Year in Wrap-up 2022 - PolyParadise

PolyParadise - 2022 - Wrap-up

Saturday December 31, 2022

It is hard to believe another year in BRC has come & gone...The Village of PolyParadise 2022 was absolutely incredible and our best collective effort yet at creating this amazing On-Playa home we call The Village of PolyParadise, As we venture to the Playa each year there are always challenges and together we find a way to make things right, together we build an amazing space within the gates of BRC, a place to really call home in the desert.

Of course there is an amazing personal journey for me, but it is the journey I watch in others, their self-discovery, their triumphs as well as low points, watching people grow and blossom.

Each year as Benevolent Dictator, I learn more and more about why I love all things Burning Man, why I love all things Village of PolyParadise.

To those that camped elsewhere or who were unable to make BM this year, your spirit was always part of PolyParadise, and know that you were deeply missed & loved in this group.

This section of the Year in Review; The Wrap-up is my way of thanking all of the amazing people that assist us in creating PolyParadise, not only On-Playa but all year-round here in Phoenix. I am taken aback by those that give even when they are not PolyParadise campers or give to the community even if the Playa is not in their travel plans.

BIG BIG Kudos - To our fellow AZBurners who are always available to assist during the year; for Truck Loading & Unpacking; carrying, cleaning, sorting and building PolyParadise year-round here in Phoenix. Special Thanks to (UncleBob, Rich, Armella, Corvus, Sandman, Cactus Man, Atira, Knotch, Shadow, Neefer, JimyMac, Dr. Dirt, Goddess Ivy, Zeus, Daniel, Bruno, Big Rig, Rich, Sunny, Cynthia, Canyon, Justin, Diane, Bob, Dance Boy, Laura, Cole, The Jason, LauraZ, Craig, Ken, Becky, Luna Tickles, Cheyenne) Back in the day circa 2006 it was only WildChild & I that represented Arizona in PolyParadise. It is amazing to have had 36 AZBurners in our camp this year. Thank you all so very much!!!

Thanks to the Truck Packing & Unpacking Crew! It is so much fun to share the excitement of PolyParadise hitting the road with all of you!!! As well as that feeling as we Unpack with everything and get re-playafied once again. You guys are GREAT!

We again stayed until Tuesday; this allowed for a more cohesive teardown & truck packing and my sanity. We had a great time with the folks that stayed and many thanks to everyone that did the last of the MOOP WALK. throughout our camp space.

Thanks to ALL CAMPERS that came by in April for the annual Work-Party. Look forward to seeing you all again in 2023.

Thanks to Candi Carrell & crew for filling her U-Haul with the last of the garbage bags @ Teardown - You were unable to make UNPACKING but was gracious enough to have Cheyenne bring 10 PIZZAS for the unpacking crew - Thank you so much!!!

Thanks to all the attendees @ the annual April Work-Party that assisted in creating the 24th Year Anniversary Art Project - Shrink wrapping 2000' of EMT conduit for the Community UV-Light Space.

Thanks to all of our campers that create ART outside of camp - in 2023 I want to make sure we have something within the Community Space that highlights who you are and where your Art piece is located so all of our campers can get a chance to see them. Special thanks to the Burning Man Shopping Day Crew (Armella, Corvus, Canyon Man Starfish, Neefer) Spending $2,800 of your money then unpacking it all - Thanks so much!!!

Thank you to the 69 International campers from (Australia, Belize, Canada, England, France, Germany, Israel, Latvia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland).

A VERY SPECIAL CALLOUT to Trevor for taking a 28-Day vacation from Edmonton Canada and OHHH SOOO being the ALL AROUND RIGHT HAND OF what we created. I LOVE YOU Brother - You have such a community heart and the muscles to back that up. Thanks for being the BBQ Charcoal CZAR for both Trash Can Pizza & Turkey. I very much enjoyed working with you and spending some quality BRO time with you on our Playa walks. I depend on you for a lot on site and you are always there with a smile and of course your community HEART!

With the ability from Placement to get a limited number of campers in on Thursday we were way ahead of the game in getting the truck emptied and the start of what would become The Village of PolyParadise. The crew was awesome!!! We rocked the house and had the entire infrastructure up & functional by Sunday morning. I thank you all so much for doing what needed to be done, being out in the Sun & Dust; making PolyParadise happen On-Playa!!!

Special thanks to all the Playa Virgins that decided to make PolyParadise their First Home on the Playa. I hope your experience was awesome and that Burning Man, The Playa, BRC and the rest of us instilled in you a LOVE for the week leading up to Labor Day that your excitement will have you camping again with us next year. Each of you gave & gave & gave of your time & effort and we all Thank You...

HUGE THANKS to Nutmeg, Gravy, Sandune & Bobcat for being INCREDIBLE PLAYA VIRGINS!! If you did not already know Nutmeg aka Kelly is a High School classmate of mine and it was so AMAZING to share Burning Man & PolyParadise with you. Gravy aka Steve - loved the morning chats we had - awesome to hang with you. Sandy & Bob awesome to share your VIRGIN Burn with you both!!!

Thanks to Canyon for your Community Heart and for taking on distributing the RV Service Placards & Vouchers.

Thank you to Stephanie & Marc | Ruby & Nico for allowing us to celebrate their WEDDINGS with all of us and a huge personal thanks for allowing me to be the officiate.

MAJOR Thanks to all our veteran & NEW BRC Rangers in our camp - we appreciate your service to the Playa Citizens!!!!

Thanks to Charlie On The Spot for providing his extended cammo shaded area that was able to accommodate and allow several tent campers a space for their tents under said cammo shade.

Thanks to everyone that celebrated with all of our campers in the 70's PARTY!

Thanks to Atira, and the ICE CREW for being The Ice CZARS; heading up daily runs for ice. Thanks for your efforts each day with this important duty. Thanks to all the campers that assisted in getting ice when ice was only available as a 2-Bag limit.

Special callout to Haji for purchasing the additional International Flags to salute our International Contingent along the entrance way of all of the countries our international campers hailed from.

Thanks to all campers that brought clothes and accessories for the clothing exchange - what an awesome space to find new digs to wear and look amazing!!!

KUDOS & SPECIAL THANKS to Touch!!! First for being YOU, your laugh and amazing community Heart & Body are INFECTIOUS!!! Thanks for all things Human Carcass Wash which celebrated 24YRS in BRC & 300+ participants daily!

SPECIAL THANKS to Boy Scout; even though you were a VIRGIN Burner, you were always there to assist. No matter what crazy thing broke or needed repair, you were a person I knew I could ask to make things right.

Here-in are my THANK YOU's for Burning Man 2022...This list in not an all-inclusive list and if I left someone or something out it is not because I was unaware of your contribution it is just a minor oversight and is in no particular order. EACH ONE OF YOU HAD A PART AND A HAND IN MAKING US THE SUCCESS WE WERE!!

The first Thank You has always been reserved for my Life Partner, Wife, Friend & companion, WildChild!!! She continues to be an awesome inspiration for all things Burning Man, stands by me in my ever increasing need to volunteer…Thank you my love!!!

Special thanks to Stephanie, Trevor, Sio, Goddess Ivy & Zeus for being there Monday morning to assist with packing the 16 coolers and getting them on the truck - I cannot thank you enough to be there to help me; cause a one-person job that is not.

Early Arrival - Many, Many thanks to all of our Early Arrival crew. Kudos go out to all of you for your tireless efforts to get the camp erected and all system connected. You guys ROCK!!!

We set the camp up over several days, but we take it down in just a few hours, it is a massive undertaking that requires lots & lots of hands. I cannot 'Require' you to stay and assist with breakdown, but know that each and every one of you that did help is so very much appreciated. This year’s crew was incredible. Thank you all so much for doing the dirty work and being there to pack away our community for another year.

MANY, MANY thanks go to the most amazing takedown crew we have ever had. There were so many people that stayed and assisted with the huge job of getting things in some order before it heads to the truck. THANK YOU ALL!!! Both WildChild & I appreciate your efforts.

Thank you to all that headed up Our Playa Events - Poly High Tea - Human Carcass Wash - Poly Friendly Social Mixer, 3D UV-Light Experience, Therapeutic Photo Session, Fire Flow Yoga, Tantric Speed Dating, Ethical Slut Meet/Greet and of course EVERY DAY & The Temple of Bacchus & EVERY NIGHT @ THE TWISTED SWAN!!!

Major Kudos to the organizers of all of our Playa Events. You all are aces in my book!!! Thanks to everyone who assisted in each and every event. The events are as much for us as a camp as well as sharing with the Playa Citizenry.

Thanks to everyone who assisted in each and every event. The events are as much for us as a camp as well as sharing with the Playa Citizenry.

The Carcass Wash...Many thanks go to Touch and EVERY CAMPER that assisted each day heading up the Human Carcass Wash. A HUGE THANKS to everyone else who helped with Setup & Cleanup and to those that ran the event each day.

MAJOR KUDOS to Big Rig - our electrical GURU. The (2) Honda EU 7000W we rented in conjunction with the Battery Brick and the two Yellow Distro boxes we were able to provide a way for us to have continual power to the Shower & Sink pumps and critical lights within the Kitchen & Community space when the Generator was off or had run out of gas.

Thanks to all those that provided meals for the Early Arrival Crew Meal Plan. It was awesome to have food available to us after a hard days work ERECTING PolyParadise.

Thanks to Debbie for providing the Early Arrival Crew with a cooler full of Beer & Gatorade; thanks for keeping us hydrated in the searing temperatures of the Black Rock Desert.

Thanks & KUDOS to Knotch, Shadow & LauraZ for all things Kitchen. You guys ROCKED!!! The Community Kitchen was an awesome success! Thanks so much to all of their helpers that maintained the kitchen all week long as well as those that stepped up to manage the kitchen as Knotch, Shadow & LauraZ needed to depart the playa early.

Thanks & KUDOS to fellow camper Bruce for providing an Open WiFi and to Guami for providing a password protected camp WiFi.

Thanks to the Boyz from Illionoiz for an AMAZING & INCREDIBLE Community meal ala Chicago Style!!!

MAJOR MAJOR KUDOS & THANKS TO 2Crispy, Plan B & Crew for the AMAZING BAR. What an awesome place to hang out right outside the community space and fill up your cup with the days drink concoction! Thanks to all of you for seeing the value of community!! The incredible setup you had with the musical way to create drinks - CLASSIC!!! Look forward to seeing what you come up with for next year!!

Thanks to Armella, Trevor, Stephanie, Sio, Mark, Charlie on the Spot for being the designated drivers of the RV and 2nd U-Haul Truck and for getting the Pin Flags set for the three RV Service roads on Day 1.

Major KUDOS to Lucy & Haji for taking on a huge cooking responsibility. Every time I said I could use the Salmon or Tri-Tip or Chicken or BACON cooked you both were right there and did it with a smile. I also appreciate that you made sure that WildChild & I got some of the first batch off the grill - Its good to be the king!

Thanks to everyone who provided & prepared food for Community Meals, Washing Dishes, all who helped out when it was needed, for taking garbage home with you, for knowing what building community & sharing community is all about.

Thanks to Scott Mummert for bringing the Coyote Fire Art piece that adorned the front entrance way.

Thanks to Happy Don; there were several times I came to you to assist me in solving some problem. You dropped what you were doing and helped do the thing with a smile & a HUGG - You are good people!

Thanks to Dr. Dirt for all you do for our community and especially for taking WildChild & I out for a night of Playa Art in your Golf Cart.

CALLOUT to Mark Freiheit - You were always there to make sure that The Benevolent Dictator always had a cold beverage and always had Heineken's (My Favorite).

Many Many thanks to Peter, Gretchen & Veronica for heading up all things Garbage Czar for stepping up and taking on the role of TRASH!

Thanks to Guami and the ENTIRE Twisted Swan & Temple of Bacchus camps for joining our village - what an awesome thing to have a BAR as part of our camp space.

Thanks to Stephanie & crew for putting out an amazing Monday night Dinner spread for those that stayed Monday night.

Special thanks to Craig, Donna & Mark for providing & transporting the PolyParadise Labeled Water. We were so sad that Craig & Donna were unable to make Playa landfall; you were both certainly missed.

Thanks to anyone & everyone that provided and or used the Clothing Exchange.

Thanks to all the Takedown Crew of the Human Carcass Wash and for transporting all the STUFF back 400' near the truck for packing.

Thanks to everyone that went out with us as a camp to watch the Man BURN! There are many people you can spend the BURN with - I was so happy that over 60 people made the trek out with us and saw those HUGE FIREBALLS THAT ROCKED THE MAN'S BALLS together.

MAJOR KUDOS to Max Flynn & Simon for making available each day THE ICE TAXI which was an AMAZING way for us to be able to transport 60+ bags of ice at a time. Thank YOU SO MUCH for coming by each day and helping our Village; we are so very grateful.

Special callout to Debbie & Zemi for taking on all things creating Trash Can Pizza and everyone that that assisted in putting together 30 Pizzas. Thanks to for everyone that assisted with Trash Can Turkey and a HUGE Thanks to Trevor & Crew for jumping right in and carving up all that turkeys (90lbs of BIRD) while an anxious crowd awaited food…Amazing!!

Thanks to everyone that assisted over the past 2 years for the work on Poly Wally our very own Art Car. We were of course very disappointed that the vehicle was denied entry to BRC.

Thanks to Charlie On The Spot for providing a Tower of Light for the work-space between the two trucks; thanks for having other lights, rope, tools and the eclectic array of things that were there when we needed them.

Thanks to Bonk for donating UV-Art to adorn the Camp's Bar.

The most SPECIAL of SPECIAL THANKS is reserved for my Partner & Wife WildChild!!Your love of everything Burning Man, Community, Hard Work, artistic talent and love of people is inspiring. Never let that light dim.