Back to the Bricks®
June 2022 Newsletter
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Words From The Chairman Of The Board |
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WOW, It has been quite a spring for Back to the Bricks®! First, I want to thank all the volunteers who made our second annual Dust ‘em Off™ Car Cruise at the Dort Financial Center a great success. Our team of volunteers are the best. If you are looking for a way to have a lot of fun this summer and meet some great people think about volunteering to help with some of our events.
Our Discovery Promo Tour last week was another fun adventure where we were able to meet many new faces and visit some new cities that showcased some hidden gems. My wife and I have been on six Promo Tours and each one has offered such a unique experience, different and special at the same time. We love touring the back roads of Michigan. So, if you haven’t been on Tour yet, I encourage you to try it next year. Even if you only go for a few days, you will love it! My hat’s off to the dedicated Promo Tour Committee who hit it out of the park again this year.
BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!
This is only the beginning of an incredible year of car experiences for you and your family. If you registered for our first Road Rally, you are in for a treat. (If you haven't you still can! Click word Road Rally above) Larry and Vickie Konya along with Stan Cahoon have planned quite a day for us tomorrow, Saturday, June 18. We are also putting the finishing touches on the rest of the year. Summer doesn’t officially start until next week and it’s going to be a good one. So, remember to mark your calendars with the dates of some amazing Back to the Bricks® events, you WILL have some FUN!
I hope to see you soon!
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My best regards,
Al Jones
Chairman of the Board
Back to the Bricks®
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Join our Friends with the Sloan Museum Auto Fair June 25th & 26th! Come see the cars, register your car, participate in the fun and visit the Back to the Bricks® Booth! Buy some swag, and register to WIN a PRIME space on the Bricks for your car during Main Event, August 20th.
Proceeds support the restoration & preservation of Sloan Museum’s automotive collection and archives for future generations.
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Sponsored by
August 8-13th 2022
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FREE Cruise N Concert
Friday August 19th 2022
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Main Event
Saturday August 20th 2022
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Vice Chairman Ralph Messer Updates Us All |
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Hello fellow car enthusiasts,
I first want to congratulate our Chairman Al Jones, and the Events Committee on a fantastic 2nd Annual Dust 'em Off™ Car Show. Well over 800 cars pre-registered and we know more than 1,000 showed up. Despite the weather predictions, Mother Nature held out and we had a wonderful day.
Secondly, I want to thank Pete Cimbala and David Stilber Co-Chairmen of the 12th Annual Promo Tour on a job well done. The entire Promo Tour Committee helped make that happen and it was a VERY successful Tour with the guidance of Pete and David.
As many of you know seeing it first hand at Dust 'em Off™ we are doing our best to move towards a more eco-friendly organization and less papers to handle. We are trying our new check-in process to events via a QR Code and will test it again tomorrow at the first Road Rally of the year. We hope to have all the bugs worked out by Tune Up Week where we will be using it to enter to WIN the free t-shirts. More information coming about that soon.
We have two surveys this month which we hope you take the time to fill out. The first survey is for our Two Weeks in August events and a few other questions. We would like your honesty so we can make sure we identify preferences for the future in our planning and execution of our events.
The Second Survey comes from our Strategic Planning group. They have a simple 5 question survey that they are asking the community to fill out. Again this survey is to provide much needed feedback for our organization and it's future.
Please click the boxes below and begin your survey, or come back to this once you've finished reading this month's newsletter in it's entirety.
We appreciate everyone and their continued support.
Ralph Messer
Vice Chairman of the Board
Back to the Bricks®
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What's New With Our Executive Director |
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Hey everyone!
We are gearing up for an AMAZING summer. We had a super fun Dust 'em Off event, and what a fantastic Promo Tour! Peyton and I were in charge of pulling the Merchandise Trailer this time, so Big Red stayed home sleeping in the Barn. To tell you the truth, I might not have made it a few days in Big Red with the WARM Weather... No AC!!!! We did however make some amazing memories.
Just ask me more about Soo Locks Boat Tour. Peyton was Captain for the Day! I couldn't have been more proud of her. She stepped up, grabbed the HUGE Wheel and drove for over 2.5 hours. She listened to the captain and took navigating that boat very seriously. Funny part was the Captain took over for about 15 mins to do a salute HONK to the Light House, and he hit bottom. The look on Peyton's face was priceless. She whispered to me, "Well everyone is going to think I did that mom." I said to her, "Let em. You know you did good". And you know what? She took over again after the little incident and didn't let it bother her. I will say... our 3+ hour tour did take about 7 hours, it had some laughs, some BAD Dad jokes, and we ate all the popcorn... Memories made for sure.
I can hardly believe that tomorrow is our First Road Rally! It seems like we were playing Chrome & Ice™ yesterday! The expression, "Time Flies when you're having fun" is a real thing. And we have MORE for you!
With the Summer comes fun, friends and car shows!!!! I'm truly excited about this years Tune Up Week. Tony Bauer our Chairman has worked with Cheryl Sclater Public Relations Manager with ELGA Credit Union, and in partnership with the host cities to make sure we have enough room! Last year we filled up parking lots, streets and parks. We can't wait to see everyone out this year.
Our Events Committee led by Chairman of Main Events Kevin Murphy, is meeting each month to ensure that this year's festivities are a knock out for you all. I am so proud of each and every one of these amazing and dedicated Volunteers. Our next meeting will be at our all-NEW Sponsors location Mario's Restaurant & Pizzeria in Flint, and we LOVE Pizza, so we can't wait.
Did you know that each year we have multiple events going on during Back to the Bricks® Main Event Saturday?
Well here's what you might not know about. . .
I've linked each item to their page with information or their website to view.
There's probably more, and I will make sure you know about them when they come up. But we sure have an amazing Summer planned for you all.
The next event to mark on your calendar is our Back to the Bricks Night at the Speedway. This is a FUN event in conjunction with Birch Run Speedway, Friday July 22nd 2022. Anyone that wears anything with Back to the Bricks® on it, will receive a $5 off entry ticket. Our Back to the Bricks® Merchandise will be set up offering the latest in swag, t-shirts and MORE!
Just wanted to toss this out there... I am going Over the Edge on Saturday during Main Event to help raise money for the Disability Network. To achieve this task, I need to fundraise. Here's my site, check it out. And don't forget to come watch me on Saturday August 20th go OVER THE EDGE!!!!
I have much more to do, update and post, so I better get back to work! Have a GREAT day, week and month everyone!
Amber Taylor
Executive Director
Back to the Bricks®
Direct: 810-877-8383
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Some of my favorite pics from the Tour... |
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Kick Off Breakfast - Drone Photo by Mike Naddeo
The Tour participants got to tour the field and snap a fun pic before taking off.
Special thank you to Kettering University for their partnership and allowing this photo to take place. It truly set the tone for an amazing adventure.
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Captain Peyton Marie and the real Captain.
What an adventure, and so many memories made.
Do you know why the Soo Locks were made?
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Our donation photo we took with the Owners and Mangers of Jim Wernig Chevrolet.
The Tour Participants opened their wallets and donated over $2,100 to the Tornado relief to the City of Gaylord.
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Al’s Garage
Vol. #3, Issue #5
"Good times from touring"
By now, most of you know that the 12th Annual ‘Back to the Bricks® Promo Tour’ has come to an end. Two-hundred and fifty plus cars were driven on the tour and I am glad to report that there were only a few minor mechanical issues that were addressed and repaired on the spot. Many thanks go out to the two mechanics that traveled with the tour. Father and Son Duo Mike and Brian Reif provided a welcome ‘safety net’ to the entire tour entourage. As the title indicates, touring with a collector car provides all of us with great memories with many of those memories bringing countless stories which are great, funny and not so funny.
Our first stop was in Alma, Michigan. A young couple from the Houghton Lake area joined the tour in Alma. There was a slight problem. The car they choose to take on the tour was to be painted on Thursday and the tour started on Friday in Alma. Jack and Jill (once again not their real names) have been working on recreating the ‘Dodge Charger General Lee’ TV car. Jack was able to get the base coat of color on the car on Thursday, but he wanted to get the clear coat on the car before the tour began. Time ran out on Thursday, but Jack was determined to get the clear coat applied to the ‘General Lee’. Friday morning arrived and Jack headed for the paint booth. By 11AM Jack had the final coat of clear coat applied and all that was left was for the paint to dry. Jill approved of the paint job, but it was still tacky to the touch. After a brief discussion Jack and Jill decided to pack up and depart for Alma. Keeping in mind the clear coat had not dried to the touch, that did not deter them from leaving for Alma. They figured traveling down US127 at seventy miles an hour, that the paint should be dry by the time they arrived in Alma. And guess what? The car was dry by the time they arrived in Alma! No bugs in the paint and all that was needed to finish the paint job was wet sanding and buffing the paint. Jack admitted it was not the ideal way to allow the paint to dry, but it worked. Jack and Jill’s story brought a ‘big smile’ to my face, and I must admit Jack and Jill’s story was a first for me. The two of them have participated in many of the ‘Back to the Bricks®’ event over the past several years, and we look forward to seeing them again soon.
Another story from the tour came to me via ‘Peggy Sue’. Peggy’s children brought her a pair of expensive Rayban sunglasses for her birthday. She was standing near the rear of their collector vehicle which was parked close to a storm sewer grate. Low and behold for some reason she looked down and her sunglasses fell off her head into the storm drain! Peggy Sue was devastated. What should she do? ‘Peggy Sue’s’ husband was called for help. ‘Big Johnny’ being the resourceful guy that he is, thought he might be able snag the sunglasses with a coat hanger that was fashioned into a hook. After numerous attempts to retrieve the sunglasses ‘Big Johnny’ asked for help. Our traveling mechanics, father and son duo, came to the rescue. After securing another coat hanger they were able to snag the sunglasses for ‘Peggy Sue’. A good cleaning of the sunglasses was all that was needed, and all is well with ‘Peggy Sue and Big Johnny’. But the storm sewer was awaiting another victim.
Peggy Sue’s good friend ‘Matilda Ray’ (once again a fictious name but true story) dropped the remote for her car down the same storm drain! But there was no chance of retrieving the remote with a coat hanger. ‘Big Johnny” determined that the storm drained grate had to be removed if the $150 remote was going to be retrieved. With the assistance of a crowbar the sewer grate was removed. As we all know sewers are not pleasant to be probing around for lost objects. Big Johnny arms were not long enough to reach the bottom of the sewer, but someone watching suggested ‘why don’t we lower someone down the sewer to see if the bottom could be reached’? A volunteer stepped forward and ‘Big Johnny’ and someone from the onlookers, lowered the volunteer into the sewer by his ankles. After a minute or two he found the key fob remote. ‘Matilda Ray’ was ecstatic and could not thank ‘Big Johnny’ and the volunteer enough. And guess what? The remote still worked. Like most of us, I have heard of ‘dumpster diving’ but this was a first for ‘sewer diving’.
These are just a few funny stories from the tour, and they will remember for a long time. Touring with your collector car can bring you countless memories and I would like to suggest that you block off the first week of June 2023 and join us on the 13th ‘Back to the Bricks® Promo Tour’. Just remember two things from this tour; the paint on your car should be fully cured, and don’t lean over a storm sewer grate.
Have a great summer of touring with your collector car.
Keep on rollin’
Al Hatch
Founder of the Back to the Bricks®
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Friends of Back to the Bricks® Program
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WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!
Have you wanted to be involved more with the Back To The Bricks®? Ever wanted to volunteer at any or all of our events? Join our Volunteer program called, Friends of Back To The Bricks®.
Friends of Back To The Bricks® is a volunteer program designed to help grow our volunteer base, continue to educate our car community on history and heritage, and ensure the future of our amazing Car shows and events for the community.
If you are anyone you know loves to help, volunteer or be apart of something pretty unique, click this link and sign up today!
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