Hello everyone,
I just wanted to send out this update to everyone about the Summer 2004
Chrysler & Imperial Meet that we are holding in Chattanooga, Tennessee, May
28th - 31st. We all had a blast at last year's meet and this year promises
to be even better! In order to provide for even more fun this year, the
meet has been moved to the Memorial Day weekend so we could extend the
activities for an additional day! The chief complaint I heard after last
years meet was that the meet was too short. Well, that has been corrected
for this year, and we are expecting more of you longdistance folks to drive
your old cars in for the meet. For additional information about the meet,
follow this link: http://home.highertech.net/~soule/ Then click on the
link titled: Information - Southern Regional Chrysler & Imperial Meet.
There you will find additional contact information, hotel accommodations,
maps, and a schedule of events for the meet.
I want to say something that I should have said long before now, but better
late than never. Last year Jeff Carrothers took an entire week of his
limited vacation time, drove his '64 Imperial LeBaron up from Jackson,
Mississippi, the week before the 2003 Chattanooga meet, to help me prepare
for our annual Chrysler & Imperial gathering. I am very grateful for all
his help last year. Without his help, it would not have been the success
that it was. He and I spent that entire week getting everything ready for
the meet. We spent a couple of days preparing the display field, trimming
trees, cutting grass, erecting a hospitality gazebo, hanging lights,
installing a service station bell at the entrance to the display field,
preparing a bond fire, filling and setting up all the tiki torches, making
several smut pots (to cut down on the mosquitoes), and hanging up Mopar
banners, signs, and flags... We even took my old 78 rpm record player and
my collection of 78 rmp records down to the hospitality gazebo for
everyone's entertainment.
Once the display field was finally done, we were faced with the mammoth task
of getting all of my cars out of storage, washed, and cleaned for the meet.
Believe me, that is not small job! We even had to do some mechanical
repairs to a couple of the cars to get them ready... My grandmother's 1960
Corvair had a fuel pump failure and Jeff changed the pump and the
gas-contaminated oil to get the car going for the meet. Jeff and my wife
Laqueta prepared a shopping list for all the required food and together they
spent a number of hours slaving over a hot stove cooking everything. Jeff
and I set up an awning over the patio where everyone was served dinner
Friday evening and we also put out more tiki torches around the patio, setup
tables, chairs, and a fan. Jeff is an excellent cook and he seasoned,
marinated, and cooked all the wonderful barbeque that we had for dinner
Friday evening. He also made his special homemade barbeque sauce, that in
my opinion is the best I have ever tasted! Laqueta pulled all the barbeque
and made all the side dishes. The food was excellent and they did an
excellent job! My compliments to both our cooks! In addition to all the
help, Jeff even made a substantial financial contribution to help defray the
cost of the meet. As you can see a lot of work went into preparing for the
meet and it would have been near impossible for me to have done it alone.
Again, many thanks to Jeff for all his help.
2004 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
Friday, May 28th - Dinner, informal hamburger/hot dog cookout at 7:00 PM EDT
at the home of Robert and Laqueta Soule, followed by a tour of the Soule
garage, machine shop, and parts collection. Oh yeah, and the car collection!
Following the tour, the part everyone is really interested in, the BYOB
cocktail party will commence.
Saturday, May 29th - Meet and drive, kick tires, share stories, tell lies,
drool, etc., at the Soule home. As we did last year, we will most likely
take a 20 mile trip to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum for lunch at the
Depot Deli. The Railroad Museum has a very nice pine thicket picnic area
located next to a grass field that would be available for parking. The
Museum will be operating their vintage steam locomotive and running trains
between their two stations. The roundtrip only takes about an hour and might
be something we could do as a group. For more information about the
Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum follow this link: http://www.tvrail.com
Saturday Dinner - We will meet at the Soule residence at 6:00 PM and caravan
to the Soddy-Daisy Sonic for dinner. After dinner, I expect we will show
some Chrysler product films/videos, such as dealer ads, sales training
stuff, and/or old television ads later in the evening. I am sure there will
be more tire kicking and driving as this went on until past midnight last
year. We will also have a bondfire burning all evening for those who might
enjoy roasting marshmallows and enjoy cocktails around the warmth of a night
fire. Please note this is a BYOB event.
Sunday, May 30th - Sunday will be a relaxing day allowing groups to explore
the Scenic Chattanooga area. Enjoy fine motoring in your Imperial or
Chrysler product to such attractions as Lookout Mountain, Rock City, Ruby
Falls, the Chattanooga Choo Choo, the Chattanooga Aquarium, the Walnut
Street Bridge, and many more! However, if you would rather kick tires,
drive cars, tell more lies... basically the same thing we are doing
Saturday, then that is just fine with us!
Monday, May 31st - The final wind down and wrap-up of this great weekend
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