UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN, MY FRIEND! REMEMBERING AARON KOELMAN…

Posted on by caddy1071 in Aaron Koelman, Hero, Memorial, Smite Cancer

We have lost a great warrior from our clan on Thanksgiving, November 24th, 2023. The mighty Aaron Koelman has passed from our world after an incredible and unrelenting battle with pancreatic cancer. His physical form has passed, but his spirit, kindness and legacy will always live on in our hearts. Aaron took on his battle with faith, courage and uncommon wisdom, always planning ahead for what we hoped would not pass, but fighting always for his continued life with the family he dearly loved. Thank you, Aaron, for all the gifts you gave us in this world.

I first met Aaron at Gary Con, when I was running Call of Cthulhu regularly, way back when (when I had more time to give it the proper love!), in my version of Blackwater Creek. Aaron looked the imposing hero legend: a shocking mane of long red hair and a matching mighty beard, a bulk of massive muscle, kilted and ready for battle! That image had never changed for me, mentally, whatever challenges had set upon him. I was honored to have had Aaron play with me in a Call of Cthulhu online recording (sadly, yet to be released because of technical issues I need to nail down), be a part of our award-winning XCrawl Classics tournament team, The Punxsutawney Painiacs, and he has been a stalwart supporter of The Jerry Stefek Memorial Crawl for the Cure! I was proud to hear from Aaron that he loved playing the Crawl and he was inspired by its success! Aaron always wanted to help others and we are honored to have helped enable that.

Aaron played at the Crawl for the Cure: Gamehole Con, Take Back Tegel Manor! this year. He played the entire day supporting the event, even though you could tell he was tired and could use some rest. I was able to sit a few minutes during the run, put a hand on his back, and thank him for being there, and I treasure that. This is who Aaron was: he took on hard challenges for the greater good, he was a true hero in our lifetime with all the class and courage we all strive to possess.

I did not want to put Aaron on the spot with everything going on, but I think in his memory, it is imperative that everybody truly understand the person that Aaron was. For The Jerry Stefek Memorial Crawl for the Cure: Gamehole Con 2023, Take Back Tegel Manor!, we had an angel donor providing us $2,000 to the American Cancer Society for the Good of those suffering from cancer. I don’t think it is much of a surprise that it was Aaron, giving back in solidarity with the community he loved to help those suffering from what he courageously endured. I pray that his spirit and will are also an inspiration for others who are afflicted: you can get passed this. Aaron fought and fought – this was a long ordeal which he made the most of and won more years with his family because of his conviction and positive thoughts; I know that others can emulate this true hero and other battles will be won. God Bless you, Aaron Koelman. Thank you for everything you have done for our community and in our lives to make this world a better place. Until we meet again… Love ya, Brother.

Cory

LONG OVERDUE THANK YOUS WHICH MUST BE GIVEN!

Posted on by caddy1071 in 2023, ACS, American Cancer Society, Crawl for the Cure, Gamehole Con, Hero, Judges, Team, Thank You, Volunteers

Hello all! I did want to make sure I gave some explicit thank yous to the people who make this event happen – as things have been getting bigger, it’s been vastly more challenging, and these folks have made sure you have a fun event that raises money for good! THANK YOU for making these events possible – I am eternally in your debt!

THANK YOU:

  • Matt Robertson (A.K.A. Grape Ape or the Master of R.A.W.!) – A special thanks to Matt for jumping in remotely a throwing tons of creative ideas into the mix to make it a better event! We couldn’t use them all, but he definitely made things cooler and inspired ideas for future events! Thank you, Matt, for all the awesome contributions from afar for this and past events! You are awesome!
  • Sean Murphy – Sean and Edwin are the RPG charity superpowers in my eyes. Thanks for always being there to provide great examples and ideas for us to learn and create from! You rock!
  • Jim Meyers – Jim was there in the morning and late in the evening setting up and breaking everything down, making up because we were up all night preparing and not on time. (SOMEDAY I’ll fix this. 🙁 ) THANK YOU, JIM! Your incredible work ethic to push past the tired and whirl circles around me in a zombified state and keep things on schedule was astounding! (And then run many hours throughout the day AND build out his personal Gong of Doom the weekend before for an awesome addition of fun and setting… You sir, are amazing!)
  • Keith Nelson – Another who was there for set up, take down and ran the majority of the day so we could collect the awesome money we did for the American Cancer Society! Additionally, wandered the parking lot with me late in the evening after the event when I was so tired I hopelessly forgot where my car was. Thank you, Brother, for taking care of an exhausted Judge and taking the time to chat about the old school with me for a bit in wind-down – WAY awesome ending to an excellent event.
  • Chris Zank – Chris was the face of the event to many who walked up with his cheerful expertise! He knew our sponsors’ products cold and spread enthusiasm throughout the event wowing our ops staff all the way through – THANK YOU!
  • Gary Cunningham – Gary has been dedicating hours running for the Crawl for the Cure for many years now, however confusing I make the additional rules for the event! THANK YOU for all your help in running an awesome game for our supporters!
  • Bill Walters – Bill is incredibly generous in his support for the Crawl! He helps throughout the days, contributes awesome and very valuable prizes (just check the prize list – scheezooey 😉 ), provided additional awesome Frog God Games silk screens of Tegel Manor for the event, and even orchestrated the “donation bells” acquisition so you got your raffle tickets in good order! You are awesome, Bill! THANK YOU!
  • Peter Garancis and daughter Kylee – (not on the crew, just awesome player volunteers!!!) SPECIAL thanks to Peter and Kylee!! They were stalwart players and were there setting up for us – talk about excited players! Pete also donated the Funky Dice Trays from his company, Dark Nebula Games. THANK YOU, Pete and Kylee for your efforts and donations to the campaign!
  • Alex Kammer, Josh Hoyt and Gamehole Con – Thank you for always supporting my crazy events and making them possible! Your trust and support are so appreciated and honored!
  • Our sponsors – Just amazed – this community rocks. Please support them.
  • Edwin Nagy – Edwin is a mentor to me in all of this and I always, probably annoyingly, ask him for advice and ideas on these events. Additionally, he lent the awesome Frog God Games toys (battlemat-scale size map of Tegel Manor!) to make this spectacle possible! It was awesome! THANK YOU, Edwin!
  • Steve Seminerio and Hazel Welch – The people who without there would not be a Jerry Stefek Memorial Crawl for the Cure! While I come up with the gaming ideas, Steve and Hazel do all the real work of how we work the raffles and donations in the background, set up the OBS for the event, etc! As well as putting up with Stress Cory and the massive amount of work preparing and winding down the event. Thanks and love for everything you do to make these insane events possible! It would be impossible to do without your grit and support!

The Jerry Stefek Crawl for the Cure often gets labeled as “Cory’s project” – I hope it’s very clear that there is an army of support behind this event to bring you incredible gaming experiences that provide Good for others! THANK YOU, ALL, for your support of the Crawl for the Cure and the Good and hope we help provide for others in need! I am so happy we can share these successes together!

Thank you!
Cory Welch and Staff
The Jerry Stefek Memorial Crawl for the Cure

THE FUNDS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED BY THE AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY!

Posted on by caddy1071 in 2023, ACS, American Cancer Society, Crawl for the Cure, donations, Gamehole Con, impact, Results, Smite Cancer, Thank You

Hello all! Sorry to have been late on an update with this! The check was actually sent last Monday via Certified Mail and arrived on Thursday the 9th of November! Your efforts have given the American Cancer Society $5,000 more capital to use for research, education and aid for those stricken with cancer and their loved ones; THANK YOU for your incredible support in making things better for those in need! Your Mighty Deeds have triumphed!

Most prizes should have been supplied, but there are a few we are still working on with e-mail tag. If you are having any issues with prizes, please let us know. We will be first to admit that with the overwhelming support we were given for the event, our minds were reeling trying to get everybody their due. Please write jerryscrawlforthecure@gmail.com if you think there have been any issues with your raffle rewards.

THANK YOU, to all of our incredible sponsors for their EXTREME generosity in giving our donors really awesome items for their charitable donations! I will be the broken record – this community is amazing with a huge heart and determination to help those in need! Please visit our sponsors for your gaming and gift-giving needs!

Thank you very much to Alex Kammer and Josh Hoyt of Gamehole Con for always being supportive of the wild ride we have preparing for the Crawl for the Cure events! We appreciate their willingness to help our little crew try to do great things for the community! Thanks for giving our efforts and dreams a home!

Don’t forget, The Jerry Stefek Memorial Crawl for the Cure: Ethermeet 2023 is just around the corner! We’ll be hosting it on Twitch channel DCC Mayhem on Saturday December 9th, 2023 from 7 AM CST until 3 AM CST Sunday to give our West Coast supporters some more fun time! Stay tuned – we’ll get this launched soon!

Have a great Thanksgiving Holiday, and we hope to see you at ETHERMEET!

Sincerely,
Cory Welch and Staff
The Jerry Stefek Memorial Crawl for the Cure

TAKE BACK TEGEL MANOR! HAS PASSED, THE VILLAGERS HAVE RISEN TO PUSH BACK THE TIDE OF EVIL, AND THE MANOR HAS BEEN RUMP FAMILY MENACE HAS BEEN QUELLED…FOR NOW!

Posted on by caddy1071 in 2023, ACS, American Cancer Society, Crawl for the Cure, donations, Gamehole Con, impact, Memorial, Results, Steve Strecker, Tegel Manor, Thank You

On Saturday, October 21st, 2023 at Gamehole Con X in Madison, WI, players came out in force to combat the plague of Rump family which imposed their evil machinations upon them at the Take Back Tegel Manor! event! Our 18 seats were filled most of the day (and sometimes with a line!) with players with a sense of adventure and giving, as we raised an amazing $5,000 in donations for the American Cancer Society! Our total impact from these events over the past 4 years is over $16,000!

A special thanks to everybody who made this possible: Our incredible sponsors (The Holidays are coming, everybody – please consider them!), our incredible Judge and support staff, and ALL the players and their generous donations pushing their Mighty Deeds to this level of Good for those in need! We are staggered by this success, and we will do our best to continue providing top-notch, fun and extraordinary events! Thank you!

The game was played as a full-octane, high-level haunted house with 0-level funnel characters… With a twist! Characters in the twilight, necrotic pocket dimension summoned by the Rumps for their evil plans could contact the souls of formerly defeated enemies, allowing them to come back as avatars of higher levels to fight the terrible family! However, the peons would have to discover these spirits by searching the Manor in their fragile, peasant forms, with much adventure and drama to be had! A wonderful time donating for survival and story led us to an incredible amount that we raised for the ACS!

WITNESS the Treasure Room and the Mighty Monster Donation by a single donor, which is worthy of the giant’s trophy, the Halbard of Broll from the Great Hall of Tegel Manor! The donor contributed $2,000 to the cause to help others! We are honored to accept this for others in need! Thank you!

We have received so many compliments about how much fun our players had, we cannot wait to get back next year with our next adventure! Our sponsors were so generous in their giving to our donating players, I cannot say enough: your donations will get you some pretty sweet loot as you play! Please mark a block to drop in – your deeds do not go unrewarded! Please take look at the INCREDIBLE prize line-up we gave to our players for this event! Thank you, sponsors, for your generosity!

Thank you, all, for your support and enthusiasm for The Jerry Stefek Memorial Crawl for the Cure events! We are honored to bring these to you in the memory of Jerry, and other friends and family members of the community who have gone on to their next adventure over the span of the years. A special farewell to Steve Strecker, good friend and gaming buddy of Michael Spredemann of 2 Old Guy Games. We lost Steve this year, and the pictured 2nd Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Ravenloft module, Neither Man Nor Beast was contributed from his collection to the event, to help those in need, in his memory. This community is incredible and we are proud to be able to enable your generosity for the aid of those less fortunate! Thank you, for all of your support!

Please look for us online the second weekend of December (the 9th), for Ethermeet 2023! We’ll have the same level of awesome gameplay you expect and we’ll get our sponsor list out in the near future so you know what to expect for your contributed treasure! It’s just around the corner and we look forward to seeing you there!

QUICK POST – UNBELIEVABLE SUCCESS AT THE JERRY STEFEK MEMORIAL CRAWL FOR THE CURE GAMEHOLE: TAKE BACK TEGEL MANOR!

Posted on by caddy1071 in ACS, American Cancer Society, Crawl for the Cure, Prize

Hello all! Just a quick note – we apologize for being a bit silent – we’re honestly pretty wiped out! We had an unbelievable showing with people playing constantly throughout the day to give a reckoning to the Rumps of Tegel Manor and raise an incredible amount of money for the American Cancer Society! We don’t have all the sources pulled together yet for totals, but we can let you know it is amazingly well over $4,000 – we are blown away from this incredible showing of support from players and vendors! THANK YOU, for helping us bring Good to those in need!

We will be going to the Atrium very soon to give out the physical prizes – we apologize for the delay.

Thank you, all!

Sincerely,

Cory Welch and Staff
The Jerry Stefek Memorial Crawl for the Cure

IN MEMORIAM: STEVE STRECKER

Posted on by caddy1071 in 2023, Crawl for the Cure, Gamehole Con, Memorial, Steve Strecker, Thank You

Michael Spredemann, half of the illustrious 2 Old Guy Games and faithful supporter of The Jerry Stefek Memorial Crawl for the Cure, would like to say a few words about his good friend Steve Strecker, who tragically passed away recently. Thank you, Steve, for being the type of person who would give such a fine item up for a raffle for the Good of those affected by cancer! Without further delay, Michael’s words – Thank you!:

Steve Strecker: Dungeon Master, Overcautious Thief, Cleric of Mohag, and Wielder of the Hammer of Minimal Damage

Steve worked for TSR as an accountant back in the day and he shared many stories of those times with his fellow players. A shrink-wrap copy of the Ravenloft adventure Neither Man Nor Beast was donated from his personal collection in his memory for The Jerry Stefek Memorial Crawl for the Cure at Gamehole 2023.

He is remembered by his players in college as having a great intelligence and humor about the game. With a sly smile, he presented new challenges and obstacles but often showed mercy as the table’s very benevolent deity not wanting to take them and their character completely out of the game.

After a many-year break, he rolled his dice again with D&D 5e becoming Arjen Callas the Half-Elven Rogue and Mohag the Dwarf Cleric in over several years of adventures. Sadly his group was unable to finish Curse of Strahd with him when COVID cut their game short. He would have relished cutting off Strahd’s head like he did with every monster all because of that one zombie that got back up.

Arjen Callas

AN AMAZING SHOW OF SUPPORT FROM OUR RPG COMMUNITY!

Posted on by caddy1071 in Uncategorized

WITNESS. This is your incredible community!  This is not even all the physical products from the amazing RPG community who are giving with love to reward you for your donations to the American Cancer Society, and this does not cover the massive amount of PDFs! (See the seemingly ever-expanding lists here!) There is a dizzying array of awesome from these unbelievable companies for your donations in The Jerry Stefek Memorial Crawl for the Cure Gamehole 2023: Take Back Tegel Manor on Saturday, October 21st, 2023! Please consider joining us and donating for your memorial token for The Jerry Stefek Memorial Crawl for the Cure and getting in on these amazing hourly raffles, and the two major open raffles – the magnificent Doug Kovacs original “Countess Rank Rumpula” event artwork, as well as the original shrink-wrapped 1995 Ravenloft Module Neither Man Nor Beast, donated by 2 Old Guy Games in the memory of their good friend Steve Strecker. Your $10 donation for the memorial token can always be used to play, or just participate in the raffles with a minimum $3 donation per hour. See the details here. 

Finally, keep your eyes open for envelopes containing free avatars set around the Con tomorrow!  These will give your 0-levels access to some tragically lost heroes, summoned back to this twilight world for a reckoning at Tegel Manor!  These envelopes will contain your memorial token for the event, the donation covered by our team – it will be in the totals!  Use this to have immediate access to higher powers vs. the Rump menace!

Join us on Saturday for an incredible time of adventure and brilliant, shining Good for the American Cancer Society!  We hope to see you there!

Please visit the Crawl for the Cure Gamehole Con site (https://crawlforthecure.net/wpcftc/?page_id=841) for more details and follow us on Twitter/X @crawlforthecure for more updates!

JOIN US AT GAMEHOLE CON X FOR A MEGA-DUNGEON MEGA-FUNNEL, TAKE BACK TEGEL MANOR!

Posted on by caddy1071 in Uncategorized

Gamehole Con X cometh and The Jerry Stefek Memorial Crawl for the Cure run of Take Back Tegel Manor!, the Dungeon Crawl Classics 0-Level Mega-Funnel run in Frog God Games’ 2019 5th Edition release of Tegel Manor is close! We have very exciting sponsor news for our donors – you’ll drool at the goodies from our fine sponsors!

On Saturday, October 21, 2023, Frog God Games is providing Jerry’s Crawl a 16 x 16-foot battle map-scale map of Tegel Manor for a Goodman Games Dungeon Crawl Classics Mega-Funnel of heroic proportions! The Rumps’ evil is seeping beyond the manor walls to Tegel Village; your villager plebians will rise to purge the malevolence of the Rumps before they claim you as their own undead servants! Through clever plans and magic collected throughout the Manor, your peasants take on the Rump threat!

Your $10 ticket purchase for the event gives you manor access and a memorial token (with incredible Doug Kovacs original artwork!) to present to play throughout the day! Multiple villager parties will work together and be sent on missions throughout Tegel Manor to crumble the foundations of the Rump legacy: collect magic items, garner supernatural support and patronage, gain ethereal blessings and defeat Rump kin upon your quest, donating to flip the odds in your favor! ALL funds collected from tickets and donations will benefit the American Cancer Society. Buy a ticket through the Gamehole Con site or contribute your $10 at the table and quest to help those afflicted! Our goal is to beat the $1,800 total collected last year to help cancer victims and those affected by their suffering through the ACS; we ask you to heed the call!

And, of course, you can expect our incredible sponsors to provide hourly raffle prizes and awesome end-of-event prizes for our players for their in-game donations! The renowned names you expect, as well as new sponsors, have added to the ranks: Goodman Games, Frog God Games, Troll Lord Games, Dandyline Games, Planet X Games, Get Haunted Industries, Wyrmwood Gaming and so many more are giving their high-quality products as raffle rewards and prizes for your generosity. Bad Mike of Frog God Games has pledged original Judges Guild products to players (while supplies last!) to give you a taste of the original creators! Traditional hourly raffles for donors will occur throughout the entire event, and special prizes will be given at the closing, including a Dungeon Crawl Classics Rulebook signed by a crazy number of Goodman Games authors, Twitch and table notables! Additionally, Doug Kovacs has pledged the original artwork created for the event for a raffle to benefit ACS! Players will all get one free raffle chance and we’ll sell tickets so everybody has a chance to take home this beautiful Doug Kovacs artwork – it is stunning!

Please visit the Crawl for the Cure Gamehole Con site for more details and follow us on Twitter/X @crawlforthecure for more updates!

We hope to see you there so we can once again smite this affliction and aid others in education and care if they are affected by cancer’s callous grip! Thank you for your support!

ALL YOUR TJSMCftC:EM MEMORIAL TOKENS ARE ON THE WAY!

Posted on by caddy1071 in Uncategorized

Hello Crawlers! I think many of you already know – The Jerry Stefek Memorial Crawl for the Cure Ethermeet Memorial Tokens were in the mail last week, as well as all the prizes we are sending from Crawl Central! If you have not received them yet, you will be receiving them soon!

Thank you so much for your support throughout all the Crawl for the Cure events!

The next stage is releasing the live play sessions from not only Ethermeet 2022, but also the “lost” sessions from Ethermeet 2021! I’ve already started editing up Ethermeet 2021, and I will try to get those to Twitch and YouTube as soon as I can manage for your enjoyment; these sessions are much too good not to post them for others to enjoy! “Watch this space!” We’ll keep you up-to-date on the session releases as time goes on!

Take care and wish you all an extraordinary 2023! Game on and never lose your thirst for adventure!

Thank you!
Cory Welch and Staff
The Jerry Stefek Memorial Crawl for the Cure

HAPPY NEW YEAR, CRAWLERS! MEMORIAL TOKENS AND PHYSICAL PRIZES ARE ON THEIR WAY!

Posted on by caddy1071 in Uncategorized

Greetings in 2023, Crawlers! I apologize for the lag in responses – with Gamehole and Ethermeet events so close to each other for the first time, I had quite a bit to catch up on at home and work! The Memorial Tokens for Ethermeet 2022 are in and they look GREAT with the wonderfully blazing artwork of Nate Marcel! We hope to have these all out to you by next week, latest, along with all the physical prizes which are due you from the event! Thank you so much for your support!

Additionally, on December 19th, I sent the direct cash donations we had from some generous pre-donors to the American Cancer Society directly, so they could take the full effect of the funds! We also threw in a true-up of the 5% Tiltify fees that brought our total up to the full $4,185.55 for the ACS to use for its noble cause! We thank everyone for making this aid possible with their time and treasure to make Ethermeet a success!

Thank you for your support of The Jerry Stefek Memorial Crawl for the Cure: Ethermeet 2022! We’ll be getting all the donors a personal thank you in token goodness and finish up our physical mailings of prizes in the near future. Happy New Year, and we wish you all the best in 2023! We are blessed by this amazing community!