SoCal Meet Stories & Pics: Oct '05

[HEMEEE]

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G !!

- The official count was 101 cars -

It was a dark and stormy night... but thank goodness that was the day AFTER the meet!!

Man talk about luck, we were a day behind the 80's-90's heat wave and a day ahead of the rain - the LX Gods smiled on us for sure. I arrived at 10:30, reacquainted myself with TMagnum (Tom) and sweeper6 (Jason) and just jumped in. The number of cars that arrived early was surprising... where's John? (idea #1: arrive at least 1 to 1-1/2 hrs. early next time) The registration table turned out to be the place to be! Since everyone had to come through there, I at least got the chance to briefly meet them all, even if the conversation consisted only of "Username please, sign here, here's your name badge, here's your goody bag, have fun... NEXT". Then 300 SRT-8 arrived from Canada, to a standing ovation for the long distance recognition, and Grey Eagle was the oldest in attendance ...where's John? (idea #2: have 2 people assigned to registration table next time). The cars just kept coming throughout the day, I swear it was like the registration that wouldn't die!

There was already a white Limo there that had been left overnight, but an associate of Paul Whitehead, from Foothill Ranch Chrysler Dodge showed up with another Limo, the black and silver one, which was bagged and had lambo doors in front and suicide doors in back. One of the highlights of the day for me was watching him try to make it through the driveway! Scraaaaape, cruuuuuuunch, scraaaaaape.... I thought he was going to high-side that monster for sure! Then, from one extreme to the other I went to my car to get my checkbook out for VIPedition (shopping!!) and nearly got run over by a little mini-me of an RC LX car!!

Time flew so fast and suddenly it was time to gather everyone for the group photo, which I have begged and pleaded for at the last 2 meets. Tom and I walked the main rows and just shouted for everyone to go up front for pics... where's John? (Idea #3: have a mic sytem next time). Unfortunately we were unable to gain access to the roof for an aerial shot as we were promised, disappointing but whatever. (Idea #4: have someone bring a 6 ft. ladder next time).

Group photos now complete, everyone wanted to do the drawings early and the excitement in the air was so obvious. I pulled the closest pretty girl I could find to draw the winning tickets... thanks again Little Miss 'dude, you were the perfect assistant! (Idea #5: see idea #3). I will include a list of the winners and their prizes in another post when I have finished cross-referencing the lists. In the meantime, if you won something, please send me a brief PM and let me know which prize you won so I can be sure to get that post right. (Idea #6: have winners print username when signing for prizes). Once the drawings were finshed, many of the participants left and most of the rest of us went inside the House of Brews for football, something to eat and BEER (finally!) (Idea #7: next time hang with Jason cuz when he takes breaks- he gets a beer too).

The entire time that all of this was happening, there was a LOT of other activities going on as well... like Zoomers, VIP edition, SoCal Motorsports, Shoreline Motoring and Paul Whitehead answering questions about their various displays and sales, fatchance's and rogue's debut of their outrageous new mods, and GS Motorsports 'E-ticket' excursions in and out of the lot.

This meet was amazing and far exceeded our expectations! The fact that we did this in conjunction with 3 other forums has got to be unprecedented. There has been a lot of praise given to John and meee for putting on this event but I'd like to set the record straight... There are many other kudos that need to be shared:

The Set-Up Crew... TMagnum and sweeper6 from LXforums, without their organization, the early morning groundwork they laid, and their ongoing assistance from start to finish, everything would have fallen apart! They have cemented themselves as an integral part of the partnership John and I formed and we now consider ourselves "the Committee"... we will begin official monthly meetings at the first of next year!
The Vendors... Who gave of their time and/or donated prizes to make this the first of our meets to include a drawing, and hopefully not the last. Their generosity made a special day so much more memorable!
The Participants... Without whom there would have been no show at all!
In the 'Wings' - Thank you to: JonW, for hosting the windshield placard and for the table; sloloco, and FreeLance Performance for the pocket knives given as gifts to the organizers and crew; BIG HORN RAM MAN, for assisting with the drawing ticket distribution; Mr.DJ, for the offer of raffle donations; mvpatriot, for making a sweep of the bar to make sure everyone was outside for the drawing; KC, sweeper6's friend for shooting video & pics; cbutler32, for his heartfelt impromptu speech, and for even coming at all with a torn achilles tendon; Little Miss 'dude, magnumdude's daughter, for drawing the winning tickets; ekool, for allowing our story to appear on the "front page"; and last but not least, my hubbeee, for his support, encouragement and patience while I was hopelessly obsessed, and for secretly shooting pics when I thought I'd have none...
Thanks everyone!

This event really did set the bar high and we can't wait to see how the March Meet/Spring Fling develops...

[HEMEEE]

Here are the pics hubbeee shot:

HEMEEE's babeee front & center


Shooting the bull with BIG HORN RAM MAN (my bro-in-law)

Getting together for the group pic, that's my Sis on the left


Looking out over the venue, LX's forever...


Both Limos in one shot w/o a wide-angle lens!


Interior of the Limos


Limo- bagged, lambo front doors and suicide rears... wow!


First group shot w/the "Committee" in the foreground... smile!


2nd group shot... the photographer musta been holding a gun


The drawings...

[crhemi]

Looks like a great event, anymore pics of cars?
And who's who?

[Rambit]

Very nice reporting Linda. Too bad the group pic wasn't bigger. Sounds like you guys learned a lot. Should come in very handy for your next meet. Just a couple of questions. You eluded several times to "where's John". Who is this John anyway? Was he a no show or MIA?

Rambit

[doctorno]

are there any pics of modified cars? i wanna see the cars!

[fatchance]

Here's John, aka "fatchance", that would be me. I had the lambo doors and KW suspension installed on my car. I didn't get it back till 6:30pn on Friday. Saturday morning I was out washing and cleaning, the car was dusty and dirty. I was expecting to have the car ealier in the day, but as mods go that didn't happen. I am now restricted to no mods the week of an event.

This was truely a great time with great cars and awesome people. The excitement of the memebers and the pride in the cars makes these events well worth it.

I want to thank those memebrs who assisted and helped. What a pleasure to work with HEMEEE, Tmag and the sweep. I had a lot of fun with them. I have to say the members that traveled form every far and short dististance, thanks.

[HEMEEE]

Originally Posted by doctorno

are there any pics of modified cars? i wanna see the cars!

There are quite a few pics here and more should be coming in. There is also a lot more pics here at the LX forums...

Originally Posted by crhemi

And who's who?

Um, right... I can tell you the 4 in the very front & center, starting with the tall guy is "The Committee"... Jason/sweeper6, John/fatchance (hey, there he is!!), Linda/HEMEEE, and Tom/TMagnum. Everybody else can chime in if they want to, I'll quit while I'm ahead!

Originally Posted by Rambit

... "where's John". Who is this John anyway? Was he a no show or MIA?

Just a little inside joke - John is fatchance... mi amigo, my partner in crime, my right-hand man... John had a quite the day, beginning at 0Dark:Thirty with a few hours of detailing, a side trip for forgotten items on the way to the event, then he was so consumed by the endless questions about his new mods it seemed like I could never find him and I kept saying all day "where's John, I need John"... to the point that it became comical! By about 2pm he was like a zombie. It took both of us several days to recover... a lot of work, but worth every effort, a labor of love and we look forward to the next time!

[realmckoy]

man this sucks i am in gemrnay adn I should be there for this and every other meet. Well you guys look lie you had a lot of fun doing it up. Good job everyone.

[cbutler32]

Then, from one extreme to the other I went to my car to get my checkbook out for VIPedition (shopping!!) and nearly got run over by a little mini-me of an RC LX car!!
That would have been my "little LX" -
available on chrysler.com...

cbutler32, for his heartfelt impromptu speech, and for even coming at all with a torn achilles tendon
you (the committee are more than welcome and deserving) - the one thing I did forget was the vendors - a.) thanks for showing! b.) thanks for all the great stuff for the members in attendence!
YOU GUYS ROCK!!!

[Easy E]

The 300C owner next to me asked, "Hey, where did you get the red air filter for your Mopar CAI?" Then he said, "I want to get another blue one, cause mine turned white." I told him I've been using K&N filter oil. He looked puzzled. I asked if he had ever oiled his filter, and he still had the puzzled look. So, I explained that he needs to spray his filter with oil to assist the filtering process and to keep the filter from breaking down. My 2 Saleen owning buddy was trying not to bust up, and I just felt proud to know that I may have saved that poor HEMI.