Super Cruise-In/Car Show/Rally to benefit the 3 teens seriously injured, rear ended while in a 66 Beetle. October 19th, Smokey Road Middle School, Newnan, GA

UPDATE: DATE OCTOBER 19, 9AM-2PM, SMOKEY ROAD MIDDLE SCHOOL, NEWNAN GA. 965 SMOKEY ROAD, NEWNAN. ENTRY FEE, MIMIMUM $10 DONATION. YOU WILL RECEIVE A RAFFLE TICKET WITH YOUR ENTRY FOR PRIZES THROUGHOUT THE DAY. YOU CAN ALSO BUY EXTRA TICKETS. BBQ PLATES WILL BE SOLD ALSO AND WORKING ON OTHER FOOD. ALL MONEY GOES TO THE ALVARADO FAMILY. 12,13,14 YEAR OLD CHILDREN AND THEIR PARENTS.

I was told to post this here too because it may get more feedback

We have been on the phone with several Georgia Dubs members, as well as a family friend, and today I spoke to the driver of the Beetle, Ferdinand.  

We want to do a super cruise-in/rally for the three children and their family, figure we'll say a 10 dollar entry fee but feel free to donate more.  We'll open it up to more than VW's if we can, but we're really counting on you guys to turn out in droves to help this family out.

I spoke to the driver for a long time today, prayed with him, and just got the background on what happened.  He's had 4 or 5 VW's over the years, but has always wanted a 66 Beetle because as a kid his Dad had a 66 and that's his utimate car.  He found one and had just purchased it three hours before the accident.  He drove straight to his cousin's house, he and the kids father went for a ride first, then he took the three kids for a ride, while stopped waiting to turn left into their subdivision they were rearended by a large SUV, no brakes applied so the bumper/grill/fender of the SUV impacted over the engine compartment and into the left rear seat where the youngest child was sitting....he took the brunt of the hit.  The driver has a broken arm, 6 broken ribs, fractured cervical vertabrae, the two older kids have concussions, facial bone damage, broken ribs, etc...but are at home healing after surgeries.  The youngest boy, 12, is still in ICU, brain swelling, many broken bones, internal organ damage, etc...he is showing signs of improvement, he's squeezing hands in response to questions yes or no, he's still being kept in basically a medically induced coma until organs and brain become more stable, but is steadily improving. They are hoping for the best.

The driver of the Beetle said he wants to try to get the car back and rebuild it because it was his dream car....that's where we come in.  I'm going to offer for Bugs4Christ AND Georgia Dubs to rebuild this car for him, whatever it takes.  He thinks the chassis, engine and rims are good, front seats are good, front end, fenders, hood, clip, etc are all good.  We may need to find a 66 shell if possible, but the car had an 1836, dual carbs and such on it.  I really think the best thing we can do for him, instead of raising money, is to let the money go to the family of the three children and offer to do what we all can to rebuild this car and help him recover.  He's devastated, feels very guilty about the accident, said several times he just wishes he hadn't have taken them for the ride....I prayed with him, explained to him that it'll take time to recover and those feelings are normal but with time he'll understand it all better.   There's no way to know what he's going through, and I personally think, knowing that he wants the car back, and knowing that he's been searching for one think this would help alot.

We also have the 78 Bay Window at the shop that needs the front end put under it, needs engine gone through to run, brakes, etc, but has a pretty good interior for a start and would make a pretty easy fix for us to get it running and maybe surprise the family with it at a later date? Could we get support from everyone here to help rebuild it a little at a time?

October 12th looks like a good Calendar date,no other events and the Nice fall weather should be in by then. I remember how it felt when we all did Don Halls Car after his was stolen. I am all on board to help this family.

I am gonna talk to Larry at Pirate Printing and See if He can help as well.

October 12th they are already having Bugarama in Newnan.  
http://forum.georgiadubs.com/t8103-bug-a-rama-5th-semi-annual-all-vw-show-swap-meet-with-bikes-trikes

Bugarama is to be benefiting ACS, not sure if you could talk to Ron/Mary about possibly joining up with that show, but two causes may weaken the proceeds to each cause.  Not really sure how something like that would work out??? But just want to let you know it probably wouldn't be a good date to do a separate show.

I'll be in Florida that weekend, so I wouldn't be able to help out at the show.

Oh, and if a separate show works best, don't forget that Flowery Branch is on Sept 14th, and Swapapaluza is the 21st.

If you get a date set for something and get a flyer made before next weekend, shoot me a pdf and I'll print some flyers and take them with me to the Callaway Gardens show on the 31st.

Maybe two different events? A "hurried" one on the 7th, and another at a later time?

I've e-mailed Mary and Ron, We don't want to even suggest to detract in any way from the benefit she is planning Oct 12th. The American Cancer Society is near and dear to her heart right now as she has her own battle.

I know from having to plan other things, you can never get a perfect date. Just gotta go with one that works.

Send me the flyer as well, I can make several postings in LaGrange/West point area.

Maybe Oct 19th? I missed the show date for them.

John i think the further out the date is,the more time you guys will have to promote the event for a larger turnout and it will give more time for the bus to be put together for auction and views.

Any further plans? Date?

Looks like the best date is October 19th, that works well for most of us, it doesn't interfere with any big shows, and it gives time to hand out flyers about the cruise in and why it's being done at each of the shows listed above. I really think the more time we have without going too far away the better. We're working on a location hopefully by Monday or Tuesday...is there anyone on here that's really talented with flyers that can help make one this week?

Ok, looks like the location hopefully will be Sargent Baptist Church, in Newnan, GA. They've offered us a free spot, volunteers to help with registration, etc. The Pastor has to run it through the board first but sees no reason they would say no. We'll know officially by Friday I hope. October 19th, we'll say like 9AM until 2PM or so. If anyone wants to help us organize things let me know, Bryce, are you willing to have the Snow Cone Van setup and sell snow cones to help out? We need someone to do flyers too, something that uses the Georgia Dubs Logo and Bugs4Christ Logo if possible would be just awesome...This community, you guys, can turn out in such a big way to help this family it'd be awesome to let people know y'all did it!!!!

I got to meet the youngest son and his parents Friday and I cried most of the day. I got to watch him start his first cognitive therapy, asking him yes/no questions about the date, addition, subtraction, parent's names, etc....it broke my heart but at the same time made me realize how lucky he is. Just a week before he was in a coma and not sure if he'd even breathe on his own, etc, and then Friday he's awake, only seeing out of one eye so far, but he was able to say yes that it was 2013, August and that he was going into 6th grade......that's a miracle right there, and all the positive thoughts, vibes, prayers going on from all of you helped in that I'm sure of it.

That's pretty dang close to my house! So is this going to be an all makes/models show? I think the Sugar Hill VW show is the same day, so some of the dubs may be up North, but if it's an all makes/models show, it could still be pretty big. We happened upon a charity car show at the bowling alley last weekend, and it had a very good turnout, so I know there are a lot of classic/show car people in the area.....even though I don't see their cars on the road often, lol.

fluxcap wrote:That's pretty dang close to my house!  So is this going to be an all makes/models show?  I think the Sugar Hill VW show is the same day, so some of the dubs may be up North, but if it's an all makes/models show, it could still be pretty big.  We happened upon a charity car show at the bowling alley last weekend, and it had a very good turnout, so I know there are a lot of classic/show car people in the area.....even though I don't see their cars on the road often, lol.    

Yeah, we'll open it up to all cars, but we definitely want VW support and a lot of it!!!! My personal opinion is the more cars the better, it's really more of a cruise in than a car show but we're gonna have a $10 entry fee that will get you tickets good for some of the raffles we're gonna have, we're working on live music, lots of raffles from local businesses and food to buy, with all of the money going to this family

Email me all the Info and i will get flyer imaging done for you and will email it back so you can print as many as you like.

updated event info at top of post. So far we have 10 or so local businesses that have given things to raffle off. We'll be doing a raffle the entire day where people can buy tickets. Looks like we might have live music also, BBQ plates and possibly other food to be sold during the day. It is at a middle school, lots of parking. Any other suggestions, anyone able to help with items to be raffled, anyone have local business contacts, etc??? All input welcome, we want this thing to show how much the VW community cares!!!!!!

Here's a good generic flyer if anyone can print it out and give it out at shows, work, church, wherever you can.  Kale is working on a good one I think and we'll get it out as soon as possible.  Also, I'd really like to get some small donated things for the raffle for the day of the cruise-in...any of the shops listed on Georgiadubs, are you willing to help us with something? small gift certificates, plaques, trophies, anything like that?  If so, call or message me

Flyer looks great!

Can I get one in color? I would like to print and distribute in a few.

MRJEL wrote:Flyer looks great!

Can I get one in color? I would like to print and distribute in a few.

Flyers were not designed with color. Black N White only.

Thanks for posting the updated flyer kale, and thanks for the work on it.

Just a few updated notes, we have one band lined up, a pa/sound system, several small food vendors, about twenty local businesses have donated items to give away as either door prizes or part of a raffle. Several georgiadubs people have really stepped up, like Bryce making us some glass plaques to give out to favorite cars, kale doing a flyer, several of you syeppes up and gave prizes through your work or spouses jobs, several have helped make contact with businesses for giveaway items, and so far it looks like we're gonna have a huge turnout. We are working this week to get it listed in papers, on radio stations, and on news stations. If anyone has other ideas please get in touch. I'd love to get bouncy stuff for kids, etc but I have no contacts for that kind of stuff...does anyone here?

Are you gonna have the donor beetle there for people to turn wrenches on?
Might be a good PR stunt for the local TV as well if they can get some shots of the events and then some of the mechanics on here "building" the car for the family...
Just a thought.
KC

Haven't really thought about that...we have 2 possibilities there. We are actually going to rebuild the 66 beetle for the owner/driver of the car and we'd love anyone's help with that, but that's something that's separate from the cruise in. The cruise in is for the kids and their parents...we discussed the idea of building the van we have for them, but nothing has really been decided on that. I personally think it would be cool to tow the van up there and have everyone work on it that day, just like you said, wrenching around and maybe let someone else tow it home, do some work, pass it on to someone else on here to do more work, and just keep doing it til its up and running and maybe all cruise together to give it to the kids and their parents as a surprise whenever it's done. Their last memory of riding in a VW is a horrible one, and I think it'd be amazing to replace that memory....just my thoughts, what do you guys think?

Getting close. Lets Show some love Ga Dubs.

I'll be there!!! Bugarama is this coming weekend in Newnan, I'm out of town this weekend, but it'd be great it somebody could pass out flyers for the cruise in.