A heartfelt thank you to all 2012 Carlisle participants

[eagledriver]

Whew! The impossible has been done; what a great event! Monsoon rains Friday night, registration issues and everything else couldn't keep this event from being the largest Shelby gathering ever!

 

If I may take a minute and sincerely thank all those who attended :

 

The Ford team, SAI team , and BJ team were great and really made this event a fantastic one! However, they didn't make this event, YOU did. It took the 382 Shelby owners who attended to make this event. It simply would not have been possible without the friendship and camaraderie of Team Shelby. I can't thank you enough! Even my mid-Friday meltdown couldn't keep this event from reaching epic status. If anyone managed to get it on video I'd love to see how I fit through that 12" wide window LOL. In any case this was a great event and the one thing I keep coming back to is how many TS members that I never met before approached me and asked what they could do to help. That really meant a lot to me. It almost got to the point that I choked up at one point seeing how willing TS members whom I've known for 5 minutes offer anything they could do help.

 

Another emotional point: Those of you who know me know that I fall into the "garage/trailer/OCD queen" status with my Shelbys. Qtippping the undercarriage is my therapy. When I heard about Jersygator's accident I actually felt horrible and almost let that mood dictate my weekend. I figured he would call it a day and go home from the track. When I saw him and his son in the gator mobile lining up for the grand entrance it made me stop and think. Not even wrecking his prized Shelby could keep him from this event! Wow, that attitude is what inspires me to do as much for all of you as possible! He was as noble as any owner I've ever known and there was not a touch of anger in him, in fact he got the "Celebrity's choice" award for proven track history. Talk about making lemonade out of lemons! That attitude is what makes Team Shelby a second-to-none group.

 

For me personally the best moment of the event was Thursday AM. The SAI 50th vehicles were parked in a secure building and had to be moved out to set up the display vehicles in that building. I drove the Shelby 1000 ( I know, right?) about 500 feet enjoying every second of it. Afterwards John Luft approached me and said that I was the forst NON-SAI employee to ever drive it. I know it's a small thing but that made my day.

 

Oh, one last thing. After my my meltdown Friday ( which was because I am a checklist guy and when things have to change at the last second it doesn't go well ), Gary Patterson stopped what he was doing and bought me lunch and gave me just the advice that I needed. What VP of a company will do that for a customer?? He really humbled me and showed that from the guy who can only afford a Shelby Tshirt right up through the guy who has 100 Shelbys, they are all the same to Gary. He is truly a great person.

 

Lastly, while it looked like it came together smoothly it John Keller and Tony Scalies to really make it happen. Tony single handedly took over the track portion of the event and John spent countless hours arranging the tent, dinner, parties, basically everything but the actually car show parts of the event.

 

When the Mayor of Carlisle changed the city charter to include the first Saturday of every June to be "Team Shelby and Carroll Shelby day" in Carlisle it showed just how much of an impact this event made to all.

 

Thank You!

Andy Roth

[GTH391]

Andy,

 

There wasn't anyone there that didn't understand the stress you guys were experiencing. Believe it or not, I heard people "for what they are paying you guys....". Everyone knew it was a volunteer effort. Forget the negatives and focus on the accomplishments.

 

Well done, sirs! Anytime you need help, just call.

[Robert OHara]

This event was great , A huge Thank You ,to you and all involved .

[chronosafe]

I had a wonderful time. Kudos to all those who planned and volunteered! Me and Shelby look foreword to the next event!

[stngfever]

Andy, Tony, John and all others involved in this event did a TERRIFIC Job! While an occasional glitch popped up now and then (is to be expected with such a large event), they were handled by the staff exceptionally!

 

Looking back, wish I had attended last years event!

 

Looking forward to see what the East boys will do next year.

[mbcortese]

I would like to thank everyone involved from the people who put in the long hours to the people that put in the long drives. First time I have ever attended a car event, and I'm glad I started with this one. Bought my first Shelby last year, sorry to report I was a "bow tie guy". The passion I saw this weekend by the Shelby owners made me proud to be one, no agendas, just people enjoying their cars and friends. Looking forward to next year to see the family again, thanks.

[tpow96]

Andy,

 

Great job by you, John and Tony for volunteering the countless hours to make this event happen. On Friday when you said, forget my clean car OCD, I'm going to have some fun now, I thought, that's great... you deserve it.

 

-Tom

[Intmdtor]

Andy,

 

My wife was the one you told to move out of the way at the Expo Center as we were trying to get our registration packets from the Shelby girls. When she didn't get out of the way fast enough, you moved over to the next window and went through it like a Cirque du Soleil acrobat. Needless to say, we were both too stunned to capture that (or what followed) on video, which is probably for the best. There were several of us there picking up our packets and that was definitely not what any of us needed to see or hear.

 

Regardless, as someone who has organized these types of events in the past, I know firsthand the amount of work that goes into putting something like this together. I want to thank you and the rest of the team for all the blood, sweat and tears that went into making this possible. All said and done, the wife and I had a great time at the poker run and over the weekend. Hopefully we'll be able to take the car to the track in the future since we weren't able to make it to Summit Point.

 

We have many pics from the weekend and will be sharing them as time permits.

 

Thanks again.

[HARALD KELLEY]

"When the Mayor of Carlisle changed the city charter to include the first Saturday of every June to be "Team Shelby and Carroll Shelby day" in Carlisle it showed just how much of an impact this event made to all."

 

Way cool.

[ilmor]

Congratulations and a huge thanks to you and all others who planned, organized and worked this event. It was an awesome experience (esp. the parade through downtown Carlisle...OMG...).

[E40]

As many others have said, great event, great people and to those that managed it all deserve a huge CONGRATULATIONS! Thanks for your hard work and dedication, I hope I can repay all of you in some way.

 

Fred!

[NJPat]

Andy-

 

A small meltdown here and there is to be expected on such a large, volunteer effort.

You all (you, John and Tony, and your "staffs") did GREAT work, and because of that work you MADE the weekend for all of us.

My wife and I are very grateful for all of your efforts.

Thank you (and Julie, too).

See you soon.

Best

Pat

[Rarecat]

Wait, what? I missed an EPIC meltdown? I need to see a video! As someone who has put together national events as well, the view as an organizer is much different than that of an attendee. All an organizer sees is the things that are not going as planned.....the attendees don't know any better and are having a blast....

 

Great Job Andy, we had a blast!

[mr2turtle]

Andy

Thanks for everything! It was a herculian event and it went well.

I really enjoyed myself. One bad thing, it came to an end!

Jim

[rpmcobra]

I sent a PM to Andy before the event explanning I had just completed surgey and would have difficutly

moving my car around. Andy took the time to insure that I would'nt have to move my car for the entire event.

Thanks for the behind the scenes effort on a personal level you and others took to

make this an enjoyable event for all.

Thanks Andy

[belltr]

Andy,

As always you John and the others did an outstanding job.

 

This is my second SHELBY event (hopefully of a long line of them) that I have attended and I can honestly say there are no other people I would rather have helping everyone out than Andy and his family. They are some of the kindest and thoughtful people I have ever met. Andy can vouch that in preparation for the event last year (Hall Of Kings) I must have called, emailed and texted him no less than 1000 times trying to make sure I had everything prepared and ready to go so I would not miss anything. Andy explained everything and assisted me like we were best friends for years not some stranger that he had never met. People like you are what make these events worth driving hours to attend…

 

Andy I want to thank you and your wife for always being so kind to everyone, and again helping me out at this year’s event keeping my KR dry…

 

Tim

[eagledriver]

Andy,

 

My wife was the one you told to move out of the way at the Expo Center as we were trying to get our registration packets from the Shelby girls. When she didn't get out of the way fast enough, you moved over to the next window and went through it like a Cirque du Soleil acrobat. Needless to say, we were both too stunned to capture that (or what followed) on video, which is probably for the best. There were several of us there picking up our packets and that was definitely not what any of us needed to see or hear.

 

Regardless, as someone who has organized these types of events in the past, I know firsthand the amount of work that goes into putting something like this together. I want to thank you and the rest of the team for all the blood, sweat and tears that went into making this possible. All said and done, the wife and I had a great time at the poker run and over the weekend. Hopefully we'll be able to take the car to the track in the future since we weren't able to make it to Summit Point.

 

We have many pics from the weekend and will be sharing them as time permits.

 

Thanks again.

 

 

I sincerely apologize for any offense I caused you and your wife. It was one of things that spiraled rapidly out of control. I believe the Shelby "girls" was my entire issue as they simply were not neccesary. I was not aware of their presence until Friday Am and I had hundreds of attendees that had no idea where to register at. John did a fantastic job of coordinating dozens and dozens of concurrent events and needed a team to facilitate the check in process. Apparently they were part of the track group which I was not coordinating and followed that group up from Summitt point. I felt showing cleavage and other things was over the top and not needed as we had many families present. I had so many people offer their time that I feel we need to use them next year instead of the "girls". This was a decision that I had no part in and for those offended by them I am sorry.

 

John really did a great job changing venues at the last possible minute (literally) due to the weather. I was busy staging the grand entrance and didn't check my VMs when he had told me of the venue change. I brought the hundreds of Shelbys in to find an empty check in tent because he had to move it to the new venue. It was entirely my fault and I was determined to give all the attendees the best possible experience. I personally felt obligated to do so and anything less would not be right. Even a small glitch causes multiple other issues which compound together. When the many last minute changes were made and communication broke down a bit, the months of planning and re-planning had to be scrapped for plan "Z". I am a checklist/spreadsheet kind of guy so I didn't handle it in the best way which actually made things worse.

 

 

Wait, what? I missed an EPIC meltdown? I need to see a video! As someone who has put together national events as well, the view as an organizer is much different than that of an attendee. All an organizer sees is the things that are not going as planned.....the attendees don't know any better and are having a blast....

 

Great Job Andy, we had a blast!

 

 

Oh, epic would not be the word I'd use ( and I did use more than a few words I'd rather not repeat). I'm not sure it had a lasting effect on the event but for the 50 or so people who witnessed it I guess you could it epic. I was approached by a family who traveled nearly 1800 miles for this event and were shocked by the cleavage "girls". I guess my first clue was when my 3 year old said "Daddy, why are they only wearing underwear?" I can deal with it that but it really made me angry when someone who traveled with a family that far was greeted by them. Ok, for a vegas bachelor party, NOT ok for a family event. It's over though and the event went great despite my meltdown.

 

Next Year's goal : DELEGATION !

[eagledriver]

Andy,

As always you John and the others did an outstanding job.

 

This is my second SHELBY event (hopefully of a long line of them) that I have attended and I can honestly say there are no other people I would rather have helping everyone out than Andy and his family. They are some of the kindest and thoughtful people I have ever met. Andy can vouch that in preparation for the event last year (Hall Of Kings) I must have called, emailed and texted him no less than 1000 times trying to make sure I had everything prepared and ready to go so I would not miss anything. Andy explained everything and assisted me like we were best friends for years not some stranger that he had never met. People like you are what make these events worth driving hours to attend…

 

Andy I want to thank you and your wife for always being so kind to everyone, and again helping me out at this year’s event keeping my KR dry…

 

Tim

 

 

And you didn't even stay to get your 2nd place showfield award LOL

 

Thanks Tim! Your KR looked great!

[FILF]

Andy and the rest of the crew,

I just wanted to say thank you for making last weekend one of the most enjoyable times. I just bought my Shelby in February and never knew there was this much comradery between Shelby owners. The weekend flew by without any noticeable major hiccups, at least from a novice member standpoint. I'm sure you've heard it a million times, but great job to everyone involved. I'm already looking forward to the next set of adventures!

 

Matt

[eagledriver]

Andy-

 

A small meltdown here and there is to be expected on such a large, volunteer effort.

You all (you, John and Tony, and your "staffs") did GREAT work, and because of that work you MADE the weekend for all of us.

My wife and I are very grateful for all of your efforts.

Thank you (and Julie, too).

See you soon.

Best

Pat

 

 

Pat,

 

Hanging out with you and Vin was a highlight for me.The 350 is beautiful machine!

 

Your lovely wife is an angel and was a huge help.

 

Andy

[Doug_GT350]

Next Year's goal : DELEGATION !

 

I agree Andy... along with information to all those helping. When you're wearing a T-shirt with STAFF printed across the back of it and someone asks a question, it would be nice to give an intelligent answer. But with that put aside I thought it was a blast!! What can I do to help for the next event?

[eagledriver]

I agree Andy... along with information to all those helping. When you're wearing a T-shirt with STAFF printed across the back of it and someone asks a question, it would be nice to give an intelligent answer. But with that put aside I thought it was a blast!! What can I do to help for the next event?

 

 

That my friend was the whole issue and I couldn't have said it any better!

 

Also, Carlisle was not expecting a group the size of ours. I explained it a thousand times to them but once 382 Shelbys line up it is a reality shock.

 

The flow of information was somewhat lacking.The primary cause though was the weather and the last minute changes that needed to be made. Example: The poker run popsicle sticks. I still don't know who was responsible for that. I kept trying to find out only to be met with shrugs. Mistakes were made but we learn from them and the next event is that much better! Looking back I'm thinking that a team of 10-12 people need to each take piece of the event to manage.

[yellow pony]

Thanks to all who organized the weekend! I don't think a professional (highly paid) events planning team could have done much better. It was truly amazing to see the amount of work that went into pulling such a great weekend off and the fact that everyone was a volunteer shows the passion for the Team Shelby club.

 

My wife and I enjoyed seeing some old Team Shelby friends and making some new friends too! Looking forward to another event soon (once everyone recovers from this event)!

 

yellow pony

[Doug_GT350]

That my friend was the whole issue and I couldn't have said it any better!

 

Also, Carlisle was not expecting a group the size of ours. I explained it a thousand times to them but once 382 Shelbys line up it is a reality shock.

 

The flow of information was somewhat lacking.The primary cause though was the weather and the last minute changes that needed to be made. Example: The poker run popsicle sticks. I still don't know who was responsible for that. I kept trying to find out only to be met with shrugs. Mistakes were made but we learn from them and the next event is that much better! Looking back I'm thinking that a team of 10-12 people need to each take piece of the event to manage.

 

as John had mentioned to me, an information booth would work great next time. Maybe some large signs would also help.

[J&DGT500]

Oh, one last thing. After my my meltdown Friday ( which was because I am a checklist guy and when things have to change at the last second it doesn't go well ), Gary Patterson stopped what he was doing and bought me lunch and gave me just the advice that I needed. What VP of a company will do that for a customer?? He really humbled me and showed that from the guy who can only afford a Shelby Tshirt right up through the guy who has 100 Shelbys, they are all the same to Gary. He is truly a great person.

 

 

Did that advice happen to be the purchase of a black car with gold stripes?

[eagledriver]

Did that advice happen to be the purchase of a black car with gold stripes?

 

:shades: perhaps ....

[eagledriver]

as John had mentioned to me, an information booth would work great next time. Maybe some large signs would also help.

 

Doug, that is priority #1 for next year, staffed by competent and appropriately dressed members! - Which means you can't wear your mini skirt LOL

[Kontra06]

Mr Andy,

 

As your 'average' (if there is such a thing) Shelby owners... My wife and I had a great time!

If Mrs Kontra06 has a good time... I have a good time. From our point-of-view, you boys hit it

out of the park!!! We will be back again and again. Also, Tony was very patient with me when we

got 'miss directed' on the way to the Expo Center.

 

On Sunday I made it a point to find you (as you were loading the trailer) to shake your hand

and say 'thank you!' for the awesome time had by all!

 

As ever,

 

M/M Kontra06 (aka Mark and Nancy)

[kstrong]

That my friend was the whole issue and I couldn't have said it any better!

 

Also, Carlisle was not expecting a group the size of ours. I explained it a thousand times to them but once 382 Shelbys line up it is a reality shock.

 

The flow of information was somewhat lacking.The primary cause though was the weather and the last minute changes that needed to be made. Example: The poker run popsicle sticks. I still don't know who was responsible for that. I kept trying to find out only to be met with shrugs. Mistakes were made but we learn from them and the next event is that much better! Looking back I'm thinking that a team of 10-12 people need to each take piece of the event to manage.

 

Doug and Sandy. I really like the idea. No cheating, three 7's won it.

The Canuckleheads from Ontario had a blast. Excellent show, we will be back next year with more Canadians. Thank You to all involved for a truly great show.

[GT500FLYBOY]

I don't get how popsicle sticks prevented cheating. The purpose of the poker run sheet is your cards are written on it by the one handing out the cards. Am I missing something here?

 

Thanks, Andy - for everything. You've got more energy than us all - tho I'm glad Gary got some food in you. : )