Guest Mark McAlpine Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 (edited) The Roanoke Valley Region AACA hosted the Old Dominion Meet Association (ODMA) 2018 Fall Tour this past Friday and Saturday, 9-10 November 2018. (For those not familiar with the ODMA, it's a non-geographic region of the AACA comprised of 14 of the 17 AACA regions in Virginia--we're still trying to figure out why the other three regions don't belong. The ODMA's origins lay in the "Tri-Region Meet" held in 1952 by the Alleghany Mountain, National Capital, and Waynesboro-Staunton AACA Regions. In 1953 the new Richmond Region joined the group and the Alleghany Region dropped out, and the meet was renamed the Old Dominion Meet. Over the years more AACA regions in Virginia joined in the fun, and the Old Dominion Meet has been held every year since 1953 except 1961. In 2010, the ODMA submitted an application to become an AACA non-geographic region, and its charter was approved on February 10, 2011. In 2017, the ODMA instituted an annual Fall Tour, with the first hosted by the Richmond Region. Hosting of the annual meets, and now tours, rotates among the ODMA member regions.) 2018 ODMA Fall Tour Chairman Ron Vanderpool planned and organized a fantastic tour highlighting the beauty and some of the many interesting attractions in the Roanoke Valley. 65 people & 34 vehicles were registered for the tour. Most tour participants, especially those from out of the area, arrived on Friday evening and enjoyed socializing in the Hospitality Suite at the host hotel (the Holiday Inn Tanglewood). The ODMA Board also held its semi-annual meeting that evening. After breakfast on Saturday morning, we drove up to the top of Mill Mountain to see the Mill Mountain Star (aka Roanoke Star, the world's largest man-made illuminated star) and view the scenic Roanoke Valley below us. After that we headed to the National D-Day Memorial (fitting for a tour on Veterans Day weekend) in nearby Bedford, VA. The memorial is fantastic--it you haven't visited it before, you need to go. Following our guided tour of the D-Day Memorial, we drove to Peaks of Otter Lodge for a delicious lunch. After we stuffed ourselves, we drove to the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke (stopping en route at a lookout on the Blue Ridge Parkway to enjoy the view overlooking the valley), parked and took a bus to the nearby Taubman Museum to view its special exhibit "Drive! Iconic American Cars & Motorcycles." (Ron arranged for the bus because of limited parking at the Taubman.) After enjoying the cool cars, motorcycles, diecast model display, and special automotive art on display, we returned to the Virginia Museum of Transportation to view its collection including its eclectic collection of vehicles (including a rare 1923 Piedmont Model 4-30 Touring Car produced in nearby Lynchburg) and a special display--"The Star Cars of Hollywood." We enjoyed a fried chicken buffet dinner at the museum, before returning to our host hotel tired, but happy after a fun day. Some of us, not ready for such a fun day to end, returned to the hospitality room to socialize some more. Kudus to Tour Chairman Ron Vanderpool and the entire Roanoke Valley Region for being such great hosts and providing us such a great weekend! Enjoy the photos provided below--they don't begin to capture what we saw and enjoyed. Edited November 12, 2018 by Mark McAlpine Changed photo of 1959 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray prototype (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mark McAlpine Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 A few more photos from the 2018 ODMA Fall Tour (9-10 Nov 2018). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
real61ss Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 Great report Mark, thank you and thanks to the Roanoke Region for planning and hosting such a meet. Sorry Debbie and I could not be there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mark McAlpine Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 Ron Vanderpool and the Roanoke Valley Region did a great job. Marion & I are sorry you and Debbie couldn't make it, but Debbie's health was considerably more important. We're just happy things went well and wish her a speedy & complete recovery. We look forward to seeing you both at the Annual Meeting in Philadelphia this February. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R W Burgess Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 Looked good Mark. We were also unable to attend as we were on the Sentimental Tour in Natchez this past week. Maybe ODMA can avoid conflicts in the future? Thanks for the pictures. Wayne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mark McAlpine Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 Sorry you couldn't make it to the ODMA Fall Tour, Wayne, but I know you had fun on the Sentimental Tour. The ODMA tries to schedule its annual Old Dominion Meet (usually held in the spring) and now its newly added Fall Tour (this was only the second one) so as not to conflict with AACA national activities, but it was particularly difficult this year to deconflict the fall tour because of the unusually busy AACA national calendar this fall: we had the Central Division Tour and Glidden Tour in September, the Eastern Fall Meet in Hershey and Founders Tour in October, and the Sentimental Tour in November. Add in also wanting to deconflict the ODMA Fall Tour with the major activities of the ODMA member regions (e.g., the Tidewater Region's annual meet in September and the Bull Run Region's Edgar Rohr Show in October), plus the questionable weather beginning in mid-to-late November, and it's a challenge to find a weekend in the fall that doesn't conflict with something. We'll try our best to avoid conflicting with national activities next year. (The national meet in Fallbrook, CA, may pose a problem, but I suspect there is a very limited number of OMDA members who will travel to the West Coast for the meet if the ODMA Fall Tour is held on Veterans Day weekend again.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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