mdwest
AH ambassador
Its that time of year again! For the 6th year in a row, my wife and I will be hosting the @Bos en Dal SAFARIS party in the Dallas area, on the night of January 9th (Saturday) during TTHA.
For those unfamiliar with the party, the first year was done in a hotel hospitality room during DSC 2022. We then brought into our home for the next 4 years and its grown to a pretty big event with roughly 60 people showing up the last few years (mostly AH members).
Every year has been a pretty big improvement over the year prior in my opinion with more and better door prizes being presented, mountains of food being available, and as the convention crowd has gotten to know each other a little more each year, the comradery and socializing seems to get closer and better every time we do this as well (its great seeing friends again that you haven’t had a chance to catch up with in a year, make new friends, etc that are like minded, share the same hobbies, and passions, etc)..
We also end up with several vendors that have booths at the show come by as well as industry reps that sell everything from ammo to firearms to suppressors to clothing to travel to knives and other gear.. so chances to meet these people one on one, ask questions, and build relationships there, away from the convention floor is really good too..
Threads from prior parties are below..
2026
https://www.africahunting.com/threads/free-booze-and-food-january-10th-2026.98015/
2025
https://www.africahunting.com/threads/free-booze-and-food-january-11th-2025.87084/
2024
https://www.africahunting.com/threads/free-booze-and-food-january-11th-2024.78498/
2023
https://www.africahunting.com/threads/free-booze-and-food-january-5th-2023.72294/
Anyway.. while I think most everyone that’s ever attended in the past would tell you it’s a great time.. (see threads, look at pics, read comments)… its time to up our game again and make it even better..
So we’re move the event from our home to the Marriott Convention Center Hotel in Allen, TX (Dallas Suburb.. the venue is slightly closer to the Kay Bailey Convention Center than our home, literally a hundred yards off the interstate and super easy to get to.. a straight shot from downtown)..
The hotel has a really nice event space on the first floor in the lobby that we have reserved that’s got plenty of room for the crowd to continue to grow and expand (our house is comfortable, but 60 people is pushing its limits lol.. and with TTHA growing, my guess is this year we’re likely looking at 70+ people attending, maybe more)..
theres also plenty of parking available (parking at my house has always been challenging).. AND.. if youre coming in from out of town, we have a HUGE benefit to offer… The hotel is offering a discounted rate to @Bos en Dal SAFARIS party attendees.. of $89.00 a night for your entire TTHA stay (I’ll get a link from them soon where you can book your room directly at that rate.. and will post it here as soon as I get it).. This hotel is normally a good bit north of $200 a night whenever there are events in town.. its very nice, when my wife negotiated this rate for party attendees I was blown away.. honestly I was just hoping they might give us a small discount..
We’ve already got a handful of door prizes trickling in.. I suspect we’ll have a pretty nice pile of give aways before the party begins..
As always there is NO CHARGE for admission.. We just want to be a catylyst for getting the AH community that is attending TTHA together and have a good time.. No one is going to give you a sales pitch on a hunt, etc (unless you want to talk to Gerrit about a hunt.. then he would certainly be happy to chat with you)... Parking is FREE whether you are staying at the hotel that night or just attending the party.. We’re providing all of the food and soft drinks at NO CHARGE as usual.. Door prizes are FREE (give aways).. and we’ve got a sponsor that is covering a drink ticket for everyone that attends (Free Booze). Im working on seeing if maybe we can land another sponsor that would cover at least one more drink ticket for everyone as well, after that its a cash bar…
Just like prior years, I would really appreciate anyone that plans on attending to please let me know.. post in this thread, or send me a PM, or shoot me a text.. We don’t need a perfect headcount.. but we do want to make sure we have enough tables and chairs spread around for whatever size crowd we’re going to have, want to make sure there is enough food for everyone, etc.. I don’t want to plan for 50 and then have 70 hungry and thirsty people arguing over the last shrimp cocktail
As we get closer to January, I’ll keep posting in this thread letting people know about door prizes, provide more specific directions, etc.. and will get the hotel discount link posted (we’re a little bit of a haul from downtown.. but I’d challenge anyone to find anything better than a crack house downtown for less than $200 a night.. $89 I think makes it worth considering.. especially if youre coming to the party anyway.. when youre done for the evening, its just a short walk to the elevators from the party room and youre ready for bed..
For those unfamiliar with the party, the first year was done in a hotel hospitality room during DSC 2022. We then brought into our home for the next 4 years and its grown to a pretty big event with roughly 60 people showing up the last few years (mostly AH members).
Every year has been a pretty big improvement over the year prior in my opinion with more and better door prizes being presented, mountains of food being available, and as the convention crowd has gotten to know each other a little more each year, the comradery and socializing seems to get closer and better every time we do this as well (its great seeing friends again that you haven’t had a chance to catch up with in a year, make new friends, etc that are like minded, share the same hobbies, and passions, etc)..
We also end up with several vendors that have booths at the show come by as well as industry reps that sell everything from ammo to firearms to suppressors to clothing to travel to knives and other gear.. so chances to meet these people one on one, ask questions, and build relationships there, away from the convention floor is really good too..
Threads from prior parties are below..
2026
https://www.africahunting.com/threads/free-booze-and-food-january-10th-2026.98015/
2025
https://www.africahunting.com/threads/free-booze-and-food-january-11th-2025.87084/
2024
https://www.africahunting.com/threads/free-booze-and-food-january-11th-2024.78498/
2023
https://www.africahunting.com/threads/free-booze-and-food-january-5th-2023.72294/
Anyway.. while I think most everyone that’s ever attended in the past would tell you it’s a great time.. (see threads, look at pics, read comments)… its time to up our game again and make it even better..
So we’re move the event from our home to the Marriott Convention Center Hotel in Allen, TX (Dallas Suburb.. the venue is slightly closer to the Kay Bailey Convention Center than our home, literally a hundred yards off the interstate and super easy to get to.. a straight shot from downtown)..
The hotel has a really nice event space on the first floor in the lobby that we have reserved that’s got plenty of room for the crowd to continue to grow and expand (our house is comfortable, but 60 people is pushing its limits lol.. and with TTHA growing, my guess is this year we’re likely looking at 70+ people attending, maybe more)..
theres also plenty of parking available (parking at my house has always been challenging).. AND.. if youre coming in from out of town, we have a HUGE benefit to offer… The hotel is offering a discounted rate to @Bos en Dal SAFARIS party attendees.. of $89.00 a night for your entire TTHA stay (I’ll get a link from them soon where you can book your room directly at that rate.. and will post it here as soon as I get it).. This hotel is normally a good bit north of $200 a night whenever there are events in town.. its very nice, when my wife negotiated this rate for party attendees I was blown away.. honestly I was just hoping they might give us a small discount..
We’ve already got a handful of door prizes trickling in.. I suspect we’ll have a pretty nice pile of give aways before the party begins..
As always there is NO CHARGE for admission.. We just want to be a catylyst for getting the AH community that is attending TTHA together and have a good time.. No one is going to give you a sales pitch on a hunt, etc (unless you want to talk to Gerrit about a hunt.. then he would certainly be happy to chat with you)... Parking is FREE whether you are staying at the hotel that night or just attending the party.. We’re providing all of the food and soft drinks at NO CHARGE as usual.. Door prizes are FREE (give aways).. and we’ve got a sponsor that is covering a drink ticket for everyone that attends (Free Booze). Im working on seeing if maybe we can land another sponsor that would cover at least one more drink ticket for everyone as well, after that its a cash bar…
Just like prior years, I would really appreciate anyone that plans on attending to please let me know.. post in this thread, or send me a PM, or shoot me a text.. We don’t need a perfect headcount.. but we do want to make sure we have enough tables and chairs spread around for whatever size crowd we’re going to have, want to make sure there is enough food for everyone, etc.. I don’t want to plan for 50 and then have 70 hungry and thirsty people arguing over the last shrimp cocktail
As we get closer to January, I’ll keep posting in this thread letting people know about door prizes, provide more specific directions, etc.. and will get the hotel discount link posted (we’re a little bit of a haul from downtown.. but I’d challenge anyone to find anything better than a crack house downtown for less than $200 a night.. $89 I think makes it worth considering.. especially if youre coming to the party anyway.. when youre done for the evening, its just a short walk to the elevators from the party room and youre ready for bed..
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