whos planning to go to Rapid City this summer??

My wife and I will be there.

Christine and I will be there.

There will certainly be a lot of folks there. At our last Midwest Chapter Meeting the Co-Chairwomen reported that registration numbers are going well so far. Given the western location there was some concern during the conceptual phase about folks being able to make the trip , but those fears have been allayed, and the Chapter is very excited about the tour.

As those of you who have been involved in running an Int'l Tour know (and as I'm finding out!) there are many many moving parts and many aspects of the coordination depend upon an accurate estimate of participants. To that end, I'd encourage folks to register as soon as they know if they will be attending. Giving the longest advanced notice you can is a great way of saying thanks to the worker bees who are laboring in the effort as it makes their job easier.

I look forward to seeing/meeting as many members as I can this July!

I concur with Bob Solak's comments. There's always that nervous feeling early on regarding hitting the target number of participants. Having attended a couple of previous tours organized by these folks in the past, I have complete confidence in their abilities.

Kelly and I will be there!

The Casual T's are from the greater Detroit area. As of now, I believe there will be about seven cars/families coming from our chapter.

We are looking forward to a terrific event!

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Giving the longest advanced notice you can is a great way of saying thanks to the worker bees who are laboring in the effort as it makes their job easier.

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A M E N!!

As the second VP of the MTFCI, I will be there as well as several other members from the Central Virginia MTFCI chapter.

Mark Williams
MTFCI 2nd VP
2ndvicepresiden t@modelt.org

Not a member, but a fan. I live in Rapid City and look forward to your visit. I hope your stay in town will be a pleasant one. One dumb question, why do Model Ts aways back-up steep hills?
Thanks,
Chuck

Got it!! Gravity fed from cowl tank. Going up forward on a steep hill would starve the carb.

You got it Chuck! Although the '26-27 cars with the cowl tanks don't have as much of a problem with this. It's the ones with the gas tank under the front seats (most of them) that you'll encounter this problem in. My brother has one that tells you it's time to gas up when it hits the 2 gallon area on level ground. Each car has it's own idiosynchrasies . Stop by when we're in town. Bet you can get a ride around the block some evening. I'd be willing.

Vonnie and I will be there as will Hattie and Dale Finnigsmier. Hal Schedler, Sacramento

Capone will be there!

And hes letting Chuck and Michele come too.

Gretchen and Paul Carreras will be there. We are excited about seeing that part of our beautiful country, especially while riding in our Model T.

See you there.

Capone looks thrilled!

We'll be there too, and looking forward to it very much.

Harry and Carla Hart will be there too - are the hills that steep that we'll have to reverse up?

We are looking forward to seeing this part of the country.
Roy & Patricia Stone WV

Advertising still sells. I recently received a 54th Annual Tour flyer and registration form in the mail. Actually, I received two copies held together by one clear tape circle. Another MTFCI member did not receive a flyer, as I have his copy.

Will the postman take it back or tell me the postage was not paid on the second copy, so I'll have to pay the 44 cents to mail it?

I am wondering if this was a single incident or if half of the members received two flyers and the other half of the membership received no flyer.

Jim, Please take the extra registration form to the post office and tell them that you received it in error and they will send it to the right person with no cost to you. Thanks for letting us know.

Steve Bumgarner
Executive Director MTFCI

Great news folks! The update from our Tour Registrar at last night's Midwest Chapter meeting was that we are at 220 cars and still climbing! There's still time to register.

Head to
http://www.mode lt.org/index.ph p?view=details& id=6%3Asouth-da kota-54th-annua l-mtfci-nationa l-tour&option=c om_eventlist&It emid=2

to sign up!

Jim and Judy Eubanks with Daisy Dog will be there!

I will be there with my wife and we are looking forward to the tour and all the friends we have made at the 2 Hendersonville, NC tours and the Johnson City tour last year. For anyone who has no idea who I am, I drove the vulture truck at the JC tour. I hope to just enjoy the tour this year without having to work.

Looking forward to seeing all of you during the Tour. I'll be there. Also selling raffle tickets for a handmade Patriotic quilt. $2 The proceeds go to the Rapid City Police Dept K-9 unit to buy kevlar vests for the canine officers. It's a good thing to do!

Mike, I hope you get to drive your "T" and enjoy the sights on the tour. You didn't have time in J C last year for hauling "T's" in that had broken down including mine. Roy

I keep looking and don't see an itinerary or schedule of events. Teresa and I plan to be there with our 23.

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I keep looking and don't see an itinerary or schedule of events.

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Look in the May/June T Times.

the tour flyer lists a "variety of possible activities during our stay in the Black Hills". This doesn't list what days what is being done. I am a non-member of the MTFCI, but a member of MTFCA. There are no local clubs within 150 miles of me. I'm just trying to plan the week as my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter live there.

How many cars are signed up for the tour? Anybody know?

Jerry,

A couple of weeks ago we were up around 230 cars. It may have grown since then.

Noel, Brent is right in that the detailed itinerary will be in the Tour Book you receive when you register.

I don't have my notes in front of me and some tours flip flopped dates but I believe the schedule is:

Sat - Get-to-know-Rap id City Tour; Mt. Rushmore lighting ceremony

Sun - Registration begins at 9AM; Tech Seminars; Opening Banquet

Mon - Tour incl. 1880 train, Crazy Horse; Ice Cream social, kids carnival and car games

Tue - The looooonggg tour our to Spearfish Canyon, Deadwood, etc.

Wed - Judging Day; short tour; Chuckwagon dinner

Thu - Tour including Needles Parkway and Custer; Youth Auction / Judging awards

Fri - Tour including Mt. Rushmore and group picture; Closing Banquet; Kids pizza party and water park party

I can't remember if the fashion show is Tue. or Thu. night

When I can look at my notes I'll try and correct anything I might have wrong here.

Thanks, Bob. This gives us somewhat of an idea. We might be able to bring the kids or the granddaughter on one or two of the tours. We did the MTFCA tour several years ago as our first tour. the top was held on with spring clamps and we used plastic sheets from Wal Mart for curtains on the rainy day. We've been in the Hills lots, but have never enjoyed seeing it as much as when we did it in the Model T. We'll see you there.

I would like to see a patch or pin commerating the event available for purchase....... club officers, how about this. It would be something to show pride in the event.

Jim, that's up to the host chapter to decide. All the MTFCI does is sanction the event. After that the host chapter decides on souvenirs, shirts, patches, what-have-you. Each Annual Tour is a sink or swim event for which the host chapter is financially responsible. This is the case with both Clubs.}

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Each Annual Tour is a sink or swim event for which the host chapter is financially responsible.

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Brent,

I can't argue with that. And I suppose last year's tour was not put on by a chapter is what you're getting at. The T Totalers are putting on next year's tour and I think part of our teams plan is to put together some suggestions for updating the guidelines and setting an example of what the B.o.D. should be seeing in follow-up reports after said Tour is completed. Like most other things that have been "set in stone" it's probably time to take a look at how these tours are handled. My own opinion is that those interested in putting on a Tour get scared away when they start looking at what's expected of them and that's why we're still looking for someone to step up for 2012. Putting on a Tour is a lot of work but can be a lot of fun if you could have the right kind of help/support from the national level.

Please note that I have the Get-to-know-Rap id-City tour on Saturday in my post above. It is actually on Sunday! Sorry bout that.

Jim, for sale, with the tour logo on them, we will have:

embroidered denim baseball hats
polo golf shirts
t-shirts
a limited number of denim long sleeve shirts (with pocket)

Also, for the ladies there will be some shirts that have "Model T Ford International" in a nice rhinestone on the front. No tour logo on those, just the rhinestone.

There is no current plan for patches or pins.

Thanks Bob,
We usually get the shirts and so on but the patch/pin thing goes well with other clothing after the tour is over.