” the site says. It “starts at sunrise at main circle, and ends around Rainbow noon after a period of OHMing, and the Kiddie Village Parade !”

http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/194059/

Hippiestead, could you get some of your contacts on the land to clear up the rumor about the camp north of Mulberry in Crawford County?

Oh, yeah, aparently there's a video clip here, http://www.4029tv.com/news/13567512/detail.html
but I have to shovel a lot of coal into the back of this venerable Dell to get it to play video. And there was also a paragraph in the Courier police blotter about a sister that rode a freight into the Gathering only to be picked up on a bench warrant out of NM. She'll spend the next 30 days in jail awating extradition.

​

 

http://www.fs.fed.us/oonf/ozark/news/documents/rainbow_begin_gather.pdf

Contact: Denise Ottaviano, National Incident Management Team-Information Officer 505-259-2290
Rainbow Family Begins to Gather on Ozark National Forest
Fort Smith, AR (June 23, 2007) –Rainbow Family National Gathering attendees have begun to arrive
on the Ozark National Forest in Arkansas. The event, which runs from July 1 – July 7, draws thousands of
people from all parts of the country and all walks of life. Some Rainbows describe themselves as hippies,
hobos or even gypsies. This year’s National Gathering is expected to have a lower attendance than previous
years and may only draw 5,000-10,000 people.
Gathering organizers could not agree on a location for this year’s event so they are occupying two
different areas of the Ozark National Forest. Several hundred people are camping on the Big Piney Ranger
District of the Ozark National Forest near Fallsville and another group is reported to be camping on the
Boston Mountain Ranger District north of Mulberry. Participants will continue to arrive for the next couple
of weeks and then migrate back out for several weeks following the event which culminates on July 4th.
Because of the magnitude of this event, the Forest Service utilizes an agency National Incident
Management Team (NIMT) in coordination with local Forest Service personnel to manage the impacts of this
event. The Forest Service NIMT will be working in Arkansas throughout the duration of the event and is
coordinating with various agencies to manage and minimize environmental, social and political impacts.
Forest Service resource specialists are working on the ground with gathering participants to develop an
operating plan that will mitigate resource damage and provide for the safety of gathering participants and the
public.
Local businesses can expect to see large numbers of gathering participants visiting stores and buying
food and supplies along routes to the gathering sites. Roads leading up to the gathering sites are soon expected
to get very congested so the public should use extra caution while driving.
##
National Incident Management Team
U.S. Forest Service
Incident Command Post
700 Rogers Avenue
Fort Smith, AR 72901

 

I just fell off the turnip truck from Oklahoma. What is the group page?

 

HipForums has group pages now...if you scroll down, you should see the groups on the left side. It has places for links, a group photo gallery, calender.

On this Crawford County rumor, I'll try but my sources are already on-site...

Update-Jay Rainbowwolf (local Fam) say that he'll check but last he knew, no one was there.

2nd Update from rainbowwolf:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello everyone here. This is Jay, the rainbowwolf. If you don't know
me, I am a local focalizer from Arkansas who has been posting to the
google group and AGR and various Arkansas web pages and ORB websites,
welcomehere.org, etc. I was chosen as the messenger for the Arkansas/
Oklahoma family that I know. I was invited to come here to talk
earlier tonight, but I first had to once again drive to Shores Lake,
and the Salt Fork to look for a second site gathering that people
still claim is there.
I can tell you for a fact, there is no body, no vehicles, no camp
fires, no stacks of rock, no cops, no USFS, or even normal out of
state campers anywhere in 20 sq. miles of Shores Lake. I followed the
directions both times I have been out there. This time I followed the
only roads that circle the lake. I crossed the Salt Fork on the only
bridge on the creek. I checked all the roads leading away. I even
drove down Hurricane creek to make sure the hippies weren't confused
about where they were supposed to be.


There is no second gathering happening anywhere near Shores Lake or
the Salt Fork creek.

 

I Miss The Family, Say Hello To Dog Man, From Linda From Baltimore, And Everyone! Peace & Blessings!
Love Yas All!

 

The article tried to copy as an image file and wouldn't post, but here's the link:
http://www.kfsm.com/Global/story.asp?S=6719985

 

I've met a Linda from Baltimore. I doubt if she remembers me. Judy Appleseed still keeping us all up to date on the Space Aliens?

 

i cant friggen wait to get up there im only bout an 1-1 1/2 hrs. aways but i gotta work for tha man til saturday... bummer.... 2 more days :dance: woo-hoo

 

Here's that kfsm story:

FALLSVILLE, AR--From California to New York thousands are flocking to the Rainbow Family's gathering just 30 miles north of Clarksville.* They are from all walks of life and every age from old to young.* Some live nomadic lifestyles, traveling from one gathering to the next, while others only come once a year to the annual gathering wherever that may be.

Car after car after car line*the dirt*road*deep in*the Ozark National Forest near Fallsville in Newton County.* 5NEWS counted license plates from at least 27 different states.* This year's gathering is expected to be several thousand but far less than in years past.*

A man we met who simply goes by the name Simple says it's about coming together.

"People hang out in the woods," Simple said.* "The kitchens, the ovens; making pizzas, helping people haul stuff in.* Getting water for them."

Anyone with an RV or van parks at the Bus Village.* Their kitchen feeds about 20 people per day, but about 20 other kitchens feed anywhere from three to 500 people.* Camps are spread throughout the national forest.* Alcohol is typically confined to the "A" Camp, while children are able to play at what's called the Kiddie Village. **

Daniel Robertson says he plays a fatherly role to many of the younger family members.

"They run away and they come here because they're taken care of people love them people feed them try to give them counsel," Robertson explained.* "Help them out in the life."

There is no real organization there.* In fact, this year they were almost unable to reach an agreement on where they would meet.* Majority rules and at council meetings everybody gets a say before a consensus is reached.* Every morning there is a kitchen council where cooks figure out the supplies they need, while problems and issues are addressed at the afternoon council.

Those who arrive first set up the seed camp for the gathering which doesn't begin until the first and then runs through the seventh.* We're told a clean-up crew will actually stay well beyond that time.

Some Rainbow Family members tell 5NEWS the location is not ideal.* Usually they camp in a large clearing or meadow.* At this year's site, the camps are much more spread out and there's not enough parking along the narrow dirt road.

Thousands are passing through the tiny Newton County community of Fallsville on their way to the rainbow family gathering.* It's something the quiet little village has never before seen.* But it means business is booming at the Fallsville Store.

"I'm gonna say it's doubled, probably tripled," clerk Susie Shannon told 5NEWS.

Hundreds pass by the store every day on their way to the gathering.* Susie says the community sees a lot of tourists during the summer months but nothing like this.* This is only*her second day on the job.* The store owner wasn't prepared for the huge influx of people, so she hired Susie.*

The Fallsville Store is also where we met a man hoping to sell produce to people at the gathering.

"We brought cantaloupe, watermelon, onions, tomatoes, etc. We got a little bit of everything.* I have a lot of jellies," Sam Mitchell described.

One family member told us they usually pick one or two places to patronize during a gathering.* Most of the time, it's an organic foods store, like a truck we saw delivering supplies to the main camp.* Rainbowers say food is an important part of the fellowship.

There's a massive law enforcement presence with members of the U.S. Forestry, Newton County Sheriff's Department, and others here to keep the peace.* But what do the locals think about the Rainbow Family?

"Most of them don't have a problem with it," Shannon shrugged.* "They're a peace loving bunch.* They don't hurt anybody.* And for the most part everything's going really well."

Many of the Rainbow Family members were friendly, waving and welcoming us [5NEWS].* But there were some who were not happy we were there.* At the Fallsville Store, we witnessed an argument between one Rainbow Family member who seemed to be trying to provoke a forest ranger.

 

So this poor schizohippie looses his way, wanders out of the woods and into the streets of Fallsville where he proceeds to have an arguement with himself. How could this provoke a highly paid Federal Law Enforcement Officer, who, I anm sure, has recieved the best training in the world in how to deal with one person having an arguement?

I've been wanting to say that all day. How come the article copied for you, but with lots of little stars?

 

don't know...I just used the highlight, pickup, drag & drop method...when I copied one Howdy Folks that was circulating around MySpace, the original had hearts & my copy had question marks where the hearts were. Don't know enough about these machines to understand why they do much of anything