My Fellow Members,
I would like to take a few minutes and give you a rundown of how the Carlisle meet went. Hopefully it will give those that did not attend a better look at the meet and decide to attend next year.
I would like to say that the attendance for this meet was better than we expected. The breakdown by club is as follows.
Chrysler 300M Enthusiasts Club - 20 Members + 13 Guests
Dodgeintrepid.net - 12 Members + 2 Guests
LHForums.net - 6 Members + 2 Guests
For a Total of 38 Cars and 55 People. I also got some information about the show from Carlisle Events Officials. They have reported that the gate attendance this year is a new record as well as the show field participation. Even with Chrysler pulling there support for this show, the mopar enthusiasts are as strong as ever.
As far as the food goes we once again consumed a lot of it but I do not have the totals yet. Kelly will psot them when she gets the list put together. However I would like to let everyone know the Chrysler 300M Enthusiasts Club contributed $350 and DodgeIntrepid.net contributed $150. This money was used to help keep the cost down for the members. If it were not for that extra influx of cash we would have paid a lot more. So I am very thankful that we were able to keep the costs down. This year everyone paid $25 per person to participate in "Momma M's Marvelous Muncie's" which consisted of Breakfast and Lunch for Friday, Saturday and Sunday plus all the soda/water for the three days.
The weather for the 3 days was for the most part outstanding. Saturday night we did have a fairly heavy thunderstorm but from what I have been told it did not alter the evening's events too much.
It was great to meet many new members and to see some old friends this past weekend. It was also awesome to see all three clubs come together once again and enjoy each other's company. Co-mingling was nice to see and everyone from what I can tell and have been told had a great time.
Friday:
When I arrived at 7:00am I found that we didn't have the tables that I ordered. A quick phone call took care of that. They arrived within minutes of the phone call. It turned out our order was delivered to the 300 International club instead of us. Once we got the tables setup Kelly, Cherie, Deb and Martha went to work setting up the continental breakfast while myself, Ken and Bob worked on the drink Coolers, Club Banners and Merchandise Display. Once we got that all squared away we were able to turn our attention to our M's to get them prep for the show. Throughout the entire day we had folks arriving, they would great everyone and then jump into their prep routine. By the time lunch came around everyone was real hungry from all the mornings work shinning up the cars. I did notice a few people helping their fellow members shine each other's cars. I love to see when that happens.
As always my side kick for the grill is Bob Day. We have this down to a science and it didn't take long once the grill was ready before we pounded out many burgers and dogs. Once everyone had a stomach full of food some just kicked back to relax while others went to look at some of the many thousands of mopar's on the show field. Kelly, Cherie and the other helpers didn't have a lot of time as they had the cleanup from both meals to deal with. They did however take some time to relax a bit.
After the days event's ended everyone went their separate ways, most ended up back at the hotel to continue the party.
Saturday:
I arrived on the show field at 6:30am and several people where already there to get there pic of the best spots available, which is usually closest to the tent. At around 9am breakfast was ready which was French Toast, Sausage and Bacon along with coffee, milk and OJ. Not only did we have Kelly, Cherie, Deb and Martha but they had the services of Barb as well. That was a bog help. The breakfast really hit the spot with all the work everyone was putting in with their setups. After all Saturday was THE DAY to get your presentation right. Saturday was THE DAY that everyone judges.
At around noon lunch was ready which consisted of Spiral Cut ham, Turkey Breast and a baked potato bar with butter, sour crème, cheddar cheese sauce and real bacon. That was definitely a nice spread, the girls out did themselves this year on Saturday's lunch. We then had the services of Brittany with some things.
I was not able to partake in the lunch because I received an invitation to Carlisle's Celebrity luncheon on Saturday. I was not aware of this but the Chrysler 300M Enthusiasts Club is on the top 10 list of clubs for the All Chrysler Nationals so that is how I received the invitation to this event. I was able to bring a guest and our VP Bob Day went along. I am not sure what criteria they used to determine the top 10 list but I would imagine there were several. However I am very proud to find out that our club is on the list. Once myself and Bob arrived I was informed that I would be a Celebrity Judge. I was given a nice hat and credential commemorating it. What I was able to do is pick any car on the show field that I fealt was worthy for the award of "Celebrity Pick". There were only about 25-30 given out so it is a very coveted award for anyone on the show field to receive. I was also able to write a message on the award that my pick would receive to make it even more special for the recipient.
Once we arrived back at the tent after lunch it was time for me to get things in order so we can begin the judging for club awards. The interesting thing that happened was a Carlisle Events official came by to let us know that a storm front was on the way and we had about 30 minutes to get things buttoned up and the smaller tents removed. So we rushed to get that done and get all the members to cast their ballot. It turned out the storm never hit as they predicted. It did however start to sprinkle a bit during our award presentation.
And know we get to the best part of the day. My opportunity to present the various awards to the winners. I must say this year we had some good competition when it comes to the awards. There where at least 5 different cars that could have taken Best in Show. Without further ado, the winners of the club awards presented
Saturday afternoon on the show field are.
Best in Show - Brian Mays (mays316)
Most Clean - Bob Day (FireM)
Most Original - Bruce Slifer (2000emmie)
Members Choice - Alan Wittstein (alandw)
Most Cruisin - Stan Walker (swalker)
We also presented Hank Waite (mnitetrain) a special award for achieving the 500,000 mile mark on his M. Congratulations Hank, you definitely are proof that our beloved M is capable of reaching that kind of mileage.
Our Club dinner was held at the "Fire House Grill" as it was last year. They have reworked the menu a bit that made it impossible for us to go someplace else. We had the entire third floor to ourselves once again and they also had a Barbershop Quartet that came up to sing to us. That was a very nice touch to say the least. The food was outstanding and the service they provided us was just as good.
After dinner was over I presented the final club award. This award was the "Presidents Choice Award". This award is not tied to the car but to the member. This year I have chosen Bill Putney as the recipient of the "Presidents Choice Award". Bill is one of the most respected members that we have and his knowledge of the LH model is among the best out there. He has helped so many members over the years that I couldn't even begin to count how many. If you were to add up all the money that he has saved fellow members over the years, I bet it would add up to a nice 6 figure amount. Congratulations Bill on a well deserved award.
Sunday:
I arrived on the show field at 7:30am and on this day I was the first to arrive by about 45 minutes. It was nice to be able to get the chairs and coolers setup with no one around. I was able to just sit for a few minutes alone to think about the past two days and how much fun we all had. Carlisle Events also gives out awards that are voted on by other people on the show field. Those results were posted at 9:00am. I grabbed a bottle of water and headed over about 5 minutes till. There were three classes that I wanted to check out. The winners of those classes are as follows.
B081 - 300M
1. Brian Mays (mays316) Chrysler 300M Enthusiasts Club
2. Tom Romans (Shadowvox6) Dodgeintrepid.net
3. Bob Day (FIREM) Chrysler 300M Enthusiasts Club
B083 - Intrepid/Vision/Concord/LHS
1. Quinton Coryea (BlackRT1) LHForums.net
2. Dan Cottier (Daytrepper) Dodgeintrepid.net
3. Shawn Roe (cokey11) Dodgeintrepid.net
B099 - 300C
1. Robert Powell (99300mmricva) Chrysler 300M Enthusiasts Club
2. Bill Albright
3. Bobby DelPonte () LHForums.net
The rest of the morning was spent just sitting around chewing the fat and walking around looking at the rest of the cars on the field. Some came back from vendor row with a few new toys. At around 11 it was time for the winners to head over to winners circle prior to the start of the parade at 1pm. They came back at around noon to grab some lunch. We had deli sandwiches on the menu along with the usual fair. Kelly also added another batch of the awesome taco salad.
The afternoon was much of the same but it was almost time to head home. People did start to leave in the morning but it was a nice trickle. The northeast convoy headed out around 4:30pm. The final group left the show field at 6pm.
In closing I would like to thank my wife Kelly for the many hours or prep work that she put into this event. It took many hours over the past month to dot the I's and cross the T's. Once again she did an awesome job and for that I am eternally grateful. I would also like to thank Ken and Cherie Eyler for the work that they did to help us prior to the event. Ken & Cherie sure made our job easier. Finally I would to thank the people that helped on the show field. Without them it would have been more difficult. Bob Day, Deb, Barb, Martha, Brittany, thank you all for all your hard work this weekend.
I am already looking forward to next year.
I would like to take a few minutes and give you a rundown of how the Carlisle meet went. Hopefully it will give those that did not attend a better look at the meet and decide to attend next year.
I would like to say that the attendance for this meet was better than we expected. The breakdown by club is as follows.
Chrysler 300M Enthusiasts Club - 20 Members + 13 Guests
Dodgeintrepid.net - 12 Members + 2 Guests
LHForums.net - 6 Members + 2 Guests
For a Total of 38 Cars and 55 People. I also got some information about the show from Carlisle Events Officials. They have reported that the gate attendance this year is a new record as well as the show field participation. Even with Chrysler pulling there support for this show, the mopar enthusiasts are as strong as ever.
As far as the food goes we once again consumed a lot of it but I do not have the totals yet. Kelly will psot them when she gets the list put together. However I would like to let everyone know the Chrysler 300M Enthusiasts Club contributed $350 and DodgeIntrepid.net contributed $150. This money was used to help keep the cost down for the members. If it were not for that extra influx of cash we would have paid a lot more. So I am very thankful that we were able to keep the costs down. This year everyone paid $25 per person to participate in "Momma M's Marvelous Muncie's" which consisted of Breakfast and Lunch for Friday, Saturday and Sunday plus all the soda/water for the three days.
The weather for the 3 days was for the most part outstanding. Saturday night we did have a fairly heavy thunderstorm but from what I have been told it did not alter the evening's events too much.
It was great to meet many new members and to see some old friends this past weekend. It was also awesome to see all three clubs come together once again and enjoy each other's company. Co-mingling was nice to see and everyone from what I can tell and have been told had a great time.
Friday:
When I arrived at 7:00am I found that we didn't have the tables that I ordered. A quick phone call took care of that. They arrived within minutes of the phone call. It turned out our order was delivered to the 300 International club instead of us. Once we got the tables setup Kelly, Cherie, Deb and Martha went to work setting up the continental breakfast while myself, Ken and Bob worked on the drink Coolers, Club Banners and Merchandise Display. Once we got that all squared away we were able to turn our attention to our M's to get them prep for the show. Throughout the entire day we had folks arriving, they would great everyone and then jump into their prep routine. By the time lunch came around everyone was real hungry from all the mornings work shinning up the cars. I did notice a few people helping their fellow members shine each other's cars. I love to see when that happens.
As always my side kick for the grill is Bob Day. We have this down to a science and it didn't take long once the grill was ready before we pounded out many burgers and dogs. Once everyone had a stomach full of food some just kicked back to relax while others went to look at some of the many thousands of mopar's on the show field. Kelly, Cherie and the other helpers didn't have a lot of time as they had the cleanup from both meals to deal with. They did however take some time to relax a bit.
After the days event's ended everyone went their separate ways, most ended up back at the hotel to continue the party.
Saturday:
I arrived on the show field at 6:30am and several people where already there to get there pic of the best spots available, which is usually closest to the tent. At around 9am breakfast was ready which was French Toast, Sausage and Bacon along with coffee, milk and OJ. Not only did we have Kelly, Cherie, Deb and Martha but they had the services of Barb as well. That was a bog help. The breakfast really hit the spot with all the work everyone was putting in with their setups. After all Saturday was THE DAY to get your presentation right. Saturday was THE DAY that everyone judges.
At around noon lunch was ready which consisted of Spiral Cut ham, Turkey Breast and a baked potato bar with butter, sour crème, cheddar cheese sauce and real bacon. That was definitely a nice spread, the girls out did themselves this year on Saturday's lunch. We then had the services of Brittany with some things.
I was not able to partake in the lunch because I received an invitation to Carlisle's Celebrity luncheon on Saturday. I was not aware of this but the Chrysler 300M Enthusiasts Club is on the top 10 list of clubs for the All Chrysler Nationals so that is how I received the invitation to this event. I was able to bring a guest and our VP Bob Day went along. I am not sure what criteria they used to determine the top 10 list but I would imagine there were several. However I am very proud to find out that our club is on the list. Once myself and Bob arrived I was informed that I would be a Celebrity Judge. I was given a nice hat and credential commemorating it. What I was able to do is pick any car on the show field that I fealt was worthy for the award of "Celebrity Pick". There were only about 25-30 given out so it is a very coveted award for anyone on the show field to receive. I was also able to write a message on the award that my pick would receive to make it even more special for the recipient.
Once we arrived back at the tent after lunch it was time for me to get things in order so we can begin the judging for club awards. The interesting thing that happened was a Carlisle Events official came by to let us know that a storm front was on the way and we had about 30 minutes to get things buttoned up and the smaller tents removed. So we rushed to get that done and get all the members to cast their ballot. It turned out the storm never hit as they predicted. It did however start to sprinkle a bit during our award presentation.
And know we get to the best part of the day. My opportunity to present the various awards to the winners. I must say this year we had some good competition when it comes to the awards. There where at least 5 different cars that could have taken Best in Show. Without further ado, the winners of the club awards presented
Saturday afternoon on the show field are.
Best in Show - Brian Mays (mays316)
Most Clean - Bob Day (FireM)
Most Original - Bruce Slifer (2000emmie)
Members Choice - Alan Wittstein (alandw)
Most Cruisin - Stan Walker (swalker)
We also presented Hank Waite (mnitetrain) a special award for achieving the 500,000 mile mark on his M. Congratulations Hank, you definitely are proof that our beloved M is capable of reaching that kind of mileage.
Our Club dinner was held at the "Fire House Grill" as it was last year. They have reworked the menu a bit that made it impossible for us to go someplace else. We had the entire third floor to ourselves once again and they also had a Barbershop Quartet that came up to sing to us. That was a very nice touch to say the least. The food was outstanding and the service they provided us was just as good.
After dinner was over I presented the final club award. This award was the "Presidents Choice Award". This award is not tied to the car but to the member. This year I have chosen Bill Putney as the recipient of the "Presidents Choice Award". Bill is one of the most respected members that we have and his knowledge of the LH model is among the best out there. He has helped so many members over the years that I couldn't even begin to count how many. If you were to add up all the money that he has saved fellow members over the years, I bet it would add up to a nice 6 figure amount. Congratulations Bill on a well deserved award.
Sunday:
I arrived on the show field at 7:30am and on this day I was the first to arrive by about 45 minutes. It was nice to be able to get the chairs and coolers setup with no one around. I was able to just sit for a few minutes alone to think about the past two days and how much fun we all had. Carlisle Events also gives out awards that are voted on by other people on the show field. Those results were posted at 9:00am. I grabbed a bottle of water and headed over about 5 minutes till. There were three classes that I wanted to check out. The winners of those classes are as follows.
B081 - 300M
1. Brian Mays (mays316) Chrysler 300M Enthusiasts Club
2. Tom Romans (Shadowvox6) Dodgeintrepid.net
3. Bob Day (FIREM) Chrysler 300M Enthusiasts Club
B083 - Intrepid/Vision/Concord/LHS
1. Quinton Coryea (BlackRT1) LHForums.net
2. Dan Cottier (Daytrepper) Dodgeintrepid.net
3. Shawn Roe (cokey11) Dodgeintrepid.net
B099 - 300C
1. Robert Powell (99300mmricva) Chrysler 300M Enthusiasts Club
2. Bill Albright
3. Bobby DelPonte () LHForums.net
The rest of the morning was spent just sitting around chewing the fat and walking around looking at the rest of the cars on the field. Some came back from vendor row with a few new toys. At around 11 it was time for the winners to head over to winners circle prior to the start of the parade at 1pm. They came back at around noon to grab some lunch. We had deli sandwiches on the menu along with the usual fair. Kelly also added another batch of the awesome taco salad.
The afternoon was much of the same but it was almost time to head home. People did start to leave in the morning but it was a nice trickle. The northeast convoy headed out around 4:30pm. The final group left the show field at 6pm.
In closing I would like to thank my wife Kelly for the many hours or prep work that she put into this event. It took many hours over the past month to dot the I's and cross the T's. Once again she did an awesome job and for that I am eternally grateful. I would also like to thank Ken and Cherie Eyler for the work that they did to help us prior to the event. Ken & Cherie sure made our job easier. Finally I would to thank the people that helped on the show field. Without them it would have been more difficult. Bob Day, Deb, Barb, Martha, Brittany, thank you all for all your hard work this weekend.
I am already looking forward to next year.