Dude I remember getting reamed out for asking if I could have one day off from working concessions as that was our only vacation time work would allow. Apparently us lowly corpse didn't work quite as hard as all those Region coordinators in the Way of the USA tent, with their 14 hour days. Funny how whenever I would stop by there they were all sitting on their @$$es BSing each other and sending the pretty young attendants out for free food.
I mean I could go on and on about the ROA, but will just leave with one thought - R@lph W in a little Bobcat with all the Haitian tent crew.
Now if someone could just post up a picture of a hippie cutting hair to get their WOW money together we'd be all up to date.
The rock of ages "festival"....................was cheapness to the bone.
Everything about roa was FURTHER EXPLOITATION of the cult followers.
Months in advance........in-residence corps at hq worked to clean, paint, fix, and organize roa material.
Weeks in advance.........staff workers, mostly way builders, were assigned projects to handle the thousands who came to roa.
Corps Week..................wierwille manipulated all corps grads to attend roa each year by first attending his "corps week."
This corps week exploited all corps grads to work 4-6 hours each day as the cult geared up the food and delivery systems.
Then, wierwille blasted any corps who didn't stay ALL of roa.......to help put on the roa [in-house slave labor].
WOW ambassadors returned and others were sent out......providing their own $500 and vehicles, and yearly sales service of pfal.
Family Tables were side venues of attraction, distraction and cheap entertainment......good heart, but cult exploitation.
Muddy parking lots, tent city, smelly porta potties and cold showers............cheapness to the bone.
Food pavilions were staffed by field corps and advanced class grads, mostly..........doesn't everyone want to work a 4-6 hr shift?
Same old, same old evening teachings every year........sit butt in crappy folding chair for 2 1/2 hours every night.
Dress codes in the cornfield cult..............crap! Sure, put on your suit and tie for the occasion......spiritual protocol insanity!!
With each year......more baby strollers, nursing mothers, toddlers and young teens. Yet, very little new venues of interest.
The twit-cult had NO IDEA of engaging new interests..........it was simply a cult of manipulation and exploitation.
After 3 years.......I found the rock of ages as mostly drudgery and mundane monotony.
Good Riddance to all of it...............
Crazy days of youth, for sure. I can hardly believe that I allowed myself to be dragged thru the cult's annual pilgrimage for all those years. Yet, deep down......I dissented because it wreaked of "using and abusing" others for personal gain. Oftentimes, those who came hardly had enough money for food and travel.......AND.......left the rock of ages with no money to travel home.
Thankfully, today..........our two sons are cult-free and have no attachments, good or bad, to the cheap cult. It truly is amazing how far the distance is between the cheap cult environment of my past and the travel destinations that they, today, enjoy. Don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with camping.........but there is something drastically wrong-headed with camping in tent city, waking up to blaring "Beautiful Ohio" music at 7am, herded towards a cold shower, working 6 hours a day at a mandated-festival, and required to wear suit and tie in a cornfield.
Those were the days, my friend....................
.
Sky, I thought "Beautiful Ohio" was sung at 6am? I really enjoyed the Rock, but I wasn't forced to attend. I really enjoyed seeing everyone I knew from previous years in Way World. However, I think one of the best things about the Rock, was the music. IMO, Way Productions had some great musicians. I loved hearing the music before the evening teachings. I often thought the music was far better than some of the teachings. The last Rock I attended was ROA in 1987. It was life less, and boring. I never attended another one.
Im so happy the deep sixed the rock just before i became involved in twi in 96. Funny thing is in todays world twi would have to shell over big $$ to do a roa due to layers of safety regulations. Yep right down to the tents. Big top tents have to be installed and anchored to the ground properly. So much so there are professional tent companies to handle the task. I know because twi had to hire out tent installation for hq based events such as the ac, ac specials etc. We all know that in all their horded millions they would never let that money go.
Im so happy the deep sixed the rock just before i became involved in twi in 96. Funny thing is in todays world twi would have to shell over big $$ to do a roa due to layers of safety regulations. Yep right down to the tents. Big top tents have to be installed and anchored to the ground properly. So much so there are professional tent companies to handle the task. I know because twi had to hire out tent installation for hq based events such as the ac, ac specials etc. We all know that in all their horded millions they would never let that money go.
OS, wow!! I didn't know this!! Thanks for the information.
As a matter of fact, I rather enjoyed RoA set-up while I was in rez. It was mostly a fun time. A lot more laid back. Working outdoors, and generally a fun crew to mess around with. Everyone was more relaxed, but more focused. Yes, it was hard work at time, but at mid-afternoon (or whatever) break, there was lots of fresh fruit and water to re-hydrate. Evenings were often a lot of ground work, but that was better than the interminable classes and re-runs of How to Floss One's Teeth, or Song Leading. Got to pay (ie work) with people who might otherwise have been stuck in offices and who otherwise I might not have met.
We scrubbed all the portable chairs and then they were all strung in the Big Top. Scrubbing the chairs seemed sensible; sometimes they weren't very clean. They looked neat when set out - but of course they never stayed in neat lines. Scrubbed portaloos. Set out tables, cloths, the chicken frying thing (wonder if they still have that?) Planted flowers early, so that the flower beds would be lovely when people came.
I think if all that work had been going n (by contractors) I'd've been ticked off that I couldn't have been involved.
I seem to recall that as the Rock neared, we worked whole days (ie, lost Study Hall for half a day) and I did resent that. But it was fun, preparing everything to bless the visitors.
Is volunteer labour a bad thing? I don't think so. I think of the hugely popular festival that takes place at Glastonbury most years. A lot of people like to vol for that, as litter-pickers, set-up before and after, etc. They do it because they get a free ticket to the event. I vol'd at the Christian tent at Glasto (free ticket, yay!) (Springsteen the headline act! yay!!). Clearer-uppers in the weeks afterwards get paid minimum wage with few perks, but there's still plenty that want to do that.
Perhaps that's the case with most festivals, commercial or free.
Oh, by the way, I'm talking early 90s. US Corps were supposed to come for Corps week, later reduced in time period; then stay and serve at RoA. That must have been tough, for family holidays, because annual leave allowances are so very mean in the USA. No leave left to visit family or take a (real) holiday in another location. Maybe you should be pressing your govt to allow longer paid holidays as workers' rights? (Yeah, that'll really happen with this administration!) In other words, US workers are used to being exploited.
I really liked the early ROAs ... 1972 was my favorite, as it was my first. By the time the later ROA rolled around, I did not particularly like it. One of them, I left in mid-week (not in the Corps yet then, so I had only been there a few days). It was hot, humid, and nasty. I left, drove to just the other side of Dayton, and slept overnight in a WONDERFUL air-conditioned motel room, munching on some of the food and drink I had brought for the Rock. I decided then I would never camp in a tent again, and I didn't.
The last year of the Rock, I was staying in a motel with a friend and her kids. I had left the Corps about ten years before that, so we went whenever we wanted (usually in the afternoon) and it was very nice....UNTIL Craig decided it was going to be a Rock of Ages CLASS. He had no class. We still came and went as we wanted, but I knew then I would never go to a Rock again. I was very relieved when he announced later that fall that the Rock was no more. Sad, because in my younger years, I loved it. By then, I was forty and despised it.
was just thinking about ROA, a Jesus type of Rock Festival a la Woodstock. Today such festivals are called Jesus Sonshine. Loved the music of WP and hamburgers and pizza were not bad, but Wierwille would drone on for at least an hour or more, boring.(and here I thought my father's sermons were dull, lol)
was just thinking about ROA, a Jesus type of Rock Festival a la Woodstock. Today such festivals are called Jesus Sonshine. Loved the music of WP and hamburgers and pizza were not bad, but Wierwille would drone on for at least an hour or more, boring.(and here I thought my father's sermons were dull, lol)
What little I DID attend, I liked in spite of the keynote teachings. Really. I liked everything else we did, and the nightly things were all right. Then again, I stayed in an air-conditioned R/V, and don't know what was the appeal of a tent (still don't, to this day.) There was food available of different types, there were things going on of different types, different groups were teaching and entertaining, and a lot of it was off-the-cuff. I also liked people selling their own music tapes and so on. So, other than shopping at the bookstore, and the advantage of an air-conditioned auditorium building, it was an event I enjoyed in spite of the nightly spectacle. The other attendees were fun.
What little I DID attend, I liked in spite of the keynote teachings. Really. I liked everything else we did, and the nightly things were all right. Then again, I stayed in an air-conditioned R/V, and don't know what was the appeal of a tent (still don't, to this day.) There was food available of different types, there were things going on of different types, different groups were teaching and entertaining, and a lot of it was off-the-cuff. I also liked people selling their own music tapes and so on. So, other than shopping at the bookstore, and the advantage of an air-conditioned auditorium building, it was an event I enjoyed in spite of the nightly spectacle. The other attendees were fun.
What little I DID attend, I liked in spite of the keynote teachings. Really. I liked everything else we did, and the nightly things were all right. Then again, I stayed in an air-conditioned R/V, and don't know what was the appeal of a tent (still don't, to this day.) ....(snip)
1 hour ago, Rocky said:
Cost less... that's about it.
There was also the way corps tent with that unique ambiance
of a refugee camp...
cranky people trying to catch up on sleep...
the almost incessant buzzing of flies and the sharp whistle of fly swatters whipping thru the air...
and there was always someone who wanted to turn off the huge ventilation fan because the noise bothered their kid trying to go to sleep.
There was also the way corps tent with that unique ambiance
of a refugee camp...
cranky people trying to catch up on sleep...
the almost incessant buzzing of flies and the sharp whistle of fly swatters whipping thru the air...
and there was always someone who wanted to turn off the huge ventilation fan because the noise bothered their kid trying to go to sleep.
ROA 75, my first, LOTS of flies at the fairgrounds. I learned to kill flies by using two hands to clap together. Lovely memory. Btw, you described well the way corpse tent ambiance.
My first ROA was 1972, in Sidney, at the Shelby County Fairgrounds. The tents, I think, were a carry over from a time when you either slept in a tent or under the stars. I slept under the stars, out of necessity. (BRRRR!) Those were the only 2 options unless you had a car. Most people carpooled to get there, so that wasn't a very realistic option. I'm not sure if there were any motels nearby. It wouldn't have mattered. though, as no one had money for such luxuries. Funny, now, to realize that tents were the *luxury* option.
I like camping. In a tent. A little one. Yes, really, I do.
Though the only tent I stayed in at RoA was the big Corps tent. One year in Founders Hall (really??), and one year (graduation year) in the Corpstels (horrible, very cramped, and far too hot).
Dude I remember getting reamed out for asking if I could have one day off from working concessions as that was our only vacation time work would allow.
Now, what was hard was coming from overseas, and my friends from overseas came to RoA (it's surprising how many came, none of them had much money, and the airfare was huge). I didn't have time to see them, and would have to beg for an hour off work to spend time with them on their departure day.
The year I was leaving, after two years in rez, all of them took something back with them (books and such like that I'd acquired, Corps notes). Very kind of them, but getting this stuff to them was hard work as there was no time to meet up!
But these overseas visitors did have a great time. I was pleased for them. Lots of fellowship with like-minded believers. A sense of vision, coming from a small country with only one large fellowship, and to enjoy thousands of other people from many other countries (though mostly, of course, from the USA).
Sky, I enjoyed the Rock, but I didn't have to bust my back working at it. I think you are right, VPW should have publicly thanked everyone who helped out; but then the spotlight would not have been on him!!! God forbid!
Dude I remember getting reamed out for asking if I could have one day off from working concessions as that was our only vacation time work would allow. Apparently us lowly corpse didn't work quite as hard as all those Region coordinators in the Way of the USA tent, with their 14 hour days. Funny how whenever I would stop by there they were all sitting on their @$$es BSing each other and sending the pretty young attendants out for free food.
I mean I could go on and on about the ROA, but will just leave with one thought - R@lph W in a little Bobcat with all the Haitian tent crew.
Now if someone could just post up a picture of a hippie cutting hair to get their WOW money together we'd be all up to date.
I remember getting my hair cut to help people get their WOW money together. Great haircut at that!!!
Now, what was hard was coming from overseas, and my friends from overseas came to RoA (it's surprising how many came, none of them had much money, and the airfare was huge). I didn't have time to see them, and would have to beg for an hour off work to spend time with them on their departure day.
The year I was leaving, after two years in rez, all of them took something back with them (books and such like that I'd acquired, Corps notes). Very kind of them, but getting this stuff to them was hard work as there was no time to meet up!
But these overseas visitors did have a great time. I was pleased for them. Lots of fellowship with like-minded believers. A sense of vision, coming from a small country with only one large fellowship, and to enjoy thousands of other people from many other countries (though mostly, of course, from the USA).
Yes I recall talking with many from other countries, and their schedule would typically involve a 2 month journey and a large expense. Come over for an Adv. Class stay for CF / ROA. Eventually the cost and burden of maintenance grew much greater than the return, especially as the large push for WOW's ended.
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chockfull
Dude I remember getting reamed out for asking if I could have one day off from working concessions as that was our only vacation time work would allow. Apparently us lowly corpse didn't work quite as hard as all those Region coordinators in the Way of the USA tent, with their 14 hour days. Funny how whenever I would stop by there they were all sitting on their @$$es BSing each other and sending the pretty young attendants out for free food.
I mean I could go on and on about the ROA, but will just leave with one thought - R@lph W in a little Bobcat with all the Haitian tent crew.
Now if someone could just post up a picture of a hippie cutting hair to get their WOW money together we'd be all up to date.
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Grace Valerie Claire
Sky, I thought "Beautiful Ohio" was sung at 6am? I really enjoyed the Rock, but I wasn't forced to attend. I really enjoyed seeing everyone I knew from previous years in Way World. However, I think one of the best things about the Rock, was the music. IMO, Way Productions had some great musicians. I loved hearing the music before the evening teachings. I often thought the music was far better than some of the teachings. The last Rock I attended was ROA in 1987. It was life less, and boring. I never attended another one.
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OldSkool
Im so happy the deep sixed the rock just before i became involved in twi in 96. Funny thing is in todays world twi would have to shell over big $$ to do a roa due to layers of safety regulations. Yep right down to the tents. Big top tents have to be installed and anchored to the ground properly. So much so there are professional tent companies to handle the task. I know because twi had to hire out tent installation for hq based events such as the ac, ac specials etc. We all know that in all their horded millions they would never let that money go.
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Grace Valerie Claire
OS, wow!! I didn't know this!! Thanks for the information.
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Bolshevik
I liked the rib sandwiches.
And swatting flys in the petting zoo.
And the rib sandwiches.
Water area at Founders.
The Way woods and west woods.
And the rib sandwiches.
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Grace Valerie Claire
Bol, I think you are ribbing us about the sandwiches.
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Twinky
As a matter of fact, I rather enjoyed RoA set-up while I was in rez. It was mostly a fun time. A lot more laid back. Working outdoors, and generally a fun crew to mess around with. Everyone was more relaxed, but more focused. Yes, it was hard work at time, but at mid-afternoon (or whatever) break, there was lots of fresh fruit and water to re-hydrate. Evenings were often a lot of ground work, but that was better than the interminable classes and re-runs of How to Floss One's Teeth, or Song Leading. Got to pay (ie work) with people who might otherwise have been stuck in offices and who otherwise I might not have met.
We scrubbed all the portable chairs and then they were all strung in the Big Top. Scrubbing the chairs seemed sensible; sometimes they weren't very clean. They looked neat when set out - but of course they never stayed in neat lines. Scrubbed portaloos. Set out tables, cloths, the chicken frying thing (wonder if they still have that?) Planted flowers early, so that the flower beds would be lovely when people came.
I think if all that work had been going n (by contractors) I'd've been ticked off that I couldn't have been involved.
I seem to recall that as the Rock neared, we worked whole days (ie, lost Study Hall for half a day) and I did resent that. But it was fun, preparing everything to bless the visitors.
Is volunteer labour a bad thing? I don't think so. I think of the hugely popular festival that takes place at Glastonbury most years. A lot of people like to vol for that, as litter-pickers, set-up before and after, etc. They do it because they get a free ticket to the event. I vol'd at the Christian tent at Glasto (free ticket, yay!) (Springsteen the headline act! yay!!). Clearer-uppers in the weeks afterwards get paid minimum wage with few perks, but there's still plenty that want to do that.
Perhaps that's the case with most festivals, commercial or free.
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Twinky
Oh, by the way, I'm talking early 90s. US Corps were supposed to come for Corps week, later reduced in time period; then stay and serve at RoA. That must have been tough, for family holidays, because annual leave allowances are so very mean in the USA. No leave left to visit family or take a (real) holiday in another location. Maybe you should be pressing your govt to allow longer paid holidays as workers' rights? (Yeah, that'll really happen with this administration!) In other words, US workers are used to being exploited.
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DogLover
I really liked the early ROAs ... 1972 was my favorite, as it was my first. By the time the later ROA rolled around, I did not particularly like it. One of them, I left in mid-week (not in the Corps yet then, so I had only been there a few days). It was hot, humid, and nasty. I left, drove to just the other side of Dayton, and slept overnight in a WONDERFUL air-conditioned motel room, munching on some of the food and drink I had brought for the Rock. I decided then I would never camp in a tent again, and I didn't.
The last year of the Rock, I was staying in a motel with a friend and her kids. I had left the Corps about ten years before that, so we went whenever we wanted (usually in the afternoon) and it was very nice....UNTIL Craig decided it was going to be a Rock of Ages CLASS. He had no class. We still came and went as we wanted, but I knew then I would never go to a Rock again. I was very relieved when he announced later that fall that the Rock was no more. Sad, because in my younger years, I loved it. By then, I was forty and despised it.
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Thomas Loy Bumgarner
was just thinking about ROA, a Jesus type of Rock Festival a la Woodstock. Today such festivals are called Jesus Sonshine. Loved the music of WP and hamburgers and pizza were not bad, but Wierwille would drone on for at least an hour or more, boring.(and here I thought my father's sermons were dull, lol)
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Grace Valerie Claire
I thought his sermons were boring!
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WordWolf
What little I DID attend, I liked in spite of the keynote teachings. Really. I liked everything else we did, and the nightly things were all right. Then again, I stayed in an air-conditioned R/V, and don't know what was the appeal of a tent (still don't, to this day.) There was food available of different types, there were things going on of different types, different groups were teaching and entertaining, and a lot of it was off-the-cuff. I also liked people selling their own music tapes and so on. So, other than shopping at the bookstore, and the advantage of an air-conditioned auditorium building, it was an event I enjoyed in spite of the nightly spectacle. The other attendees were fun.
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Twinky
Rock of Ages class ??!!
After my time... did you say Class !!?? 
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Rocky
Cost less... that's about it.
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T-Bone
There was also the way corps tent with that unique ambiance
of a refugee camp...
cranky people trying to catch up on sleep...
the almost incessant buzzing of flies and the sharp whistle of fly swatters whipping thru the air...
and there was always someone who wanted to turn off the huge ventilation fan because the noise bothered their kid trying to go to sleep.
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Rocky
ROA 75, my first, LOTS of flies at the fairgrounds. I learned to kill flies by using two hands to clap together. Lovely memory. Btw, you described well the way corpse tent ambiance.
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waysider
My first ROA was 1972, in Sidney, at the Shelby County Fairgrounds. The tents, I think, were a carry over from a time when you either slept in a tent or under the stars. I slept under the stars, out of necessity. (BRRRR!) Those were the only 2 options unless you had a car. Most people carpooled to get there, so that wasn't a very realistic option. I'm not sure if there were any motels nearby. It wouldn't have mattered. though, as no one had money for such luxuries. Funny, now, to realize that tents were the *luxury* option.
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Twinky
I like camping. In a tent. A little one. Yes, really, I do.
Though the only tent I stayed in at RoA was the big Corps tent. One year in Founders Hall (really??), and one year (graduation year) in the Corpstels (horrible, very cramped, and far too hot).
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Twinky
Now, what was hard was coming from overseas, and my friends from overseas came to RoA (it's surprising how many came, none of them had much money, and the airfare was huge). I didn't have time to see them, and would have to beg for an hour off work to spend time with them on their departure day.
The year I was leaving, after two years in rez, all of them took something back with them (books and such like that I'd acquired, Corps notes). Very kind of them, but getting this stuff to them was hard work as there was no time to meet up!
But these overseas visitors did have a great time. I was pleased for them. Lots of fellowship with like-minded believers. A sense of vision, coming from a small country with only one large fellowship, and to enjoy thousands of other people from many other countries (though mostly, of course, from the USA).
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skyrider
Oh the memories........the good, the bad and the ugly.
Yeah......the rock of ages gave way to a wide berth of experiences.......
.....or 
....or 
The Backside of ROA
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Grace Valerie Claire
Sky, I enjoyed the Rock, but I didn't have to bust my back working at it. I think you are right, VPW should have publicly thanked everyone who helped out; but then the spotlight would not have been on him!!!
God forbid!
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Grace Valerie Claire
I remember getting my hair cut to help people get their WOW money together. Great haircut at that!!!
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chockfull
Yes I recall talking with many from other countries, and their schedule would typically involve a 2 month journey and a large expense. Come over for an Adv. Class stay for CF / ROA. Eventually the cost and burden of maintenance grew much greater than the return, especially as the large push for WOW's ended.
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