Happy Birthday Barrow-Downs!

[Mithadan]

On May 1, 2000, the first version of the Barrow-Downs Forum was created. The website itself is a little bit older, but I think that all would agree that the Forum is what drives this place. So, for 14 years we have been discussing Tolkien and his books, and making friends that share our interests, on this site. The Barrow-Downs has become more sedate over the past few years. Yet many here still recall when there were dozens or even hundreds of new posts, and new members, every day. I have not posted much recently, but I still love this place and sincerely miss many of the members that have departed or retired.

So, to celebrate the last 14 years, I thought it would be appropriate to post a couple of links to prior birthday celebrations that were conducted here. These threads celebrate the enthusiasm and creativity of our members and stand as a memorial to those who no longer post on the Forum and are missed. The thread reside in Elvenhome in the RPG Forums and are closed to posting.

In 2002, we conducted a free form party to celebrate the second birthday of the Downs. The chaos that ensued was legendary and the party lasted for a very long time until it was morphed into and RPG that itself lasted over a year. The thread for the 2002 party is http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=5697.

In 2003 we held another birthday party. This one was carefully organized and themed. It was called the First (last and only) Downie Awards and consisted first of a red carpet so that our members could arrive and anounce themselves, and later the Awards show itself. So many people attemppted to post in the first hours of the party that the number of attempted posts exceeded the site's capacity and many early posts were in fact lost. We actually had to close the thread briefly so that the Forum did not crash. The red carpet section of the party is http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=5672 and the Awards Show is http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=5677.

So let's celebrate the 14th birthday of the Downs (with some dignity and restraint) and thank Barrow Wight for creating this place. And lets also celebrate our members, current and sadly departed.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BARROW-DOWNS!