This was my third attempt
to head up a Stampede event. The first one, in 2002, was ultimately cancelled
due to wildfires. The second, in 2003, turned out well, but I was on pins
and needles expecting something to go wrong, and often thinking that it was.
You can imagine the state of mind I was in when I found out at the 11th hour
that our permits were in jeapordy and we might have to cancel with dozens
of people in several states already registered. Fortunately Mike Corder, with
some help from Sandee Cullen, got the permit process back on track and everything
worked out for the third and final element of my Stampede Chairman Trilogy.
(Two out of three ain't bad!)
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We cleaned up a totally trashed
piece of desert where people have dumped tons of trash and it's been shot
to pieces just to make it that much harder to clean up. We made this reclaimed
shooting gallery our headquarters for the weekend's festivities.
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We had a big rolloff trash bin delivered, and a dozen
porta-johns. I arrived Thursday afternoon expecting to find a handful of club
members on hand to start building the camp. Instead, I found a small city
with so many Broncos, tow rigs, and campers, that I could hardly believe this
was the same desolate piece of scrub desert we'd been cleaning up!
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As we did with our previous
Stampede, we let everyone choose the trails they wanted to run by signing
trail rosters posted at camp headquarters, rather than making them pre-register
trail choices before they arrived. This seems to work pretty well, as we add
runs to meet the demand, rather than asking people to settle for a second
or third choice if the run they really wanted was full.
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We had folks from six different
states in attendance and everyone I heard from had a great time with the variety
of trails and activities we offered. We try to offer something for everyone,
from hardcore, damage expected trails, to scenic beauty, and several grades
in between.
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A great steak dinner was provided
by on on-site caterer on Saturday night. They fed over 200 people After the
meal, we had our prize raffle and of course that was very popular too!
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Sunday:
I even won a bunch of great things myself!
I know I speak for our whole club when I say that we can't overstate how much
we appreciate all the vendor contributions that make these raffle's possible.
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It's especially great when vendors not only
donate prizes, but actually show up in person to wheel with us. We've been
very lucky in that respect for as long as I've been going to ACB Stampede's.
I know we don't have as large an attendance as some of the bigger Bronco events
around the country, so guess it must be the Bronco fun that brings them in!
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This year we had people onhand from out of
state vendors James Duff, Wild Horses, and B.C. Broncos along with our own
homegrown patron saints, Steve Allard, Randy Harral, Keith Jones, Chaz Lightner,
Greg Macmillan, and Mike Wiley.
The club really pulled together at the deadline to make
this happen.
- deano
