Sunday, June 13, 2010
The day finally arrived threatening rain, and we decided to take a chance and proceed. Everything began with a neat little rallye built special for today’s event by Jim Taylor, the rallye-man who put together last year’s Hornsby Rallye that everyone enjoyed so much. Jim had today’s run starting at Pennypacker Mills, site of the annual DVC Car Show, and traveling over this areas back roads for an hour or so, to end here at our house on Radio Ridge in Green Lane. Aside from Earl Wanklin’s breakdown en route to the start point, there were no problems and nobody even got lost. Unhappily, we never did see Wank today, but that’s what he gets for driving one of them inferior Porsche things…. (Wank, get a nice reliable MG, fer pete’s sake… hope you made it home OK).
Top spot in the Rallye went to new members Bob & Doris Logan who were driving some kind of foreign car rather than their MG (what was that thing, Bob?) followed closely by Paul & Evonna Phillips in 2nd place, and Tom & Jaimee Rippert in 3rd. Bill & Ann McCurdie had the dubious honor of being DLBF… Dead Last But Finished… but with smiles on their faces!!
After the Rallye, it was time for Ben Nolan’s famous Valve Cover Races using the track he built and brought here all the way from Elmer, NJ in his pick-up…. thanks much, Ben.
It was a wild time and there was a lot of cheering for favorites, especially from that out-of-control Tiley gang, but in the end it was Tom & Jaimee Rippert’s Mauve Marauder that squeaked by Victoria Tiley for the top spot. (You’ll get ’em next time, Victoria!!)
By this time, nearly everyone had arrived and was in the thick of the activities. Time now for the Barbecue!! Lee had taken the day off and was relaxing with the crowd, so it fell to yours truly to man the grille and cook the hamburgers and hot dogs…HA! After ruining a couple of burgers, I was SO VERY relieved when my pal Jaimee Rippert whispered in my ear… I’ll do it, Jerry.. more welcome words were never spoken, and Jaimee proceeded to pull my bacon out of the fire and do a wonderful job at the grille.
Thanks so much, Jaimee!!
The rest of the food was brought by the gang and a fantastic layout it was!! Salads and veggies and beans and some excellent desserts… thanks to all!! And a special Thank You to Donna Bristol & Walt King for that wonderfully decorated DVC Cake… that was above and beyond, Donna.
Of course, as we were all eating, Mother Nature decided to bless us with a bit of a mist as the Brits say…. it poured, but only for a little while, and soon we resumed the fun. Next on the agenda was a visit from an old friend, the man in the red cape, Captain DVC, in all his glory. The good Captain swooped in for a classic landing on the front porch where many of the ladies were relaxing, and of course had to be pried away from there before he annoyed too many of them.
A short ceremony ensued in the garage where prizes for the Rallye and Valve Cover Races were awarded, followed by a brief presentation to Jerry & Lee by Tommy Rippert of a very large and very PINK stuffed PIG that the DVC crew had won on the Wildwood boardwalk a few weeks ago. (Since Jerry could not be found….and Lee was still relaxing with all her might….the good Captain did gratefully accept it on Jerry’s behalf.)
Next on the agenda was a surprise. Captain DVC asked everyone to adjourn to the back yard, and then he promptly disappeared into the sky with cries of tallyho!! No sooner was everyone properly adjourned than here he came again, this time with a huge rope over his shoulder, towing a strange apparatus which proved to be a TREBUCHET. This working model of a medieval war catapult (in a smaller, 7-foot-high size) had been built especially for the Summer Party by the Intrepid and Tireless Team of Chuck Goelz, Lyn Hughes, and Paul Phillips… with a little help from your host. The Team proceeded to load the machine…. which is a sort of specialized catapult…. with water balloons which were then flung a couple hundred feet into the woods!! One balloon even got hung up on a tree branch 50 feet up, without breaking. Rather spectacular, eh? Well, all the kids (of all ages) got a chance to fire the flinger and great fun was had by all, especially the Captain, who for some strange reason seemed to think he was running the show.
A tough act to follow, but the Captain…. undaunted… tried anyway. With help from Tommy Rippert (and without toasting himself excessively) the Captain managed to use a huge torch to light the bonfire that awaited the effigy of Lord Donald Stokes, more than anyone else the man responsible for the discontinuance of MG production, in 1980. This ghoulish but lovely bonfire event signaled the beginning of the end of festivities for the day, and soon everyone drifted off to say their goodbyes.
Your hosts, Jerry & Lee Keller, join me in thanking everyone who attended and who made the DVC Summer Party such a success. We had fun and we hope you all did as well. Once again, special thanks go to Jim Taylor, Ben Nolan, Jaimee Rippert, the Trebuchet Team, and all those that brought stuff to eat. In no particular order, the crowd included:
Chuck & Judy Goelz; Lyn & Bobbi Hughes; Mike & Sam with Liam and the baby; Paul & Evonna Phillips; Wolfie & Gudi Fischer, & Heidi; Dave & Gloria Schwab; Dick & Sandy Suffredini; Chuck Denlinger; Bob & Joanne Tiley with Victoria, Rebecca, and Olivia; John Hunt; Grandpa Bob Tiley; George Bullwinkle; Pat & Patty Cawthorne; Bob & Doris Logan; Bill & Linda Boorse; Warren & Nancy Doerner; Bill & Evelyn Webb; Jim & Diane Sanders; Bill & Ann McCurdie; Eric Goelz & Stacy Frankenfeld; Donna Bristol; Walt King; Tom & Jaimee Rippert; Jim & Janet Taylor; Ben Nolan; and good neighbors, Doug & Anita Weilnau.
Finally, many thanks to Dick Suffredini for… as usual… taking all the great photos.
Straighten Out and Fly Right!!…. Yours Very Truly, Capt. DVC
