Alright, I am really tired so this is going to be short.
The rally staff sincerely thanks all of the attendees for showing up. We all know how expensive it is to take half a week off and drive a 7mpg vehicle to an event. We hope everyone had a great time. We work very hard to try and create an event that makes everyone happy. We spend a lot of time each year trying to make the rally better. For instance, the hardball convoy got so big that Heavy's BBQ couldn't feed everyone in a reasonable amount of time. So this year, we tried a different destination.
I personally want to thank the volunteers who actually make the rally happen. I think a lot of attendees probably have no idea of what the rally requires in order to exist. People have to get there early, set up signs, set up a registration desk, go to the store and get the labels for nametags, nametag holders, paper, pens, etc. People to run the swap meet. People to run errands. People to put out fires. People to help the MKT set up, run, clean up and be put back together to go home. The amount of work that the rally requires means that we simply can't do it without volunteers and our volunteers do a fantastic job.
We had a very good turnout this year, 121 powered vehicles and 46 military trailers. Last year we had 131 powered vehicles, so we shrunk a bit this year. We lost several long term attendees due to personal issues, like Poppop (who typically brings 2 trucks) and Wreckerman. We're still very happy with 121 powered vehicles, that's a very strong turnout.
The rally was able to pay for it's attorney fees, insurance policy and purchase a new PA system for announcements through t-shirt sales and food sales. I want to reiterate at this point that although the rally is now operated by our LLC, that ALL, meaning 100% of the (small) profits from t-shirt and food sales will be put back into the rally. I don't keep any of the money. Just want to make sure everyone's clear on this.
I have a list of things that I liked about this year and a list of things that I am going to try and improve for 2016. As soon as I can get D-town to agree on a date, I'll set a date for next year's event and I'll post it here on SS. I think I am going to create a Facebook page for the event as well. When that's live, I'll post it here as well.
Again, thank you all for showing up, thank you to the volunteers for working so hard, we hope you had a great time and we can look forward to the 10th annual Ga Rally in 2016.
Wait until you guys see the video we shot of the event, the convoy and the offroading. You'll like it!