 |
DBH3 Hash #7532004-Feb-04 Hares: Semen Hole & Popa Tard |
 |
Start Location: OBs in DeLand
Middle Location: WalMart in DeLand
End Location: Sunshine Lanes Bowling Alley in DeLand
Song (inspired by this hash): Drinkers With A Running Problem
|
DBH3 Hash #7532004-Feb-04 Hares: Semen Hole & Popa Tard |
|
Start Location: OBs in DeLand
Middle Location: WalMart in DeLand
End Location: Sunshine Lanes Bowling Alley in DeLand
Song (inspired by this hash): Drinkers With A Running Problem
News-Journal 2004-Feb-05White powder found at the entrance and on the sidewalk in front of Wal-Mart Supercenter in DeLand prompted evacuation of the store shortly after 8 p.m. Wednesday. Police said the powder is corn starch and was used by a trail running group for a game called "hounds and hares." DeLand Police Lt. Rick Gaylord said members of the group were being questioned. News-Journal 2004-Feb-06Terror scare a runners' trailOffbeat cross-country club marks routes with powderBy JEANNINE GAGEM DELAND -- The Hash House Harriers -- a group that refers to itself as "a beer drinking club with a running problem" -- sometimes shows up at running events dressed as nuns, cowboys and bikers. They are used to people not understanding them. Wednesday, however, that misunderstanding went to a whole new level when one of their events was mistaken for possible terrorist activity. The DeLand Wal-Mart was evacuated about 8 p.m. after workers spotted a white powdery substance on the floors, in the parking lot and on nearby sidewalks, and at OB's, a bar across the street. The DeLand Police Department and Volusia County Fire Services, including its hazardous materials team, were on the scene for almost two hours before the substance was determined to be cornstarch. The store was reopened by 11 p.m. "Initially it was taken as a public health threat," DeLand Police Lt. Rick Gaylord said. The Daytona Beach Hash House Harriers club had used the cornstarch to mark a trail for their weekly run. The run is based on an old English game, Hares and Hounds, in which "hares" mark a trail with cornstarch or flour for the "hounds" to follow. The events usually start or end at a bar where the group celebrates together. But it was no celebration for emergency workers, and shoppers and store employees forced to leave the store. Volusia County Fire Services Capt. Nick Castelli, second in command of the hazardous materials team, said he had never heard of the Harriers before Wednesday night, nor had the department received any kind of notice about them. "They cost us a lot of time and resources," Castelli said. Castelli and Gaylord estimated the cost for manpower alone to each department would be close to $500. Wal-Mart also lost business as police officers posted at the entrances turned shoppers away. Castelli suggested the club use another method to mark their trails. "They should just not be using any kind of white, powdery substance," Castelli said. "At all." Mark Acton, a past grandmaster of the Daytona Beach Hash House Harriers club, said the group did not mean to cause trouble and would change its marking method to "either colored powder or toilet paper" for future runs. The biggest yearly event for the club, one of about 1,600 groups nationwide, is during Bike Week. More than 200 runners are expected to participate this year. Acton said he will also urge club members to alert local police before holding a run. Wal-Mart spokeswoman Sharon Weber said the store is reviewing its options and will consider filing charges. In 2002, five blocks in Chicago were closed off and the Lincoln Park Zoo evacuated for an afternoon after a running club marked a trail with flour in that area. A similar incident in Wichita, Kansas, in 1999 shut down the whole downtown area one morning. No charges were brought in those cases. |
OK, the Daytona hash was interesting tonight. here are a few things I learned.
I suggested to them the possibility flour was indeed purchased there by someone that was technically then a patron. No harm there. (Walmart was pissed) I did not run through the store but was told that there was 1) flour in the store and 2) a terrorist note left there. Told them I was new in town (true) and knew this was "hare and hounds". Don't know who these people are but do know what they are doing. Check your crisis response SOP for the official federal notices regarding this activity. Step one guys is to check the local Harrier group schedule to see if a run was scheduled in the vicinity. This is done BEFORE evacuation guys! They totally freaked out when I reached down and tasted the toxin and declared it flour. Yep, probably bought right there in the store. Sacks of it are in there. I won't say who but one policeman bust a gut laughing when they ultimately realized the reality. They loved it but can't openly admit it. Walmart really changed their tune when asked which one of their employees told the police a terrorist note was left there. All's well that end's well.
A suggestion: We should contact the local authorities and remind them of our activity and the calendar. The Atlanta H3 groups do a regular job of this. DC especially does this. The authorities let me do the death march through OIA! Remember the first anthrax scare was in 1997 by H3 in Phoenix AZ. This predated 911! HazMat teams know this (or are supposed to).
Due to this unfortunate event, I was forced to hold up in a Deland Bowling Alley and consume overdone wings and cold beer till the heat blew over.
Once the coast was clear, a break for my get-a-way car was attempted but, foiled by my fellow accomplices who way-layed me into another hidey-hole to consume more cold beer.
The DB hashers have gotten way out-of-control and I only hope the powers that be can lasso them in, before they are labeled the 'Dregs of Society'.
I'll think long and hard before I mix my mud and beer with this 'Unlawful Gang of Thugs' again, I can tell you that!
Subject: On-On from the terrorist capital of the world
The Baghdad Hash House Harriers from Baghdad Iraq took interest in your news story.
You guys really give us some inspiration! We have no cops here! Come join us... but bring your helmets, every now and again, the explosions on trail make for an interesting time!
Good Will Cunting
Subject: Re: On-On from the terrorist capital of the world
Good Will Cunting
It's not uncommon for us to get two or three cop cars on trail, when we run in neighborhoods around here, but this was a new high! How did you happen upon the story? Did it go national, or international, I guess. I heard rumors it was to be on CNN, but haven't gotten a confirmation.
Gilligan
Subject: Re: On-On from the terrorist capital of the world
Gilligan,
One of our Hashemites seems to draw a fairly substantial salary to read the news. Suffice it to say, we are kept abreast Hash happenings. He forwards interesting news to the rest of us... then we laugh about it at the Hash. With rockets, mortars and bullets punctuating our peaceful existence here, sometimes our sense of humor alone keeps us sane.
Not sure where the article originated, but I received the link to your site. It was interesting! I guess we're jealous, because the Iraqi Police force is still learning...
On-on,
gw
By Alicia A. Caldwell | Sentinel Staff Writer
It was shortly before 8 p.m. when a man dressed in dark clothes darted into the DeLand Wal-Mart, dumping piles of white powder on the ground.
Nervous employees called 911, despite an assurance from the stranger: "It's flour. We're playing a game."
A hazmat crew from Volusia County rushed to the scene.
About two hours later, investigators concluded that the powder was harmless cornstarch.
Call it another case of "Hashthrax."
The Hash House Harriers are a group of self-described "runners with a drinking problem" who combine beer, exercise and wacky antics. Since the group's inception in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in about 1938, hashers across the globe have played a form of the English game hare and hounds.
But since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and anthrax mail attacks, the group also has been inadvertently sending people into terrorism tizzies by "laying trail" in public areas.
That's just what they were doing Feb. 4 in the DeLand Wal-Mart.
Longtime Volusia hasher Rick "Gilligan" Uschold said nearly 200 members of the group are expected to storm Main Street in Daytona Beach today as part of the traditional Bike Week Hash. They'll play along a three- to five-mile run with stops at a number of local bars, Uschold said. Local police are expecting them.
To play the game properly, hashers say, a "live hare" starts running, leaving in his or her wake a trail of flour. The goal of the oddball game is to get a little exercise and make it to a bar.
Walter Nettles, a spokesman for the Volusia County Fire Services, said emergency personnel will always treat a call about a suspicious powder as something potentially deadly until they are proved wrong.
"If it were to happen again tomorrow, we would respond the same way," Nettles said.
Nettles said false calls like that may not cost a lot of money -- the Wal-Mart call cost less than $300 in overtime pay -- but they have the potential to distract and tax the department's resources.
Uschold, 50, said the incident was a mistake. "Stickers probably would have been better."
Larry "Stray Dog" McDowell, editor of the world newsletter for Hash House Harriers, Global Trash, said hashers should always tell authorities about their runs and ask permission before laying trails of flour in public buildings.
But the public needs to lighten a up a bit, too, McDowell said. "At some point we need to go back to business as usual," he said.
For now, the Volusia-area hashers will switch to using sidewalk chalk and toilet paper to mark their trails.
McDowell thinks that changing the hashers' game is not the way to go.
"We've been laying these trails since 1938," McDowell said. "At some point or another, the terrorists win because we have to change our sport because of them."
Alicia A. Caldwell can be reached at acaldwell@orlandosentinel.com or 386-851-7924.Copyright © 2004, Orlando Sentinel
Hare: Short Shorts, Sh*t Dickler
Hounds: Bone My Ass, Burning Bush, Cum Dumpster, Dirve, Flash, Gilligan, Glory Hole, Jake Off, Jethro Blowdine, Just Christian (Son of Just Maurine), Just Dawn (Merenda Realy Co-worker), No Blow, Nunya F*ckin Business, Popa Tard, Peterphile, Richard Pierce, Semen Hole, Skinamax, Sunk'n Sh*t, Teddy Foreskin, Udderly Delicious, Waayyy Beyond Gay, Wee Wee, Virgin Cleo (A Teacher with Popa Tard), and Glory Hole's virgins: Joe, Denise, and Pete.
 Half the pack hiding at the end, too many cops at the start. |
 The other half waiting for the cops to un-tape the parking lot at the start. |
The pack arrived at OBs, drank some beer, and listened to a chalk talk. At the last minute, I Wear Short Shorts showed up (He had been sleeping or something). Shorty took off across the street, towards WalMart. The trail, though ill-advised, was a fun jaunt that took the hounds to a check at the front door of WalMart. It then, though really ill-advised, went into the store. I didn't enter the store, but I was told that customers and employees alike thought the hounds, runners who were following flour and reading little notes, were quite humorous. The trail in the store went past little notes that showed the hounds where potential hash materials could be purchased such as auto supplies for the auto-hashers, lingerie for the Foofy's and No Blow's of the world, and more. The trail then went out the door, through the woods, and to a beer stop. From the beer stop, trail continued on towards the bowling alley.
For the people who did not do trail (No Blow, Waayyy, Jethro, and Dirve), a wonderful demonstration of flight followed. From the bowling alley, the four auto-hashers watched in amazement as helicopters buzzed the area. "What the heck is going on?" we wondered. A few minutes later, the leaders of the pack arrived at the alley. Since they were far ahead of the rest of the pack, a few of them decided to go back to OBs and get their cars. When the people turned off of ISB onto 17, they were greeted by about 15 cop cars, all with their blue lights flashing. When they asked what was going on, the cops explained that WalMart had been evacuated and the hazmat unit was checking the white and powdery substance that was blamed for the evacuation. "Holy Crap!" exclaimed Bone My Ass.
When everyone got to the alley, we were asked to leave. "Loitering is not allowed here!" yelled the owner. Waayyy and Dickler, who were about the age of the owner explained what was going on. They convinced the man that the hash was a place that gives older men hope. Since the man didn't want Dickler and/or Waayyy's chance to hook up to get ruined, he let us stay. In circle, we named Burning Bush ... Burning Bush. We tried to name Christian, but he is quite boring. Perhaps we'll try again someday. Not if he is like his mother, because his mother has not returned since we tried to name her.
After circle, some of us tried to return to OBs to get our cars. However, by the time we got to OBs, the cops had also roped off and evacuated the OB parking lot. It seems the top criminal minds of DeLand had followed the potential terrorists from WalMart to OBs. The foreign symbols just fueled the thoughts of the cops, "Them there terrorists is wily, Bubba!"
I heard that Jake Off actually tried to tell the cops what was going on. I heard he tasted the flour in front of them and they freaked out. Is this true ... only Jake Off knows.
We heard one cop tell another that the culprit was on video. He was wearing a black shirt and blue jeans. Hearing this, one guy lent Short Shorts a hat (Silly Seminole in a Gator hat - too funny), and somebody else loaned him a white shirt.
After No Blow, one of the few people who remained and didn't have his car roped in, returned to the bowling alley, he met a detective, explain hashing to him, wrote an affidavit (Popa Tard did, too), and prayed that he and Shorts would not get indicted.
After the night was over, I sat back and thought about all the things that I learned ...
-No Blow
Last modified: Saturday, 2009-May-02 08:44:27 PM CDT
