Return of the Cheddarhead! New Years Day Trail-of-the-Hare Hike & Party

IN A NUTSHELL:  This will be the 11th New Years Day in a row that a fun-loving group from the Atlanta Outdoor Club will take part in this amazing annual outdoor event.  Hope you can join me (Charlie, a.k.a. "Dirty Limerick") and more than 100 of our friends in the Hash House Harriers for the unforgettable "Cheddarhead."  It's a blast helping one another follow the "trail of the hare" which leads us to a big festive New Year's Day Party!  The Cheddarhead should fill the bill If you're looking for something different to ring in the new Decade and perhaps ease you out of a New Year's Eve hangover.  Be assured that we'll get enough aerobic outdoor exercise to compensate for the delicious things we consume during the event and to keep “resolution guilt” from kicking in!  Although last year our "AH4" Cheddarhead friends had announced that 2019 would likely be the last, thankfully our friends in the "Black Sheep H3" group and a couple of sister "kennels" have volunteered to host it for a change this year and keep the 30+ year tradition alive and kicking.  (See more below about the sport of "Hashing" and the Cheddarhead.)
  Although no funds are collected by the AOC, if you're interested in the event please register below to add your name to our AOC subgroup - then on New Years Day if you decide you'd still like to participate, please bring a donation of $5 in cash to chip in to the "Hash Cash" volunteer. This will cover your fair share of the food & refreshments, etc. (Our hosts do not expect anyone to guarantee their participation in advance, but if you find that you can't join us after all, please cancel your AOC registration so we'll know not to expect you.)
  After a brief welcoming ceremony at the Start, we "harriers" (a.k.a. "hare chasers" or "hashers") will help one another find and follow the trail of the veteran "hare."  Our front runners and walkers will yell "On-On!" back to the crowd as they spot the hare's successive baking-flour splotches and chalk marks, confirming that we're indeed on the tricky trail - typically about 5 or 6 miles long.  After a couple of hours via a fascinating variety of terrain we can all expect to arrive safely at the "On-In" party,  For a change this year the party will be at a popular BREWERY (TBA) in the Marietta vicinity, where each of us will pick up the tab for any beer, ale, etc. that we order.  (Another change this year will be the option of Mountain Biking the trail in lieu of jogging or walking.  Click the link below for the official Black Sheep H3 announcement article for the event.)

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 the wild & crazy outing it helps to be adventurous, thick-skinned, irreverent about social norms, and willing to delay any dietary resolutions for at least one more day.  While helping one another follow the trail of the hare we'll occasionally find ourselves in unusual situations such as tricky creek-crossings, dark tunnels under highways, etc.  Also we can count on the Cheddarhead to always be a GO rain or shine - another good reason to assign it a "D3" difficulty level (even though its total walking & jogging distance may be shorter than most 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 click here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hash_House_Harriers

EVENT TIMETABLE, WHAT TO BRING, etc:     Please plan to arrive at our "Start " location" in the Bowlero parking lot by 12:00 Noon.  (Directions & GPS info below.)  Please also look for me (Charlie, wearing my Atlanta Outdoor Club T-Shirt and "Dirty Limerick" beaded hash necklace).  I'll mark you present on our AOC subgroup roster,  introduce you to some of my longtime hashing friends, and help you register for the event and load your duffel onto their provided truck or van for transport to the party location.  (The custom is for each participant to bring a small Duffel Bag of dry Extra Garments & Shoes - See Recommended Items to bring below.)
  At about 12:30 PM our Hash House Harrier hosts will call our motley crew to "Hash attention!" for a welcoming ceremony and a few minutes later we'll set off together following the hare's trail.  We'll take a combination of fast walking and slow jogging 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 above 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.  A  truck full of complimentary beverages will meet us near the midpoint of the hare's route where we harriers can enjoy a tailgating-style refreshment break.  We can expect to arrive on foot at the big party at the BREWERY by about 2:30 PM and it likely will conclude no later than about 4:30 PM.

POST-PARTY FREE SHUTTLE: Beginning by about 4:30 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 for other partiers who may still need a ride (typically only a 5- or 10-minute drive betweem the Party and the Start).

OPTIONAL EARLY-EVENING BOWLING PARTY!  After the afternoon excitement many of the Hashers will re-gather at the Bowlero bowling center for a few friendly games and everyone is invited.  It's inexpensive if you decide to take part and likely will begin at about 5:00 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 many of his "partners in crime" are Green Bay Packers fans from Wisconsin. (See their comments about its history in the NOTES section below.)   There’s lots of friendly socializing plus commemorative door prizes, bawdy drinking songs, and obligatory “down-downs” of small cups of beer for the volunteer hares and rules violators - also sometimes for newcomers to the sport.  ("Down-downers" may request a non-alcoholic drink in lieu of beer.)  Please plan to imbibe only in moderation, esp. if you’re driving.

CLICK THIS LINK for the OFFICIAL 2020 CHEDDARHEAD ANNOUNCEMENT ARTICLE:  https://hashrego.com/events/bsh3-cheddarhead

WANT to TRY OTHER HASHING EVENTS?  The ten or so Metro Atlanta hash groups jointly offer several local "hashes" per week, year-round.  The Start location (and adjoining free parking area) for each one is normally posted online just a couple of days prior to the event.  If you decide to do a particular hash, just show up at the Start and chip in for your fair share of the refreshments & food that await everyone at the end of the trail.  Click here for a concise summary table of the various Georgia hash groups' websites:  http://www.OnIn.com/hhh/#georgia_hashes

"START LOCATION":  The free parking lot of the "Bowlero" bowling center at 2749 Delk Road, Marietta, GA 30067 (just 3/4 mile east of the I-75 Delk Rd exit).

DIRECTIONS from the I-75/ I-285 INTERCHANGE in NW ATLANTA:
1. Take I-75 North only about 2 miles and exit toward your right at the "Delk Road" exit. (Exit 261).
2.  Turn Right (eastward) onto Delk Road, go just 3/4 mile and look for the "Bowlero" bowling center and its large parking lot on your left.  Park in the front left corner of the lot closest to Delk Rd.
     We'll gather there with the dozens of returning regular Hash House Harriers, and other guests.
     It should be safe to leave our vehicles there until we return after the "On-In Party" via the free shuttle rides discussed above.

LAT/LON COORDINATES of our GATHERING SPOT in the Parking Lot: May also be useful as your entered destination for GPS or Google Maps in conjunction with above directions (being sure to include the comma and minus sign):
   33.9233, -84.4737

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 $5 as a cash donation to the Black Sheep H3's "Hash Cash" registrar in the "START" parking lot and give him or her your name.