So it seems appropriate to tell the story of last night's first gathering.
Feel free to add, correct, or comment on bits of the story as you see fit....

Our Fearless Leaders reported considerable difficulties in launching; so I was the first one at the beach at around 7PM. I pulled in--and the parking lots were F-U-L-L. So were the fire rings. Oh--and it was extremely windy down there, the worst I've seen it thus far. And of course, Tribe was down, so Adam couldn't even cancel the event.

After communications with F.L. (that would be Adam) it was decided that I was delegated to scrounge around and beg for space at someone else's ring. Now, I had stuffed an entire Christmas tree into the back of my car, just for fun. So I figured I had a bargaining chip. I passed by several rings, describing my firewood as well as the particular charms of our gang. Who could resist a free fire spinning show? I thought.

"No thanks."
"No, we'll pass."
Shot down again and again. I'm not a good salesperson, especially when I feel like I'm invading others' boundaries (or asking to do so).
Then the last people I asked came running to find me and they said, "We're sorry. You could stay with us after all."
Hurrah!!
It wasn't sober; they were enjoying their beer quite a bit. But at least we were on!

It was a group of about ten young-ish folks who were speaking both in Spanish and English. Luckily, this posed no language barrier for me. I told them about the fire spinners. I noted that they had a generator--!! which was wonderful since ours had apparently fried itself. They were enthusiastic about the DJ, the fire spinning and the extra firewood, since they apparently didn't have enough. I entertained them with my hula hoops for a while.

Finally, backup arrived. Our little party zone began to take shape.
And you know what?
This turned into a rockin' party!!
We even had folks wandering over from another nearby ring. I taught three women how to hoop. It definitely had the feel of they'll be drifting over into our community real soon. (They looked wistful when I mentioned Burning Man, too.) There was a big dance zone in front of the DJ area. The fire spinners were excellent as usual even despite the high winds. Fortunately, the ring we were sharing was right next to a lifeguard tower, which afforded some wind shelter.

The Christmas tree burned brightly, sending out showers of sparks. Lulie showed up with her darling little girl, Bella (aptly named; it means Beautiful, at least in Spanish). Bella wasn't afraid to hula hoop even despite the cold, until she smacked herself on the lip with the hoop, after which sad pouty face indicated it was bed time. Sooooo cute!

Suggestions for next time:
* We need to designate a reliable crew to go down to the beach early and hold the fire ring! As summer approaches this task will become more desirable. Heck, maybe we could just start the party earlier, kind of a dinner-barbeque gathering before the fire show.
* Everyone who is intending to show up, should provide us with their phone number. That way if we get hung up in any way, for example have to cancel or else move the event to anoher fire ring than what was posted--we can call and let you know.
* If anyone has a wind/shade shelter we might consider bringing that.
* As an addtion (not instead of the beach burns) we should consider doing a sober house party with DJ. I volunteer my house. Good points: Huge yard, great party house. Bad points: it's in Long Beach (for some reason people think that's too far, but they'll go to the Valley or downtown). Also the fire spinning would have to occur in the street in front since I hae mulch, dried wood chips as ground cover.

Anything else, guys?
I will be posting the photos I took sometime today or this evening. So stay tuned.