Originally, we were thinking of having a limit set at around 50 people, thinking that then maybe a maximum of 70 would attend. We were worried about how the land would handle more people as far as food, parking, poop, and things like that are concerned and when we started getting reports a week before the gathering like: "everyone at Dunsmuir is coming" or "there's like ten cars and two school buses coming from Portland", we were wondering what we had done.

A few days beforehand we were all running around digging extra holes in the ground to crap in, and going to the food distro ten times, and cutting down nettles to make camping areas. We were also worried about burning down the forest, since it hadn't rained in over a month and there was a burn ban on. I guess you could say we were freaking out. More and more people were calling for directions, and while we were excited that all these people were coming, we were wondering just how many it would end up being. So, the day before, we finally decided to start telling people that there was no more room. This was a sad thing to do, but I hope in the end it was the best decision.

On Thursday and Friday people started arriving. It was wonderful to see old friends again, and to meet new ones. We had a communal kitchen set up, and everyone brought tons of dumpstered goodies. Tents were set up on any flat ground people could find, and hamocks were hung from the trees. People came from all over the country and from close by, by bike, thumb, car and even boat. It was great, people were arriving constantly into the evening, and soon we realized that everything was working out great, and there would be plenty of room for everyone. Phew! A fire was started and dinner was cooked. We all sat up talking much too late for a school night!

The next morning we awoke to a surprise: it was raining! Everyone was soaked; most people were just sleeping under the stars. Despite this, everyone's spirits remained high, and we lit a roaring fire in the common space so that everyone could dry off. After a delicious breakfast prepared by the breakfast crew, we rang the school-bell, and classes started on schedule.

During the two days of the DIY School, we had more than twenty classes, each lasting from a couple hours to a couple days. Some of the classes we had were:

basic carpentry
cob building
straw-slip insulating
making mead
woodworking tools, and sharpening
intro to boatbuilding
edible wild plants
intro to permaculture
backwoods carpentry: tree house building
Chinese medicine
simple car repair
local salmon habitat
celestial navigation
shellfish harvesting
bike touring and alcohol stove making
drawing from life
wilderness survival: building a shelter
(I know there are some things that I'm forgetting!)

We also had two sailboats nearby that were taking people out sailing and teaching them theory and navigation. It was really amazing how it all happened. There was a real feeling that everyone was learning and teaching at the same time. Spontaneous workshops seemed to be happening all over the place, and more and more people came forward with something to teach. Each night we also had a forum where we discussed rural collectives and buying land. It was so fun! It made me realize how everyone is a teacher, and how much knowledge my friends and community have.

The meals worked out great, except that we didn't have pots big enough to cook enough food for everyone. One person counted 84 people in the dinner line on Saturday night! I've estimated that there were probably 130-150 people at the DIY School overall, since a lot of people were coming and going, and not everyone ate dinner that night. Wow! For all those people, it ran amazingly smoothly. The rain stopped mid-day on Saturday, and we had a big sing-along on both Saturday and Sunday night. Accordions, fiddles, guitars, and even opera were to be heard from the fire circle.

We all felt that the 1st annual DIY School was a huge success. Through feedback from people after the event, and new ideas we hope there will be another one that is even better. Thank you so much to everyone who helped make it happen, we are so grateful to the cooks, the teachers, and everyone who came and who helped be organizers (whether they wanted to or not!).

We are not sure yet about 2005, whether or not it is happening, and when it will be, but keep updated through this site, on the 2005 page, or we'll be sending out flyers when we start to organize it.