September Update
The executive summary is as follows: we need some of your money and help. And we have some info for you. Please read on for details.
REGISTER FOR THE CONVOY NOW
We are ready to take your registration money! The registration cost for this great Convoy is $100 per HMV. So, if you plan to bring more than one HMV, it’s $100 per HMV. This registration cost covers the HMV, its Driver and Co-Driver. There is no charge for any chase or tow vehicles or other personnel in your party. It is 100% NON-REFUNDABLE. The primary use of these funds will be to create a very good registration package for you and your co-driver and your HMV. If, for some reason, you can’t make the Convoy your welcome package will be sent to you after the Convoy. Please make your check out to MVPA Historical Archives. Please mail your check to me at this address:
Terry A. ShelswellDirector - MVPA 2009 Transcontinental Motor Convoy Project
INERGY AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS
2710 Bellingham, Suite 400 Troy, MI 48083
Once I receive your payment, I will mark you as registered and send you an email or note to say we’ve received your payment. I will announce the first 10 (excluding me because that wouldn’t be fair!) paid-up registrants in our next group comms package!
HELP NEEDED
Our team of Volunteers needs your help. THIS MEANS THAT WE NEED SOME ADDITIONAL VOLUNTEERS.
We need 3-4 volunteers to work with our city contacts in each town we stop in. You will not have to work with all the contacts, just a group of them. This group of volunteers will contact these folks in each town to organize our meals and any special events that they wish to set up for us. Please email me if you can help.
We need 3-4 volunteers that can help our radio comms Volunteer, David Wilhelm (glrwirth@embarqmail.com) manage our radios every day. Yes, we will have pretty good comms – thanks to MVPA member and TMC’09 participant, Tim Clark. Please email David and me if you can help. This work will include the following duties:
- Assign and distribute the radios to folks each morning.
- Retrieve all radios at the end of each day’s drive and place them on charge.
- Help the comms leader to make any minor repairs that are needed.
We need 3-4 volunteers to lead the daily preparation of the march units. This will include the following duties:
- Prepare and give a short information communications about the next day’s schedule to all “march unit leaders” each evening before a Convoy trip leg. I will help you – but I may have other duties at this time so you need to be able to cover this on your own.
- Maintain or create a list of march units for the next day’s Convoy trip leg. This will mean that you need to have an accurate roster of MVs, by a simple classification (¼ ton, ½ - 1 ton, 2 ½ ton+ …). We have this info already – but it will change each day as MVs and their keepers join and leave. Every MV will have a Convoy number already assigned.
- Help organize the launch of the Convoy after each major stop – working with the march unit leaders.
- I will look forward to one of the volunteers here taking the additional role of Convoy Operations Leader – to help prepare this activity before the Convoy.
MORE CONVOY INFO
As of today, we have 168 MVs pre-registered that are bringing 224 people with them! Within these numbers, 48 MVs are pre-registered to go the entire DC-SF Convoy distance. Please find attached here the following documents:
a) Please make sure I have all your vehicle information. I also need to know your LODGING plans! Please send me an email telling me that you plan to
1. CAMP most nights.
2. HOTEL/MOTEL it most nights.
3. Make a rough 50/50 split of camping / hotel
b) Click on this link to see a chart showing the number of MVs and chase vehicles and people per day of the Convoy. This is key info for our Volunteer team!
c) Click on this link to our daily planning worksheet. We have changed our stop in Dekalb, IL to Rochelle, IL. More info here soon.
Using the graph above we can see that there is likely to be an average of 70 MVs on the Convoy each day, with a peak of 84. What a great turnout of our membership! Remember - these are pre-registered numbers – and we need everyone’s money to turn these numbers into registered participants! From here on, we’ll only speak about registered (paid) Convoy participants.
We presented the TMC’09 Project at our Convention in Portland a couple of weeks ago. We had an advertising kit set up (thanks to Randy Parent for transporting it) and many thanks to all who showed up to say hi and special thanks to those 17 members that joined during the Convention. Special thanks to our Volunteers that helped us during the Convention.
One very important piece of equipment is being provided by our MV hobby Vendors. It is a reproduction WW II ¼ ton trailer – one of our spare parts trailers. The following MV Vendors have graciously offered parts:
D&L Bensinger, Ron Fitzpatrick & MD Juan: body tub, frame, axle, lunette eye, landing leg, drawbar casting, safety chains & combat wheels (all items already provided)
AJP & Lamar Rowland: wiring harness
Brian Asbury: hub caps and spring shackles
Rapco: paint
The Long Olive Drab Line: light brackets (already provided)
Veterans Memorial Museum: tires
Beachwood Canvas: the canvas and a complete trailer cover
Peter Debella Jeep Parts: U-bolts, spring plates, shocks, anchor pins & shackles, paint, bearings and hub caps
Rick Larsen Stencils: stencils (we’ll come up with a theme)
First Division Museum: trailer assembly, painting and transport to DC
At the time of writing this article, we are still missing (at least) the following components: All lights, wheel hubs, tubes & flaps, a service manual … and what-ever else a WW II trailer expert will see that we’ve missed! Please contact MVPA member and TMC’09 Volunteer Mike Fernandez (MFernan@murray.utah.gov) to identify any components that you are interested to donate to this trailer. Please assume that you will need to ship these donated parts to Wheaton, IL – to the First Division Museum. This offer is open to all MVPA members and Vendors. Thanks so much to our MV hobby Vendors that have offered to help here.
Finally, please make every effort to get your HMV in tip top shape for the Convoy. Our Volunteer in charge of Spares and Repairs, Dennis Boots (dennis@dentonboots.com), will be sending us a reminder note on what main points to check (we should all know what to check on our HMVs) to prepare the trucks. Also, we’ll provide some reminders of what spare parts to bring. I encourage MV owners of similar MVs to speak together to share spare parts. Dennis will also be working with our MV hobby Vendors to arrange for some additional spare parts to ride along with us. Several of you have volunteered to help Dennis – and thanks for that. If you have an interest to help out Dennis, please email him and me.
More comms info coming soon. Keep checking the Bulletin Board.
Take care to all of you … keep 'em rolling!
Terry A. Shelswell, P. Eng., MVPA # 13957
Director - MVPA 2009 Transcontinental Motor Convoy Project
Work: 1-248-743-5703
Fax: 1-248-526-1466
Cell: 1-586-212-9523
email: terry.shelswell@inergyautomotive.com
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