Sunny Beach and The Gathering Oak

By Penny (Deaflegacy)

Sha (Becky Shamen) offered to take me on a tour of the beautiful Sunny Beach sim, and I took her up on her offer. The first stop we made was at the sky diving machine. "Click the floor," said Sha. I did and ended up flying in the air. Sha said that it is sky diving and I really enjoyed it.

The next stop is at the roller coaster. "My favorite ride," Sha told me. We got on the roller coaster and it was really fun, being on the roller coaster. This was so much fun riding the roller coaster and I was sad to get off the ride.

We stopped by a place where Moogles live there. I was impressed. Moogles are a cute small creatures.

Sha showed me the round table at the castle. It reminds me of the round table back in King Arthur's days. There was even a sword stuck in a stone there.

We went to the boardwalk shops after that. Sha suggested I try a ride called, "Wild Whale." When I got on it, I was so impressed. It was like riding a wild bull only this time, I'm riding a wild whale. After I got off, she showed me the rocking ships. It reminds me of a ride at Playland that looks so much like the rocking ships on the Gathering Oak. I'm not sure if it is still around because it has been over a decade since I last went to Playland.

Sha showed me the club jackets that she made as well as a fortune teller. According to Erik Mouse (erikmouse.dawid) who just joined us, the idea came from Erik when he was on a vacation over a month ago where there was a boardwalk by the beach.

I told Sha and Erik that I felt they were doing a good job. "We try hard to provide fun for the community," she said. The Gathering Oak club is really a fun place to be. "The DJ booth plays to the whole sim, we can have events anywhere. We hope to develop surfing events in the future." said Sha when I asked about the events happening on the club. "Surfing events could be co-ordinated with sim to the North, with party on both sims."

Sha showed me a beautiful woods, to take peaceful walks through. For those that need to get rid of tension, they have cannons to fire. She showed me how to use a cannon and when a ball flew out of that cannon, I can feel the tension I have going with it.

The Gathering Oak is run by Erik with Sha's help. Geerkil Ziskey is the most noted DJ at the club. You can see him on Tuesday night.

The Sunny Beach sim is an amazing place to visit and to hang out with your friends. Here is the landmark for the awesome place: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunny%20Beach/177/134/22

Penny

The Gathering Oak

By Becky "Sha" Shamen

Some time ago, I volunteered to help an old friend, turned new neighbor on Sunny Beach, Erik Mouse to  build the sim of his dreams. He showed great interest in providing attractions for the community to come and have fun. I have become his court Magician and councilor, to teach him the power of Imagination. The force is strong in him.

The perimeter of the island sim provides beaches, boating and surfing. The interior of the island is a thick forest, known as "Mythica Woods." At the North end of the woods, there is a clearing, with a spring fed pond. When I made the Sunweaver Tour video, I called this area, "the local watering hole", because it seemed like it was a natural gathering spot https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f144n1NYcos .

There are several Hobbit style homes, a camp fire, a TP and Stargate. We built a tiki hut club and called it "Surf's Up," to draw attention to the surfing wave, on the North shore. Erik was eager to begin having weekly events, on Saturdays at noon SLT. I let him know that it would be his adventure and I would not be on club staff. He is the owner and should make his own rules and provide any staff and DJs for any events scheduled.

Well, Rome wasn't built in a day, but after three weeks, our little friend was feeling stress, because his club had yet to become an overnight success. He came to the Newser staff meeting, seeking help in getting more visitors to come. At the close of the staff meeting, Erik, Bixyl and I convened to Surf's Up, where an event was in progress. This was the ideal location for the discussion, since we could also get additional input from those on the dance floor. Indeed, I took notes as Skylark LeFavre began to describe a different decor, from her imagination. She described a clearing with a large oak tree..... Before saying another word, I was already seeing the complete picture.

That night, I searched the marketplace for oak trees. I found a towering ancient oak tree, that looked like the perfect fit for Mythica Woods. I spent the night, with nobody around, installing the oak, removing the tiki hut and moving the club equipment under the tree branches. The next day, after seeing the new set up, Erik sends an IM, asking if I had left anything for him to do. Indeed, there were a few objects and the contest board, which I could not move. Later that evening, I attended a weekly dance event, at Creations Park. They have a rotating circle sync dance that is a wonderful thrill to partake in. After the dance, I met up with Erik again. I told him that I think a circle dance would be perfect for the new club layout, so we went about trying to find a good one. That was an adventure of it's own and we nearly got booted off of one RP sim.

When we found an in world demo, of one I spotted on marketplace, we tested it, bought it and took it home to set up. Words could not explain how enjoyable it is for a group to share. I knew I would need to get some pictures or video of a group doing the dance. For two days, I asked friends to come try it. At the close of the following Happy Vixen event, I announced that I would be making a video and all were invited to be in it. We got a nice little impromptu group going and the camera began to roll. I captured 10 minutes of video, before folks needed to go and posted it, unedited, on Youtube.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/L_kNx3Nz5oI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

https://youtu.be/L_kNx3Nz5oI

   Recently, I made the comment that where the sky and earth, fire and water all meet is a place where strong magic is made. There's lots of room to dance and several group sitting areas, if you'd rather sit this one out. There's even a cuddle basket, if you like that kind of magic. The club will now be known as "The Gathering Oak" and will have a weekly Saturday noon dance and you can also come any time, to enjoy all of the sim's attractions.

   Aloha,

Sha