Opening Day is Approaching!
We’re less than a month from our first weather delay. Officially, April 2, is opening day, assuming it doesn’t rain. We have a lot to get done in the next three weeks, but we’re expecting an even bigger season than 2021 because more people are willing to come out and participate, post COVID. You can only live on a couch or soak in the tub for so long, but I’ve been saying that every spring.
My new roadtrip car theme, “armadillo by morning…”
As we said in our last post, opening day is one of our most exciting, but what keeps us up at night, besides a bad itch, is we always worry about damaging behavior, especially on our opening day. When we get through that, the remainder of the season goes very smoothly so we work to get the word out that we have no tolerance for those who ruin all car events, not just ours.
It’s hard to believe we’re still here after all these years too! It’s now fun to look at the pictures and see all of us in those early years when we had less wrinkles. Some of you were in diapers when we started. Some of you are now in diapers. Some need a blue pill just to get excited about cars or even French fries.
We continue to make improvements and refine the show so every season, check the rules to see what we snuck in for our general amusement. Also note, Redmond Town Center has made some modifications to center square that will reduce the number of cars that we can load up in that area, but we’ll make it up with more lot space. We’re still limited at around 500 cars on opening day and we can get 550 if we really squeeze them in. We think 500 is a good number.
The big rule change we made last season is that we don’t let cars in after 10 AM. We need to give our volunteers time to enjoy the event too. Besides, it’s become a safety issue and it’s hassle to displace people. Don’t move cones to come in anyway as that will get you banned, or a free week in Fresno. Do it twice and it’s two weeks in Fresno. We watch for that. We’ve had cars who we don’t allow in then try to sneak in the back way. That gets a call from security and a boot from the property. Some people!
In our off season, as we talk to people about E@RTC, we have to sometimes put some rumors to bed. One humorous rumor is that we’ve fired volunteers in the past. I can’t recall us ever firing a volunteer in our entire history. It makes no sense. Oh, sure, there were one or two who deserved a swift kick in the berries, but they weeded themselves out on their own. Besides, we’re grateful for all the help we get! We love our volunteers and are grateful for everything they do!
Yes, we have people who stop volunteering for a lot of reasons, mostly having to do with work schedules or limits on free time, and burnout, but I can’t recall us ever having someone who we fired or asked not to volunteer. We never know where this stuff starts, but people ask. We’ve never even suggested someone not volunteer as sort of a nudge. We love the help and it’s one of those rumors that makes us go “hmmm… “ There is always something crazy that someone will make up somewhere. One day, I’d like to write a blog about all the rumor’s we’ve dealt with over the years. It would be good reading.
We’ve always tried to keep the event and the management of it as simple as possible. We’re an ensemble of people who all have a role. We don’t function like a traditional business. We’re more like a collective with each of us doing something. It’s how we’ve rolled from the beginning. See you all in a few weeks!