We just finished the final cleanup of the church and waved goodbye to the last of the staff and volunteers. My feet hurt. My eyes are drooping. And the Rabbit Room office looks like a tornado went through it. Hutchmoot 2016 is over.
There’s no way I can adequately express my thanks to everyone who helped make this past weekend happen. More than once, I remember asking one of our staff or volunteers (or even a guest) to take care of a task or problem and thinking as I was doing so that I had no idea what I would do without the help of the person in front of me. Folks were so ready and willing to pitch in and get things done that the weekend flowed smoothly from beginning to end, and I’m grateful for every one of you.
Thank you to Diana Glyer for giving us exactly what we needed. Thank you to Audrey Assad for singing lullabies and psalms over us at the end of a tiring day. Thank you to Lewis and John and Ashley and Phillip and Lindsay and Dillon for keeping us well fed. Thank you to Kate for long hours of making things lovely and keeping the ship heading in the right direction. Thank you to Jennifer for helping us create something beautiful together. Thank you to the Settles family for reminding us not to hide our lights under a bushel. Thank you to Kaitlyn who helps me keep track of so many things I nearly forget and does so much work with so little complaint. Thank you to John who somehow manages to manage the merch. Thank you to all the folks taking out trash and setting tables and carrying chairs and making copies and running cables and sweeping floors and stocking toilet paper and cooking brownies and doing all the thousand things that need doing. Thank you also to all the folks I’ve forgotten to thank.
I’m about to put up my feet and relax for a few hours. And as I do, I feel paradoxically both utterly empty and completely full. That’s as it should be.
We’d love to hear your thoughts and reflections on the weekend. Once you have time to sift through it all, put your thoughts into a comment here, or link to your blog. Let us know what Hutchmoot 2016 was like for you.
Thanks for letting us do this crazy thing. I’m already looking forward to next year.