Where? When? Who? Any definitive plans?
We're looking at Elkins. Lewisburg was too expensive, ($169/night). We figure Elkins will have better roads, and lower accommodation costs. We hope to have some definite details by Townsend.
Jim
Great, I was hoping we could make an announcement at Townsend.
So are we. Dan should have some more info in a few days.
Jim
As a kid, in the 1950's, I often visited that area, my maternal grandmother lived in Parsons. Elkins was the nearest "BIG" town.
I remember many twisty roads.
Here is US 219 near Parsons:
IMG_1827.jpg
Where is Elkins? Idaho?
:-D
Seriously, Carl. The only Elkins that come up on Google is in Idaho.
Tim
Just east of I-79, and south of Morgantown W.V.
Okay, thought it was a West Virginia joke. :) That Elkins Resort in Idaho looks like a nice destination, though.
Something strange with your Google. I type in Elkins & the first two results are about schools, then I get
3) City of Elkins
cityofelkinswv.com
4)Elkins, West Virginia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elkins,_West_Virginia
According to this there are only three cities in the USA with that name, New Hampshire, Arkansas, & West Virginia.
Population 7094 as of 2010. Looks like its in a valley between the mountains.
Number 3 on the list of The 10 Most Redneck Cities In West Virginia. Hold myuh beer & watch this! :)
http://www.roadsnacks.net/these-are-the-10-most-redneck-cities-in-west-virginia/
Carl, Elkins can't be that small as they appear to have a LIMO service.
Oh yeah, it's huge. The city limits covers all of 3.6 square miles. ;)
Probably like here, many more prefer to live outside the city limits.
Small towns seem to be a prerequisite for the meet - Townsend has all of 452 people (including Janet and me)!
The town is quaint and artsy. Formed by railroad and timber barons raping the countryside 150 years ago, it used to be a railroad hub and is located in a mountainous region, so there is plenty of room to play. The hotel we are negotiating with is walking distance from 2 liquor stores and several downtown bars and restaurants.
The picture I posted is close to the Kingsford Charcoal plant. Wanna cookout?
Jeez guys, you ever have one of these events anywhere closer to the West coast...? I know you're all supermen and have hard bodies , but some of us don't have nearly the stamina to flog a classic car with big engine for thousands of miles!
Nice, Elkins is only 6 hours away, where as Townsend is 8 from me.
QuoteJeez guys, you ever have one of these events anywhere closer to the West coast...?
The reason there have been none on the west coast is because no one from the west coast has stepped forward and made it happen. These things don't happen by magic. It's a 100% volunteer effort.
Of the twenty meets we've had, I hosted or co-hosted five of them. It's time for someone near the west coast to host one. No reason why we can't have one out west AND one here in the east.
For me, it's a double edged sword. I like seeing and catching up with everyone. If/when there are separate events, it'll be more convenient for some, but will also tend to create two groups instead of one. I guess best of both worlds would be informal east/west meets and still have an annual all BV8 - either on our own or possibly combined with the annual MG Owners group meeting (I've never been to that, so not sure if it'd make sense).
I'm no closer to the west than the east, but if someone wants to do a west event, I'm happy to help - I'm in the SF Bay area every 2-3 weeks. I'd suggest a less formal one to start with to see how it goes over.
if i remember correctly a california member began to try to organize a left coast event for 2017. the route was proposed/suggested which seemed to be in the spirit of the events of the past. multiple replies from members east of the mississippi thought it would be too hot to drive to california in the warmer months even with a/c through the plains. he eventually dropped the effort as the east coast folks seemed to think it would take too much effort to participate. the western states are large and wide open compared to eastern states, hell it takes a day and a half on a motorcycle to cross montana. just my interpretation of that discussion. i could be wrong
A Hwy 49 tour following the route through the 49er gold rush towns from Colusa and Sutters Mill to Yosemite would be a great run any time of the year through the foothills of the Sierras. (Google Snowball Rally)
and over the top down the eastern side then to lake tahoe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNPki1WVZdw
Tentative dates June 7-11.
I think you gentlemen out west should organize such a meet, or a run, or a combination of both, and the sooner the better, even if the first one is on a small scale with just a handful of members. If you can do that in 2017 I think that would be great. Even better if you can do it this summer in 2016.
As for the W.Va. meet, perhaps to avoid confusion we should start a thread entitled "W.Va. 2017 Meet"?
Dan has discovered a few trends of interest to any meet organizers, which I will try to post as that information is available to me. One such gem is that it seems the Motel/Hotel managers like to use a 330 day cutoff. In other words, they try to fill the next 330 days' reservations and aren't overly concerned with anything past that. Now I know that many of us like to make our plans for next year while the memories of this year are fresh in our minds, and as that particularly applies to places we go regularly the motels are often willing to take reservations a year or more in advance, but what Dan has found is that there just isn't a lot of incentive on their part to exceed that 330 day window. As we have just had the 2016 meet and next year's W.Va. meet is yet over a year away, this hampers us a little in negotiating our site and room rates for next year, and no doubt this sort of situation is factored into that 330 day window since the bottom line is, after all, the bottom line.
But what it means for all of us is that it may be another month or two before we really have solid plans for next year. Fortunately for us all, Dan has a job that frequently takes him around the state to various towns and on a wide assortment of roads and has him staying overnight in many of these accommodations that we would like to consider. This gives him not only a good range of comparisons and contact with the motel/hotel staffs, but he sees what they offer as their Government Rate for rooms, which we can use to help negotiate favorable rates for our group.
As matters now stand, we have several very good locales in mind and are in the early stages of negotiations for accommodations with all of them, but as of yet the quotes on room prices have not dropped into an acceptable range. We expect that to change for at least one or two locations, Elkins currently being the best choice.
To be fair, in reality we could go to any town in the state that has the accommodations we like and have a good location for a meet. It's been said, by a famous author who also happens to be from our hometown, that the W. Va. roads are,"...like a can full of worms with the St. Vitus dance..." and those of us familiar with them will vouch for that. So we will not lack for fun drives regardless of where we are. But as we have become a fairly large group those needs must also be considered. Tips on W.Va. driving etiquette will follow in a later post.
We have also been considering activities, and these are likely to take the form of, "Go somewhere and do something." activities. These largely depend on where we gather. For instance we have such things as the Greenbank Observatory, a wind turbine farm, a dirt track, scenic railways, interesting state parks, a local brewery, Seneca Rocks, Germany Valley, Cranberry Glades a bit farther away and even Blackwater Falls is within reach. As long as we are considering a wide range of activities, a whitewater trip is even a possibility should there be interest in that, as could be a caving expedition, as wild caves are common in the area. Some of us are getting a bit old for some of that, but then again some are not. Clearly we can't do all these things and we may have to consider a follow up meet sometime down the road. But there are enough activities to keep us busy. For those who like hiking and/or rock climbing, this is certainly the place to be. We'll miss the fall colors but Summertime in W.Va., especially up in the mountains where it is cooler, is one of the best times anywhere, particularly if you find yourself perched on a high ridge enjoying the breeze and the views. One of my favorite things has been to sit on top a large boulder atop the rim wall of the New River Gorge and watch little rafts full of people float through the rapids.
At any rate, we have plenty to look forward to and there will be lots of options regardless of where we end up and it is likely the challenge will be more along the lines of figuring out how to fit in the particular things we want to do to the time we have available. One thing we might want to consider is the option of having small groups go in various different directions for some of the activities. It strikes me that not everyone will want to do the same things at the same times and it doesn't hurt to be flexible, plus the drive is usually a bit more fun in smaller groups rather than one large parade. Maybe one or two large group activities and a lot of optional trips would work. Anyway that's just a thought for consideration right now, and something I've seen work before for large groups in the area.
Jim
re: Dan has discovered a few trends of interest to any meet organizers, which I will try to post as that information is available to me. One such gem is that it seems the Motel/Hotel managers like to use a 330 day cutoff. In other words, they try to fill the next 330 days' reservations and aren't overly concerned with anything past that. Now I know that many of us like to make our plans for next year while the memories of this year are fresh in our minds, and as that particularly applies to places we go regularly the motels are often willing to take reservations a year or more in advance, but what Dan has found is that there just isn't a lot of incentive on their part to exceed that 330 day window. As we have just had the 2016 meet and next year's W.Va. meet is yet over a year away, this hampers us a little in negotiating our site and room rates for next year, and no doubt this sort of situation is factored into that 330 day window since the bottom line is, after all, the bottom line.
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Not necessarily.
I contracted BritishV8 2015 hotel rates well over 18 months in advance.
I contracted MG2016 hotels three years in advance.
I am organizing a high school class reunion (my 45th) for 2017...and have a small block of only 20 rooms. Guaranteed rate, etc.
You should be able to negotiate good rates, free meeting rooms, internet access, complimentary rooms based on total room-nights (ie - one comp room for every twenty five room-nights) Note that a room-night is just that. An attendee's reservation for an arrival of May10 and a departure of May15 would be five room-nights.
You should be able to negotiate car wash stations, etc.
You should be able to negotiate reservation cut-off dates (which then frees up unsold rooms in your block for the hotel to sell, at the going rate, to others outside of the group....or to those procrastinators from the group.) The cut-off is typically 30 days prior to the event.
A lot of variables come into play....the number of potential rooms/room-nights in your block being one of the most important.
That comes from THE expert.
In the case of the National events, though, Rick walks in & reserves the entire hotel/hotels.
Currently the best quote we have gotten from the Lewisburg Hampton is $140 a night. To me that seems a bit rich for most of us. Do you agree?
Jim
Seems to me like they should be able to do better than that. The Brier Inn would be better suited to our group, with a big parking lot and plenty of rooms that all have outside entrances. The Brier also has the capability of hosting a banquet. It is a Quality Inn. Last fall I visited with the manager and he was very interested but he has since retired. The new manager didn't call back. Their best Internet rate is $90 and they have plenty of rooms. This may be our best option. https://www.choicehotels.com/west-virginia/lewisburg/quality-inn-hotels/wv086 This is in Lewisburg, near some pretty fun roads and other attractions. All the hotels in Lewisburg are together, away from downtown near I-64. There are some chain restaurants nearby, but the cool places are a mile or two away.
Elkins is a cool little small town also and the Holiday Inn Express is right downtown, walking distance from local bars and restaurants. It also is near plenty of fun driving roads and attractions. Both towns are about the same distance from several things we might do. The biggest drawback to Elkins is the size of the hotel. It just may not be big enough. It has 69 rooms and suites and the manager seemed hesitant to block more than 30 to start with.
I will be traveling through Elkins on Friday and will try to meet with them. I will be going through Lewisburg next week.
Rick, we appreciate your expertise and undoubtedly will be calling on you soon.
Maybe we should rent a house or two. ;)
Kay and I have stayed at the Brier Inn a few times over the years...was a nice place....
Yesterday I was traveling through Elkins and stopped to meet with the manager of the Holiday Inn Express. It is a nice hotel with a free breakfast. He said the best rate he could get us was $99. It is located on an old rail yard and the city owns the property. I asked about open containers and the manager said that was not allowed but suggested we be discreet and use solo cups or something. No banquet facility onsite, but there are options nearby. He said a 50 room block was not a problem. The hotel only has about 70 rooms, so we would have most of it. It is in a central location for several activities and drives we would enjoy.
I have a meeting with the manager of the Brier Inn (Quality Inn) in Lewisburg on Monday afternoon. Pluses there are: 1)Larger hotel, so we should not run out of rooms. 2) Other hotels adjacent just in case 3) on-site banquet facilities 4) somewhat isolated parking lot away from downtown so open containers should not be a problem --I will find out for sure on that one Monday
Lewisburg and Elkins are about two hours apart from each other on US 219, which travels through the mountains by the ski areas. Some of the activities we are considering would be accessible from either place and others are comparable. After I meet with the Brier, hopefully we can get the thing booked and open to take reservations for 2017!
Don et al,
Yes, I tried a while ago to set up a West Coast deal and there were some (a few) great responses along with some tremendous offers to assist/insight (for which I am appreciative). In the end however, the detractors ("too far", "this is not a West Coast tour, it is a California tour", "too hot",etc, etc.) got too much for me and I figured it was not worth the effort.
I have since moved to the Pacific Northwest but still figure that a West Coast tour would be great for the members on this side of the island. Not willing to establish it myself (not enough time--working) but am open to helping anyone else who wants to step up to the plate.
Personally, I doubt that it will happen on this side because there seems to be more interest/involvement on the East Coast but who knows? I have been wrong before (once!).....
I know for a fact there are plenty of V8/V6 Brit cars in the PNW as I just got back from a run with mine thru some great driving roads in Washington State! See link to my thread. http://forum.britishv8.org/read.php?10,55722
Jim
I agree with you 100% but it is the organizing part and involvement aspect that seems to be lacking.
Hooray,
Maybe the maybe the Stag will be roadworthy by then only 11 hours from NH
I MAY be interested in trying to get this going again for next year (2020)...if anyone has an interest?
Marshall,
I would be interested. As they say in Wayne's World, "book it and they will come"!
Bill
Yep I'm interested...!
Someone should start a fresh thread about a West Coast Meet