quote Originally posted by maryjane: Did anyone get a picture going down the road toward the ferry where the water was inches from the roadway?

Mikes wife (355Spyder) did... The car in the photo is AutoMark's gold SE.

This is actually a normal sight on in Houston....if it rains for more than an hour the ditches fill with rain and you get lakes on both sides of the street. Gotta love Houston

That's the pic I wanted.

The water on the left is the upper reaches of what we call Burnet Bay, and it used to extend out on the right side of the photo quite a ways--almost to the San Jacinto River. That river flows into the ship channel we crossed on the ferry, and you can see the mouth of the river if you had looked behind and to the left as we crossed. The earthen structure on the right in this phot is a fairly recent development--it's a big canal and impoundment that brings water from Lake Livingston to provide drinking and industrial water to Houston.

If you remember, on the ferry road, we came down a hill to reach the spot where this photo was taken. In the 60s, just hrs after Hurricane Carla had passed on to the west/northwest, my dad drove us down the hill, and the water was still up. I have an old photo here, but no scanner. The Carla water level is indicated below on your photo, but may be off a few feet, as I don't think the power poles were as tall back in those days. BB35 was floated off it's cement mooring, the Statue of Sam Houston was partially toppled in some fashion, and the "reflecting" pool at the Monument was filled with nasty stinking, brackish water and had to be pumped and cleaned out--full of dead fish and other animals. The ferry landings have been destroyed at least twice in my lifetime.

For those who returned to Baytown via 225 over the Fred Hartman bridge, there used to be a narrow tunnel there. It was sealed, then floated out to the gulf some years ago, and sunk as an artificial reef, and the wide bridge built in it's place.

On I-10, just west of where we turned off to go to the ferry, I have seen tugboats and barges sitting on the roadway after another hurricane--Alicia or Allison--mid 80s--can't remember which.

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 10-16-2009).]

quote Originally posted by FieroReinke: This is actually a normal sight on in Houston....if it rains for more than an hour the ditches fill with rain and you get lakes on both sides of the street. Gotta love Houston

Sometimes it doesn't even take an hour. I've been stuck at work several times when every road leading out of the center is covered with water too deep to drive through after a 30 minute downpour.

awww Houston floods....
never forget them! I used to ride my bike through the water at the corner of my street. seemed like everytime it rained!
BUT then the fog guy would come out and I would get my first "high" from him as I peddled my little bike behind him....

hummm maybe that is what happened to me....

I lived in LaPorte during hurricane Carla.
We didn`t get water in our house but it got mighty close.
Mike

Kevin, that`s something I had forgotten about.
Riding bikes behind the "fog" guy.

[This message has been edited by TXGOOD (edited 10-16-2009).]

What happens to ya when you tailgate Revin..right Jarhead?

quote Originally posted by revin:

Beesaball been ver very goood to me??

how about some more fresh pics!

Here's supper in Galveston at the Golden Corral. I want to take a minute and thank some of the Houston locals for coimg out. I know that the activity of LSF has waned over the years. I am not sure the reason why... could conjecture on it... but NTFC has gone through the same cycle... multiple times. It takes member energy and enthusiasm to pull out of that cycle. One person can't do it alone. I've seen the burnout. To a lesser degree... you also need someone or some group to point that energy and maybe play peacemaker.

So back to the Houston attendees. I (and several others), had hoped that the Ruckus would help spark some of that fire that LSF once had.
Houston, we have spark.

I got to see some faces (and cars! ) that I had not seen in years! Bob Hughes and his crazy decklid. Gene in his beautiful '88. Tom (I think?) with a fantastic looking NA 3800. JScott and his blue chopper. The Reinke's... friends since Osage Beach in '05. Pat Patterson. A gent from Beaumont in a white GT that arrived late. Both Ruckus hosts, Don & Jane and Joe and Cathy, live in the greatly expanded region of Houston. 12 people and 7 Fiero's present for some portion of the Ruckus. Great to see you all again.
So LSF is not exactly dormant!

At supper that night... Chris Reinke was cajoled into being that LSF Peter Piper... and he seemed up to the task. Met the North bound group the following morning and took us on a 'Deliverance' style cruise to Huntsville. LSF-- you guys have a real champion in Chris. I am not certain what heirarchy structure LSF has... but if there is an opening for leadership... you'd do well to tap him for the job. Better hurry and take a local for the job, I fear NTFC is about to have a bloody coup and boot me, and I will be hunting a new club to run. I'm eyeing LSF... fertile Fiero territory down there... DISCLAIMER... that last part was intended as HUMOR. NTFC playfully threatens (I think it is just playfully) me all the time

Back to the Corral... Here at supper you have F355spyder and his lovely wife... who is responsible for so many of the great pictures on page 1. JScott, then Chris Reinke. The table on the right is the Usual Suspect Oklahoma contigent. Merril, who drives a Design1 turbo Mera, Doug, and Tom and his wonderfully patient wife. That group drove over 600 miles to make to this event... and to my recollection have made EVERY Ruckus.



Some have asked me "Why is it the 'Red River' Ruckus... it's being held in xxxxxx (insert some city not really near Oklahoma)?"
It is because of the persons at that table.
Our Oklahoma friends have supported this show from the outset, when it was at Texoma... and it is because of that continued tradition... that no matter where the Ruckus will be... it will still have the nomer of Red River with it.

------------------
<---- did you buy Cliff a beer?

[This message has been edited by blakeinspace (edited 10-17-2009).]

quote Originally posted by blakeinspace: how about some club politics. So back to the Houston attendees. I (and several others), had hoped that the Ruckus would help spark some of that fire that LSF once had. Houston, we have spark. I got to see some faces (and cars! ) that I had not seen in years! Bob Hughes and his crazy decklid. Gene in his beautiful '88. Tom (I think?) with a fantastic looking NA 3800. JScott and his blue chopper. The Reinke's... friends since Osage Beach in '05. Pat Patterson. A gent from Beaumont in a white GT that arrived late. Both Ruckus hosts, Don & Jane and Joe and Cathy, live in the greatly expanded region of Houston. 12 people and 7 Fiero's present for some portion of the Ruckus. Great to see you all again. So LSF is not exactly dormant! At supper that night... we all cajoled Chris Reinke into being that LSF Peter Piper... and he seemed up to the task. Met the North bound group the following morning and took us on a 'Deliverance' style cruise to Huntsville. LSF-- you guys have a real champion in Chris. I am not certain what heirarchy structure LSF has... but if there is an opening for leadership... you'd do well to tap him for the job. Better hurry and take a local for the job, I fear NTFC is about to have a bloody coup and boot me, and I will be hunting a new club to run. I'm eyeing LSF... fertile Fiero territory down there...

Since you opted to interject club politcs into this thread......
Ray New wasn't there, but if one of MY sons or my daughter were home on combat predeployment leave , I would have dropped RRR like a hot rock and never looked back. Priorities.
But, anyway..
So, Chris Reinke has been hand picked and annointed by the president of NTFC and a coup d'état is under way. FieroReinke is no doubt a fine person and up to the job.
Tho I wasn't privy to what went on in that little knot of people gathered down at the end of the line at the sNs, and tho I am old, I can still hear, just as I could Sat night out by my truck. I was at RRR--I have eyes--and i can hear. My thoughts when I ventured down there: "A mutiny's afoot".

Will this still be LSF or the Houston Area Chapter of NTFC?
I sense a heavy hand here--but whatever. Been wrong before.
As I understand it, Ray was 'drafted' into his position, by LSF membership---at the very first LSF meeting he attended--in a borrowed Fiero.

Speaking of pics----I guess it's fitting we included the battlegrounds in the cruise---where's the pic of Ray being hung from the yardarm of BB-35 in absentium??

I'm reminded of something.

quote Lt. Barney Greenwald: And now we come to the man who should have stood trial. The Caine's favorite author. The Shakespeare whose testimony nearly sunk us all. Tell 'em, Keefer. Lt. Tom Keefer: No, you go ahead. You're telling it better. Lt. Barney Greenwald: You ought to read his testimony. He never even HEARD of Captain Queeg! Lt. Steve Maryk: Let's forget it, Barney. Lt. Barney Greenwald: Queeg was sick, he couldn't help himself. But you, you're real healthy. Only you didn't have one-tenth the guts that he had. Lt. Tom Keefer: Except I never fooled myself, Mr. Greenwald. Lt. Barney Greenwald: I wanna drink a toast to you, Mr. Keefer. From the beginning you hated the Navy. And then you thought up this whole idea and you managed to keep your skirts nice and starched and clean, even in the court martial. Steve Maryk will always be remembered as a mutineer. But you, you'll publish your novel, you'll make a million bucks, you'll marry a big movie star, and for the rest of your life you'll live with your conscience, if you have any. Here's to the real author of the Caine mutiny. Here's to you, Mr. Keefer. [Splashes wine in Keefer's face] Lt. Barney Greenwald: If you wanna do anything about it, I'll be outside. I'm a lot drunker than you are - so it'll be a fair fight.

I'm extremely disappointed.

I'll be posting my own critique of RRR later. When I've cooled down a bit.

quote Originally posted by maryjane: 'm extremely disappointed. I'll be posting my own critique of RRR later. When I've cooled down a bit.

Methinks you mistake my post. You certainly are wrong on a lot of things, but you are certainly not wrong on one thing..
You don't do humor well.
That bit about NTFC and coups was strictly that...

You want politics? Fine. You got 'em.

You mentioned a knot of people at the SnS... not sure about any that... if you will recall, I was taking Jarhead to Lowes for most of the SnS.

Moreover, Ray in another thread said two stunning things.

"The club is dead due to lack of participation...apathy.

Lone Star Fieros is dead due to lack of member participation."

That's from the drafted president. You like reading that? I know I sure don't... and I am not even in the club!

I say I am glad to see Houston members and you bust my chops? I say I see a spark and a person willing to step up... and this becomes about me? I post an observation about an enthusiastic future and this becomes the HMS Bounty. wow.

To LSF... again, I thank y'all that could come. I hope your club grows. Look forward to seeing you next year.
To Don... I had NOTHING to do with LSF politics at that show. Change your avatar back to the glaring eyeball and look elsewhere

-edit... I see in my post I said... "We all cajoled Chris..." I need to correct that. Maybe that is why you think me or NTFC brought Chris's name up? Understandable, and my mistake. It is not "We all" at all... it is accurate to say that I recall at the GC that Chris said he was going to try and get some energy back in the club... There seemed to be a good vibe that it sounded like a good start. But honestly, NTFC had nothing to do with that. I am editting out the "We all" in my post above.

[This message has been edited by blakeinspace (edited 10-17-2009).]

quote "The club is dead due to lack of participation...apathy. Lone Star Fieros is dead due to lack of member participation."

I read it--and already knew that to be the case--somewhat. They are set up differently than some organizations, and by their own admission--" is (are) a looseknit collection of Texans, natives and transplants, united by their enthusiasm for the only mid-engine, two-seat sports car ever to roll out of Pontiac, Michigan".

It is an LSF/Houston area issue--to be decided by LSF.

I know what I heard. And the PMs I've recieved this morning are in agreement with my take on the matter--they heard and saw what I did.

In light of conversations that are being held here, and in another thread, I'm announcing that the annual Lone Star Fiero Christmas Party will be held on Saturday, December 5, 2009. It will be preceded by an organizational meeting. If you are a member of LSF, or have interest in joining us, please attend. We seek your attendance and your input.

Details will be posted on the calendar at: Lone Star Fieros - Houston

I hope to see you all on November 14, 2009 at the Rally for an Injured Soldier. See the November calendar at: Lone Star Fieros - Houston

[This message has been edited by texasfiero (edited 10-17-2009).]

my critique--and some explanations of why certain things went as they did..this may be fairly long.

I took this on, mostly, because no one else did, and as I stated back in late July or early August, I didn't think it fair for Blake and NTFC to have to do another so soon after stepping up last year in a very short time period after Ike. This was Ruckus #8, and I had already hosted one, so I had an idea what it would entail. Ruckus is unique, in that anyone anywhere can host it--within reasonable driving distance for most attendees. A club can host it, or a single individual out in the middle of west Texas, Waco, or the Hill country can do it. I hope that never changes. The plus side for the host is they don't have to drive far. The downside, is there is the planning phase, and some personal expense involved, and some responsibility. I said I would take it, and that should have been all there was, but some folks evidently worried that I was not a man of my word. I am just not the type person to post everyday to tell what I am doing--Ruckus was not about me--it was about you folks. My stated intentions was to get it set up--completely, so if something did happen to me or my wife, anyone could walk in at the very last minute and just show up. Mid Sept had the cruise set, screenprinter located, tee shirt designed, submitted, 3 SnS locations and a pretty good idea which motel we would stay at. It's kinda hard to tell a motel very far in advance how many rooms to block if you don't know how many are coming. You almost have to wait till the last few weeks to detemine that. I was still taking tee shirt orders at that point via PMs. Several people offered to assist, but none could early on, so I decided to do everything myself, which wasn't a problem--I just reshuffled some of my personal life around so they could take care of theirs. Blake, to his usual exemplory credit, offered to come down and help, but again, I did not think it fair to push any of it off on him a 2nd year in a row, especially since I already knew NTFC was going to do RRR 10.

Some offered to bring 'goodie bag" items, and i posted in the planning thread "Some of you folks have offered to contribute to goodie bags, which is a generous and welcomed offer. Feel free to bring such items with you and we will divide them up among the attendees.". To my knowledge--no one did.

I won't lie, I was miffed, mid Sept, that some doubted my integrity in this matter. For me, integrity and ethical behavior aren't everything---they're the only thing.

If I say I will do something, you can take it to the bank. I may not post and say (hey look at me) "I did this today--I did that today", but you can rest assured it was getting done.

1. The turnout was good, especially considering the distance, traffic, construction in Houston, and the weather. It was about what I had guessed it would be considering we are still in a recession and $ is tight in most folk's households and I truly thank all for driving in less than optimum conditions and coming down.

2. Lodging. I very disappointed, and told LaQuinta as much in person and by email monday morning. The room I looked at was NOT representative of what I stayed in, and from what I've heard, the same holds true for other attendees. Our room was smaller than the room I was shown, and it was freezing in our room when we 1st checked in, so we turned the heater on that night, and it made a horrible "CLICK-----CLICK----CLICK" all night long Friday night. They fixed it sometime Sat.

3. Show & Shine. Coming in to the weekend, I had 3 locations available. One was a beautiful oak tree shaded area about 8 miles from the motel, but it was rain soaked so I discounted it and called the guy Tuesday to explain we wouldn't be there. No problem--he was about to call me anyway. Motel was set up as a last resort. The Mall was the primary, and I did hear some questions why that changed at the last minute to the motel parking lot.
a. I know the weather patterns very well in Baytown. A very wet cool front had passed thru Thursday & Friday, and I knew from experience, that these fronts move on out to the gulf, stall and come back ashore a day or 2 later as a rainmaker. If we had moved to the mall Sat morning, we would have been out in the middle of a parking lot with nowhere to get out of the rain but our cars--or return to the motel, so I decided Friday, to just stay at the motel parking lot instead. The sky really never cleared Saturday but the front held off one day and returned Sunday morning instead. That, is what I was afraid would happen Saturday morning. We lucked out, but I had no way of knowing ahead of time.

b. When I filled out the "application for public use" of the mall parking lot back in early Sept, there is a section regarding liability. It asked that we provide liability insurance for the event to protect the mall owners from any risk. The local manager told me they would waive that, if everyone involved signed a waiver, so I filled the paperwork out sent it in, got it back, and thought we were set. About 2 weeks before the event, the same manager called me and said there was a problem and I needed to come down to Baytown--so I drove down. The actual property owners had kicked the agreement out--over liability concerns, so I had to return home and get with my insurance agent. Long story short, I got liability coverage all set up and left him a check, but the coverage wouldn't actually be entered into use unless it was obvious a claim was going to arise. It was not cheap, as there is no way to verify who might be exposed to risk in a public setting. He told me in no uncertain terms, because the event would take place outside a normal work week, and his submission wouldn't go in till Monday after RRR if there was a problem, that it was very possible the claim would be rejected under these circumstances, and I would be on the hook for any liability. IOW, he deposited my check, but held the "paperwork" on his computer. I was not too worried about any of us, but I was worried about some of the general public entering our area and stubbing their toe or something and suing my old ass, so that also entered in to the decision to remain at the motel.(there was a stipulation in the contract--we had to allow the public in to view our event) Anyway--no claim, so I got my $317.25 back from my ins guy.

4. Cruise.
I decided early on that the time spent different places would be left up to you folks. You guys did the driving, spent the money to get here--it should be whatever you wish it to be. I just told everyone to be sure to be fueled up prior to 11am departure. We didn't leave until after 12:30, due to some wanting to go eat, which is one of the reasons I chose this particular motel. It's easy walking/driving distance to several eateries. Some people got there late, one called and asked us to wait on him, and some wanted to go eat, so we left late. At Texoma, Austin, and San Angelo, everyone just made their own way to eat lunch whenever they got hungry---I saw no reason to allocate any specific time for that, as departure time was originally announced in the planning thread to be 11:30-12:30.
My own wife left the motel that morning at 8:30 to run back home North of Cleveland to feed our animals, pick up her prescriptions, and got 'lost' on the way back, but made it back around 11:15.

Some asked why I did not lead the cruise in the Indy. I felt, as host, I bore some responsiblity that everyone make it back to the motel--with their Fieros. I felt, if I took my truck, and if someone broke down, I could just go to a UHaul and rent a trailer to get them back to Baytown and not risk their vehicle being impounded or stolen.
I had also heard an odd noise from the Indy's front end on the last 20 miles coming into Baytown Fri night, but that turned out to be just the pavement on hwy 146 between Dayton and Baytown, since the noise only returned during that stretch on our trip home.
I was not thrilled about the prospect of getting people back to Baytown after dark. It's hard enoough keeping everyone together and keeping track of that many vehicles in daylight, but our late start precluded us returning before dark. Some of us went on back, some went to the tunnel, but everyone made it ok.

Tee Shirts and goodie bags.

Originally, I had a small local shop here in Cleveland set up to do the tee shirts. Had the design submitted, (with an Indy and the monumnet), with a cost of about $8.50 per pocket teeshirt, but after meeting with Joe, decided to just let him do it. All I kept hearing was "The clock's ticking-The clock's ticking". I can tell time, and read a calendar. I knew where I was with things, but decided to let him run with what he had. He did a great job!

I do not like PayPal because of the possibility of disputes--which can lock that account, and since I know just about everyone who comes to these events, and I know them to be people of the highest integrity, I had no problems fronting the cost of the teeshirts and collecting later. We ended up with 54 tee shirts at a total cost of $610--not counting a tank of gas I owe Joe. Everyone who could not make it has had their shirts shipped, and everyone paid except for a few , and those payments are "in the mail". One order got messed up a bit, but it's taken care of as well--a size issue.

Goodiebags.
What a pita.
Didn't look like much, but each item was over $1 ea except that dufus looking plastic thingie. I made up 22 bags--hope everyone ended up with one.

Golden Corral Saturday. Worked out okay except we had to call and push it back to 5pm instead of the original arrival time, which pushed us into the evening slot. Because of it, it cost a bit more/meal. Why supper is more than dinner is beyond me--it's Golden Corral--it's the same damn food at 5pm that it is at 3pm.

Sunday breakfast. I had set up the back room at Denny's and/or breakfast at LaQuinta with a meeting afterwards in their conference room. An informal vote was taken Sat night and the consesus was Denny's. Again, I wanted you guys to have as much input as possible. I would have preferred the privacy of the conference room, as I had some things to say regarding future RRR, a mileage and hard luck award give out but didn't want to drag them into Denny's. I will mail them out and they can post what they recieved at their discretion.

more to follow

quote Originally posted by maryjane: RRR...

You and I differ on a lot of things, and our methods to reach an end or no where similar... but you did a bang up job, Sir.

Espeically I am interested in that liability coverage part. Thankfully, I have never had to get into that side of it. Might have to for R10.
Thanks for posting the insight.

Don, I'm good. I don't need any gas money. Frget about this. I am happy I could assist you and every one had a great time. One of my favorites.
Joe

I received my t-shirt in the mail today... thanks!!! And I hated to miss the Ruckus!

That liability bugaboo is exactly why the Route 50 tour was being produced by my LLC. It protected my personal assets (such as they are, haha) in the event of an injury or whatever. The problem for you guys is that forming an LLC in Texas costs more than twice as much as it does in Florida.

quote Originally posted by maryjane: my critique--and some explanations of why certain things went as they did..this may be fairly long.... more to follow

Don, thanks for the insight into planning the Ruckus.

In my opinion it was a great success and I'm not very good at reading between the lines, especially on the internet, so I can't really tell if you are miffed or being funny or arbitrarily relating your experience. In any care I think you did a great job and you have my thanks.

As for LSF, I was hoping this thread would not turn into another thread with all the politics of why and/or how LSF has become less active over the years. But let me say this...

The simple fact is that the LSF members are ready and willing to show up to events, (as evidenced by the RRR) but the events on the calendar have been few and far inbetween lately .

As for Chris, some of us did cajole him into trying to be a catalyst in getting some events planned. I don't want Ray New to feel as if a Coup is in work, but as Ray has stated many times he is not the activity coordinator. We are not a highly organized group as defined in the charter, so the way I see it anyone can organize an event regardless of their title (if any).

One more thing, the White GT was not the guy from Beaumont...it was Clark Alexander, who has been a member of LSF longer than I have.

quote Originally posted by maryjane: my critique--

One more thing...

I lost track of the math, but Don, I'm sure that you came out of your own pocket to make this happen, which I am grateful. But rather than have you spend your own money I would prefer an entry fee. Now I appreciate that you made this an affordable event for everyone to just "show up" but I wouldn't mind paying a few bucks more to cover the misc. things that add up and come directly out of your pocket. Just my $0.02

quote Originally posted by blakeinspace: Espeically I am interested in that liability coverage part. Thankfully, I have never had to get into that side of it. Might have to for R10. Thanks for posting the insight.

I have run into it before. Among others, at RRR San Angelo (I forget which # that was). Same deal. The mall was right beside my apartment and I actually parked in their parking lot each night--way out on the edge. When I approached them to hold RRR there, they wouldn't even discuss waivers--wanted liability coverage right up front, and since I did not have such a close relationship with an insurance agent out in San Angelo, the short term limitied liability policy for Saturday & Sunday was going to run me about $1500 I think. I didn't have it and wouldn't have paid it if I had.

Here's how they look at it. If a person walks from their parked car into the mall, there is an intangible, but minimum amt of risk that this person might trip on their shoelaces or a pebble and fall. It's just a straight shot from their car into the mall and then back to their vehicle--minimum risk. IF, we set are up as an event in the parking lot, that intangible is still that--an unknown, but the risk factor increases just because of our presence. We've increased the amt of time the customer is in the parking lot, and we've increased the amt of distance that person travels on foot--simply because we are there and that person decides to walk over to see what is going on. It's not that they don't have their own coverage, it's that they want to shed some of that risk factor over to whoever it is that has increased the risk factor--us.

It isn't an issue at the motel. We were going to be there anyway, and there would be few if any outside personell walking thru our area. I guess they never realized the total of the group present was going to be more than the total # of our group registered as guests.I did notice however, that the area they put us in probably actually belonged to whoever ownes that out-of-business restraunt just in front of where we lined up.


What my agent did, was under the table so to speak. The only reason he even had to have a check deposited was to prove a valid time/date stamp that showed I had applied for coverage prior to the event. Everything else was just held on his computer locally--not sent in to the company actually issuing the coverage--I think it was Old Dominion. He just printed out a copy for me to fax to the mall, and they accepted it, even tho there may or may not have actually been a policy in force. He told me that most of these short term policies have a 30 day minimum life span. The check I gave him was just a deposit. I said I got my $317 back but in reality, he just applied my deposit toward one of my real policies.

quote You and I differ on a lot of things, and our methods to reach an end or no where similar

how so?
I like to try to cover all possible contingencies. I would have felt terrible if something had happened to anyone's car & they had to leave it in a strange town.

Maybe not an entry fee per-say, but a "kitty" fund for expenses

Well, I'm not complaining much, tho I was somewhat --ok--more than somewhat--offended that some thought I had just dropped this and wouldn't carry thru with it. I have thought it over for a couple of weeks and cannot figure for the life of me, what I had ever done since joining PFF, to make anyone think I would not do as I promised. I can assure you, if something had come up, you would all have known it the second I did. When I opened the planning thread on Sept19, and saw that Joe announce he was going to look for motels and do shirts--I was floored. Not a pm from him either, tho T shirt orders were still coming to my PM inbox. I've always considered my word an unbreakable bond, and have tried in every way to keep that intact, and have absolutely no idea why he decided I was not forging ahead with this--I said I would--period. When we agreed that he would go ahead and do the shirts, I had no qualms at all about handing him the cash to do it with. Why? Because he had never given me any reason not to--even tho I had only met him twice in my life, and only briefly then.
Said he was going to do it, and I took just his word for it and trusted him.

JScott,
I mentioned the $ aspect just to give others an idea what it does or does not take to organize an event. I think some are intimidated by the thought of it--it ain't that hard.
And, no--I don't like entry fees, or pre-registration fees, for the simple fact, that it oftens keeps people from being able to attend an event if money is tight in their household, and, people are seldom ever able to know very far in advance if they can make it to an event, no matter how far in advance they try to plan. We all have lives, family and work, and anything can happen between the time they pay the fee and the date of the event. I know that sounds contradictory, considering they have to come up with the money at some point, but requiring it in advance is difficult for me to do. If someone had gotten here and didn't have the $ for their shirts--no big deal. Been there myself, especially when I had kids at home. We're there to enjoy--not to worry about a few bucks, and as far as I was concerned, everyone could have paid me after they safely returned home. I just want to make it as easy and financially painless as possible for people to come to Ruckus no matter where it is held, and as I explained to Blake and Joe, I am going to try to make it even easier for future hosts to be abe to do this. I intend to take the most expensive part of hosting RRR out of the equation for the host--and tho I cannot force anyone to take this no-strings offer, it will be there--that's all I'll say about it.

Remember--the host doesn't have to drive hundreds of miles to get there. He doesn't have to worry about breakdowns, or speeding tickets, or accidents 100 miles from home. I probably did not spend any more out of pocket than an attendee from Austin or DFW did on fuel just to get here and back home.

Ruckus is unique. I know of nowhere else in the country, where if a guy out in the middle of nowhere wants to host, he can do so. That's the beauty of Ruckus--new territory every year. Let's make that easier to accomplish. Let's make it easy on the host--and easy on the attendees.

Most of my post was for the benefit of those who may host one in the future that hasn't already--so they'll know what to expect--especially if they are situated far from everyone else.
For instance:
One of the things I did not mention, that some may not know, is when you reserve a block of rooms, almost all motels nowdays want a CC #. That's not in case you don't fill the rooms--it's in case above normal damage is done--the owner of the CC is on the hook--which is why I asked everyone not to steal the towels.

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 10-18-2009).]

quote Originally posted by maryjane: when you reserve a block of rooms, almost all motels nowdays want a CC #. That's not in case you don't fill the rooms--it's in case above normal damage is done--the owner of the CC is on the hook--which is why I asked everyone not to steal the towels.

oops... I may owe you a few more bucks then.

(I keed, I keed)

As for how you and I would differ on organization... there is more than one way to skin a cat. I've never skinned a cat... so I really don't know the right or wrong of it. Saying that to say that... there is not a right or wrong on it. Kind of the beauty of the Ruckus as you pointed out... it is unique.

I've skinned several. Lynx and bobcat.

You do em same as anything else--you just start doing.

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 10-18-2009).]

quote Originally posted by maryjane: Remember--the host doesn't have to drive hundreds of miles to get there. He doesn't have to worry about breakdowns, or speeding tickets, or accidents 100 miles from home. I probably did not spend any more out of pocket than an attendee from Austin or DFW did on fuel just to get here and back home. Ruckus is unique. I know of nowhere else in the country, where if a guy out in the middle of nowhere wants to host, he can do so. That's the beauty of Ruckus--new territory every year. Let's make that easier to accomplish. Let's make it easy on the host--and easy on the attendees.

Thanks again Don for your insight. Yes there are some of us that might light to host in the future, ( I wanted to host this year but it was more than I could handle right now). With your "Event hosting for Dummies" post it might be more feasible in the future. Thanks.

Not quite done with this thread...

I wonder if Governor Rick Perry will notice the sudden influx of funds in the state's Department of Public Safety budget...

We had at least 5 Fiero's that tried to get inspections to make this trip...
Let's see... my (cough) inspection, Tom with 3 attempts... 2 of which were paid... Probably is going to have to use my guy anyway
Then Chris Reinke got shot down once... because the inspection station said his wrapped exhaust was hiding leaks. Then the next day he is getting a station to pass his car and lo and behold... JScott pulls up to get his inspected too. Out of all the gin joints in Houston... you picked that one. Wonder what the inspection tech was thinking with 2 of the most customized Fiero's in the state getting inspections on the same morning. Awesome. I am glad you guys made the effort.

Nothing like waiting until the last minute... huh, men?

Back to photos. Tom Slick emailed me some pics from the ArtCar Museum snapped from his iPhone. Thank You Tom for supporting AT&T... and for taking pics inside. I was hoping AutoMark or Zack would post up some more pics. The photo of the car-mechanical man did not turn out well. Also, the iPhone photos were sent as .bmp's... so some resolution might have been lost when I converted to .jpg.

This photo cannot do this car justice... it was awesome. VW powered... and a current inspection. I was really impressed by that.
I bet that thing would never pass CARB inspection... lol.
It has driven out to Arizona to participate in shows out West.

Also... look in the background and you can see Chris and Tim enjoying a '59 Caddy trunk couch with tail pipe cushions.



I think it was called "Watching You"... or somesuch...
Can you picture this thing pulling up behind you?... The headlights are housed in the heads... and turn signals too.



Here is a true "Monster Miata"... it probably breaths fire from a dozen different oriffaces. Propane tanks mounted inboard.



In addition to the cars... they had random pieces of art... here is one such piece that obviously captivated Tom...



You guys in Houston need to stop in and check this place out... pretty cool.
(well like any museum... they had stuff that just looked ridiculous... but still a worthy time waste just North of Downtown.

------------------
<---- did you buy Cliff a beer?

[This message has been edited by blakeinspace (edited 10-23-2009).]

First off, Don you did a great job with the Ruckus. I wish I could have helped you with the planning and I look forward to attending more Fiero events with you in the future. Second, I know my name has come up alot in regards to LSF. I am going to start trying to breath life into LSF, but this thread is not the place to discuss LSF politics so I will leave it at that. If someone wants to discuss LSF, start a new thread or PM me. Third, the art car museum changes their art work about every quarter. Now that I know this I will be visiting there more often and I might even drag Mrs FieroReinke with me.

and a wrap up shot from my Ruckus experience. The goodie bags... gotta love swag!
I really wish I had put the Rain X on before heading home... It probably would have washed off though!

uhm Don?... the one glove?... only you. Please come to next years Ruckus so I can get a matched pair.



fun tidbit... the battery went out on the daily driver today, and I used the electrical grease to help seal the terminals.
Thank You.

I think I mentioned elsewhere in this thread... but I would like these goodie bags to take on a life of their own. I'd like to see each attendee bring some small something... about 20 of them... Something that might be typical of something they like or do... or just something fun they found in bulk at some point in the year... and then we'd have very customized swag bags for each Ruckus... let me give you some examples...
Tell me what you think.

Blake... would say bring a case of Mountain Dew... each bag gets a can
Don... would say bring a pack of smokes... each bag would get a cig
Kevin... couple dozen nuts... ha! fitting.
Poe... couple dozen screws... heh... each attendee gets a screw...
JScott... bag full of moon rocks
Joe... 1 round of cop issue ammo per bag

You don't want your smoke?... fine... I will trade you one travel lotion from Oklahoma and a home baked brownie from cliffW for it.
At least it sounds kinda fun... you can wonder who brought what...

As Don mentioned they can be a total PITA...and at no small expense. Seems like this would be fun, easy, and fair.

Whacha think?

[This message has been edited by blakeinspace (edited 10-23-2009).]

I like the idea.

Maybe a handfull of tie straps? I don't even own gun any more, well a .22.
Joe

[This message has been edited by josef644 (edited 10-23-2009).]