I have been toying with putting together an event in Idaho. I have even bounced it off some members of Snake River Offroaders (
http://www.snakeriveroffroaders.com ). One of my problems is that I don’t have the obstacle course that PA Jeeps has. I thought I would put together some of my ideas that might be adapted to the Jeep show.
The show is already booked so you might need to do something Friday to start the event, which might mean building the OC Thursday. I am sure no one wants that, but I thought adding the possibility might spark other ideas.
1) Hold a rock racing or rock crawling event (with RC) at the stone quarry Friday or Saturday night. I would go see a rock racing event and I have gone to the crawling events. The area by the quarry might be a place that could turn into a local rock crawling park and this could be an event that makes York County interested. You might be able to set up trail rides during the day through the quarry if the place is already set up for an event.
2) PA Jeeps could buy an old Jeep and put a lift on it using an offroad shop. The vendors could be asked to donate something and assemble it every hour during the show to build it up. PA Jeeps could raffle it off. I personally would limit the build to a stage 1 level to make sure some idiot did not win a fully built Jeep and get in a bad situation.
3) I go back to when Ron and Chris gave Jake rides over the OC rocks a few years ago. Jake loved it and would have done that forever. The kids with special needs love to be in these different Jeeps. Going over obstacles is an added bonus. The Down syndrome society make on the order of $50k per year during their Buddy Walk. There are other groups such as Autism Speaks and the March of Dimes. Sunday morning could be a Buddy Ride (trademark might be an issue). The groups could collect in a nearby fairground parking lot. The Jeeps could go out and get a kid, parade them around the track and run the OC. The Buddy Walk makes money by charging to walk (kids included) plus donations. This event could make money or just be good publicity.
There is a big picture here. Watching Jake go over the rocks let me know that he could handle trail rides. I did not bring him with me until after that ride. He has gone with me over the lava field and on multiple rides to high mountain lakes. There are a ton of families that are trying to figure out how to do things together with children with special needs. PA Jeeps should reach out to these familes to build membership.
My event in Idaho will be focused around access. Access for people with physical limitations even if the limitation is just age. Access for families with kids with limitation. You cannot take a flight risk child hiking or camping so you can never see the sights unless you drive there. Access for wounded warriors who seem to be forgotten. And access for the offroad community to places shut off by the forest service. I hope to negotiate trail rides with the forest service one weekend a year for the physically challenged. This could be another event that PA Jeeps does at RC or Sproul.
4) You could give rides over the OC to residents of places like Penn-Mar and places Chasm manages. I would guess this would be a Friday noon event.
5) I would like to add hand controls to my Jeep and allow wounded warriors to drive over obstacles. PA Jeeps might be able to add that to Quadratec’s crawler and Kane’s (something stable with low gearing).
I noticed another All Breeds Jeep show advertised in JP magazine. They mean all breeds including Scouts and Broncos. I think they just liked the name.
http://www.jocci.com/allbreedsjeepshow.jpg You guys should plan a trip out west. I would try to line up trail guides. Our club is talking about 1 week at South Dakota next year. We do one week long trip a year, 1 camping trip per warm weather month and one trail ride per month. It took a while to get the Jeep up to speed, but I have been out on the last 4 or 5 rides. We went to Ennis Montana last month and drove one of MT most difficult trails (not that difficult @7 out of 10). We hit the lava field regularly. We are planning a trip just north of Sun Valley ID for the end of the month. The family goes on the camping trips so everyone can see the sights. Haven’t hit Moab for wheeling yet, but we did do spring break there. Canyon Land NP is cool.
Joe
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