The Crusade

Since July 21, 2007, it seems I have been on a crusade, as a rule I don’t take up causes and pretty much believe live and let live, however………………………………………

At the beginning of 2007 a group of gals in the scrapbooking kit club I belong to, ScrapGoods, began talking about meeting in real life, perhaps going to a retreat. After much discussion, it was decided that we would all gather in Indiana at the Olde Geneva Dairy located in Flat Rock. There were 16 of us.

"The Olde Geneva Dairy - Scrapbooking Weekend Retreat and Shoppe has been open for business and taking reservations on a daily basis for weekend retreats and scrapbook getaways for over two years. Please call 1-765-525-9464 or email us if you have any questions or need any additional information about our scrapbooking getaway that is not available on this website. We look forward to hearing from you. If you are interested in our "guest hostess" program or wish to attend our retreat a little more often than your funds may allow, click here. "We don't want to make money... we just love to scrapbook!"

We picked a date, the weekend of July 26 thru July 29, 2007. We paid our deposits of $75.00 each. For those of us that were not close enough to drive airline reservations were made and to get the good deals on the airfare, took non-refundable tickets.

We spent months planning and taunting the other members of our club about all the fun things we were going to be doing. We were the SG Scrappin Divas!

In April we heard rumors that there were some zoning issues with the Olde Geneva Diary, but we were assured by the proprietor, Mr. Anson Craig Bridgers, that all was in order and there were no worries. At that time posted on the website was "NOTE: Phase II of our remodeling project is now complete and every bedroom and suite has a private bathroom!"

Then on one hot Saturday afternoon, July 21, 2007, a member of our group, who was local, decided to take a road trip. This gal and her hubby jumped into the truck, programmed the GPS, popped in the Harry Potter book #7 CDs, pack their baby girls (puppies) up and off they went, it's perhaps a 40 minute drive.

When they arrived at the place the GPS identified as the location, 2801 E. Vandalia Road, all they saw was a barn like structure that had been red tagged by the county, no cars, no indication of happy scrapbookers, you see the calendar on the Olde Geneva Dairy website indicated that the retreat was booked that very weekend.

(photo provide by Nicole)

Alarm bells stared going off, hubby is saying "didn’t you all research this first", the sinking feeling in her stomach was getting worse with each passing moment. They drive up and down the road, stopping people to inquire if they know anything about the Olde Geneva Diary, the replies they receive are “that place has been shut down”. They finally come across a neighbor who tells them that he had heard the “retreat” had been relocated to the Lee’s Inn in Greensburg. At this point the she picks up her cell phone and calls Mr. Bridgers and inquires where the retreat is located, he is rude and argumentative and informs her that IF she has a reservation she will be receiving an email on the following day with instructions.

Once home she emails the “leader” of the group, shares her findings, who in turns calls Mr. Bridgers who will not talk to her either or inform her of any potentional problems. The group is informed and things begin to fall apart, the group decides they will cancel their reservations and so they do.