SoCal Caravan 09 eNews

No. 6 - 4/2/07

>>>TOP STORY<<<

The Big Question: Four Days...or Five?

The Southern California Caravan "Commander's Council" had its first business meeting on 31 March. The Council is the core leadership of the team with will organize the SoCalCar. That meeting's key agenda item was a report by "Commander" Sherry Maples on the SoCalCar's web site survey project. If you haven't taken our survey, please go to the Southern California Caravan web site at and click on the survey link.

A key question in that survey concerns the proposed route for the 2009 Caravan. SoCalCar Captain, Hib Halverson, received suggestions from '03 Caravanners as far back as the Summer of 2006 that extending the SoCalCar to five days be a welcome change. As a result, the survey ( http://www.corvettecaravan.com/ca-southern/ ) included a "four or five day" question. So far the majority of answers have been in favor of five days.

One problem with the survey is, at the time it was written, the Council was unaware of when the '09 Labor Day Event begins. We now believe that will be Thursday morning, 3 September, 2009. In order to have a five-day trip but, also, arrive in Bowling Green late on Wednesday afternoon, the SoCalCar would have to depart the Los Angeles area on Saturday morning, 29 August. That means a majority of Caravanners would have to take an additional Friday off work to get to the Departure Event on Friday evening. The consensus of opinion among all the Caravan Commanders was that even though a majority of survey respondents said they'd like a five-day event, once they understood they'd need an additional Friday off work, the percentage would go the other way, or against a five-day event and in favor of a four-day SoCalCar, departing Sunday morning 28 August, 2009.

If you have an opinion on the choice between a five day trip with an additional Friday off work or a four-day trip, please, let us know by email to captain.socalcar@charter.net

>>OTHER NEWS<<

Commanders' Council Now Fully Operational

On March 28, Brent Hicks was named a "Caravan Commander" by SoCalCar Captain, Hib Halverson. Hicks' appointment fills out the Regional Caravan's core leadership. He joins Sherry Maples, Ron Cohen and Tony MeGowan on the "Commanders' Council". Hicks is a member of the Pomona Valley Corvette Association and was already a part of the SoCalCar organization as a "Special Start-Up Sponsor". Brent Hicks was also a sponsor of and a participant in the 2003 Southern California Caravan. Mr. Hicks will manage the SoCalCar's relationships with groups and businesses in towns along our route which stage events for Caravanners. He will, also, oversee the SoCalCar's relationship with the group (to be named later) organizing the Departure Event which takes place the night before the SoCalCar leaves on the trip to Bowling Green. "It's cool to have Brent on our team," Capt. Halverson told the SoCalCar eNews, "He'll be a great asset for us. He joins "Commander" Sherry, our SoCalCar CFO and who manages the Caravan Survey; "Commander" Ron, who directs the Caravan's hotel bookings and other travel arrangements and "Commander" Tony, who is in charge of our Route Book Project, in making a great team of folks who'll make the '09 Caravan wonderful trip for all."

The Route

The 5-day/4-day "question" obviously plays a big part in our route choice. In its meeting on 31 March, the Council looked at several options, if a 5-day trip was picked. 1) Taking a significantly different route (adds a full day of driving) from L.A. to the Texas state line where we meet the Texas Caravan. 2) Take route similar to the one in '03 (basically, Interstate 40) but with more side trips and/or more miles on sections of old/historic Route 66 in eastern California, northern Arizona or New Mexico. 3) Take the same route as '03, but with less time on the road per day, ie: 3-days to Texas rather than two. 4) Take the same route as '03, but with a different route and/or more stops after we join the Texas Caravan, ie: the extra day will be at the end of the trip rather than at the start.

The "Commanders' Council" felt that *if* a 5-day trip was planned that options 2 or 4 held the most interest, but the Council deferred a decision because it wants to develop more information on the wants of Caravanners.

Again. if you have suggestions on the length of the trip, either 4- or 5-days, please email us at captain.socalcar@charter.net

The Captain of the Southern California Regional Caravan, Hib Halverson, will announce the trip length and route choice sometime this Fall.

Best regards,
The Southern California/Southern Nevada Caravan Organizing Team


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