Message from the Board

Midwest Mopars in the Park Recap

The 24th Annual Midwest Mopars in the Park National Car Show & Swap Meet is in the books! The move to Dakota County Fairgrounds in Farmington was a big undertaking, but was a huge success. The weather skirted the show the entire weekend and we had a great weekend. 

 We would like to thank all the members that helped with this show. Whether we thanked you in person or not, we appreciated all the time and efforts everyone put in.

 The club and show boards spent hundreds of hours in preparation for this show. The amount of work needed to prepare for it was staggering. Our members stepped up during the set up, the show, and the clean up to make things happen. 

 The ground work is set for the 25th Annual Anniversary show and next year’s plans should be less stressful (we hope!). We plan to concentrate our efforts on tweaking the things that we can improve on to make the 2009 show even bigger and better.    

 The numbers are not finalized yet. A rough assessment is that the sponsorship and car counts were up. The spectator, car corral, and swap was close to previous years. And, as for the fun factor, that was way up!

 We tried many new things this year. We had a DJ with activities and music all weekend. The craft show and food vendors were new for us. We promise to have more food vendors next year. We had a hungry bunch!

 KQRS was there on Saturday with Terri Traen, and she drew a big crowd, Miss Farmington, Lindsey Bailey, was on hand for our Opening Ceremony along with the Farmington VFW Color Guard, and one of the Dukes of Hazard cars with a Daisy Duke was on display. Mr. Norm was there all weekend and his area was always busy.

 Mopar Collectors Guide called us a “Little Carlisle” which was a nice compliment. Many of the other sponsors and vendors had positive comments and said they will see us next year, which is very good news.

 Your feedback on the show is important to us. If you would like to share your comments, please email newsletter@midwestmopars.com. This is your show and we would appreciate hearing from you!

 Upcoming

June 14th is our monthly membership meeting. We will meet in Hastings for the Hastings’ Saturday Night Cruise-In. Last year this was one of the largest attended club meetings of the entire year.  We will be in the same parking lot as we had last year which we filled. Please plan to arrive early to guarantee a parking spot. Cars start arriving as early as 4 pm. Look for our club sign, fellow Mopar collector cars and hopefully, the new 2008 Challenger which is as of this writing on its way to one of our board members!

 Next Club Car Show

Cars for Kids is our next car show and we are hosting it in conjunction with the Tom Karay Memorial. All makes, all models of collector and specialty cars are welcome, so help us spread the word to other car clubs and car collectors. This night show is July 12th from 5 pm to 10 pm. at Walser Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep in Hopkins.

  This is a very casual event with music and food. No pre-registration is required. 100% of your $5 admission will be a donation to the Children’s Cancer Fund. (You are welcome to contribute additional as you wish.) The donations are all tax deductable and go to a great cause. For more information, go to www.autoswalk.com or call the club hotline at 612-462-0455 or 763-559-1476.

 White Bear Dodge Nite Car Show

Friday, August 1, is the White Bear Dodge Nite Car Show. We again have the first row of the parking lot along Hwy 61 for our club. We can begin parking as early as 4:30 pm. We traditionally fill up our space quickly, so again, come as early as you can. Admission this year is still just $5 per car.

 MoparamA

The new dates for this year’s MoparamA are August 16th and 17th. The show is also moving entirely to the Thunder Valley Racetrack. MoparamA is hosted by the Sioux Empire Chapter of Midwest Mopars. The schedule of events for the  All Mopar Car Show & Swap Meet & Drags is as follows: Saturday: Drag Races, Car Show & Swap Meet, Sunday: Show & Shine. For show info, please call Corey 605-528-3361 or e-mail siouxempiremidwestmopars@hotmail.com. For drag race info, call Matt 605-760-3968. Many board and club members are planning to attend this year’s event. If you would like to join us for the drive, please call 651-260-5261 or email newsletter@midwestmopars.com. 

We’d like to extend our congratulations to Corey and Shelly Gaddis on the birth of their new son, Chase.

Electronic Newsletter

Many members are now having the newsletter emailed to them. If you would like to receive the newsletter electronically, send your email address to newsletter@midwestmopars.com. You will receive the newsletter as soon as it goes to press! For now, you will still receive the printed copy.

We hope to see a large club gathering at all of our events.

Mopar to You!

Chad and the Board