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It threatened rain this morning, but we never really had any, to speak of. As a result, attendance was a bit lower than usual. Still, a lot of interesting vehicles and people.
Our friend Paul has a '32 Ford Roadster, with no top. We kept our umbrellas at the ready to keep his seats dry.
For the second year, my wife Debbie and I will participate in a childrens’ fund raiser for Our Military Kids in September. This fundraiser is part of the second annual DC America's British Reliability Run (ABRR) which is limited to 50 teams driving British cars that are at least 25 years old. We will be driving our Caterham 7.
The ABRR will run September 28-30 (Friday morning through Sunday noon), rain or shine, and covers around ~700 miles of back roads touring through Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia.
The DC ABRR website with additional information can be found at:
THE CHILDREN'S CHARITY
This event is all about the kids, so each team will have the goal of raising at least $1,000 (the more the better) for Our Military Kids, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Our Military Kids (OMK), supports the needs of children, ages 5-18, of deployed National Guard and Reserve service members, as well as children of wounded warriors from all service branches.
There are still spaces left for you to run in this event. All you need is a British car that qualifies as an antique, and three days to spend having a great time with a bunch of fun, like-minded people!
If you can't participate in the run, please consider donating to our team. The link below, to our team home page, allows you to contribute.
In recent weeks, Katie's has had too many incidents that reflect poorly on the vast majority of attendees who know how to act. From the medevac of the McLaren driver, after he put his brand-new car into a tree, to the pickup driver who did a burnout, directly in front of a policeman, Katie's is coming under ever-more public scrutiny.
This morning, I spoke to Mike Kearney, the owner of Katie's and the Old Brogue. Mike is also in charge of the Great Falls Village business owners' association. As such, Mike is the recipient of complaints from the other business owners, regarding parking and other issues. If you move one of the orange pylons to park your car, Mike hears about it. If you park in one of the marked 'No Parking' areas, Mike is the one that gets the call. In short, all of us who come to Katies Cars & Coffee are guests of Mike's. Too often, when Mike asks someone to move from where they are parked, Mike gets abuse from the people who are in the wrong. That's not right - we are guests at this venue.
Katie's is arguably the best gathering of its kind in the area. Several of us have been coming to Katie's since it 'officially' started, in April of 2010 - some even earlier. It is a privilege that should not be taken lightly. Amazingly, I have heard people complain about being asked to move their car, saying that Katie's makes a fortune off the cars & coffee. Let's be clear - on a great Saturday morning, Katie's makes a small percentage of the dollars the restaurant takes in on an average Saturday night. Believe me, this event is becoming more of a pain for Mike and his staff than it is worth. (And, by the way, if you don't buy anything from Katie's, inside or outside - you have no room to complain...) Mike and the staff have adjusted to our crazy-early schedule, and are serving us as early as 6:00AM. Put yourself in their shoes - do you think it's their first choice to get up so early on a Saturday morning? It's damned tough to recruit for positions on a schedule like this.
To put it as bluntly as possible - we could lose this venue. I was a regular at the Kohl's Sunday cars & coffee in Fair Lakes, which we lost a couple of years ago, because of several bad actors. It's no fun, but we were all to blame, for allowing those few to ruin it for the rest of us. If you value this venue, make it clear that we will not tolerate childish behavior. Loud engine revving? Take it elsewhere. Burnouts? High-speed runs down local roads, to & from Katie's? Take it to the track. If you behave like the guests you are, you will be welcome. People that cannot behave should be firmly but politely asked to leave.
I would welcome any suggestions regarding self-policing, to save this venue.
Below is the sign posted at the exit from Katie's, onto Georgetown Pike. The other picture was taken a few weeks ago, of a guy who decided to do a burnout up the exit, towards Georgetown Pike. Are you impressed? The cop, who was sitting across the street, and beat the truck thru the intersection, was not impressed. A large group of Katie's regulars applauded the cop.
The first day of September was overcast, but dry. I saw some lightning on the way to the event, but never saw a drop of rain.
Nevertheless, attendance was down... but still not at all bad. I saw my first Corvette ZR-1 there today. One of my favorites is the Intermeccanica Italia - a simply gorgeous spyder.
All week long, we've had temperatures in the nineties, and high humidity. The weekend is down to the seventies, but it rained a good portion of Friday night, and it's threatening rain today. When I drove to Katie's around 5:00AM, there was no rain, and the streets were dry. However, the threat of rain meant that it was after 6:30AM before we had a good crowd.
It was overcast, with a very light mist, on my way to Katie's, early this morning. However, it never rained, and we had a pretty good turnout.
--Bob Collum
Note: I will not post a picture of the older red 427 Sting Ray that was in the front lot, as its owner decided he needed to take up two spaces. If the 2 Bugatti Veyrons we have had there didn't merit two spaces - your car doesn't, either. (The IndyCar owner arranged with the owner of Katie's, for his non-standard parking area.)
Very light rain early this morning made me doubt we'd have much of a turnout today, but it wasn't bad... It cleared up around 7AM.
Lots of interesting vehicles.
A really good Saturday at Katie's. I met several people who were first-time-visitors. One drove his Triumph all the way from Kansas, to see friends, but had heard of this event, and wanted to see it. A man and his son arrived in his race-prepped 240SX.
An old Lotus friend also showed up, and Bob Morris' Allard was delivered.
I had not seen the Honda Beat there before - it's a Kei car, made for tight urban spaces.
The LS swapped 240 was on its way to the HotWheels Legends car show, where participants had the opportunity to be chosen to have a die cast model made of their car.
"When Hot Wheels launched the original “Sweet 16” die-cast cars in 1968, they were said to be some of the most influential and legendary cars in automotive history. And now, we’re hitting the road to find custom cars worthy of joining them as HOT WHEELS LEGENDS.
One finalist from each of the 15 cities will join us at SEMA 2018 in Las Vegas, where one lucky winner will be immortalized as a Hot Wheels Legend and get made into a die-cast car sold around the world. Don’t miss this epic event!"
Fall is here! The first really cool Saturday morning in months. A bit of mist early, and, of course, it stays dark well past 7AM. This is what passes for a lightly-attended Katie's, but we still more than filled up the front lot - and not with boring daily drivers!
Very light rain when I left the house this morning, but it had stopped by the time I arrived at Katie's. Cool, but not cold this morning - jacket weather. A good turnout of cars and people!
