MVCC Sit-Rep - Plymouth NOTE: APRIL 2020 MEET CANCELLED DUE TO VIRUS

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MVCC Sit-Rep - Plymouth NOTE: APRIL 2020 MEET CANCELLED DUE TO VIRUS

Post by Chuck Lutz » Sun Apr 21, 2019 10:02 am

Our group arrived Tuesday and Wednesday and departed Saturday and Sunday so I think we got to see almost everything the 49er RV and the Fairgrounds had to offer. Here is my opinion, yours may vary.
1) we were in the park and had a really nice space (we had five altogether) with AC and water being all we needed and a really nice lawn space in between sites. I'd rate the sites a 10 but I wished on the hottest days I had a tree over my camper/truck.
2) they had what looked like brand new tables which were great and the design enabled us old guys to enter without climbing over the seat to get to eat our meals. A solid 10 again
3) paved roads meant no dust when you were eating or at any other time.
4) restrooms/showers: newer facilities in our area, one shower stayed kaput during our stay and while the staff cleaned them nicely in the morning, I wish they would do another cleaning in the afternoon. The paper hand towel dispenser ran out of hand towels at least once by the afternoon on one day. Give 'em an 8 anyway I think.
5) The registration staff and facilities crew seemed very friendly and nobody I talked to had anything but nice things to say about their interaction. Solid 10.
6) I pre-paid my entire fee in advance and it took a very nice lady about two minutes to find my registration, give me my papers and vehicle pass and send me on my way. Again, kudos to the 49er for a smooth arrival! Give 'em a 10.
7) While not a 49er involvement, the fact there was a store across the street made it REALLY easy to purchase the inevitable items you might have forgotten for your meals. That gives the location an extra benefit...a PLUS.
8) The fact that the 49er and Fairgrounds are situated on flat ground is another plus for us who just had trouble with the hillside location of Petaluma. Another 10.
9) While paved roads in the 49er meant the drive-arounds of tracked vehicles could not happen, the club did sort that out in the Fairgrounds. Nice going MVCC!
10) I recall at least twice one of the 49er staffers rode by on a golf cart and asked us if everything was OK which meant that communications with them were markedly better and cheerful as well!


Over in the Fairgrounds where I rode about and walked around.
1) It did appear that the sites were a little small based on the amount of "stuff" most campers brought...maybe make them a tad larger?
2) the main entrance road became a "Dust Bowl" and I felt bad for all the campers on the downwind side who had a fine layer of dust on vehicles, tents, stuff for sale and on those who camped there. I'd say we needed an Water Tanker or at least a good hosing down of that bare dirt access road at least a couple times a day.
3) the MVCC crew did a great job though in dealing with basically a field that they turned into a space for our campers.

We noticed what seemed to us to be a very large attendance of our club and a big increase in the ammount of "treasure" being bought an sold with a lot of happy parts sellers and buyers which I percieve as a big part of the draw for our members. Lots of guys I talked to were able to find stuff they needed and I think the sellers were also happy since I think pent-up shopping/selling after Petaluma and the last Jelly meets.

Overview:
I hope we can return to the 49er again...I hope we have "rights" to the sites we had for the next trip!
As the success of the club registration drives up the numbers of site requests and even those non-members who come to the biggest event west of the Mississippi add additional numbers, finding any place that can/will accomodate our club especially in April makes it nearly impossible.....I'd like to thank the MVCC staff and and a big shout-out to JoAnn as usual for making the transition for registration to the 49er and thus to the campers there for making things go fast!

I'm sure others may have had problems. There will always be problems but solving them fast and effeciently meant for a lot of "Happy Campers"!

I had a great time as you may infer from this post...a little sunburned....but as for our group of about 12 people or more on some days, I think the general consensus is shared....A great location, nice people, well-run operation and those I talked to wanted to return there.

Thank You MVCC Staff!
Chuck Lutz

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Re: MVCC Sit-Rep - Plymouth

Post by Tonywan Kanobby » Sun Apr 21, 2019 2:35 pm

I just want to say I had an absolutely awesome time at Plymouth ! For the first time I was able to drive my rig to the Meet and show her off. Taking "Olive" on the open road was a first for me. Meeting all of you nice folks and the visitors who came to view the Show was just terrific. I learned a lot, had some great conversations, enjoyed the great sunny weather in the beautiful California foothills, and drank a decent amount of BEER ! HA !

Thanks to all, especially JoAnn, who got me all set up. Great show.

Tony Littman

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Re: MVCC Sit-Rep - Plymouth

Post by sgtjswife » Sun Apr 21, 2019 6:09 pm

Chuck, you took the words right out of my mouth!! Thank you for your comments. Jerry and I had a great time too. I hope we are here for the long term. Congrats to the MVCC for all your work making this such a memorable event.

Donna and Jerry Mambretti

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Re: MVCC Sit-Rep - Plymouth

Post by Mitch Olson » Mon Apr 22, 2019 6:41 am

Chuck,

I agree with your comments and thoughts on Plymouth. I would only add that when I left on Sunday and checked with the 49er Staff about making reservations for a fall meet or next year. Staff said to check with our Wagon Master about that as they didn't have any information on a fall meet or next year. No biggie there right.

Then, I commented that I hope we do come back and the three staff members in the office said at the same time. We hope you do too, it was a great experience having your group here and the citizens of Plymouth were all abuzz about all the Military Vehicles in town.

A HUGE thanks to the MVCC personnel who worked so diligently to put this meet together.

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Re: MVCC Sit-Rep - Plymouth

Post by Marty, SoCal » Mon Apr 22, 2019 11:04 am

Overall, agree with Chuck, Great venue. My group was able to get a lot of needed parts there.

My daughter found the news film they show on the local TV, here's a link:

https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/video/4 ... -plymouth/

One BIG disappointment for our group was that we were told we could not go to the foundry tour, after we were trying to get ready for it at 10 am as it said to do on the flyer we were handed at the beginning (and on the flyers posted on the port-a-pottys). Basically after not finding anyone at the rodeo site at 10 am, I started looking for a MVCC member that would know the sitrep. (They were at the club meeting) After finding a member that was camped next to us in the fairgrounds had just returned from the meeting, I was told that the tour convoy would be forming up at 12:45 for the 1 pm tour and that we needed to let the people in the cabins know who and how many were going to be going. Well, I found them at noon and they told me that the tour was already full and that there would be no parking for additional vehicles. I asked if we could just go early on our own, nope, a private tour only. Big bummer. Anyways, later on, I talked to a couple people who went, they said that there was plenty of parking since everyone in small vehicles could double park, and that there was also extra parking on the nearby streets.

Maybe this can be better handled if future tours are planned there next year. Maybe multiple tours or a pre-registration? The people manning the MVCC booth maybe can handle the registration for various convoys? (They didn't have a clue when I asked them on the way to find the cabins where the convoy leaders were) It's an 8+ hour drive for us in SoCal to get up there and it's probably the only chance we can get to see the local-to-you-guys attractions.
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Re: MVCC Sit-Rep - Plymouth

Post by Kurt Lesser » Mon Apr 22, 2019 3:34 pm

Marty,

If you've ever put on a show like this or even helped out you know how much work it is with minimal staff. My wife was sitting at the fairgrounds basically 10 hours a day during the show. The trail rides and tours normally aren't done by the MVCC staff but by members who want to contribute to the show.

I'm sorry that things didn't work out for you guys and we'll work to correct all of the foopahs we discovered at the event. All in all though, it did go off well with a minimum of issues. Notes taken from comments like yours help us to do better every year.

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Re: MVCC Sit-Rep - Plymouth

Post by John Neuenburg » Mon Apr 22, 2019 8:58 pm

I wasn't involved in that activity but can say that the POCs for the various activities in the official schedule handed out at the 49er office to all 49er campers and available at the MVCC HQ and Quartermaster booth were listed with phone and/or their location in camp. The document was called Daily Briefing.

With a new excursion like this there is always a balance of requiring a RSVP by a certain time and date with leaving it loose close to the event. I have fretted about this as a MV event organizer many times. The former will restrict everybody who wants in after the deadline, even if it turns out there is room, shrinking participation. The latter invites everybody which could end badly when there is not room.

This meet was a learning experience on many levels - nearly all positive it seems - and this includes with destination venues, hotels, restaurants, grocery stores, and of course the 49er RV Village and Amador County Fairgrounds.

So it's important to keep ones ear to the ground at these new events and look for changes. Non-MVCC members reading this might consider joining the MVCC to get whatever inside info we put out via the monthly newsletter. It's only $25 or $35 per year.
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Re: MVCC Sit-Rep - Plymouth

Post by Greg Lalonde » Tue Apr 23, 2019 4:48 pm

i think this was a great event.all of the members that i talked to thought it was a great success.the convoy and the foundry tour was fantastic. a few problems were brought up,including the dust problem caused by people speeding through the tent camping area,and the access road,dusting out the people in the swamp area.and long shifts at the check in station.i am going to make some 5mph signs to put through out the tent camping grounds,and the access road. which should be enforced by our members.also if we could have volunteers(including myself) to help out at the check in station,maybe 3 to 4 hour shifts,starting on the first day of the event.i know its a year away,so that gives us time to figure it out.HAPPY TRAILS.
Last edited by Greg Lalonde on Wed Apr 24, 2019 3:54 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: MVCC Sit-Rep - Plymouth

Post by Kurt Lesser » Wed Apr 24, 2019 7:15 am

Only "most" Greg?

Thanks for the suggestions, we will be addressing the things we identified as needing some help and manning the check in station is at the top of the list. Our plan is to move it to the gatehouse for 2 main reasons. One is to make the process easier and the other is to limit traffic to 5 mph and ask the non-campers to park outside. There are too many people moving around on foot to have "drive by shoppers" in their cars not paying enough attention. Basically a big safety issue.

We realized we need someone out in the parking area to direct people there. The trailers need to go to the back instead of alongside the road but they need to be accessible thru the parked cars. The camping area is tighter than we originally intended so it would be nice if we could get the civy cars and trucks out of the campsites and into the parking area. Think how much more military the camp would look if we do.
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Re: MVCC Sit-Rep - Plymouth

Post by GRAVEDIGGER » Wed Apr 24, 2019 12:56 pm

I have a COMPLAINT. Dadgummit! I didnt get to go to the meet this year :cry:
Missed out on a great time sounds like. Missed seeing all our good friends.
Family issues stoped Goldhill Joe and I from attending, but we sure are lookn
to come next year. Still stuck in Orygun. :shock: Mike

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Re: MVCC Sit-Rep - Plymouth

Post by timsresort » Wed Apr 24, 2019 5:51 pm

Marty, SoCal wrote:
Mon Apr 22, 2019 11:04 am
Overall, agree with Chuck, Great venue. My group was able to get a lot of needed parts there.

My daughter found the news film they show on the local TV, here's a link:

https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/video/4 ... -plymouth/

One BIG disappointment for our group was that we were told we could not go to the foundry tour, after we were trying to get ready for it at 10 am as it said to do on the flyer we were handed at the beginning (and on the flyers posted on the port-a-pottys). Basically after not finding anyone at the rodeo site at 10 am, I started looking for a MVCC member that would know the sitrep. (They were at the club meeting) After finding a member that was camped next to us in the fairgrounds had just returned from the meeting, I was told that the tour convoy would be forming up at 12:45 for the 1 pm tour and that we needed to let the people in the cabins know who and how many were going to be going. Well, I found them at noon and they told me that the tour was already full and that there would be no parking for additional vehicles. I asked if we could just go early on our own, nope, a private tour only. Big bummer. Anyways, later on, I talked to a couple people who went, they said that there was plenty of parking since everyone in small vehicles could double park, and that there was also extra parking on the nearby streets.

Maybe this can be better handled if future tours are planned there next year. Maybe multiple tours or a pre-registration? The people manning the MVCC booth maybe can handle the registration for various convoys? (They didn't have a clue when I asked them on the way to find the cabins where the convoy leaders were) It's an 8+ hour drive for us in SoCal to get up there and it's probably the only chance we can get to see the local-to-you-guys attractions.
Marty, I am 100 percent responsible for the snafu on the foundry tour. It was my idea, and I organized it. I am sorry I had to turn you away, but let me give an explanation. To start with, months ago I had no idea how many people or rigs we could expect, but after meeting with the foundry, in order to accommodate us on a day they are not normally open, they set a minimum of 10 people, and a max of 30, or the tour would get split. (We ended up with 73). I went to look at the site 2 months before the meet and figured we could park 15-18 vehicles there and I decided that was our limiting factor. I put out the flyers in the newsletter, on Facebook, and at the meet, asking people to contact me to sign up. As of Friday, when the foundry wanted a final head count for their manpower requirements, I had a count of 12 rigs and 24 people. And I called that in to them. On Saturday morning, after the announcement at the general meeting, I had 15 more rigs sign up. I was nervous, about the parking, because they can't block the street. Then in the next hour, another 10 rigs signed up in my camp. I was way over, then you walked up, and I believe you wanted 3 rigs and 5 or so more people. I just made a call to limit it there. I am sorry that you had to miss it, and knowing now that I underestimated the creativity of our group in squeezing many rigs into a small area, I could have had more. I learned quite a bit from some really experienced members on how to run an event like this, and I will take their advice to make this better. In particular, I would require a much earlier signup, so I don't get surprised again. I really did not think this would be that popular on Saturday afternoon. I hope you can make the meet again, and I hope we can meet and have a beer. And if we do this again, I will do my best to get all interested parties included.
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Re: MVCC Sit-Rep - Plymouth

Post by Greg Lalonde » Wed Apr 24, 2019 5:58 pm

hey kurt.i updated my post,lol

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Re: MVCC Sit-Rep - Plymouth

Post by John Neuenburg » Wed Apr 24, 2019 6:36 pm

Tim, great idea for the tour! And doing it Saturday afternoon kept some at the event who might have bugged out early. I hope the club schedules something every Saturday afternoon or evening going forward.

If not a road run, how about a block party Saturday late afternoon in the RV Village amphitheater? Or do it in the Tent Village with no "civilian" campers present. Maybe do a spud gun shoot in the arena to kick it off? At night they turn into tracers with light stick chemical poured on them?
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Re: MVCC Sit-Rep - Plymouth

Post by Marty, SoCal » Thu Apr 25, 2019 5:43 am

Tim, and all the other guys running this event , No hard feelings. The event was awesome! I'm sure that next year the event will be even better with all the experiences gained on this run. Next year we'll try to keep up on all the little changes to the schedule of events on our end.

My little group made our own tour to Sutter's Mill in place of the foundry tour. (There's a great pizza place in town). The day before I took them on a back country adventure to the town of Volcano, all paved, hilly, back roads, some needing first gear up and down, through some awesome country.
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Re: MVCC Sit-Rep - Plymouth

Post by Chuck Lutz » Fri Apr 26, 2019 10:27 am

I'm not keen anymore on walking distances so when we wanted to go check out things in the Fairgrounds, we took a jeep with us and then parked it and checked out a bunch of spots before moving on. However, we also found that many "aisles" were blocked by pick-ups and trailers sitting empty while owners yakked with people or were just AWOL. I think a suggestion that there be a dedicated vehicle loading and unloading area where the trailer/truck parking area is for vehicles that are running. I understand loading or unloading rollers or heavy "stuff" should be done right at your site, but leaving a truck/trailer parked exactly in the middle of the aisle means nothing bigger than a Mule or a jeep has a chance to get around it and then there are people in front of the tables that have to move out of the way, dogs on leases, kids, etc. that are in harms way.

I don't know how many campsites in the Fairgrounds there were, but if enough area in the "Parking Area" was available, then stripe a parking space and put a stake in the ground to identify each space as belonging to the corresponding campsite. I suggest that be TWO spaces and still allot some space to "Trailers" as owners over in the 49er RV also needed to park trailers there.

For Fairgrounds sites with several guys sharing and having more than two vehicles, then an overflow into the "Trailer" area makes sense.

At the entrance to the Fairgrounds area, a sign saying "DUST MEANS DEATH" and demanding a two to five MPH speed limit would be helpful and, if a couple hoses to be run out so that the Dust Bowl that plagued those downwind on "Broadway" (the main entrance to the Fairgrounds) would probably be a cool thing to have.

Hey, we are nit-picking one of the best meets I have attended even though I only go back to the days of Big Bear and the Sacramento place (Was that Waterford or?). The first "date" is always the most awkward but I think the club and the attitude of the 49er and the Amador Co. Fairgrounds made this meet a success. Kudos to all who made it that way.
Chuck Lutz

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