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W
e e k l y F
e a t u r e P a g e
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| The contents of the “Weekly Feature” page are provided
to you for your entertainment, amusement, and perhaps information.
Here you may find articles of interest, pictures, historical information
on the Club, or whatever shuffles to the top of the pile on our
desk. The only defined characteristic of this space is that we
will make every effort to change/replace it around the middle of
each week. Thank you for visiting, and please stop by again. Click
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AFTERMATH
First it was great. Then it got horrible. Then
it got great again. That was our 37th Annual
Show in a nutshell. Weeks/months of preparation culminating
in a great turnout of
people and hardware, interrupted by a violent
storm on Saturday afternoon (worst of the year, to be
sure, tornado confirmed
nearby), followed by mudbath conditions, followed
by a massive clean-up effort and a resumption
of business as usual. Amazing!
There were too many memorable moments to recount
in total in this brief article, but we’ll touch on a few
high points, as I saw them.
First and foremost, our guests, the hosted group, “Rumely
Products Collectors”, provided us with a great turnout
of featured brand displays, and proved to be a welcome addition
to our show. We had the opportunity to meet some very nice folks
in their group, and appreciated their help and participation
in our show. Indeed, even the president of their organization,
Keith Kulhengel, got drafted (read, “trapped”) into
helping out with our parades all four days. His
in-depth knowledge of all things Rumely was a great asset in
that process.
Then, just when everything was on track toward
being an all-time record show, we were hit by
a storm of historic proportions. Word is, we experienced
70mph. straight line winds
and about an inch of rain in just a few minutes,
with very predictable, if unexpected, results.
All of the roads and driveways looked
just like rivers. Those who tried to leave were
thwarted, those who stayed were ultimately rewarded
and no doubt surprised by
the speed of the recovery. I truly thought the
crew preparing to stage the cement pull were
misguided when they attacked their
work area with propane burners, shovels, tarps,
and the big Cat grader, but 2 hours later, they
had the event under way,
to the surprise and delight of the waiting crowds.
The people mover operators and an endless stream
of guys with Gators, Mules, and ATV’s, Tow Tractors, and
dozers sprang into action to assist those who needed
to get out of the parking lots and campgrounds. Loaders scuttled
about
with foot-friendly buckets of sawdust to create
temporary sidewalks. With a skill born of experience, all of
the MMOGTA membership
tackled the problems at hand and very much took
the whole thing in stride. I think all are to be commended for
their resourcefulness.
Perhaps even more surprising to me, or maybe “gratifying” is
the better word, when 7:00 AM arrived the next morning, with
a parking lot that you couldn’t drive or walk through,
people began to arrive, first a trickle, then a
flow, and finally a crowd of people who were eager enough to
see the show that
they were willing to ignore the mess and inconvenience.
I think that speaks volumes for our loyal customers, old and
new. Let
it never be said that we do not appreciate their
loyalty! It seems almost incredible that people were willing
to come and
park a mile or more away (on the roadside) in order
to see our show on the final day. People movers were pressed
into service
on unfamiliar territory, ranging a mile and more
down the road in every direction to shuttle these hardy folks
into the Showgrounds.
We’’ll get into the details more as information
is assembled, but suffice it to say, we had an
outstanding show, with great participation and events, and even
though it may
take us a week or so to recover from the sleep
deprivation and stress, I will state without reservation that
I believe we all
have reason to take a bow and be proud of our accomplishments.
We leave you with a random look around the show
with some pics below.
(click individual photos to enlarge)
  
  
  
  
  
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