The planning that went into this event reflected the collective efforts of the MASH committee, which is being gutted this fall as many of the active members and hares are departing Seoul for other adventures. The commemorative T-shirts designed by La Bomba, MASH's haberdasher were very well-received and much sought after -- especially when more people than we expected showed up for the milestone hash! The venue was absolutely classic thanks to MASH Grand Master Philippides who is one of the founding MASH committee members and was MASH's 1st hare. Daddy Long Legs got everyone warmed up with a "World Cup" variation of Father Abraham and Coyote photographed the group before everyone set out. The hash itself was unforgettable in both the variety of terrain it covered and the length of time involved! The runners really enjoyed the novelty of the subway ride and knew a long run was in store when we went to Hongjae on Line #3 to run back!! The walkers also enjoyed their outing! The on-after was a madhouse as usual!! Most people enjoyed the pool and many brought food to share so everyone had a feast!

     The MASH 50th on-after started off with the traditional questioning of what the pack had thought of the routes. The obvious satisfaction for both groups was evident by all the tired but happy smiles that accompanied the cheers given to the hares for their efforts! Large Member, Dances with Dogs, and Philippides were given much-appreciated recognition down-downs for haring this milestone hash and then all previous hares were brought forward for collective recognition to all hares for making MASH possible! To graphically illustrate the real need for more active involvement of others, we showed how MASH's pool of hares was going to be dramatically reduced in the next few months and encouraged others to step forward and become more involved. Hashing is not really hashing without hares and a hasher is not really a hasher unless he or she occasionally hares(this means organizing or co-organizing!)a hash! A healthy hash has a good pool of rotating hares. Haring involves exploring new routes, making maps, planning the event, with the biggest cost to the hare being TIME!! We let everyone know that the MASH committee is quite willing to help others develop any ideas they may have for organizing a future MASH hash into a fun event that we can all enjoy! We sincerely hope that more people will become more active members in making MASH a viable hash! Enough said.

     Only a few crimes were punished due to the length of the MASH 50 on-after program so we only brought up Gladiolust, one of the usual suspects, Paul Penczner, and Taint Tickler. Gladiolust for being Gladiolust, Paul for only being there so his sons could swim in the pool, and Taint for sitting on a check despite his obvious hashing experience. MASH virgins Danish Pastry, Golden Frog, Jingle Balls, and Jim Thomson were welcomed with a song and down-down. We failed to catch Meredith Allee before she took off but hope to see her again in the future. Some MASH hashing awards were presented: the 30 MASH Hashes patch to Dances with Dogs, and the 10 MASH Hashes patch to Hammeraction and Mr. D while we also recognized Bunny as "the all-time best MASH arsonist" and Tiny for celebrating his 46th birthday with MASH!!

     MASH 50 gave us a great opportunity to do some fun hash namings as well! The Mangelrod family--who joined MASH for the their first hash in September when we first hashed from the British Embassy pool--were named in masse! With a few drenching waves of the MASH naming wand, Peter became "Thorasic Park", Anne became "Royal Norse", Jorgen became "George", and the tempetuous Jakob became "Typhoon" !! At the same time, Royal Norse was given her 10 MASH hashes patch! Then it was time to bring up a pair of sisters, the Nortun girls for their 10 MASH hashes patches and fitting names! Katya was hash named "Semperfecta" and younger sister Tamara received the MASH moniker of "MiniMiss" !! Rounding out the naming bonanza was Dag Torvald who was given the hash handle of "Daily Male" !!

     Namings were followed by a fun hash quiz administered by the GM as MASH continues its efforts to determine whether walkers are indeed more intelligent than runners or vice versa! More quizzes are needed before we can make a final conclusion! Sadly, MASH had to farewell a few departing MASHers since Coyote, Roadrunner, Fuzzy Navel, MiJane, Mr.D, and WhoShe were all leaving Seoul. Later we learned that Shoebare was also leaving. MASH wishes them all happy trails whereever they go! After stumbling through the first verse of Swing Lo, the MASH committee and three "very involved" wives did a last down-down to toast the pack and close MASH 50 by encouraging others to step forward to keep MASH vital! With a song and the last down-down, the MASH committee splashed en masse into the pool! It was great fun for all and we hope to have many more fun, family-oriented MASH hashes in the future!