Latest email
We are only one month away from the Red Ball Rally/Convoy set for May 10-11. You should have your registration form and fee sent in to Evelyn. If you plan to attend the 21 April meeting at Mountain Harbor Resort (Hosted by Bill Barnes) you can turn your registration form and fee in to Ev at that time. Please don't wait till the last minute to do that. The forms can be easily printed out by going to
www.armvpa.com and clicking on the Red Ball Convoy tab and then the Registration button. If you will be staying at one of the hotels in Russellville you should have your reservation set. Our host hotel, the LaQuinta Inn, can be reached at 479-967-2299. Be sure to tell them you are with the Military Convoy Group and make sure they give you the military discount. With the discount the rooms are $77 for a king bed, $82 for two queen beds. An alternate to the LaQuinta is the Super 8 Hotel right behind the LaQuinta. They can be reached at 479-968-8898. I didn't get pricing from the Super 8 but they are usually cheaper than LaQuinta. If you wish to park your trailer at your hotel I suggest staying at the Super 8 because they have a large gravel parking lot right next to the hotel that the truckers use. Parking at the LaQuinta is limited. If you wish to camp at Lake Dardanelle Park, our rally/convoy HQ, contact the park at
www.arkansasstateparks.com/lakedardanelle/ or by calling 479-967-5516. Two of our members have volunteered to act as guards and will be camping at our HQ pavilion, but the park has limited us to just the two. All others must camp in the regular camping spaces so get your space reserved if you need one. We've been assured that parking of our POVs and trailers will be secure at the park. There is a large gravel parking area with plenty of room not far from HQ. There is a ranger on duty 24/7 and they make regular patrols of the park. Anyone that enters the park after 10pm will be immediately stopped and questioned. It's still a good idea to lock your trailer and secure all your belongings. Your MV will be safe if parked at our HQ pavilion overnight but again be sure to lock and secure everything. Here is a link to a map of Lake Dardanelle Park (scroll to the second page for the map)
www.arkansasstateparks.com/!userfiles/pdfs/L-DARDAN-06.pdf Our HQ pavilion is almost dead center on the map. Turn to the right after you enter the park and you will pass the gravel trailer parking area on the right. Keep going and you will come to the pavilion area on the left. If you drive into the camping/marina areas you've gone too far. The park isn't that big so just drive around a bit and you will find the pavilion.
For those coming in for the rally/display at the park on Friday May 10, you can arrive at any time and stake out your spot near the HQ pavilion. But don't worry, there is plenty of room and shade in the surrounding trees and we have the entire area around the pavilion. The park has asked that we park our POVs and trailers in the gravel parking area but we are welcome to pull our MVs off the road and onto the grass around the pavilion. If you have a large vehicle like a 2-1/2 ton or larger it would be a good idea to stay close to the road to prevent any unnecessary damage to park grounds or trees. If you have a smaller vehicle please find a spot back in the trees so there will be space for the big rigs near the road. Please take it easy and make gentle turns while you are off road in the park. We want to be invited back again, BJ! For those that get there early enough on Friday we will be making a run with a smaller group of vehicles to the Russellville Senior Activity Center which is about 6 miles from the park. We will depart the park at 11am. They have invited us to display our vehicles and join them for lunch on Friday. There is a $3.50 charge for the lunch at the Senior Center. Our visit has been advertised and it should be a nice side trip, hopefully with some veterans on hand we can meet. We will be back to the park by 2pm at the latest. The rally/display at the park will run until 5pm and we have no other meals arranged for that day. We ask everyone to make use of the many fine restaurants in the Russellville area. The Russellville A&P has come through with a big donation to support our event and we ask our participants to return the favor and visit Russellville businesses while you are there.
Everyone participating in the Red Ball Convoy on Saturday, May 11, needs to be at the park and preparing your vehicle for the trip by 7am. We will line up on the road that circles the pavilion area. There will be a drivers meeting at the HQ pavilion at 7:30am and all drivers must attend. Route maps and squad lists will be handed out and final convoy instructions will be given. The convoy will depart Lake Dardanelle Park promptly at 8am (0800hrs). We will form into four squads. Our squad leaders this year will be Jerome Casey, Jeff Stinson, Dave Hopkins, and Gil Jeane. We will also have two MPs, Ron Naef and Jerry Gardner (tail-end charlie), assisting with traffic control. Breakdown assistance will again be provided by Clayton Jones who will follow along at the rear. At Ev's latest count we have 93 participants and 45 vehicles making the convoy. Because of the large number of vehicles parking will be tight at some of our stops. Our lunch stop at Long Pool Recreation Area will be the tightest. Please listen to the instructions given at the drivers meeting and always stay in line in your squad and follow the instructions given by your squad leaders and MPs. If you peel off and try to do your own thing it could cause a convoy jamb! Our first stop, scheduled at the Arkansas Nuclear One Power Plant, is in question now because of a fatal accident at the plant recently and the plant is shut down. If we are unable to make the stop there we will still drive by for a good view of the plant and a back road detour will be added in the afternoon to make up for the lost stop. Unless the back road stretch is added all of the convoy will be on pavement with some easy rolling hills. The only steep parts will be the descent in and climb out of Long Pool RA but any well maintained MV can make that with ease. If the back road stretch is added it will be a more strenuous three mile climb up a gravel road, Old Hwy 7, so make sure your vehicle is ready just in case. You should already have, or are getting, your vehicle checked out for the convoy. Check all your fluids, check for leaks, check your spark plugs, wires, and adjust your points, check your brake adjustments, and make sure your battery is good and is charging properly. There have been a couple good articles in Military Vehicles Magazine recently about vehicle maintenance. Get-r-done! We had too many breakdowns last year. Let's go for zero this year!
We plan on returning to the park after the convoy about 2pm (1400hrs) and continuing with the rally/display that afternoon. The rally will conclude at 5pm and the catered BBQ dinner is scheduled for 6pm (1800hrs) at the pavilion. After dinner, about 7pm, the special challenge coins minted by the Russellville Veterans Task Force will be handed out to commemorate the event, and special awards from the AR MVPA will be presented. You can then depart camp or continue to visit with fellow members well into the evening.
Make sure you fill up your gas tank(s) before arriving at Lake Dardanelle Park. The closest gas stations are four to five miles from the park. Don't get caught needing fuel the morning of the convoy. Make sure you have enough juice for the 72 mile run as no gas stops are planned. If you do end up needing fuel during the convoy the best place to get it is at our morning stop in Lamar. There are a couple stations on the west side of the little town on Hwy 64 and they are usually 10 cents or so cheaper then any other stations you will find. There is no fuel available at our other stops. Also keep an eye on the weather reports and prepare accordingly. It's spring time in Arkansas and you never know what to expect. Don't forget your medications and bring along any snacks you will need for the rally and convoy. Coffee, juice, and donuts, will be available at our morning stop and drinks, chips, and the makings for sandwiches will be provided for our picnic lunch at Long Pool RA. Please bring along chairs for you and your riders, and maybe a table as well, to use at Long Pool. There are not enough picnic tables for all of us at the lunch stop. Your chairs and tables may be needed at Lake Dardanelle Park as well if we run out of seating in the pavilion.
Let Ev or myself know if you have any questions or problems. See you all on the Red Ball!
I'm making arrangements to take my final company paid trip home during that time so I should be there. I'll wait a little bit longer, once I know that I can make it, before I send them an email stating that I am 100% commited.
