| A (long) note
about Return To The Beach
I apologize in
advance if I ramble on or repeat myself. I'll break it down
into categories so you can read it in bits and pieces at your
leisure.
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RTTB-10
Everyone involved
with RTTB-10, thank you. This goes for the participants, all
the planning crew including the vendors and those that donated money
and raffle items. Thank you very much. We were able to
donate $4000 directly to Multiple Sclerosis. I believe had the
weather held out, we could have done more but damn it was wet and
cold on Friday. That's the chance you take with an outdoor,
rain or shine show.
Tom, Anne, Tim,
Mike, Dwight, Roger, Sherri, Hank, Judi, Monte, Ernie and especially
Susie; I thank you all very much.
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RTTB-11 ?
At this point I
can't say. I'm not aware of anyone or group volunteering to
take it over. Never the less, a few things have been started should it continue.
Broadway At The Beach (BATB) have "mentioned" the possibilities of
being able to help out more with this event. There are a few
things, should it work out that BATB can provide and do on a group
basis. One could be us having the whole thing in the mall lot
with us staying at the Hampton Inn. Ideally we would stay at
the Hampton and have the show and vendors right there. You
could conceivably park your car and not have to start it up again
until the event was over. That's one option.
Other options
include making this the worlds largest PT Cruiser cruise in.
No classes, no trophies. Just a party weekend, the way RTTB
started. Seeing your friends & their PT's and coming to Myrtle
Beach for fun and food. We would work a few deals out with
local hotels and restaurants but it would be an "open" weekend with
no real agenda except a cruise in and huge meet n greet.
We've discussed
moving it up a few weeks shooting for a tad warmer weather.
The last two years have been a bit cool to say the least. Where's global
warming when you need it?
Should RTTB
continue as an exclusive PT event or start accepting other Chrysler
cars or HHR's as other shows have?
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Personal Note
It's been a lot
of fun working on the RTTB show. In spite of what some may
say, it is in fact the worlds longest running exclusive PT Cruiser
show and event. It's been a lot of work. It's been a
huge learning experience. Has it gone without a glitch?
Absolutely not and those that were there in 2005 know this.
Mark that up as a big time learning experience. That was
almost the end of the show. If RTTB continues and I hope it
does, I would like to
be involved. It's just so much fun to be a part of something
so worthwhile. Not sure if it can continue as a charity event
or not.
Many of you have
heard me mention about the fixed cost of this show in Myrtle Beach.
The city charges a fee along with a long and tedious process for permits, BATB has a major fee, trophies, tent-canopy rentals, event
insurance, registration software; we need about 95 paid cars in
advance just to pay the fixed costs involved. This is tough to
do and reason to sweat bullets over. It really is nerve
racking. Eliminating judging and vendors will knock out a lot
of those costs. Having the show someplace other than BATB will
knock out a major portion of it.
Classing and
judging the cars have always been a tough thing. We've tried
participant judging, professional judging, judges from other car
clubs (not PT) and team judging like we did on this past show.
I honestly don't know of any other way to do it. This past
show, RTTB-10 seemed to have worked out real well with the fewest
complaints and was the cheapest. Maybe this is the way to go
if judging and classes continue.
Would RTTB be as
successful if it were held elsewhere or if there were no judging and
trophies? Maybe. Maybe not. I feel a major draw to
this event has been the fact it's in Myrtle Beach. Another is
the cost factor to the participants. We've kept the
registration as low as possible over the years. Hotel costs
are tremendously cheaper than many other PT shows. Those two
factors have made it a winning combination. Oh yeah, let's not
forget the 2 main reasons we get together, our PT Cruisers and
friends.
Keep an eye on
this website periodically and let's see where it all goes.
You do have a
voice. Check out the new "RTTB MESSAGE BOARD" and let us hear
from you. The link is at the top of this page.
Thanks for being
a part of RTTB
. . . .Rick
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