HAPPY TRAILS AND THEN SOME

[RICK YOUNG]

There are so many to thank who made this dream come true.

As a kid on a farm in the middle of no where. I dreamt of the cars far away in California and so on.

Never in my wildest dreams some 45 years ago could I have imagined them right in my home town.

Thanks so much to all of you for making that happen.

God's blessings to all.

[JohnD1956]

Many thanks to you and those who worked to put it on. Sure wish I could have made it.

This is the BCA in it's finest hours, and many will never know it untill they attend their first National Meet.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Rick, it was a wonderful experience for this ol'man. Thanks to you and all connected with the entire meet. And a special THANKS to the good folks of Jewell.

Ben

[g-g-g0]

A very special thanks to Rick Young, Bill Stoneberg, and the many, many volunteers!

The setting and facilitity was super! The swap meet was good (and I found some treasures for myself)! The turn out of Buicks was absolutely GREAT with a good representation of the many fine cars built by Buick! The Forum Breakfast was its usual bit of rowdy fun with the chance to associate names with faces! The cruise was fantastic and what a huge turn out! And last but certainly not least the fine people of Jewell were open and friendly. I believe that they enjoyed us as much as we enjoyed them. My hats off to the community for their effort and especially the lady that was in charge of feeding over 1000 hungry people!

A special thanks to Bob Coker for his generosity in bringing and showing off the 1954 Landau. What a treat!

Great show and great fun!! Thanks to all for their special efforts!

[Thriller]

It is always with mixed emotions that I depart the venues of a National meet. On the one hand, I am tired and happy to be heading home, but I am also somewhat saddened by leaving good Buick friends and the great Buicks in my rear view mirror.

We always have a good time...the children are almost like they belong to everyone - we don't worry much when we aren't sure where one of them is.

Rick, Bill, and the rest of the team...thank you. We especially enjoyed the tour to Jewell. I think that goes to show that, particularly once the judging is over, members enjoy going for a little drive and sharing the Buicks with others, especially if there is food at the other end. I don't want to turn this into a post of good / bad / ugly, but I'd like to think a well-attended and enjoyed event such as this would be considered for future National meets.

[Dandy Dave]

Even thought I could not make it myself, I am glad that everyone who did had a grand time. A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who made it possible. I plan to be in Mass next year because it is fairly close to home. Now, should I bring the 15, or the Riviera? If I bring the 15, the oganizer of the pre war tour better keep in under 35 miles an hour. If that is not possible then I will bring the Riviera. Dandy Dave!

[Guest wildcat465]

Oh yeah, that was a blast. A huge thanks to all who made this great.

[Booreatta]

The trip to Jewell will be hard to beat in the future. I heard lots of people still talking about it on Sunday morning when we left for home. If you could not attend you really missed a good one. All I can say is Thanks Rick and Bill for a job well done. The open car show was a great idea also and needs to be continued. The people of Jewell are a class bunch and everybody felt at home. Ricks wife Janet did a great job keeping Rick on task, she might have had the hardest job of all. By the way did anybody see a Reatta in Jewell? There were 39 of them.

The Reatta Division says thanks for all you did for our Division

Chuck Kerls

[bhclark]

This was a fantastic national meet!

The trip to Jewell was amazing. Never felt so welcomed anywhere and the beer was CHEAP!

That night will be hard to top in future nationals for sure!

I really liked the 2 days of judging, allowing a car to enter both 400 point and driver judging, however I didn't care for the way the driven cars were kept so far away from the rest of the show cars. Made us feel like a fifth wheel and wasn't very convenient either for hanging out with others.

Vendor turnout was very nice with some good prices at some places too!

The only thing that made the show a bit difficult for families was having the show so far away from the hotels. That meant we all had to leave together or leave someone behind, but other than that, everything was great!

Now, if only we could get the banquet to offer kids meals and get the time down to 2 hours......

[Bill Stoneberg]

I also have to say thanks to all of you who made the trip to come to Iowa. Little did I know how many would come.

Rick Young and the cast of volunteers were great to work with and while we had a few little glitches. most of you did not see them.

I learned and would change some things in the future, but for the first time for Friday judging and a Saturday car show, I thought it went well.

Thanks y'all for coming to our party.

[buick5563]

for the first time for Friday judging and a Saturday car show, I thought it went well.

Agreed. Love it.

[Thriller]

Made it home this morning...uneventfully I might add, although Suzanne was warm.

Brian - there's a simple solution...multiple vehicles...between the truck and the Electra, we were able to move around as necessary.

I would echo your comments about the driven class cars though - the Electra was in the general parking lot most of the time since the driven class location was blocked off (admittedly manned blockades), but I wasn't sure if we should use the show field or the parking lot in front of the Scheman.

It was a good trip...now I need to wind down.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

As I have said, an absolutly wonderful experiance!! Somewhat agree with Brian, but was told that it was ok to park my driven car anywhere Wed and Thursday. So I parkwd beneath a tree Wed. Moved to the parking lot Fri.

Ben

[Barney Eaton]

It is amazing that two determined "big" boys can put on a Buick national event when no BCA Chapters stepped up to the plate. More amazing was the job done by Bill, Rick and the crew of volunteers. How many times do you hear people say " we can't help, because we live too far away" but Stoneberg did not let 950 miles bother him.

It was a great show and a fine example of what can be done with determination. Thanks to Rick, Bill, the volunteers, Ames convention bureau, ISU, and the people of Jewel.

This meet was also an experiment in judging. For years Friday judging was rejected and the main reason was "people don't get there until Saturday". The turnout in the number of cars seems to prove that wrong. In addition it allow several cars to be in both 400 point and Driven class judging.

The only "glitch" was the Friday morning rain and no one has control over that. The rain and lightning shut down safety inspection and having their photo taken. Come the Saturday banquet, there were missing photos but only because of the rain.

I want to especially thank Rick and his brother for getting us into the Albaugh Chevy collection. Anyone that missed that experience will be kicking themselves forever.

[Thriller]

The only "glitch" was the Friday morning rain and no one has control over that. The rain and lightning shut down safety inspection and having their photo taken. Come the Saturday banquet, there were missing photos but only because of the rain.

Not quite true...I had the photo taken of the Century Wednesday morning, but it wasn't in the presentation at the banquet. I presume the photo didn't turn out for some reason, but the rain isn't the only reason. Of course, I don't know if ours was the only car that way or if there were others.

I'm not complaining though...it is disappointing not to have your car's photo up, but that's life. I'm sure most interested folks got a look at it live and in person.

Again, it was a fairly well run show. There are always volunteer items that can be done by folks from afar. For those who may not be aware, many folks from away were involved. Roy always deals with registration (Texas). Gopher State Chapter provided most of the folks for the open car show (collecting and parking). When I went through, it was Fireball Chapter folks manning the safety inspection tent. There are always some items where it is good to have local knowledge - this time around, some of that was provided by the Ames CVB (who also deserve a pat on the back)...after being at 2 Nationals, we may want to consider providing a year's worth of the Bugle to the young fellow from the CVB (his name escapes me) - he knows who many of us are by name. Really, so long as someone can meet with the local facility to have things set in place, arrange the tours, and can provide some information like alternatives to see or places to eat (mmm...Hickory Park), then a National can be pulled off.

A pat on the back to all involved.

[MrEarl]

Robert E and I left early Sunday AM and pulled into his driveway in Winston-Salem around noon Monday. Noticed something hangin down under the front of the F-350 Landau hauler, opened the hood and there was what was left of the serpentine belt. About half of it was still pulling. Bob later determined there was about a half inch play in the water pump. Looks like the Buick gods were looking out for us. I split for home, delivered some 30 somethin fenders to a feller in SC and made it home in record time.

Just want to say I really enjoyed meeting everyone. I'm terrible with remembering names and who's face they go with. Hell I was standing talking to one guy, been talkin to him most of the day and I asked "has anybody seen Buke" He said "I AM BUKE" DUHHHH

I hung out around the Landau most of the time, only taking time to crawl through a certain gray ghost 54 wagon and a drop dead gorgeous Lido Green Century convertible with one repaint and original interior. I understand there were other cars at the show??:confused:

I think I want to get there a day or two earlier next year. 4 days just ain't enough time to enjoy all there is to enjoy;)

Thanks to everyone who worked so hard on making this the most fun show since The Buick Birthday Party in Flint!!!

Edited August 7, 2010 by MrEarl (see edit history)

[bhclark]

Hell I was standing talking to one guy, been talkin to him most of the day and I asked "has anybody seen Buke" He said "I AM BUKE" DUHHHH

Been there, done that!

I understand there were other cars at the show??:confused:

LMAO!

[Guest wildcat62]

Big thanks to Rick and Bill, Hawkeye chapter and all the volunteers!

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

To quote a friend, I had "more fun than allowed". Not what he said, but chickened out. Any way, I had a lot of fun. Did not meet all I wanted to, met some I wanted to and did not register, and as Lamar said, will not remember all of them. Well, he said something like that.

And I SECONd Kris!!!!

Ben