Yes, you could sit and do nothing the day after Independence Day. Maybe the cookouts, backyard sports, and fireworks left you completely exhausted. But how much energy do you need to sit and play games? Whether you’re feeling bloated from too many hotdogs, hamburgers, and cobs of corn, limping a bit after a rougher-than-expected game of touch football (they touched you where?), or are still applying lotion to some superficial burns, you should still be able to muster enough vigor to roll dice, shuffle cards, and move tokens around a board.
As always at AARGGH’s Grand Gaming Melees, there will be board games, card games, dice games, tile games, and just about every other kind of game that can be played on a tabletop. Bring some of your favorites, of if a badminton injury left you unable to lift a box, come without games and play some that others will bring; there’s always a wide variety available. If you see a new one you want to try, there will be plenty of people eager to teach you.
The more exhausted you are from yesterday’s activity (was it wise to run around in the summer heat?), the more you’ll need snacks for a full day of games. And even if you’re still feeling full from your barbecue, the unwritten rules of gaming courtesy implore you to bring something delicious to share. Cookies, crackers, and pretzels are popular options, as are sodas and juices. Some people bring doughnuts, cupcakes, or other substantial sweets; these are always appreciated and disappear quickly. Healthy snacks of vegetables and fruit are welcomed by people who like to snack on vegetables and fruit, and the people who like them are often the same people who bring them.
AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT NOTE: While the library offers us open arms, it does not offer us an open refrigerator. If you bring any drinks or foods that should remain chilled, you must bring a cooler for them. Your host will bring a couple of coolers filled with freshly brewed iced tea, excellent store-bought lemonade, and other fruit-based beverages. Undoubtedly there will be demand for more drinks than he can carry, so a few attendees should heed the call of the thirsty. You may want to coordinate such an effort with your fellow players to supply the maximum variety of beverages with a minimum of containers; feel free to post comments on this page for this purpose. Food and drink will be deployed on the stage at the front of the auditorium to separate it from the playing area.
Official start time is 10:30am, but you may arrive as early as 10:00am to help with setup, and by “may” we mean that your host over 70 now and really needs some extra hands to arrange the tables and chairs. Cleanup begins around 4:00pm (or whenever you decide that you can’t squeeze in one more game before the end of the event), and by “cleanup” we man that all food and drink must leave the library: Whether consumed here, taken home, or tossed in the trash, we are required to leave the auditorium devoid of nutritional value. The librarians appreciate our vacating the auditorium by 4:30pm, and by “appreciate” they mean that our compliance determines whether we’ll be invited back for another Grand Gaming Melee.
