Oct. 4th Clinic...

[zukitek]

Im still out dammit.I hate the timing but whadya gonna do ?Darryl the Englemeister would be an excellent instructor ,maybe he will volunteer ...hint hint.

RR

[TouringBubble]

I'm trying to get Katie to come out and help. She probably wouldn't want to instruct, but she could help with course setup and maybe start.

[aufoxy]

I'm still in and very excited!

[EvoLady]

C and I will be there on the 4th.

[ThumbsUp]

C and I will be there on the 4th.

[dr_phatcity]

Good event

Early reports are that this thing ran well ---Stories???

-Jamie

[TouringBubble]

Yeah. Everything was fine ... except for Jordan. =P

We had another great group ... they were nailing the exercise one after another. Everyone was a great sport about it and both parents and kids had a blast and learned a lot.

Also, I avoided a sunburn. So, a good day all around. Thanks to everyone that helped out.

[aufoxy]

Hush yo' mouth Matt!!

You know they loved my stickers!!! haha

Everyone did great - students, parents, and instructors alike. It was an awesome experience, and I hope to be helping to conduct the next one - right alongside you, Matt!!! Hahahaha!

[Cholewa]

I'd like to extend a big thank you to all the newbies that came and helped out today, the day was great success. I also somehow managed to not get crispified by the sun like last time, but we'll see if i'm so lucky tomorrow.

and evos are fast.

[ThumbsUp]

Well, everything ended up OK, but I was very nervous a few times when some of the SUVs failed to brake before turning. We have such a small amount of run off room that leaves little room for error.

It was a good group. It seems like the kids are getting better quicker than in the past. I think this is because we have instructors who are excited about being there and having enough people on hand to give critiques quickly.

All of the instructors worked together well yesterday. I really like the fact to you newbies caught on so quickly and divided the workload effectively.

Please everyone, keep your eyes out for an alternative site. When need something a bit bigger that what we're currently using. Any site must also have access to a space to use as classroom and bathroom access.

Along those lines, I did get an inquiry last week from the secretary of one of the execs at Coca Cola. He wants his son to thake the course. We'll have to wait until Spring to get them in, but maybe the local bottling plant has a possible lot. ???

Thanks to all of you who helpd make the Oct 4 clinic a success.

Evan Waugh
Eric Edwards
Michael Cholewa
David Branch, Sr.
Elaine Ferrell
Sarah Rannow
C
Jordan Townes
Matt Williams

[Cholewa]

most factory parking lots are filled to the brim with light poles.

[rodhx]

I spoke to some of you there, but want to pass a huge thanks to all the folks who worked the NDCCC on the 4th! I sent my 15 yr old (Zachary) and wife in her black Accord. She was afraid that it would hurt her car & Zac was nervous about the whole thing and gave me the impression he wasn't looking forward to it. They called after the second slalom run, laughing & telling me how much fun they were having! They were having such a good time that instead of playing golf I loaded up my younger son in the Miata & took the video camera for the afternoon. End result...Zac had the time of his life & my wife was very pleased with all the workers, from Greg's instruction to the positive & enthusiastic attitudes of everyone else. Job well done everyone!!

Zac still wants a ride in one of the Evos, so the next task is to drop in on an autocross and take Evolady up on her offer!

My church, Gardendale First Baptist, hosted a NDCCC 2 or 3 years ago. I know there are some lights, but it seems like there is a large open area as well. Was anyone there? Was our parking lot big enough? If so, I'll see if we can do it again.

Rod

[ThumbsUp]

Thanks for the kind words Rod. I initially got the GFB site thru my brother, Dick Lee, who is a member there. He put me in touch with De Allen who referred me to Rob Elliott. I agreed that in exchange for use of the lot, we would hold a special clinic just for GFB members. No one siged up. We ran a full season, three Spring and three Fall clinics there, but when I called the next Spring to line things up, Rob said that they were not going to particpate again, because they were afraid we'd tear up their parking lot. I heard thru the grapevine later that he made a comment to someone similar to "Oh, they tore our parking lot up."

Granted, we do leave tire marks, but they usually wash away with the first good rain. The lot at GFB has lots of loose gravel, and the maneuvers tend to cause it to accumulate along tire marks as it is swept aside, leaving the impression that the tires are digging the gravel up. I am not aware of any actual damage done.

From my experience, I think the real reason is that, for safety sake, we must close off access to the lot, and in doing so, some people are inconvenienced because they can't park where they normally park, or they can't make the cut thru the parking lot. At any rate, I'd love to be able to use the GFB lot again.

New South has been tolerant of the clinics thus far. I fear that someone may complain about us blocking access to the mail boxes, because lots of locals use them. And we do have tennants in the buildings who occasionally show up on Saturday. Again, not able to park in their normal spot, and having to walk a few extra steps is a big deal to some people. BTW, we also ran a special clinic for New South employees at our expense in exchange for use of the site. They perceived the value and filled the available slots in one day.

If we do get a bigger lot, my goal is to have dual exercise setups and divide the group into two parts. They get more attempts at each exercise, and the clinic will move along quicker. We have enough qualified instuctors to make it happen. We may even be able to up the number of entries. It is so difficult to have to turn people away.

So everyone, please keep your eyes open for a alternative site, and maybe even revisiting previous sites. Thanks!

Greg

[EvoLady]

I just wanted to say after attending my first NDCC as an instructor was AWESOME!!!! I hate that it took me this long, but at least I finally made it. The whole experience was great. From seeing ALL of the kids very unhappy faces in the morning classroom session to the instant smiles and laughs after their first go at the first exercise. It felt so good to see the pride and confidence they were getting as the day went on and they were learning how to control their car in some tough situations. And watching the parents laugh, giggle and sometimes scream was just as fun.

Greg, I must say you run a top notch clinic and the instructors were all great. I learned a lot from watching them interact with the kids and parents. I hope this will become a regular activity in our (C and I) schedule!!! Thank you so much for taking the time to organize this event. I think it is an extremely worthy cause and hopefully the kids will benefit greatly from it.

And Rod, your son is more than welcome to come ride in my Evo and other fast cars! Our next event is October 26th at the Birmingham Dog Track.

[Cholewa]

This was the first clinic where we let students ride along in the demo car a lot and I think it was a really good thing for most of them. Maybe for the next one we should tell them that they can ride with an instructor if they want to to kind of wake them up a bit.

And I second the want for the GFB lot back, because that one was perfect... but the bank is better than the other spots we've had in the past.