ok let's talk about DKP Odyssey Rallies, calling the "Jim's"

[Jim Ratto]

Jim Sarge Edmiston and Jim Holmes please sit us down and tell us some good stories about the Odyssey Rallies and/or any other old DKP drives....

The Cal Look Kids

[Frank LUX]

Yes, yes, please tell us Guys...!!!

Frank

[Sarge]

Hmmm....Unfortunatly for me, I was on my Viet Nam "Odyssey" when all those rallies took place, so I'm not much help.  Since you mentioned Jim Holmes' name, my memory always goes back to the navagational rally where we all wound up in a residential neighborhood (imagine 150-200 VW's blasting around YOUR neighborhood while YOU were trying to relax on a Saturday evening  ) for a short time...NOT GOOD.  Some guy comes running out of his house waving at Jim to stop for a second which Jim did.  When Jim rolled the window down expecting to hear how cool it was to see soooo many VW's parading around, the dude clocked him in the face...OUCH!!

[Jim Ratto]

Hmmm....Unfortunatly for me, I was on my Viet Nam "Odyssey" when all those rallies took place, so I'm not much help.  Since you mentioned Jim Holmes' name, my memory always goes back to the navagational rally where we all wound up in a residential neighborhood (imagine 150-200 VW's blasting around YOUR neighborhood while YOU were trying to relax on a Saturday evening  ) for a short time...NOT GOOD.  Some guy comes running out of his house waving at Jim to stop for a second which Jim did.  When Jim rolled the window down expecting to hear how cool it was to see soooo many VW's parading around, the dude clocked him in the face...OUCH!!

Wow.    Imagine a DKPIII version of that same story. Sure to be some lead involved and I don't mean Zeppelin.

[Sarge]

When I think about going to rallies back in the day, two things always come to mind.  The first is arriving at the Montgomery Wards parking lot in Fullerton to sign up.  You couldn't just cruise in and park...you had to do a BURN-OUT!!  The second thing was the mayhem in the Shakey's Pizza parking lot after downing many pitchers of brew at the end of the rally    I still have wife inflicted claw marks on my right arm to remind me of the "fun!"

[speedwell]

and what about this one sarge 
dkp st valentines day massacre 

[Sarge]

and what about this one sarge 
dkp st valentines day massacre 

Couldn't tell you about the rally, Fabs...my brain hurts trying to remember all that stuff   I do remember designing that dash plaque though...

[shorty]

Car navigational rallies were like a VW "Classic" or "Bug In" crammed into a 5 to 7 hour Saturday night.  The DKP group met at the clubhouse before the "event" and rules were laid out by the current president....everyone was to line up and caravan to the Montgomery Wards parking lot in an orderly fashion.  By the time we got there, the "rules" had flown out the window and much racing, arm-waving, yelling, laughing, up-out-of-the-sunroof-driving and changing of positions had taken place.

The "Mass", as Doug Gordon was affectionately called, and his bus were requested to direct traffic when we all got to the parking lot.  This meant stopping the oncoming traffic on Harbor Blvd. so all the DKP cars could make a proper DKP "entrance".  There was to be absolutely NO racing of any kind in the parking lot.

So...each car turned left in front of Doug, paused momentarily after the driveway, and proceeded to light up the tires and raced full throttle for as long as possible before reaching the mob of cheering people.  After signing up for the rally, we were released one at a time and told to follow all the posted speed limits and traffic laws.  Everyone raced full-speed out of the lot, screeching tires with every gear shift.

I remember one particularly rowdy after-the-rally meeting at Shakey's (Pizza Parlor).  There must have been quite of few of us who had gotten hopelessly lost on the rally and were forced to drive directly to Shakey's and get a head start on drinking the "beverages" of the evening.

I can't quite remember what started it, but after all the passing out of the prizes for the winners, cheering, clapping, screaming and laughing, someone threw a crumpled napkin (or something) at somebody.  Everyone else immediately got into the "spirit" of the moment and a full-fledged food fight, plus whatever else was "throw-able" began.  The entire group jumped up and moved to the walls of the room....trying to avoid the horizontal hailstorm of debris.

While this was going on I happened to notice one lone figure still sitting at a table towards the middle of the room, elbows resting on the table, arms and hands holding up his head.  Occasionally, something would bounce off his head, he'd lift it up, open his eyes and grin.  This was Whit Haydon's way of celebrating, and ending, each rally.  Thus, the phrase "Whit-faced" was born.  Usually his older and somewhat wiser brother, Doug, would rescue and take him home.

But before anyone left there was always that really special moment when Ron Fleming would step up on a chair or table.  The crowd would eventually become silent and Ron would yell at the top of his lungs....GIVE ME A "P"!!!! and all the DKP guys would yell back "P"!!!  And on it would continue, until he got through to "S".  Then, "WHAT'S THAT SPELL???"...."PANZERS"!!!.  "WHAT'S THAT SPELL???"...."PANZERS"!!! 

That yell always gave me a thrill I've yet to forget.  What an outrageously fun night it always was.

[Fastbrit]

 )

[Jim Ratto]

Car navigational rallies were like a VW "Classic" or "Bug In" crammed into a 5 to 7 hour Saturday night.  The DKP group met at the clubhouse before the "event" and rules were laid out by the current president....everyone was to line up and caravan to the Montgomery Wards parking lot in an orderly fashion.  By the time we got there, the "rules" had flown out the window and much racing, arm-waving, yelling, laughing, up-out-of-the-sunroof-driving and changing of positions had taken place.

The "Mass", as Doug Gordon was affectionately called, and his bus were requested to direct traffic when we all got to the parking lot.  This meant stopping the oncoming traffic on Harbor Blvd. so all the DKP cars could make a proper DKP "entrance".  There was to be absolutely NO racing of any kind in the parking lot.

So...each car turned left in front of Doug, paused momentarily after the driveway, and proceeded to light up the tires and raced full throttle for as long as possible before reaching the mob of cheering people.  After signing up for the rally, we were released one at a time and told to follow all the posted speed limits and traffic laws.  Everyone raced full-speed out of the lot, screeching tires with every gear shift.

I remember one particularly rowdy after-the-rally meeting at Shakey's (Pizza Parlor).  There must have been quite of few of us who had gotten hopelessly lost on the rally and were forced to drive directly to Shakey's and get a head start on drinking the "beverages" of the evening.

I can't quite remember what started it, but after all the passing out of the prizes for the winners, cheering, clapping, screaming and laughing, someone threw a crumpled napkin (or something) at somebody.  Everyone else immediately got into the "spirit" of the moment and a full-fledged food fight, plus whatever else was "throw-able" began.  The entire group jumped up and moved to the walls of the room....trying to avoid the horizontal hailstorm of debris.

While this was going on I happened to notice one lone figure still sitting at a table towards the middle of the room, elbows resting on the table, arms and hands holding up his head.  Occasionally, something would bounce off his head, he'd lift it up, open his eyes and grin.  This was Whit Haydon's way of celebrating, and ending, each rally.  Thus, the phrase "Whit-faced" was born.  Usually his older and somewhat wiser brother, Doug, would rescue and take him home.

But before anyone left there was always that really special moment when Ron Fleming would step up on a chair or table.  The crowd would eventually become silent and Ron would yell at the top of his lungs....GIVE ME A "P"!!!! and all the DKP guys would yell back "P"!!!  And on it would continue, until he got through to "S".  Then, "WHAT'S THAT SPELL???"...."PANZERS"!!!.  "WHAT'S THAT SPELL???"...."PANZERS"!!! 

That yell always gave me a thrill I've yet to forget.  What an outrageously fun night it always was.

ok we have to award "Best Post Ever on Cal Look Lounge"  right here.

Holy smokes, I just got the chills reading that!!! 

thanks!

[Sarge]

WOW...my knees are weak and there's a tear in my eye.  Beautiful post, shorty and welcome to the Lounge!  Let me be the first to buy you a beer

[Rick Meredith]

Great Story... if it was the Shakeys on Orangethorpe near Harbor, we (DKK) trashed it in the same way after a rally several years later. Brent Kooiman's GF at the time found that you could wing Mojo potatoes like a Frisbee with deadly accuracy!

[Carlos De Alba]

Great post !!! thanks for sharing Shorty!!!  Welcome 

[.]

Posts like that are why I visit the Lounge.
Thank you Shorty !
 )

[67worshipper]

this is quality reading.that dash plaque the fuckin mutts

[Frank LUX]

Thanxs for That Post Shorty...!!!

But am I the Only one not to know who You are... 

Frank

[speedwell]

welcome shorty and thx for sharing the story with us
rgd
fabs

[Sarge]

Having read Shortie's post over and over again this afternoon got me to remembering one of those Shakey Pizza endings that got way out of hand.  "Somebody" louded off to a young man who was in the Marines and the smack talk quickly got out of hand.  The Marine left for a while and when he returned, it was with a dozen other Marines intent on kicking some VW ass.  Fortunatly, cooler heads (Ron Fleming) prevailed and got the situation back to normal....talk about buzz kill!

[danny gabbard]

well one night after a rally the DKK boyz and another club were have'n a little wet napken fight that turn for the worst, I went into the bathroom and tore the paper towel dispenser off the wall and brought it back to the table and started dunking handful's of paper towel's into our pitcher's of beer and we were winning the battle till I hit some chick in the head that was'nt playing in our little war. GOT chased out the back door were I was hiding in the fricken trash bin, well the X wife was not happy either about her jack-ass war hero. GOOD times

[Rennsurfer]

Great Story... if it was the Shakeys on Orangethorpe near Harbor, we (DKK) trashed it in the same way after a rally several years later. Brent Kooiman's GF at the time found that you could wing Mojo potatoes like a Frisbee with deadly accuracy!

well one night after a rally the DKK boyz and another club were have'n a little wet napken fight that turn for the worst, I went into the bathroom and tore the paper towel dispenser off the wall and brought it back to the table and started dunking handful's of paper towel's into our pitcher's of beer and we were winning the battle till I hit some chick in the head that was'nt playing in our little war. GOT chased out the back door were I was hiding in the fricken trash bin, well the X wife was not happy either about her jack-ass war hero. GOOD times

(sniff!) [Ren's voice]Memmmoriiies.[/Ren's voice] Never knew about the trash bin part. The rallies that we hosted and attended usually ended with a bang. GOOD TIMES!

[Rick Meredith]

well one night after a rally the DKK boyz and another club were have'n a little wet napken fight that turn for the worst, I went into the bathroom and tore the paper towel dispenser off the wall and brought it back to the table and started dunking handful's of paper towel's into our pitcher's of beer and we were winning the battle till I hit some chick in the head that was'nt playing in our little war. GOT chased out the back door were I was hiding in the fricken trash bin, well the X wife was not happy either about her jack-ass war hero. GOOD times

That's a memory that I had forgotten! Thanks for the refresher! 

[Jim Ratto]

well one night after a rally the DKK boyz and another club were have'n a little wet napken fight that turn for the worst, I went into the bathroom and tore the paper towel dispenser off the wall and brought it back to the table and started dunking handful's of paper towel's into our pitcher's of beer and we were winning the battle till I hit some chick in the head that was'nt playing in our little war. GOT chased out the back door were I was hiding in the fricken trash bin, well the X wife was not happy either about her jack-ass war hero. GOOD times

my kind of meeting.

[Rick Meredith]

well one night after a rally the DKK boyz and another club were have'n a little wet napken fight that turn for the worst, I went into the bathroom and tore the paper towel dispenser off the wall and brought it back to the table and started dunking handful's of paper towel's into our pitcher's of beer and we were winning the battle till I hit some chick in the head that was'nt playing in our little war. GOT chased out the back door were I was hiding in the fricken trash bin, well the X wife was not happy either about her jack-ass war hero. GOOD times

my kind of meeting.

You would have fit right in... except you would have been what... about 12 y.o. 

[Jim Ratto]

well one night after a rally the DKK boyz and another club were have'n a little wet napken fight that turn for the worst, I went into the bathroom and tore the paper towel dispenser off the wall and brought it back to the table and started dunking handful's of paper towel's into our pitcher's of beer and we were winning the battle till I hit some chick in the head that was'nt playing in our little war. GOT chased out the back door were I was hiding in the fricken trash bin, well the X wife was not happy either about her jack-ass war hero. GOOD times

my kind of meeting.

You would have fit right in... except you would have been what... about 12 y.o. 

hey let's keep this at least PG rated around here.

[Wünderwolff]

Rallies are the best!

As some of you migth have seen we throw a yearly big rally, the Bugtour. But a few years back we were doing some Kross Town Traffics, a short guided drive through Ghent's city centre ending at the local drive-in MacDo, the closest thing we have to an American Diner.

We had a turnout every time of around 40 cars, including some very fine lookers and classics from time to time. Contestants were free to show up at the covered parking lot to join and after around an hour of chatting, we all took of. Using a plan or explanation on how to drive is really a challenge for some. The first time I took of as one of the last cars leaving, halfway the run I came onto a 5-armed crossing which you just had to cross, and out of all five streets cars were heading towards me. I guess my plan was not so clear driving around an ill-lit evening.

I promissed again and again to start organising again. With the buzz of bugtour still kicking I again feel for doing it. Especially since Turtle is going to host a Brussels XTT, I will do the Ghent one again, maybe host a Bruges one and maybe someone is willing to do the Antwerp one? Let's make it a summer to remember and do a tour of Belgium.

Never had after parties as raunchy as yours though. Never too late for a first time.

[edcraig]

Hey Sarge...so how DKP cars actually completed the Rallys?  ...or did they just skip the rally and go to the end and eat pizza!!

[Sarge]

  ...or did they just skip the rally and go to the end and drink beer!!

Gee, I NEVER thought of that....     As well as I remember, we did the rallies.  Nothing better then getting mixed up right out of the gate and having to jump out and unscrew the speedo cable...jump back in, drive a mile (or however much you "estimated" your screw-up was), pull back over and screw the cable back to the speedo and get going again.  I also remember getting into a lot of arguing matches with "The Navigator" (my wife) 

[Rennsurfer]

Nothing better then getting mixed up right out of the gate and having to jump out and unscrew the speedo cable...jump back in, drive a mile (or however much you "estimated" your screw-up was), pull back over and screw the cable back to the speedo and get going again. 

HAHA!! Now THAT is some funny stuff. I never did that in my car rallies. Only did it when I would rent exotic Euro cars in the '80s. Of course, those 500SL & 308GTSi electronic speedo connections are a little more trickier.

Probably a silly query, but does anyone from D.K.P. have a collection of rally dash plaques and/or fliers? That would be cool to see posted up.

[Sarge]

Nothing better then getting mixed up right out of the gate and having to jump out and unscrew the speedo cable...jump back in, drive a mile (or however much you "estimated" your screw-up was), pull back over and screw the cable back to the speedo and get going again. 

HAHA!! Now THAT is some funny stuff. I never did that in my car rallies. Only did it when I would rent exotic Euro cars in the '80s. Of course, those 500SL & 308GTSi electronic speedo connections are a little more trickier.

Probably a silly query, but does anyone from D.K.P. have a collection of rally dash plaques and/or fliers? That would be cool to see posted up.

You NEVER did that on ANY of your rallies....COME ON!!!   Art Alvarez has a nice collection of dash plaques and I have some old flyers someplace in the house I'll try and scan.

[Rennsurfer]

You NEVER did that on ANY of your rallies....COME ON!!!   Art Alvarez has a nice collection of dash plaques and I have some old flyers someplace in the house I'll try and scan.

Nope... I was too young and dumb to figure that one out during a rally. But when it came to paying for mileage, I was on it. Thanks for that picture... cool stuff!