Although not listed in the previous newsletter, Rick had taken the truck to Indian Mary which is a Southern Oregon Military Vehicle Club event, held at the end of May. My first event of the summer was the Morgan Hill 4th of July parade with the Jeep. Ray Mayeri was my gunner. Mean while Rick had help organize the first July 4th parade in Yreka and after the parade participated in a static display. Then he drove over to Tulelake to participate in the Shasta Salute to America where he spent the rest of the day.  

I followed up the Morgan Hill parade with the Seaside Parade of Champions on July 5th, in which we took second prize ($75.00) in the MV category. I still haven’t found out who took the first prize.  

On August 14th, during all the car events here on the Monterey Peninsula (Concourse, Historic Car Races etc.); I went to the Pacific Grove Auto Rally. All of my gunners were out of town so when Marc Goldman from the MVCC showed up taking photos , I “shanghaied” him into being my gunner on the drive around Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach & Carmel. 

As the third week of Sept. rolled around, Rick brought the truck down to Monterey for the Cherries Jubilee event. This is a charity event that brings over 500 vehicles to the Peninsula . Rick was running late so I did Friday morning Poker Run without him; pair of 10’s was the best I could do. On Friday night we “cruised down Alvarado Street ” – Rick arrived by that time and accompanied us. We always get a lot of attention when driving in among the 50’s and 60’s automobiles.  On Saturday we spent the day at the Laguna Seca Race tract and we got both vehicles on the tract for three laps a piece. I couldn’t hear it but they told me that the announcer mentioned that it isn’t very often that you see vehicles with machine guns going around the race tract.  

 For the big “Grand Finale “of this year we tried something different.  There are two events in Southern California that I had been considering. One is at Ft. MacArthur located in San Pedro, Ca. and the other was the Marching Thru History Event in Chino , Ca.  The Ft. MacArthur event is in July; the Chino event in October, when I really started to consider them, in April, I felt that there was not enough time to prepare for the Ft. MacArthur event with so many local events in our schedule. So Chino got the nod. 

 I had made a new contact (Kim Calvert) in the Chino area who was a “BIG” help in putting it together. He went to a number of their meetings and helped select our location.  If you have never been to one of these events it is a real eye opener. When they say Living History, that’s what they mean. They had Roman’s, Revolutionary War, Civil War, WW I and WW II plus many others that I can’t remember.

 It had been such a long time since we displayed the truck and jeep in Southern California,  I put out the word to any and all that wanted to be apart of the display. Several contacts from the old Great Western Gun Show days showed some interest. (One came from Colorado ).    

 So on Oct. 1st we left Monterey , Rick, George Escobedo, and I; planning for a late arrival at the park in Chino .  We had commitments from eight others that would be there Friday to help us set up the camp site. We had a few minor problems; overheating at the grapevine on Interstate 5, and I did loose my way in the dark (that damn sun compass doesn’t work after dark). But we finally got there about 10PM. Set up a temporary LRDG camp site for the night.

Friday morning “troopers” started showing up for duty.  One no show (lost in the desert I guess) from Texas ; it was a long way to come.

 My thanks to all who helped, in Alphabetical order: 

1.      John Billinger – Simi Valley , Ca.

2.      Kim Calvert – Anaheim , Ca.

3.      Chris Cone - Loveland, Co.

4.      Tony Cone – Glendale , Ca.

5.      George Escobedo – San Jose , Ca.

6.      William Irwin – Lucerne Valley , Ca.

7.      George Sicre - Palm Desert , Ca.

8.      John Tiley – Half Moon Bay , Ca. 

Special thanks go to John Tiley and his friend Elizabeth who manned the booth, which provided information about the LRDG Preservation Society and conducted sales of an assortment of merchandise including T-shirts, books, & badges.

 Be sure to checkout the photos of the event.

 There is a lot of pressure to do the Ft. MacArthur show next year. I understand that it will be the weekend after the 4th of July and we will give it serious consideration.

 The only thing left for this year is Veteran’s Day and I haven’t decided which of the many parades to attend. 

I’ll soon start on next year’s schedule of events a get it posted as I have something concrete. If you have an event in your area and would like us to attend, send me information on the event and if it is possible we will consider it. 

Don’t forget to check out the Second Edition of “LRDG Rhodesian”. Order direct from the author at his web site http://www.dandy.co.za or his e-mail address agencies@iafrica.com. Also “Incident at Jebel Sherif” from Kuno Gross at his web site: http://www.jebelsherif.org/

If you need any other LRDG references check with me first as I still have copies of “Kiwi Scorpions”; Bearded Brigands & The Barce Raid available.