With apprehension and dark skies we got the Jeep loaded up with us
in our ski jackets and toys and such for the 150 mile round trip that
we would need to make in the trail rig - on pavement no less.
When we left home around 9am the skies were clearer then they had
been an hour earlier…but about 4 miles from our house they quickly
turned dark again and the roads were seriously icy. Cars in the ditch,
cars upside down, cars and truck plowing into each other. We had thoughts
of turning around and either staying home or getting the truck - but
after all this was for the kids (Toys 4 Tots) and we couldn't let
them down…
As we headed south on I-25 from the Ft. Collins area the skies appeared
to get worse and worse. The radio DJ said that a caller was headed
south and claimed that everything cleared up near Loveland so we pressed
on and would you believe it, just south of Centerra the skies and
the road cleared up enough that we could once again drive the speed
limit.
We met up with about 17 vehicles from the northern contingent at
Hwy 402 and I25, stood around and chatted until about 9:45 and started
the caravan out toward the Jefferson County Fair Grounds… we
had at least a couple of FJ-40's, a Blazer, a TJ or two or three,
a few YJs, some Cherokees, a couple of Scouts, a Toyota P/U, an assortment
of full sizes (including a bright red 1 ton Dodge Dually), at least
one Waggoner (with a price tag in the window - only $4,488 and it
could be yours!) and a lonely Commando piloted by our glorious leader
of the Northern District - VP, Kerry Beach.
Shortly after starting out on I25 part of the group pulled off where
we were supposed to hook up with a group from Longmont, but they found
the Longmont group already gone. So we pressed ahead and a few more
joined in along the way and eventually we got hooked up with the Longmont
group before we entered the Fairgrounds.
When we got to the Jefferson County Fairgrounds (with a couple wrong
turns thrown in) we were about 25 or 30 strong… The Fairgrounds
has us line up on an access road and led us by horse drawn carriage
into the fairgrounds, past the Storm Troopers, and Santa Claus to
the Marine Corp. toy drop off point so that we could pass along our
toys. We saw bikes, and games, and dolls, and remote control cars
and just about anything a boy or girl could imagine getting on Christmas
morning.
It was about 10:45 when we finally parked our Jeep in the 2nd or
3rd row of vehicles and walked back over to the building that was
being used for the people to get out of the weather. We took some
pictures and visited with the vendors who had taken the time to show
up - ORI of Centennial, Stay the Trail, All Phase Off-Road, Spydertrax
Off-Road, Crane High Clearance, All Phase Offroad and Rockstomper
- it's great to see you step up and help promote events like this.
Of course we figured that the weather would keep many people home…
and it probably did however at 12:30 rigs of all shapes, configuration
and sizes were still pouring thru the gate and into the line to drop
off toys with the Marine Corp… there were boxes and bags and
toys and gifts that just kept coming - in fact so many people brought
in gifts that the Boy Scouts ran out of hot dogs to feed them - even
with the weather the rumor was that we collected more toys than any
other Marine Corp site and topped the previous year! And now instead
of being parked in the 2nd or 3rd row we were buried behind a sea
of vehicles 6 or 7 rows deep… it was an amazing site!
As it got closer to 1:00 the feeding frenzy around the Colorado Association's
raffle vehicle got underway - people were literally crawling all over
the vehicle to look at the work done by the Association Clubs, volunteers,
various off-road business and of course Colorado Custom Crawlers (for
a complete listing please see the CO Association Website at http://www.hightrails.org/raffle.html
). At 1:00 they gave away the Jeep to a member of Mile Hi Jeep Club,
Patrol # 2 - and while she was not there for the drawing, she came
back before the end of the event with her grandson to get some pictures
taken with her new ride! And she was extremely happy with her new
toy. 2nd and 3rd prizes were also awarded to other Raffle Ticket purchasers
- a Warn Winch Recovery Bag, a Hi-Lift Jack and a set of Rock Sliders
(I believe) were among the other prizes given out.
Shortly after the Raffle the folks from ORI held another raffle of
prizes donated by various vendors and sponsors of the Christmas Caravan
for Kids event… they must have given away 20 prizes ranging
from Tow Straps to complete custom bumpers… and I'm happy to
say that I know of at least one person who won - of course he drives
a Scout and won a rear Bumper/Tire Carrier for a Jeep but it will
go nicely with his collection of previous wins - Jeep Hats, Jeep Shirts
and various other parts that fit on AMCs not farm equipment…
lol
I say well done Colorado four-wheelers! It was wonderful to see so
many people put aside any personal differences, prejudices, club rivalry,
club apathy and such and to step up and take the time out of your
day to come together at an event that does so much for so many…
the kids benefited, our social out look and respect for each other
benefited, the community benefited, the Colorado Association benefited
and overall it was a first class event.
There were many people on different committees who helped coordinate
this event....Thank You to all of you for pulling off a very successful
event. Many, many thanks to the other groups that helped out - The
United States Marine Corps., the Storm Troopers (who made me suddenly
realize how old I am and that my daughter has no clue what a Storm
Trooper is), The Boy Scouts of America - Troop 640 , the Police who
helped escort and guide traffic around the event center, and also
a special Thank You to Chris and Paula Andolsek at ORI who pulled
the event together and of course much thanks goes to the Jefferson
County Fairgrounds for letting us use their facilities. I am sure
there are many other people that I missed, I apologize. Everyone is
greatly appreciated.
We are so looking forward to future events and of course to the Christmas
Caravan next year. Thanks to everyone who came out, supported it,
bought gifts, raffle tickets, or did anything else to make this a
wonderful day.
