Odd ending, seems like a post about the virus and government cancelling the event is not there.
GUNNUT you have the organizational skills and energy to help lead a MVPA convention. I don't know how many volunteers there are in your area but most jobs will be event week so possibly volunteers can come from all around. Maybe some of the past participants in your show would want to work on it and take some credit?
The MVPA seems to have loosened their rule about needing a local affiliated club to be the host.
Thank you for the kind words.
Some further explanation on my decision.
Currently our state (Iowa) governor has only issued one "order" that will effect the Rally. We do NOT have any type of "stay at home order". We do NOT have a requirement to wear a mask in public. We do have forced closings of many private owned business, but most are doing the best they can to keep a cash flow - take out orders, curbside service, home delivery, limiting access numbers, etc. We do have mandatory school closings, no graduations, no sports, etc. Most of the activities in the city parks are closed.
The primary "order" is the "no more than 10 people in a group" thing. I serve on the Atlantic Color Guard and participate in military funerals. Our yearly average number of funerals in the last 6 years is 19. This year we have done 4 - and the last one of those was on January 17th. We can't even participate in a military funeral because there will be more than a total of 10 people at the service. There is no indication this order will be removed in the next 30 days. There is an update from the governor every weekday with the "latest and greatest" (mostly numbers). This order alone will prohibit the BA-DA BA-DA BING BANG Rally from happening.
There is one other issue. The governor decided I don't need to get my hair cut so she closed all of the barber shops. To show my acknowledgement of her order, I have decided I don't need to shave. I look like Hell, but visual reminders sometimes work the best to illustrate a point.
My wife and I considered postponing the Rally back in January. We have always wanted to go to the rally in Findlay, OH. Of course the Bing Bang Rally is on the same weekend. This year was especially noteworthy because of the MVPA National Convention. We decided it would be dangerous to not have the Rally one year since we thought it would be difficult to get it going again. Wow! How things work out sometimes? No rally in Findlay. No MVPA convention in Findlay. No choice on the Bing Bang Rally this year.
It was a tough decision. One of the things I really like to do at the Bing Bang Rally is to have a "special display" of items from my military collection. In fact, I have even been purchasing specific items to add to this year's proposed display. I also spend a little extra effort making the actual display memorable. This year was going to be the medical section of the collection - just a little shy of 200 items. Have you ever tried to make a giant band-aid (over 2 feet long)? I made one prototype and had plans and materials to make at least two dozen of them. Oh, well I still have the materials for the band-aids and over 100 feet of cotton gauze.
Last December I bought and picked up in Corpus Christi, TX a new fuel tank for my MB. I also got a dash panel and firewall for an MB. I did not need it, but I thought perhaps some of the Bing Bang owner/operators might enjoy winning it as a door prize. It looks like it will remain sitting in the garage at The Armory for quite awhile now.
Yes, I do have organizational skills. Back in 2014 I received a phone call from a couple of guys that wanted me to put together an Honor Flight to Washington, DC. I had never done anything like that, but they asked - and paid for it - so it happened. It is easier than normal when folks just give you over $100,000 and say make it happen. They called on March 13th. We went "wheels up" on June 17th - 96 days later. One hundred sixty two folks had a very memorable experience.
However, realistically the city of Atlantic does not have the facilities available to host an MVPA convention. There are many reasons but the truth of the matter is a town with less than 7,000 people just doesn't have what the MVPA needs.
The good news is that everybody that responded to my email about this year's Rally indicated they would see me next year.
Thanks for letting me vent.
You folks do remember you are the reason there is a BA-DA BA-DA BING BANG Rally in the first place, right?