Memory Lane

exjdub

Mrs. Exjdub and I were talking about the JWD board the other night and, after discussing many of the topics that are on the board, we started reminiscing. Pretty soon we started laughing until we had tears in our eyes remembering the "joy" of conventions in the old days. Mrs. Exj remembers camping in Scarborough, Maine during the convention and waking up in the morning to damp sleeping bags from the moisture in the air, trying to run to the community showers before the session, feeling dirty all of the time because of the dust, sitting in the blazing sun at the racetrack, getting rained on, etc. One of the worst times, she said, was in Montreal, Canada at "Tent City". I guess it was pretty bad. She said that she was so grateful that her unbelieving father came with them that time and wanted to leave early. Ahh paradise...makes me want to run back. Anyway...

What's your convention horror story? (camping or not)

Ps: Thanks to everyone for all of the wit and humor on the board. I laugh on a daily basis and pass it along to Mrs. Exjdub and the exdubettes all of the time.

xjw_b12

I'll have to think back on a particular horror story. But I do remember those 8 day assemblies as being exceptionally excruciating.

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but 1969/1970 Vancouver B.C. 9:00 am to 9:00 pm. Thank goodness my parents were generous enough to let us spend some time in between sessions at the PNE.

Sassy

When I was about 16 my mother and another sister in the hall, (both had 'unbelieving' husbands) went up to the international convention in Thunder Bay, Canada. (different name back then, but I forget what) and because of a lack of money, we camped. All the teenage boys in one tent, and the moms and us girls in the other.

Well another young brother from a nearby hall had offered to set up the tents for them....and being that mom and the other sister didnt' know much about setting up tents, they thought it was great.. until the middle of the night when suddenly a torrent of rain started running right through our tent. The tent had been built on a hill with the door facing up, and when it poured rain, it all came into our tent!! All of us girls got to run into the nearby boys tent (did I mention only 1 of the four young men was my brother??? and the others were HOT... ????).. the oldest (who was engaged to my best friend any way) and nearby older brothers/husbands helped get our tent in order .. where as we got to stay in the tent with the other teenage boys.. tee hee... that was such a horrible memory....

exjdub

xjw:

8 day assemblies

I am old enough to remember 7 day assemblies...but 8 day assemblies? That is the definition of hell right there!

Sassy: Those are the ones you can look back on and laugh, but at the time it must have been the worse...but then again, you had your wits about you enough to go into the boys tent! Your instincts were good even back then eh? lol

franklin J

..as a child I remember my parents taking me to Yankee Stadium for district and International conventions. Later it was Acquaduct and Belmont Race tracks ; all in the New York Metropolitan area.

As a non JW adult; I would return to those locations for recreation; real baseball games and horse races. Real fun.

Unfortunately for me, as exciting as the horse races were ( so much fun to hear the bugel!) it was marred by the announcers voice echoing over the loudspeakers; that sound will forever be etched on my conscious mind as the "assembly sound" and the memories of boredom and wanting to be "anywhere" else in the world. Children do not belong at those assemblies; being forced to sit there all day long is a special sort of punishment.

franklin J

..as a child I remember my parents taking me to Yankee Stadium for district and International conventions. Later it was Acquaduct and Belmont Race tracks ; all in the New York Metropolitan area.

As a non JW adult; I would return to those locations for recreation; real baseball games and horse races. Real fun.

Unfortunately for me, as exciting as the horse races were ( so much fun to hear the bugel!) it was marred by the announcers voice echoing over the loudspeakers; that sound will forever be etched on my conscious mind as the "assembly sound" and the memories of boredom and wanting to be "anywhere" else in the world. Children do not belong at those assemblies; being forced to sit there all day long is a special sort of punishment.

Mulan

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but 1969/1970 Vancouver B.C. 9:00 am to 9:00 pm. Thank goodness my parents were generous enough to let us spend some time in between sessions at the PNE.

Yes, we were there in 1969. The sessions didn't actually start until after lunch but you had to be there early to get a seat. I was 6 months pregnant that year (with Princess) and we were camping at Point Roberts, across the US border on the beach in a large trailer park. We were with Dave's brother and his four children, and our two boys. I got sand flea bites all over my leg, which swelled dangerously. We had to take a day off from the sessions to get me to a doctor. He told us to go home and keep my leg elevated and put me on antibiotics because the bites were infected. Of course we went back to the convention the next day...............only two days left. I just remember it being a horror.

In 1973 we were back in Vancouver for another convention. That time we reserved a room in a beautiful new hotel. But, a few months before the convention, the elevator workers went on strike, so our hotel was finished but it didn't have an elevator. Our room was on the 14th floor. We had to hoof it up and down the stairs. At least I wasn't pregnant that year.

exjdub

Franklin,

I remember those loud speakers well! Remember the echo? I was at Yankee Stadium for an international convention and remember one of the GB droning on and on with the echo, it was hot, it was boring...I was miserable. On top of that...my sister met her husband to be there who turned out to be a real tool...and by tool I don't mean a useful object. He is still an elder, which I guess makes him a bigger tool.

exjdub

ApagaLaLuz

Doger Stadium in June!!! Ahhhh, stifling heat. 100 degrees outside, baking like a toasted cheeser, the backs of your legs stuck to the plastic seats and the tops of your feet getting blistery sunburned. It was impossible to keep cool. People passed out on a regular bases. One year we had an earthquake just before the morning session, I was sitting in my car under a freeway underpass at the time. Then some snot nosed little kid would always spill their drink and it would run down the steps all over your purse and books. Those were some miserable, miserable times. After every assembly everything you took home with you was sticky and dirty

Mulan

Speaking of echos.................at one of the big conventions at the old Kingdome in Seattle, the echo was so bad, you literally couldn't understand one word of the opening session. They got it fixed for the second session, but the first 3 hours were a huge waste of our day.

One convention there my sister in law and niece were asked with 15 minutes notice, to do a demonstration where a mother talks to her daughter about sex, because the people who were supposed to do it hadn't shown up. It turned out she was stuck in the terrible traffic jams around the Kingdome that made the trip there and back a real nightmare. Literally only ONE car got through at a time. My niece is now 41 and doesn't even remember that demo. She was 14 and is now an ex JW too. Yay!!

Memory Lane

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