You, me, HB. 2018.

[David Hodgkins]

Wow what a weekend!

PERFECT weather.

INCREDIBLE PEOPLE! PRECIOUS MEMORIES!

...and FEAR. SELF-LOATHING. FAILURE. The RIDE OF SHAME.

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It's 3 days later and I'm still in recovery mode. I still have that "Day after Christmas" feeling.

I've started and stopped this post 4 times already. Where do I begin? This seems like such an epic pinnacle to what has become a decade long story.

So where to begin? Believe it or not, I'm opting for the BEGINNING. (I can actually feel frankeeski rolling his eyes) It's been over a decade now and I think it's a story worth telling.

In 2005 a bunch of guys hopped in their FFR's from the old AHA Knotts show and headed down Harbor Blvd to HB. They had so much fun that FFR decided to make it a real "thing" and the FFR HB Cruise-In was born. By 2008 FFR was on the pier plaza, with eyes on eventually getting to Main street.

I won best under construction that year!:



Unfortunately, a mishap occurred following the end of that show when the FFR truck driver fell asleep in the truck overnight but missed his alarm! And as a result the old ladies and their basket weaving convention the next day were not pleased! So with that snafu hurting chances of getting the pier plaza back, in combination with the horrible economy in 2009, Factory Five announced that there would be no HB event that year.

And there was no HB event in 2009.

In January 2010 I got a call from Dave Smith. HP Solidworks was having a convention in Anaheim and Karen Salvaggio had mentioned to him that I was doing some volunteering at the Knotts show, making name tags. He knew I was a forum regular and since I knew a lot of local FFR folks in So-Cal - 3 build parties! - he asked me if I could pull a dozen FFR's together on short notice to show up and display. They would have to stay all day to field questions from the convention goers. It turned out to be a big success. During that show I got to spend some time with Dave and asked him if FFR was going to do HB in 2010. He hadn't announced it yet but he told me HB was off for 2010. Well, this bozo wookie decided "that wasn't going to do" and I jumped on the forum to see if I could rally enough people together to "storm one of the big HB lots" and make up our own group cruise-in. In the end I rented out a ton of parking spaces in the south HB parking lot so we would be guaranteed choice group parking. We had over 50 cars at the beach that year and called it the California Cruise-In 2010. It, and 2009 are not counted in the number of Factory Five Annual HB Cruise-Ins.


Here is that motley group:



We had a "LOT" of fun! Glenn Evans helped out by donating these cool key ring deelios:



These ultra rare historical pieces are now worth hundreds of thousands or dollars each! (It's true I heard it on the net)

In 2011 Factory Five took the event back over, but I did act as the point person in requesting the pier plaza. I had worked with the specific events person at HB for the 2010 show and he was the head of the Specific Events Committee. It is made up of various departments (fire, pd, business, tourism etc) which sounded daunting at the time so I took magazines with Cruise-In articles, blow up pics of the year it was on the plaza, the works. 20 minutes for presentation and questions later they approved the event. And no sleeping big rig drivers were ever mentioned. (Or maybe they were. I just made that last line up)

I've been to that meeting every year since, and now it's a quick 10 minutes with little in the way of presentation. They know who WE are now and it's very cordial. Easy Peasy.

So by 2011 we were once again on the pier plaza. It wasn't "my" show but since it's in my backyard I came up with the idea for a BBQ. So I announced it a week before the show and had what... You guessed it, ANOTHER BUILD PARTY! Just kidding. Again. But we did cruise to Dana Point, as detailed in the thread. I managed to save this pic from photobucket obscurity of THAT motley group:



...and HB has been on autopilot for me ever since. Sally Bean and the crew at FFR handled all the hard stuff and a bunch of us - Doug Deffebach, Karen Salvaggio, Grant Hodgkins and DJ Mike Brasfield chief among MANY - volunteer on the day of the event, setting up tables, judging the cars, directing traffic, etc.

Until this year.

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Factory Five started the year out of the gate HARD, hitting Scottsdale for a 4-day build during Barrett Jackson and then immediately hit the Grand national Roadster show out here in So-Cal. I heard FFR was looking for cars and I thought about TROJAN but the car had been sitting at my brother's house and I knew it had a few small details to fix up so I didn't mention it. Then Karen called and asked about TROJAN and I said OK I'll set it up but I can't tow it out, my brother can. Got a trailer I can borrow?

Mistake.

The car had been sitting outside under a tarp and mice got to the engine harness, as I found out once I started it. Longer story short, not only is the still car at my shop, it's not currently running.

...and in a related story, a trusted friend, who trusted ME, now has a new trailer toolbox and repaired trailer windbreaker.
...and now you know why TROJAN wasn't it the show. FAIL.

Moving on.

As you all know by now, Dave decided to drop both the HB show and the June Open house which features the Fedderson Award, this communities highest honor in my opinion. He told me this personally. You can guess my reply. It was instantaneous. "Well then I guess I'm running HB this year. And we'll move the Fedderson Award to HB this year."

He who hesitates... has less gray hair than me.

So I paid all the fees and filled out the paperwork, got the trailer parking permits, set up the forum for a cruise in subscription and wired it to paypal It seemed to work pretty well. There was only one guy who I absolutely could NOT get registered online. And you'd never believe it based on the talent this guys has for building a custom FFR! Grant surprised me by not only designing a logo, but finding a vendor and arranging the printing itself.

Factory Five pitched in too, taking care of the banner and asking some famous friends to show up.

The whole thing still almost fell off the rails.

If my wife Lesa and all my kids hadn't stepped in after the BBQ on Friday and work until midnight (me) to 2AM(!) (Lesa), the packets would not have been ready and that beautiful smooth registration process with personalized badges and car placards would have been a backed-up disaster!

And starting from the BBQ on, volunteers were everywhere. The band. DJ Mike. Everyone selling shirts(Belinda Mcnett!), judging the show, directing traffic. Volunteers all and that is why WE had such an amazing time.

But some of us? We do it for the fame. Just check out this choice shot Factory Five posted of me and my homies Deak and Doug!:




The show began without a single hitch, but plenty of trailers. But that doesn't mean I was having a good time. The FEAR which had been building for weeks was at a crescendo. I was outta my mind. What the hell was I thinking? I was about to go SING for HOURS into a LIVE microphone!! Thank goodness no one knew! No one woulda come!! Both bands were really talented. And they ALSO donated their time. All in all we ended up jamming for close to 3 hours. I hope you all enjoyed it, and if anyone has any tape it it I'll pay handsomely to have it destroyed!

The awards ceremony went really well and demonstrated the continued upward trajectory of the quality of the builds out there. Kleiner, don't forget the secret handshake, and DON'T TELL FRANK!

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After the event both Grant and I were pretty beat so even though we probably could have stayed for the evening we decided to head home.

And that's when my Roadster died.

AGAIN.

I had just changed the TFI. But as the car slowed to a stop, IT stopped. Got it started again, enough to limp onto a side street, but it died again. I called AAA and Lesa for backup. She came to pick up Grant and I stayed with the Roadster.

AAA came and my baby took the RIDE OF SHAME home.:



It took a WHILE for them to get there so It was way past dark by the time I got home. I got a good night's sleep. Out like a light in nothing flat.

Sunday was spent cleaning, as you can imagine. Also spent so time saying goodbye folks picking up their trailers and heading back to Michigan, Canada, the East coast and points in between.

I can't believe we've been doing this over a decade! There are a few faces among the many in those pics above that aren't with us anymore. All of them were, and are, my friends. I cherish the memories we've made together at this event over the years.



Thanks for the memories everyone. Now, some PICTURES would be nice! PLEASE POST!

[videodude]

David,

You are the unsung (in a manner of speaking) STUD of the FFR community. There needs to be a STUD award! From the BBQ on Friday night (I can't believe you opened your beautiful home to that many people!), to the work you did on Saturday running the entire operation at the Cruise-In, to singing with the band, you are THE MAN! I, and Dee, are beyond impressed. The support from your beautiful family, from Lesa and the girls, and Grant, brings tears to my eyes. Just incredible!

Regarding your car: Pull your A9L and ship it to me (address sent in PM). I will get it fixed up and return it to you. No charge. It's a little "give back" for all you did this past weekend. You are a special guy. And we look forward to seeing you at HB next year (or sooner, we're not that far away in Vegas).

Video, aka Allan

[Just puttering]

I keep reading if there is no picture, it didn't happen!!

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Well... there goes my $$$ to keep it under raps!

David,

We want to thank you and your family for the great BBQ and cruise and for all you did to put on HB2018!!!!!!!

Thank you very much

Erik and Debbie

[Just puttering]

At the end of the day at 4pm, We were standing behind Davids car talking.
A father and his son came up and asked if his son could stand by the car and get a picture!
David said sure.... then said have the son get in the car. They took a few pictures then David said you should be in the picture also, so he had the father and son get in the car and grabbed their camera and took some pictures with both in the car. I'm sure it made their day!

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[Big Blocker]

David,

I can't even begin to describe the weekend we had, the pleasure of spending it with you, Lesa, Grant, actually your whole family - including about a bazillion F5 family members that stormed your house for another BBQ par excellence. You most assuredly out did yourself again this year 2018. Every year gets better n better thanks to your effort, planning and undying drive to make it work. YOU ARE THE MAN ! !
As far as going back to the beginning, I found this shot of you (see below) in the early years when we were still on the upper parking lot of the HB Pavilion /Pier. Thought you might like it . . .
I have shots and videos from all the years, first one, on the sand strip when we had to relocate because the city "lost" our reservation for the pier (2010), and yes, I do have the priceless memento that Glenn made for us on his laser machine. Using your method of counting, and not counting a few as "official", 2018 made 14 years I've been hanging out with you and the rest of the F5 family members - and I wouldn't trade it for anything . . . ever.

Thanks again for stepping up to the plate and making 2018 the best ever.

Doc

Here's that shot from your go-cart / under construction days:



If you want the video . . .

[David Hodgkins]

Thanks guys.

You know, one thing I had to cut out due to space (yep, I hit the 10000 char limit!) is how you all made it possible for me to say yes. I mean that in a concrete way because the recent fundraiser meant I had the funds ready to go. I didn't have the cash sitting around for this but the forum did.

So in a very real way you can say thank you to the supporting membership for making this happen.

It truly was a community event made possible by this forum.

So again, Thank YOU.

[Jazzman]

David, next year ask for more help!! You had something like 80 people in your house, we would have gladly helped put together the registration packets, and enjoyed the process! Great history. Thanks. You, Lesa, Grant, are all amazing! Thank you all for a very memorable weekend!

[RR20AC]

Thank you, David and family, for all your hard work to make this happen. The BBQ was a fantastic time along with the cruise to the museum. Fun meeting all the people associated with the forum we all look at. I think we can all say the 11th annual was a success. jim and Candi.