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Big Midwest Meet! Des Moines, Iowa -- May 18-19 2007 -- Porky's Diner -- Track Time!

35K views 361 replies 30 participants last post by  nickc50310 
#1 ·
Any interest in a midwest meet this coming spring? Central Iowa might be a good spot for several surrounding states--not too far away for Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, Missouri, Indiana, or Wisconsin.

JRau in central Iowa
 
#2 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

I'd be up for it!
 
#6 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

This would be great. One of the forum members remarked that he had a rapport with an area Cadillac dealer who may sponsor/cosponsor a meet.

On a related note, I am surprised Cadillac (corporate) doesn't host annual, nationwide meets for entusiasts, collectors and the like. (Pardon my cynicism and forgive my saying so, yet I guess Cadillac is too busy dreaming up the next HT-4100 or revealing a new Cimarron, which would likely be built on the Chevrolet Aveo platform.)
 
#7 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

So which month? April? May? March would still have snow so it would most likely be too early..
 
#10 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

I agree, May sounds like the best month for something like this. No snow, warmer days, green grass, and flowering trees, etc. This will provide us with a great background for pictures!!

Provided we can get more people in on this, should we get "a block of rooms" at a hotel or just go it alone? Have any of you ever put something like this together? I may want to check with Sal or Urbanski to see how to put one of these things together.

We might get more cars and people if we can hook up with the Cadillac/LaSalle club. I think they have a chapter here in the Des Moines area, and the owner of Betts Cadillac has alot of older Cadillacs that are literally museum quality. Betts, btw, is the dealership I hope to connect with to host the show itself. They are a big dealership with lots of open areas and lots of traffic.

Anyway, if a couple of you want to assist me with getting this thing together, that would be great.

JRau in central Iowa
 
#11 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

I'd like to help! Just let me know!
 
#12 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

I'll count you in! Should we set up a minimum number of participants to determine if we have enough interest to pull this thing off? Maybe I'll check with Sal or Urbanski... Let's do this well, and have fun at the same time.

Gotta clean out my pm boxes, and after I do, I'll pm you. We should exchange e-mails so that we can begin setting up a committee to work out the details. Wonder if 90Brougham350 would help with this?

JRau in central Iowa
 
#13 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

Alright, I'd be glad to help, setting up the last Minnesota meet wasn't too hard at all. I just discovered that I'm graduating (well I guess I forgot) in May, so the first three weekends of May wouldn't work for me, maybe last weekend in May or the beginning of June?
 
#14 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

Works for me. I'll be able to come down for a Sat night- sunday sort of deal. I could do Monday too, but you guys all probably work on Monday.
 
#15 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

If you're graduating, you'll have finals and all that kinda stuff. That's more important than a car show committee. I don't want to put too much on ya, its' ok. I might just keep asking you questions though-like what should be the cutoff for numbers before cancelling the show, for instance? What should be the minimum number of participants to make a go of it?

JRau in central Iowa
 
#16 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

Well, since we'd all be driving at least a few hours, we should make this a good event. Obviously we won't get Florida numbers, but if we could get, I dunno, at least 10 guys, maybe 15 or 20, that would be better. Has addison been online lately? That would be at least one more Minnesota guy.
 
#17 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

We'll have to let Addison II know also, I wonder where he's been lately. He hasn't been around much...
 
#18 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

I would be all for a meeting in the midwest. I'm pretty sure I suggested it to NODIH a couple of months ago. Maybe he would be in? I don't know where you guys are thinking because I think I would only be for driving just a few hours. Twin cities,Chicago. I am about a hour west of milwaukee!
 
#19 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

I would be all for a meeting in the midwest. I'm pretty sure I suggested it to NODIH a couple of months ago. Maybe he would be in? I don't know where you guys are thinking because I think I would only be for driving just a few hours. Twin cities,Chicago. I am about a hour west of milwaukee!
We're planning on Des Moines, Iowa, and we're thinking a late May meet. If you know of folks in the area that would be willing to come over to Des Moines, please let 'em know about us.

Thanks,

JRau in central Iowa
 
#21 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

I'm in!! That will give me plety of time to fix the body on my 1995 FWB and take a long road trip. Des Moines is about 7-8 hours drive for me. I agree with xxpinballxx, good thing I like road trips!! If there is anything I can do to help out Jrau, let me know! :)

bigbluebrougham in Northern SD
 
#27 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

I'm in!! That will give me plety of time to fix the body on my 1995 FWB and take a long road trip. Des Moines is about 7-8 hours drive for me. I agree with xxpinballxx, good thing I like road trips!! If there is anything I can do to help out Jrau, let me know! :)

bigbluebrougham in Northern SD
Thanks for offering your help. I may need it in the future, but for now, what we need is to spread the word around about the meet. So, if there are CadillacOwners.com members you know of who could come to Des Moines relatively easily, have 'em log in to this thread so that I can keep a running tally of vehicles and people coming.

JRau in central Iowa
 
#22 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

OOOO yes! An LT1 Brougham! I'm glad we've got somebody near by with one of those!
 
#24 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

Alright, let's spread the word. There's a lot of members who don't read anything but their vehicle forums. Let's send some PM's, get a list of names going.
Good idea 90Brougham350. I kinda have been--as I've read other posts elsewhere on this forum site, if a person was in the midwest, I'd invite 'em. In fact, I went on the "Indiana?" thread in this Cadillac Club/Meets forum and invited those 2 guys who posted on it. Haven't heard from them, yet.

I will try to connect with the Des Moines chapter of the Cadillac/LaSalle club to see if any of them would be interested in a meet. If that would happen, there's a great chance we'd have some real oldies there--1920's, 30's, 40', and 50's Cadillacs, in addition to our newer models. Could be pretty slick!

Also, I will call Betts Cadillac in Des Moines and see if they can host us on their lot. I'm sure you could look at their website for pics of their place. It's nice and they have a good reputation here in the Des Moines area.

Do we want to agree upon an actual date and see if we can get a hotel reserved? I think it was you who said the last weekend in May was your choice, and that would be ok with me, too. Are these things 2 day events or just one day? If a one day event, then probably Saturday, May 26, 2007 is our date. If it's a two day event, then what would all of us want: Friday and Saturday, or Saturday and Sunday? Thoughts?

Sorry for the long posting.... But now that I think about it, LOL!, I want a Cadillac crest under my name. If any of you all would be so kind as to give me some good reps, I'd be eternally grateful. :thumbsup: Now that it's even harder to get 'em, I would be even more proud. Something to share with the grandkids (whenever I get 'em) :)

JRau in central Iowa
 
#25 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

Ok, guys, new information here!

I have contacted Betts Auto Campus (the Cadillac dealer in Des Moines) and they would be willing to host our club meet in May of 2007. She asked me to get her the details in writing, and she asked that I contact the Cadillac/LaSalle club to possibly coordinate with them. Apparently, (I didn't even know this myself) that club has a Cadillac show annually in August. I'm not sure if they have it at Betts Cadillac, but I'll check with them on this.

I do need to hear from y'all if we want a Friday/Saturday 5/25-26/07 show or a Saturday/Sunday 5/26-27/07 show so that I can get this information to her soon. Once the date is nailed down, and I get official approval from Betts to host it, I'll start calling hotels in the area for a block of rooms and discounted rates, etc.

Thanks!:dance: :woohoo:

JRau in central Iowa
 
#28 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

I do need to hear from y'all if we want a Friday/Saturday 5/25-26/07 show or a Saturday/Sunday 5/26-27/07 show so that I can get this information to her soon.
A Saturday/Sunday show is the only way I could make it down. I work Tuesday-Saturday, with Sunday and Monday off. A trip to Des Moines from the Twin Cities is probably 4 hours, so that means I couldn't get down there on a Sat night until 830, and it would pretty much be over by the time I got there. Also, I'm probably not the only one that works Sat, and I know lots of people work Friday. If I did work Mon-Fri, it would still be easiest to do Sat/Sun. That way, people can get off work Friday evening, go home, pack, get ready and get to sleep. Saturday they start off by having some breakfast and hitting the road! For you, it's probably a 1 hr drive, for us Minnesota Owners, it's 3.5-5, depending on location, and for some of us, it's 8-11 hour. I figure if we do Sat/Sun, people will trickle in bit by bit on Sunday, anywhere from Noon-8 PM I suppose. That way, we can get settled in, set up and can do the meet and greet, go out to dinner and whatnot. We'll have plenty of time that way!
 
#26 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

Another great update! I visited with the president of the local chapter of the Cadillac/La Salle club about the possibility of working collaboratively on this upcoming meet. He was very interested, and was quite curious about our online community/club. I asked him to visit our website, etc. for more information.

He sounds like he will talk with the members of his club to see if they'd be interested in attending with their cars. He specifically asked about our vehicles ages. I told him that we have '70's thru the '07's primarily, and that is why I wanted to invite his club, as they have the older Cadillac models. That way, we'd have a well rounded meet with all decades of Cadillacs present.

I've exchanged e-mail addresses with him, as well as my contact at Betts Cadillac.

This is coming together, so tell all your Cadillac friends about this...

JRau in central Iowa
 
#31 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

So the shows on for late May??
 
#32 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

If I can work everything out, I'll be there. It's about ten hours of driving, but I like long trips. I might rent a car, to keep the miles down, but the Phaeton could use a good workout, so we'll see. It couldn't be better that your having it in May lol.
 
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