5th Annual Aberdeen M151 Dinner Party

[Bob Amon]

5th Annual Aberdeen M151 Dinner Party

Greetings Fellas!

I posted this over on the other site and am posting it here as well. Four years ago, on Friday, May 5, 2004, I organized a group of M151 owners, suppliers and enthusiasts for a get-together in Aberdeen. Some of us had dinner together and we all had some very interesting M151 conversations. We had eleven in all, not a real good attendance, but it was the start of an annual M151 dinner party. Over the past years, we've had as many as 27 and as few as 8, but it's always been fun. We've had people from as far south as Mississippi and as far north as Massachusetts, but the M151 stories are some of the funniest and most interesting stories you're ever going to hear!

This year, I expect a big turnout again. If you're going to Aberdeen and you're interested in M151's (or just want to mix it up with other MV convoy people), this is the most fun you're going to have all weekend. We actually park several M151's in a small group, open the hoods, and shoot the shiite for several hours over a plateful of food and a few beers. Here's your chance to join a bunch of M151 guys and talk non-stop MUTTs. Here are the particulars for this year's get-together:

Time: 1800 Hrs.

Date: Friday, May 9, 2008.

Menu: Last year, Cabell Garbee, one of the organizers of the annual East Coast Rally to Aberdeen, graciously included our M151 Group in his authentic NC Hog Roast. It was an entire BBQed pig with boiled potatoes, beans and bread. Cabell ordered a 130 lb. hog and there was plenty of food to go around. This year, Cabell hasn't decided what he's cooking, but it'll be something good and nobody is going to walk away hungry, let's put it that way.

Price: The price of admission this year is the same as last year: you must be wearing this year's Convoy T-shirt. That is all this man is requiring! If you're not part of the convoy and don't have a T-shirt, no problem. Extra T-shirts will be on sale at the BBQ and the cost is estimated to be between $11-$13. That is the only price of admission. He unselfishly does this dinner mostly for the MV fellowship and to make an event for everyone that will be memorable for years to come.

Location of BBQ: Cabell Garbee may have the BBQ in the parking lot again, but there is talk of another location which would be even more fun... a local park nearby. This would mean all of us jumping in our jeeps and convoying it a couple of miles out to the park. But I will keep you all posted and updated on this and all of the other details.


IMPORTANT: Please RSVP below to give me some idea of how many will be going to this get-together. I need to give Cabell Garbee a head count. If you're joining the convoy, you'll probably already have a T-shirt to wear to the dinner. If not, you'll have to pick one up at the dinner site or Cabell Garbee's tent over near the trees.

Any questions or concerns, fire away. Otherwise, we'll see you in Aberdeen on Friday night, 5/9/08!

[rickf]

I replied over there and I will do so here, Count me in for two.
Rick

[moose53]

Garbee needs to get the website updated and all, this time last year I already had my t-shirt.....
people need time to adjust their schedules and make plans...

Jim

[Joe]

I'll be there again too. And as Bob indicated, the pig roast was great, the beer cold and the mutt's stood ready for discussion. Looks like everyone was standing in the chow line when this pic was taken......

[Bob Amon]

Garbee needs to get the website updated and all, this time last year I already had my t-shirt.....
people need time to adjust their schedules and make plans...

Jim

Hi Jim,

I sure hope you can join us this year so we can finally meet you in person! We'd love to have you at the dinner!

Just for clarification for everyone else... I've often seen some confusion about the event at Aberdeen. Even the other post on the Event Board here confuses the Meet with the Convoy, for example.


The Aberdeen Meet itself is sponsored by The Washington Area Collectors/Blue and Gray Military Vehicle Trust (WAV/B&G MVT). They operate this Meet (or Rally, as it's sometimes called) as a not-for-profit event and the proceeds from the event benefit several military museums, war memorials, non-profit charitable and civic organizations. It's been going on for over 30 years and for the past 4 years or so, the Meet (or Rally) has been held at the Ripken Stadium Complex on the asphalt in the new parking lot there (much bewtter than the mud field of prior years). Here's a link to the Club Meet (or Rally) Website and on here you will find all the particulars about it, incuding vendor spaces, parking lot rules, hours, things that are prohibited, etc.:

Aberdeen MV Meet: http://www.wacbgmvt.org/ecr/index.html

The East Coast Convoy is something completely separate from the Meet that WAV/B&G MVT puts on. In fact, it isn't even run by anyone in that MV Club. The convoy to the Aberdeen Meet was started 5 years ago by Bruce Kalin and several others and for the past 5 years the East Coast Convoy's only destination has been the Meet at Aberdeen. There's a Northern Serial and a Southern Serial. With the Northern Serial, guys with MVs start out as far north as Canada and join up with people from NY state and New England and drive down the NJ Turnpike, picking up guys like me along the way at truck stops, etc., and eventually pull into Aberdeen and hook up with the Southern Serial. After joining up, both Serials pull into the parking lot at Aberdeen on Thursday afternoon, honking thier horns and announcing their arrival!

The Northern Serial this year is run by Art Swain from the MTA group up in north Jersey. The Southern Serial has been run for years by Cabell Garbee of Raleigh, NC and I've personally seen him work very hard at all the things that have to be done. There is a website for the East Coast Convoy, although lately the website has fallen behind and has not yet been updated for 2008, so there's some concern among some people that this will effect the convoy turnout. I happen to think if there is a lesser turnout, fuel prices will play a bigger role in guys not participating than the lack of an updated website. But whether or not the convoy experiences a lesser turnout, this will not effect the Aberdeen meet itself, nor does it have any effect on our Annual M151 Dinner. Here's the 2007 offical website:

East Coast Convoy : http://www.eastcoastconvoy.com/

The Annual M151 Dinner that I organized in 2004 is just something that happened as a result of some of us M151 guys getting together for some dinner and beers on Friday night at the Aberdeen Meet. It too has nothing to do with the Meet itself or the East Coast Convoy, we just use the event to see how many guys we can get together on Friday night who like to look at MUTTs and talk about M151 jeeps.

We used to meet in Durango's Bar at the Clarion, which was basically an indoor thing with guys talking about their M151 experiences and telling funny stories. But last year, when Cabell Garbee allowed us to join his Pig Roast, it was the first time we had it outdoors, so now we had the best of all worlds... eating dinner while having some cold ones and talking about MUTTs while we had the hoods open! I mean, we talked carbs (Winget's modified carb was a hot topic) and all kinds of stuff... even had a guest show up who knew the history of my own M151A2. i won't go into that, but some of the stories, including his, had us all rolling on the pavement.

The get-together this year will be outdoors and will probably be with Cabell Garbee's cookout crew again, but I will keep us all posted on everything concerning that. As far as the T-shirts go, Cabell will have a supply of them at his tent on the day of the cookout, so don't be too concerned if there is no official signup yet or somewhat lack of organization on the part of the East Coast Convoy because, again, that has nothing to do with all of us M151 guys getting together at Aberdeen. We could do our dinner anywhere like we did before, it's just that it was a fun way to do the dinner last year and I'm sure it'll be a blast again this year.

Now, if I can only convince Blake Shepard to show up again and recant his story of the time he bought the MUTT and drove it home, you guys will want a video of this, it's that good. We couldn't even eat for laughing so hard!

Anyway, I just thought I'd clear up some of the confusion about the differences between the Aberdeen Meet, The East Coast Convoy and our Annual M151 Dinner.

[Bob Amon]

LAST CALL ~ FINAL SIGN-UP: If you are attending the M151 Dinner, please go to this thread over at G503 and sign up: http://www.g503.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=115541
This puts all the participants in one place and gives Cabell Gabee a total head count to help him plan the food.

THE FINAL FRIDAY NIGHT PLANS: Okay fellas, I have the final plans now from Cabell Garbee on his cookout and a green light on how to order the T-shirts. My plans are to have all of us M151 guys meet on Friday night at 5:45 PM and line up our vehicles out on the main road behind Carter Davidson for the short convoy to Susquehanna State Park for the cookout. Here's what Cabell posts on Steel Soldiers as to what is taking place on Friday night:

"The menu this year will be fried turkey (pain, or with hot sauce or eastern NC BBQ sauce) with fixin's. Location of Friday's supper party will be at a local park approximately ten miles from the rally site. Convoy members will line up for a combined convoy to the park on Friday evening on the road into the rally site, organized from smallest to largest vehicle with the M37 of Carter Davidson taking the point."

TO ORDER YOUR T-SHIRT NOW and pick it up on Friday night, go to the official website: http://www.eastcoastconvoy.com

The opening page will have the order form on it. Specify your name and T-shirt size and click "Order T-shirt" below. This will take you to a Paypal page. Simply send $12 to Cabell Garbee (DO NO send $18 unless you want the shirt shipped to you). Most of us will be picking up our shirts at Garbee's tent when we get there. Complete the Paypal process by indicating that you want to send $12 to: cgarbee@ipass.net

The Paypal screen will complete your transaction as normal and you should have confirmation in your account that $12 has been sent. That's all there is to it.

Then, if you revisit http://www.eastcoastconvoy.com, there is a Nav Bar on the left on which you can click on "Friday Night Dinner." There are links on that page which will show you a map of exactly where we are going in Susquehanna State Park as a convoy group. It's not very far from where the Aberdeen Meet is, so do not be concerned about a long drive.

WE SHOULD ALL EXCHANGE CELL PHONE NUMBERS. I will have my cell phone with me and on for the entire weekend. If anyone has any questions or other suggestions or input, please feel free to contact me. Some of you already have my cell number, but please PM me if you need it. It would not be a bad idea for all of us to have a private list of one another's cell numbers.

I'm not sure if this will be my last post on this dinner, as I've been working at a location away from my computer lately. I will try to post one more time and will definitely post if there is a change in plans.

This will be a fun event and I'm really looking forward to seeing as many of you again as possible!

[Joe]

This is a pic taken at the turkey cookout at a nearby State Park on Friday night. From left: Fil B., Horst, Diane & Rick F., Joe (me) and of course, Bob Amon. The food was excellent, the stories amusing but the weather was damp, windy and cold and we still had a great time!!!