From: Tim Scherrer (soldierboy440@yahoo.com)
Date: Sat Jan 31 2004 - 15:39:38 PST
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We are just three months away from the Second Annual
World War II Vehicle Convoy through the Missouri Wine
Country scheduled for May 7-8 2004. Most of the final
details have been pinned down, and this should be an
even bigger and more interesting event than last year.
Interest continues to come in from different circles,
and this is shaping up to be quite the event. One of
the convoy leaders pointed out the event occurs on the
59th anniversary of V-E Day, so this will be a fitting
tribute.
During the convoy planning process, a huge opportunity
surfaced that would allow us to move the event
starting point from the previous site to a new
location, the Columbia American Legion Park and Hall.
This move will better facilitate the kind of event you
told us last year that you wanted. This move provides
easier access to the major roads, camping space,
better quality and priced hotels, and an actual big
band dance with a 7 piece big band.
A schedule of events, event guidelines and
registration information is now posted on the website
located at
www.geocities.com/soldierboy440/railsplitters .
Pre-registration is required for this event, so please
be sure to download the registration forms and mail to
us as soon as possible.
Several updates and changes have been made to the
event schedule and arrangements:
We were all saddened by the untimely death of last
year’s Convoy MP Section leader Tom Bos. A brief
memorial service for Tom will be held on Saturday
morning at 7:00 a.m. before the start of the convoy.
The move to American Legion Park in Columbia provides
us with a camping site at the convoy starting point.
The site is located next to the American Legion Hall
where the breakfast on Saturday, and the capstone
Swing Dance Saturday night will be held.
Authentic Camping: The city requires us to have only
authentic camping at the site, so shelter halves,
zeltbahns and larger tents are acceptable, but modern
tents of any kind are prohibited. Camping guidelines
will be posted on the website at a later date to
ensure we meet the requirements of the park special
use permit. We will have access to the nearby
restrooms 24 hours a day as well for those who camp.
There is no fee for staying at the site.
The Columbia American Legion Auxiliary has agreed to
cook breakfast before the event for $6. We ask that
everyone patronize our hosts for the tremendous
support they provide to this event.
The morning break at Ashland will include a stop for
one platoon at two nursing homes, while the rest will
go to the Optimist building.
The lunch stop will be in Hartsburg, where lunch will
be provided by Anita’s catering. Part of the
registration fee will be used to cover your lunch at
this stop. The lunch will consist of Chicken Pasta
Tender chicken sautéed with bell peppers and onions,
prepared in a velvety white parmesan sauce, served
over a bed of pasta. The pasta will be served with
tossed salad, Anita’s award-winning homemade rolls and
rich chocolate brownies topped with almond slivers.
Iced tea and lemonade plus disposable tableware
provided with all meals. See
www.anitashomestylecatering.com for more information
on the caterer. If anyone has a special diet
requirement, please let us know during registration,
and before 1 May 04.
There is a registration fee of $10.00 for this event.
Everyone will have to pay the $10 fee, regardless of
whether you choose to eat rations. A cancellation
date for refunds has been set for of 1 May 04. Any
cancellations after May 1st of no-shows will not
receive a refund. This cancellation policy has been
put into place in order to ensure that enough food is
available for everyone, and that the event planners
are not stuck paying for the no-shows.
The Best Western Inn in Columbia, MO is the official
event hotel. We highly recommend that people reserve
very soon a room since this is a busy weekend. We
were only able to secure 50 rooms until 1 April 04.
Many other hotels are booking up quickly, so this is a
detail you probably need to take care of soon!
There is a possibility that Thornhill Winery in
Hartsburg, part of the lunchtime stop, may be sold by
the time of our convoy. However, this will not affect
our lunchtime stop. Although the sale of the winery
will likely not affect its operation, we wanted to let
you know of this remote possibility. We will update
as we know more on this matter beyond our control.
A new road into Jefferson City from Ashland has been
routed, measured and will be used. It provides a
scenic route from the bluff tops to the flood planes
near the river bridge.
The Jefferson City park stop has been moved from the
congested Washington Park to Ellis-Riverside Park,
which offers a scenic view of the Missouri River. It
also reroutes the convoy past the Missouri capitol
building, Governor’s Mansion and state surplus
property. There is a planned stop at the capitol
building where a group photo will be taken. This
route will simplify in-town driving that can
complicate convoy execution.
A local swing dance club, the Saturday Nighter’s, hold
one of their regular swing dances at the nearby
American Legion Hall located at the site of the event.
They have graciously opened their doors to us. Entry
is $6, with a bar operated by the American Legion.
They sell setups for those who want to bring their own
hard liquor.
Lee Bishop has submitted a first draft of the convoy
art, and is working on a second drawing. This will be
posted on the website when completed. This will be
used on the T-shirts for the event.
We have made all of these changes to the convoy
schedule to improve the overall quality of the event.
We think these changes will greatly enhance the event
and make the experience better for everyone. Our goal
is to make this one of the best WWII Living History
events in the country.
Highlights of the event include:
Friday’s activities (for those who can make it):
• Another Vet Ride with perhaps additional stops to
include the VA hospital as well as nursing homes,
depending upon how many vehicles show up
• Social reception held at the Best Western Inn at
7:00 p.m.
Saturday’s activities:
• Breakfast at the American Legion Hall in Columbia
• A mid-morning stop at Cooper’s Landing, located
along the Missouri River.
http://www.cooperslanding.net/
• Ashland, MO will provide free refreshments for the
convoy participants at the Optimist Building.
• Lunch in Hartsburg, MO along the MKT trail, provided
by Anita’s Homestyle Catering, a well known quality
caterer in the community.
http://www.anitashomestylecatering.com The stop will
be between Anita’s kitchen building and Thornhill
Winery.
http://www.missouriwine.org/wineries/thornhill_vineyards.htm.
• The route will proceed through rolling hills and an
interesting road with several stream fords that should
prove fun and photographically interesting.
• The stop in Jefferson City will include a stop at
Ellis-Porter Riverside Park
http://www.jeffcitymo.org/jeffcityweb.nsf/e0087b5460c4a721862569c2005fa85a/fbc6273c235a22e286256b42005eac81!OpenDocument
, as well as a drive around the capital building
http://www.visitjeffersoncity.com/capphotos.htm.
There is a Jefferson statue that we could repeat the
Bradley Photo of last year’s event.
• Dinner will be provided free by the city of New
Bloomfield, MO. They are giving us a free BBQ dinner
before departing back for Columbia.
• A big band dance will be held Saturday night at the
Columbia American Legion hall.
The total route is about 106 miles with six planned
stops. It will be a full day event.
The convoy staff will be:
Tim Scherrer, Convoy CO
Rob Dalessandro, Convoy XO
Bill Wissman, Convoy First Sergeant
John Cullifer, Operations Sergeant
Liz Scherrer, Public Relations Officer
Tom Clegg, MP Section Leader
Randy Palmer, 1st Platoon Leader
Mike Bonak, 2nd Platoon Leader
Jon Shoop, 3rd Platoon Leader
The event itself will be more decentralized than last
year, with the platoons making individual movements,
and the company CP managing the platoons. Due to the
event expanding, this is both necessary and will add
an additional element of realism.
It is very important as a non-vehicle participant that
you register in advance. This allows us to place you
with a vehicle. If you show up without
pre-registering, we can not guarantee there will be
open seats.
If you have a reenacting unit that wants to
participate but do not have a vehicle, let the event
coordinators know as soon as possible so they can
place you with vehicles. Make sure you provide a good
seat count. These will be reserved on a first
reserved, first served basis.
Also we remind you that correct uniforms are required
for the event. We will gladly help anyone trying to
put together their uniform locate the required items.
You can get into correct reproduction WWII clothes in
about any size for under $200. Any allied WWII
impression is fine with us, and all non-political
German impressions are as well. If you want to attend
as a German, just coordinate with us in advance, and
we can give you the German guidelines.
Please realize the majority of these details are set,
but some may change up to the last minute, so bear
with us on it. We are dealing with 6 cities, 2 park
districts, 3 counties and 3 businesses for this event,
so things can change.
We are excited about this event and another
possibility to “Keep Them Rolling.”
Tim and Liz Scherrer
Coordinators of the WWII MV Convoy
=====
Tim A. Scherrer
CO, 84th Infantry Division "Railsplitters," Reenacted
WWIIHRS and MVPA
Columbia, MO
www.geocities.com/soldierboy440/railsplitters
"You'll be fighting WWII for the rest of your life." Ron Scherrer, 1971
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