27th Annual New Years Day Trail-of-the-Hare CHEDDARHEAD Hike & Party

Addendum from Charlie on Dec. 31st:  The weather's looking nice and DRY for our AOC participation in this fun annual event.  The latest forecasts expect mostly clear skies in the high 40s & low 50s, with ZERO chance of rain.  This year's convenient "START" location will be the free parking lot of the "Stars & Strikes" Family Entertainment Center, at 1741 Mtn Industrial Blvd just 1 block south of the Stone Mtn Freeway - see Directions & GPS info below.

IN A NUTSHELL:  This will be the 8th New Years Day in a row that a fun-loving group from the Atlanta Outdoor Club has taken part in this amazing outdoor event.  We're excited about doing it again, so please join me (a.k.a. "Dirty Limerick") and more than 100 of my friends in the Atlanta Hash House Harriers & Harriettes (AH4) for the 27th annual "Cheddarhead."  It's a blast helping one another follow the "trail of the hare" which leads us to a big outdoor all-you-can-eat-&-drink dinner party.  The Cheddarhead should "fill the bill" If you're looking for something festive and wildly different to ring in 2016 and perhaps ease you out of a hangover from the night before.  It always gives us enough aerobic exercise to compensate for all the delicious food & refreshments and keep “resolution guilt” from kicking in!
  No funds are collected by the AOC for this event.  Just register below to add your name to our AOC "subgroup" - then on New Years Day if you decide you'd still like to participate, simply bring $10 in cash to chip in to the AH4's "hash cash" volunteer.  This covers your fair share of the bountiful Wisconsin-style food, wide variety of liquid refreshments and nice door prizes.
  After a brief welcoming ceremony at the Start, we "harriers" (a.k.a. "hare chasers" or "hashers" - usually 100 or more of us) will help one another find and follow the trail of the AH4 volunteer "hare."  The lead harriers at the front of the group will yell "On-On!" back to us as we spot successive baking-flour splotches and chalk marks, confirming that we're indeed on the hare's tricky 3- to 4-mile long trail.  After a couple of hours and an interesting variety of terrain we should all arrive safely at the "On-In" party area - usually the back yard of one of the veteran AH4 hashers.

WHEN & WHERE? At 1:30 PM our AOC subgroup will join the large crowd of Hash House Harriers at their "START" location.  This year it will be the parking lot of the "Stars and Strikes Family Entertainment Center" at 1741 Mountain Industrial Blvd, Stone Mountain, GA 30083.  For a zoomable map or satellite view of our meetup spot click on the square blue & green "Event Location" icon above.  The Lat/Lon coordinates of the lot (for that icon map and below) should be correct as your "Destination Address" for GPS, etc.  Note also the easy-to-follow verbal Directions below.

SPECIAL NOTES about THIS EVENT and the SPORT of "HASHING":  Think of the "Cheddarhead" as a New Year's Day "counter-resolution celebration!"  To enjoy this wild & crazy annual event it helps to be adventurous, thick-skinned, and irreverent about social norms.  As we help one another follow the "trail of the hare" we'll occasionally find ourselves in unusual outdoor places or situations such as the tricky creek-crossing pictured above.  This big event is always a go, rain or shine - another reason we assign it a "D3" difficulty level even though its walking/jogging portion is not as long mileage-wise as our typical AOC D3 hikes.  You newcomers to "hashing" should be forewarned that you may be taken aback by the racy nicknames, song lyrics and general rowdiness of this so-called "drinking club with a running problem."  For more on the history, culture and worldwide popularity of the good-natured sport of "Hashing" go to:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hash_House_Harriers

WHAT TO BRING, EVENT TIMETABLE, etc:  The custom is for each participant to bring to the Start location a small Duffel Bag of dry Extra Garments including extra Shoes & Socks - and if you like, a light foldup Chair.   (See more below in "Recommended Items to Bring.")  Between 1:30 and 1:45 please look for me at the Start (Charlie, wearing an "Atlanta Outdoor Club" T-Shirt and "Dirty Limerick" beaded hash necklace) .  I'll mark you present on our AOC subgroup roster, help you register with our AH4 hosts, introduce you to some of my longtime hashing friends, and help you load your duffel, etc. onto their provided truck or van.
  At about 2:00 the Cheddarhead's founder, "Public Enema," will call our motley crowd to "hash attention!" for a mock-formal welcoming ceremony which may feature our recitation of the hilarious "Wedge of Allegiance" Cheddarhead Creed.  A few minutes later we'll set off together following the hare's trail.  We'll take at a fast-walking and/or slow-jogging pace usually along a fascinating sequence of forested urban trails, powerline easements, residential streets, highway underpasses, etc.  Don't be surprised if there's a creek crossing or two - so please heed my advice about spare dry clothing.  Feel free to walk or jog with me and other experienced hashers during this "follow-the-hare" part of the festivities in case you're worried about staying "on trail."  Along the trail we'll enjoy at least one refreshment "pit stop" in anticipation of the big dinner party at the trail's end which usually lasts from about 3:30 till 5:30 PM.

"CHEDDARHEAD"  PARTY STYLE & HISTORY:  The annual Cheddarhead New Years Day event gets its name from the fact that its founder, a veteran Atlanta H4 hasher known as “Public Enema” and his "partners in crime" are from Wisconsin. (See some of their comments about its history in the NOTES section below.)  At the big party and outdoor cookout they provide delicious all-you-can-eat Wisconsin-style food and refreshments - usually including charbroiled brats, blackeyed peas & rice, "poutine" (Canadian-style french fries & gravy), salad, beer & soft drinks, and a wide assortment of munchies & desserts.  If you like fried mozzarella sticks you’ll love their breaded deep-fried cheese curds - fresh each year from Wisconsin and prepared onsite at the party.  One of the "Cheddarheads" - a good friend of mine named "Oops" - usually drives a truckload of premium bottled beers down from Wisconsin specially for the event.  Also several kegs of various high quality beers are tapped. There’s lots of friendly socializing plus nice door prizes, bawdy drinking songs, and obligatory “down-downs” of small cups of beer for “notables” such as the hares, “rule violators,” and newcomers to the sport.  (You may request your non-alcoholic drink of choice for your "down-down" in lieu of beer.)  Please plan to imbibe in moderation, esp. if you’re driving.

POST-PARTY FREE SHUTTLE: Beginning at about 5:30 PM some of our Cheddarhead hosts will offer complimentary shuttle rides back to the Start parking lot for hashers and their gear.  After we reach our own vehicles it will be appreciated if some of us can take the time to provide the same short shuttle (typically only about 5 minutes from the Party back to Start) for other partiers who may still need a ride.

OPTIONAL EARLY-EVENING BOWLING PARTY!  After the afternoon excitement many of the Hashers will gather at the bowling center by our cars for a few friendly games, and everyone is invited.  It's inexpensive if you decide to take part and usually begins each year at about 6:00 PM.

FOR the AH4 OFFICIAL NEW YEARS DAY 2016 “CHEDDARHEAD" ANNOUNCEMENT ARTICLE click on our following link. Note: The final fully edited version may not appear until a few days prior to the event.
http://atlantahash.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=4624

 • For a chart of links to our numerous Hash House Harrier groups in Georgia including AH4 go to: http://www.OnIn.com/hhh/#georgia_hashes

THIS YEAR'S convenient "START LOCATION" is on the EAST SIDE of ATLANTA between Tucker and Stone Mountain.  It's the FREE Parking Lot of the "Stars and Strikes" bowling center at 1741 Mountain Industrial Blvd, just 1 block south of the Stone Mtn Freeway's "Mtn Industrial"exit.  Our vehicles should be safe here until we return via the free shuttle rides discussed above, after the big party.  For a zoomable map or satellite view of this meetup spot click on the square blue & green "Event Location" icon near the top of this article.

1.  From "Spaghetti Junction" (the I-285/I-85 interchange in NE Atlanta) take "I-285 East" (actually southward) toward Augusta about 4.7 miles.

2.  Take I-285 Exit #39B (bearing Right off I-285 in a clockwise loop).  Merge onto Stone Mountain Pkwy/ US-78 E (toward Snellville/Athens), and go about 3.5 miles.

3. Get off Stone Mtn Pkway at the "Mtn. Industrial Blvd" exit, then turn Right (southward).  "Stars and Strikes" is the first large building on your left.  To reach its free parking lot turn Left at your first opportunity off Mtn Industrial, then bear leftward.  By 1:30 PM dozens of "Hashers" will have gathered there near our parked vehicles wearing colorful jogging garb.

4. Please look for me (Charlie, a.k.a. Dirty Limerick) to let me know you've arrived as part of our AOC "subgroup."  Also please look for the AH4 Hash Cash volunteer and take care of your Cheddarhead registration and $10 cash fee.

LAT/LON COORDINATES of BOWLING CENTER'S PARKING LOT: You GPS and Google.com/Maps users may wish to augment the above directions by entering this as your "destination address":  33.83307,-84.19838

BELOW ARE ANSWERS to a few "CHEDDARHEAD FAQs" from the following 2009 online article: http://www.blueridgeoutdoors.com/running/on-on-hashers-are-drinkers-with-a-running-problem/

The Cheddarhead
There’s hashing, and then there’s the Cheddarhead, which could be the most creative hash in the Southeast. Take your standard "run-drink-run-drink" afternoon and throw in nearly 200 participants, 60 pounds of fried cheese curds, polka music, bowling, bratwurst, and more beer. Blue Ridge Outdoors talked with the Cheddarhead’s original founders, Dave Paul (a.k.a. Public Enema) and Derald Loomis, about the art of cooking cheese curds, light public nudity, and their obsession with running and drinking.

How was the Cheddarhead conceived?
Hashers as a group are very irreverent. It’s such a peculiar sport or lifestyle. You’ll only find a certain number of people who want to run through the woods, hollering, drinking, and getting bloody. Irreverence is a key aspect of hashing, so we wanted to play on the New Year’s resolution. Everyone wants to be healthy in the New Year, so we went in the opposite direction. We eat as much high fat food as possible and drink as much beer as possible. I mean, how ridiculous is it to eat cheese curds and run? I love it.

What is a cheese curd? 
It’s made during a process that involves separating milk into whey and blobs of curd cheese. They’re little blocks of cholesterol. People who worked in the Wisconsin cheese factories used to bag these little blocks up and take them to their local pub and eat them as a snack. We have 50 or 60 pounds of them shipped down for the run. They come right off the line, so they’re really fresh. If they’re not fresh, they’re not good. Of course, we fry them in a deep fat fryer.

Has the Cheddarhead grown over the years? 
The Cheddarhead started with 40 or 50 people. It was a very manageable group. Now, we get about 200 people, and Johnsonville Brats came on as a sponsor this year. They heard about the run, liked the idea, and gave us a whole bunch of brats. It’s definitely a big deal now, with all the cooking, and the logistics. Last year, we had 176 runners even in the cold weather. That’s the power of cheese.

Lots of great Food, Refreshments & Door Prizes!  Simply pay $10 in cash to the AH4 "Hash Cash" registrar in the START parking lot and give him or her your name.  Our "hasher" hosts expect no advance guarantee of anyone's participation, but if you find that you can't join us please cancel your AOC registration, since we'll likely have a wait list of other AOCers who would like to be part of our "subgroup."