PLEASE VOTE IN THE POLL!!
YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR VOTE AT ANY TIME, BUT ONLY ONE VOTE PER PERSON. THIS WILL HELP ME GET SOME SORT OF IDEA ON HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL BE MAKING IT OUT. THANKS!
Thanks for being patient guys! I think everyone knows the dates at this point, they've posted in several threads, but I never got around to posting an actual lineup of the events thus not making it official. Well folks, even though it's been official for probably over a year now - we can officially say it's official, lol! We're trying something different this year than what we've done the past few years. Usually, we over plan and stress out and probably make things more difficult than they really need to be... at least, that's how my last Meet was than I hosted. I think that Doug and Brandon can probably understand where I'm coming from. Doug's meet was fairly simple and straightforward and it was the best Meet thusfar. Maybe because it was the first Meet. Maybe because Doug is just a studly man and he makes everything "better", lol! I don't know - but the plan is to get back to those roots! I want to make it simple and more about just hanging out and spending time with fellow Nesters. The first Meet I hosted was in 2008 I think and I tried to plan everything down to the minute... nothing goes as planned, lol - so we're not doing that this year! We're just going to set some activites with general times for each day and then we're gonna wing it! I want you to all be relaxed and have a good time. So without further ado... here is the tentative schedule!
Friday September 9th, 2011 - This is the day that I suspect most members will arrive. We'll all meet up at my place and just hang out. I'll give you the grand tour of the Sanctuary, pull out all the goodies for anyone wanting to make a purchase and also bring out all the service manuals for everyone to thumb through and enjoy. Around roughly 6-7pm, we'll discuss dinner and find a good place to eat. Afterwards, everyone can take off and get settled in to there hotels or their camping gear here at the Sanctuary.
Saturday September 10th, 2011 - This is going to be an early day so we can get good spots at the Cordova dragway which is about an hour from the Sanctuary. The dragway opens at 8am. We'll use this thread to discuss what time we will leave. I don't mind hanging around the Sanctuary for the first part of the day and then taking off to Cordova around 11am. Or if we want the early bird spots - we should leave here at 6am. Plenty of time to decide what we're doing there. Cordova's park will be open until 8pm for the AMC Internationals. Here is a quote directly from their site regarding the day's plan...
AMC Nationals with Swap Meet and Car Show 8:00am - 2:00pm
Bracket Points Race #11 + Bikes #8 + West Racing Heads Quick 8
Open 2:00pm Time Trials 3pm, Eliminations 7pm
You can find more info here at http://www.cordovadrag.com/pages/schedule.html (http://www.cordovadrag.com/pages/schedule.html).
FYI - IF FOR SOME REASON, IT IS RAINED OUT - EVERYTHING WILL MOVE TO SUNDAY!
My personal opinion, even though we all know I love to sleep, is that we leave fairly early so that we can enjoy the duration of the car show and the swap meet. Again, we have plenty of time to figure this out. There will be food vendors there and restrooms and things like that - but be sure to bring a few extra bucks to eat on. And don't forget that Cordova is right at an hour from the Sanctuary so if you plan on following the convoy, make preparations for fuel and things like that. Also, I am trying to work out a deal with Cordova as far as fees go - but my guess is that we will all still have to pay an entry fee to get into the park/dragway. Please do not forget about this. Fees are as follows...
Regular Saturday Adults $11.00
Regular Saturday Kids (6-12) $3.00
Kids under 6 are free
Cash, credit or debit cards accepted at the pit gate.
Gift certificates are available in any denomination.
Call the track at 309-654-2110 with any questions.
More info at http://www.cordovadrag.com/pages/tickets.html (http://www.cordovadrag.com/pages/tickets.html).
And I think that if you want to enter the car show - it's $25-35. I'm working on confirming the exact amount now. Note, that if you enter the car show or race... the entry fee is included, so it would be a flat $25-35. So don't worry about the entry fee being tacked on as well. They have not had an "Eagle class" in a few years but I am working on having this setup again this year so that trophies will be offered for our class. I will post more information as it comes in. Also, don't forget to think about souvenirs! NAMDRA may be doing something really cool for us this year and it involves their merchandise... so, you may want to put back a few bucks - just in case! :) I'm trying to work closely with "mramc" and most of my information thusfar has come from him. For those of you that do not know him, he's a great guy and very helpful. Please post any questions concerns here and I am sure that between mramc and I, we can figure it out!
Sunday September 11, 2011 - I'd like us to all meet up and have breakfast. We'll discuss time and location the previous evening. For those than need to scoot - we will see them off and for those that wish to hang out longer, we will use this day for just hanging out at the Sanctuary. We'll turn some wrenches, I'll fire up the grill and cook you the BEST BBQ brisket you've ever had with my famous jack daniels sauce. We'll roast some sweet corn on the grill, bust out some home-made baked beans, potatoes, chips, cottage cheese, ice cold beverages and some music. My band is pretty much on hold right now, but I'm working on either hiring my buddy's band for the night or hiring a karaoke rig to come out. I have a pool, big sturdy swingset, big gated trampoline and plenty of running room for kiddos and Eagles! Sunday will basically be just a big BBQ/hang out day. I really hope that you all can be here Sunday as well!
Update: Sunday we will be swapping doors and installing new door gaskets for sure on Jim's wagon. Anyone else needing repairs - please shoot me a message and we can probably work it in.
If I find out soon enough that most of you cannot hang out Sunday, maybe we can take off from Cordova early and then come back to the Sanctuary and do all this stuff on Saturday as well! We could leave at 6am for Cordova and hang out until about 3-4pm and be back at the Sanctuary by 5pm and fire up the grill and open up the pool! It won't be getting dark until about 8-9pm so we'll still have plenty of time to hang out and enjoy some good food and the warm weather. Then Sunday morning we can meet up for breakfast and see everyone off and those that stick around can enjoy leftovers and some wrenching! Either way works for me. You have the basic plan for the weekend and we're going to pretty much wing it and not stress about meeting timelines or fitting too much into one weekend. We're just going to hang out and have a good time!
Don't forget, we'll have T-shirts and goodie bags. I'm working on another gift package from AutoZone and also talking with the local HotRod club to see if they want to come hang out and enjoy the day. There are also several other local Eagle enthusiasts that will be here. I think it's going to be a good year - you don't want to miss this one guys!
I'd like to start getting some sort of preliminary head count for who will camping here at the Sanctuary. I have plenty of parking space and I have 200amp service in the house and the shop so we can feed you all the power you need. There is also a couple water hookups outside, but it is well water and it is not great tasting. We will have plenty of bottled water on hand. We don't have mosquitos out here. Seriously, I think I've had two bites in two years. We do have LOTS of frogs and cats though! In fact, we just had some kittens... so feel free to take one or two home with you, lol!
Ok, so there's the preliminaries! Post your questions here and I will answer them as I can. Please read the whole thread though before asking your question because you're answer may be in there! I will update this thread as the time draws nearer. Once again, I'm really looking forward to this guys!
One more thing! The Previous Meet DVD's will be done this year and I will be giving a free copy to all arrivals. For those that cannot make it, it will cost $2 to cover shipping and disc. For those that want Blu-ray, I will burn them only as requested and they will cost $10 regardless due to cost of discs. This year's Meet will be taped in HD and will be available about a month after the Meet.
T-shirt will have the SX4 on it this year and the prices will remain the same as previous years.
Thanks guy!
-Mav
The Midwest AMC Eagle Sanctuary
383 Knox Rd 50 E
Abingdon, IL. 61410
Cordova directions here at http://www.cordovadrag.com/pages/directions.html (http://www.cordovadrag.com/pages/directions.html).