I wanted to take a minute to personally thank you and the other BPG guys for putting on such a great event and having us come down to Salem. The Masshole crew had a damn good time! From right to left... Johnno, Jim Ramsey, Wolverine, and John Campbell. See you next year!
Johnno, I took pictures of your carnage in the lower lot behind the hotel before I left last night:Brow: Also a big thanks to the crew for this awesome event! And another to JW for allowing me to dump a package tray/filler panel into his trailor for shipping back to St. Louis for a fellow board member. That made my day....:TU:
Huge Mega massive Thanks to JW and MB We cant thank JW and Mike Bucy enough for all the hard work they put in on the wagon, from thrashing 20 (or more) hours a day for the week or so prior to the nats to dragging that beast some 800 miles to the event and even missing the big directors dinner sunday night to flush a couple gremlins out of the rebuilt mill. We felt real aweful about that one but these guys are on task no matter the circumstances. Fans for life D & B :TU: :TU:
Thanks for putting in so much hard work into getting this club and event going. Looking forward to next year!!! Rod and Danie'
Jim who????:laugh: Hey JW heard your room is now available at the Red Roof:laugh: Tough drive out there, now your back hope and can get some rest in between those engine jobs, and resto work:grin: Great work! Had a blast! And your heads worked unbelieveable! That's something to be proud of. Stage 1 TE heads 780 hp, 9.40 at 141+ mph in 1800' elevation! Your da man! Thanks!
Thanks Jim for the excellent job you and your staff did at the nationals.It was great to see and talk to you. Both my friends and I had a blast and we're going again next year! Thanks again!:TU:
next year? Hey Johnno - I heard they are closing the Ohio state line to any one from Mass starting next August 1st!!! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: - Bill :TU:
Jim- I would like to add my personal thanks also. For a first year event, it went pretty smooth and was a complete success. It's easy, as just an attendee, to overlook all the hard work that was put in to make such a smooth running event. Obviously, many hard hours were put in by the BPG board and all the "helpers" to make the first BPG Nationals a reality. Myself and so many others will have fond memories of last weekend that will last a life time. Lots of stories to tell, and many friendships forged. Thanks to everyone that made this event as great as it was. In my mind, this event and ones like it serve to advance the hobby. Can't wait until next year, and I hope to be a help to make future events a success. Just let me know what I can do.
Credit where it is due Your very welcome guys. But let's make sure we thank the men and ladies who really made this happen. I just showed up and enjoyed it like a whole lot of you here. The only thing I can take credit for is that I had an idea, and got the right folks in the right places to make it happen. No one man can pull of what we have done in the last couple of years. It takes a team, and we have it! This would not have happened without them. Jim Haas Event Director for the club, and worked his rear off the whole weekend, making personal sacrifices that a lot of us will never know about, just to be there. His experience and guidence with running the race program "hands on" in the tower is priceless. And when we had a question of "how to do it" in virtually every aspect of the planning for the event, Jim had the answer for us. Thanks for being there for us Jim, I really appreciate it! Bruce Hunter The Club's PR Man, and all around "get it done" guy. I could list everything Bruce did to make this happen, but the board won't let me post more than a 10,000 word post.. and it would take more than that to list everything Bruce took care of. Bruce sacrifies his own "fun time" to make sure everything runs smoothly. And what can you say about a guy with cold beer and an Air Conditioned trailer? We did not need the AC this weekend, since the weather was near perfect, but in the past a little blast of AC has done many of us wonders after sitting in a 100* plus race car. John Schmidt If you wonder where a 2 year old club gets the backing to pull off an event of this size, you need to look no farther than this man. His trust in us allowed us the capital it takes to make something like this happen, and I am glad to report that we did recoup the investment, with a little extra to put toward next year's event. That, in and of itself, is a tremendous accomplishment for a first year deal, we had no idea how many folks would make that turn off the interstate and attend the event. But with the support of so many of the Buick faithful, we made it happen. John allowed us to spend "what it takes" to put on a first class deal, have good payouts, and all the little trinkets and expenses that this type of event accumulates. And even though he was trying to run me down all weekend in his golf cart because I was late to the event, John is "the man" for making this work financially, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for a guy who will stick his neck out for his friends like he has, and continues to do. Brad Conley The club's Show director, and the owner of a couple of priceless pieces of Buick History, one of which he was able to bring out and put on display for all to see (that being the GSX prototype). Brad worked hard to make the show come off well, and with 13.. yes I said 13 concours cars in attendance his job was rather overwhelming, to say the least. That's a huge number of concours cars, and they take quite a bit of time to judge correctly. The event drew at least double, if not triple, the amount of these cars, compared to other events, and they are the "best of the best" when it comes to our cars. We were proud to have them attend, and Brad's leadership of the show side of the club is no doubt the reason for their attendence. But not all of us can afford that level of car, and the great thing about Brad is that he is makes every effort to afford the race cars in the show, and the "Drivers" the same amount of attention as those perfect show cars. That's a huge plus of us all, and I have to say, he is very easy to work with in this area, just shoot him an email and he will take care of any issues for next year. I personally got to meet Brad for the first time this year, and got to thank him for putting up with all us "Gearhead" racers, since that is no easy feat, and something that has been lacking in other venues in the past. I know that we tried to make every accomidation to make the show a big part of the event, and it will continue to be so in future years, as we fine tune scheduling and process for counting votes and handing out awards. We certainly heard the concerns voiced by many of you, and will work diligently to correct those issues in the future. But we need Volunteers! Contact Brad directly if you can help out in the show. Duane Heckman Commonly known as the "walking encyclopedia" of Buick restoration knowledge, Duane was instrumental in getting a couple of concours quality cars out to the show, and running the restoration seminar. For those of you who attended, just a few answers to the questions posed were worth the price of admission. And he brought out the GSX-El Camino, which is just plain cool!.. That and the prototype really added some class to the BPG tent! Doug Hecker As our Race director, Doug was instrumental in handling any and all situations that came up during the event, regarding the race program. As far as I know, we had only one small glitch, and we were able come up with a reasonable solution to that minor issue. Doug not only provides a bumper scraping car for you enjoyment, he also brings lots of years of experience with him in running and setting up a race program. Having him on the team insures that we will continue to provide first class racing enjoyment for all the participents who chose to partake in that side of the event. Rick Martinez Our newsletter editor, Rick is just now starting what will be many articles and writeups on the event, after working long and hard in the promotion department in previous issues. Rick's job is one of the most time consuming in the club, and I certainly was personally glad to see him have his car out again, and be able to enjoy an event, after a long layoff, building a new motor. I am looking forward to the articles in the upcoming newsletters, which will remind us all of the good times we had, and will help those members who were not fortunate enough to make it out, share in the experience. Beth Smith The club's Secretary, who sat in the tent all weekend, missed the entire show, so that when you came to the tent to buy an event T-Shirt, renew a membership or set up a new one, or even just to ask a question, we had someone "in the know" to take care of your needs. She works hard for this club, and handles all the membership stuff, all the newsletter distribution (she personally puts every newsletter in an envelope, along with the address lables, and that in and of itself is a huge task, that she does six times a year). And she volunteered for even more work, as we get a merchandise program more developed for the club. We had many requests for Kid's and ladies sizes of shirts, and will make sure we "get it done" for next year. She is an amazing woman, who works tirelessly for us all for free, all year long, and she deserves your thanks. Cole Smith Beth's Husband, and one of my best friends, Cole makes many things happen with his connections in the Office Supply and apparell industries. All the shirts, the landyards/name tags, the clubs office supplies and mailing supplies, and half a dozen other things I can't recall right now come directly thru him, typically hand delivered to the BPG office by Cole himself. That's hundreds of hours devoted to this club, and the event, every year, and he saves us substantial amounts of money, over having to purchase this stuff retail. His contribution simply can't be measured in dollars, he brings the entire family out to help, and they all work tirelessly on your behalf. Kellie Smith Cole and Beth's daughter, Kellie worked long hours in the registration tent, and in the tower, getting you in the door, and making sure that all the tech cards were in the computer correctly. Jim Haas said it best "this does not happen without her work". As far as I know, she did not make even one mistake, so all you guys out there who were admiring her beauty, can take comfort in the fact she has a brain too! I had the privaledge of having her for a passenger for the trip home, and she's certainly a young lady with a lot on the ball. But guys, your going to have to learn how to spell here name right if your going to make any time with her.. she is kinda touchy about that.. :laugh: It's Kellie Mike Bucy My racing partner and best friend for almost 20 years now, Mike is the guy who makes it possible to sit here and type this, on this board and the BPG forums and website. He answers hundreds of questions a year on "how to do it" on the boards, and when we needed a head of Staging for the event, he was right there to fill the need. As he always is. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Beyond those specifically mentioned, I have to point out the following folks who made a contribution to both the club and the event this year. I am sure to miss a few, and I apologize in advance if I left you out, but I am still suffering a bit of sleep deprivation from the thrash to get there, a couple of "interesting" road trips and my head is still spinning from seeing some of the legends of Buick V-8 racing back on the track again. Those folks are: Mike Tomazewski, Brandon Smith and his girlfriend Ashley, Mike Mullen, Jim Lore, Scott Miller, Scott Simpson, Bobb Mackley, Roberta Vasilow, Bill Wills, Mike Atwood, John Zerucka, Denny Manner, Sid Myer, Mark DeConti and our own Alan Wander, for taking tons of video and still pictures of the event. And lastly, I have to thank each and every one of you who took the time to come out and support the event. You were part of history in the making, and we will continue to make sure we hold up our end of the deal, and make the second week of August a memorable time every year. The dates for the 2nd Annual BPG Buick Nationals are August 11-14, 2005 ---- BE THERE! Thanks gang! JW
uh oh.. a girl with brains and likes buicks... this one is gonna go over really bad lol... jim i didn't make it this year. but i am going to try my hardest to make it next year ... i've enjoyed reading all the stories and such that came about from this event and i'd like to thank you for coming up with the "idea" to put this together.. as if that's really all you did lol... and thanks to everyone else who helped.. i've said it once i'll say it again, i'm proud to a part of this group! here's to hoping i get to see you all next year!
We would like to say Thanx to everyone who helped at BPG ! Way too many names to mention , we enjoyed every minute ! Till next year ....:bglasses: :bglasses: :beer
If JW gets any more compliments or congrats, we will have to widen the door to his shop, home, hotel, truck, trailer, etc so he can get his head through the door!ou: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: This could get very expensive! Nice to meet you at the event and hopefully you had an "uneventful" trip back home/shop??? Are you living at the shop now????:Brow:
Hey George, I want those bolts back that you swiped from the Wagon:laugh: uzzled: JK It was good to meet and talk to you saturday. Seriously though, I want those bolts back ou: :laugh: ou: D.
thanks JIm I'm not sure how much help I was I think I caused more trouble than I helped with. But I have to say It was a hell of an event and for a first year deal went off like gang busters. Looking forward to next year.
Hey now... :laugh: It was good to meet you finally George, and it just hit me who you look like.. A young Don Ho.. you look Hawaiian to me... I think I will just call you Don from now on.. "Tiny Bubbles.....".. :laugh: :moonu: JW PS.. Trip home was easy, only cost me a new set of tires for the Suburban.. Got back at 3am Tuesday. And no, I don't live at the shop, I still get to sleep at my house.. and ocassionally get home early enough to mow the lawn now and then.
