Jacksonville, FL powwow

[Buzzybee]

The grounds were lovely, the building was great. The Drum was awsum, the dancers except for a tiny handful were traditional in dress and dance. The lack of dancers was a shame, the program was not adhered to. Supposed to have been dancing and etc all day. Nothing got going til 1pm, the drum was sitting at drum ready to go.........where were the people that were running it? The vendors if they were there were for the most part very well hidden and of course Mama Martin Frybread in bold letters on flier and she was no where to be found. Who ever was running this sure dropped the ball because they had all the ingredients but evidently didn't bake the cake enough.

[PrairieTX]

That's sad. Unfortunately, that happens alot in FL. If people running the thing would make sure dancers know that tardiness will not be tolerated...people would be on time or risk losing out on contest money, etc. That's why its important that points given at grand entry are substantial so that those who make sure they are on time have a better chance at winning the contest than those who show up only for the contest itself. I don't know if Jax was a contest powwow or not...but sounds like it was a total mess.

[MayChe]

The grounds were lovely, the building was great. The Drum was awsum, the dancers except for a tiny handful were traditional in dress and dance. The lack of dancers was a shame, the program was not adhered to. Supposed to have been dancing and etc all day. Nothing got going til 1pm, the drum was sitting at drum ready to go.........where were the people that were running it? The vendors if they were there were for the most part very well hidden and of course Mama Martin Frybread in bold letters on flier and she was no where to be found. Who ever was running this sure dropped the ball because they had all the ingredients but evidently didn't bake the cake enough.

I can't speak for the committee, but here's my opinion about this past weekend:

I didn't hear anything about dancing all day. In Florida, I never expect to see a lot of dancers on Sunday except for if it's a competition powwow so the amount of dancers there today wasn't surprising. I know a lot of my friends live in Central FL so that's a bit of a drive for them. The flyer had NO GE times so no one really knew what to expect. I found out that GE was only Fri and Sat night with Gourd dancing Sat and Sun afternoon. I didn't if they were going to do any intertribal dancing in the afternoon and neither did anyone else. It was disorganized some but it was their 1st year they'll learn from their mistakes. As far as Mama Martin being there, I was told they had to cancel at the last minute.

[Jarrard]

Mrs. Martin had a stroke or got realy sick just before the dance. So that is we she and the fry bread was not there. This dance as NOT advertised way in advance for a first dance and they intendent to fix that mistake. As for the lack of dancers....well....not having advance notice to plan, gas prices at a high, and inadiquate staff are a problem. The person running the dance is trying to start a group of people there in Jacksonville to participate in the running of the festivities. But this will only work if he follows through with that effort. A good committee is hard to come by....

This dance has potential...

[PrairieTX]

They all have potential, but if you start off having the first powwow at a location with someone who hasn't handled one before...you often end up with feelings such as this. The problem now is that people who attended this time may not attend in the future b/c it was not handled well. That's the key...if you are going to have a powwow...atleast start off with getting folks who know what they're doing to run it.