Vipers Invaded Niagara Falls - Thank You!

[SmoknTires]

Thanks for a GREAT Time!

The Vipers have most definitely invaded Niagara Falls!! Our event has come to a close and as all the Viper Club members departed, everyone knew we had quite a unique time in Niagara. I spoke with the mayor of the city this morning. He congratulated us on a truly great event which benefited both the club and the small town. He said it was the largest privately organized event in the cities history! Who knew!?

Over 225 members, and 141 cars (122 of them Vipers) were involved with the Niagara event!! The weather was perfect, pretty much everything went according to plan and we even added a few twists. The event ended on Saturday with a marvelous car show that stretched for 3 blocks. News of the event has already hit the internet forums, however you might just see something rather significant in both the next VCA notes and Viper magazine… I'm still assembling a pciture pack to several media entities (including Chrysler) so for those who didn't attend, you'll get a sense of what took place.


Media Coverage
There was a lot of media coverage beginning our earliest days in Detroit which included TV, newspaper, radio, and internet. I’ve included just a few links of preliminary articles and video posted regarding the event. I’m sure more will surface given that the event just ended yesterday.

http://www.wwj.com/VIDEO--Dodge-Viper-Cruise/5232749
Chrysler Group LLC: Chrysler Corporate Blog - Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, Mopar, GEM
Vipers Invade Niagara - Car Videos on StreetFire
Car shows attract crowds, donations: Watch the video - Niagara Falls Review - Ontario, CA
Dodge Viper club roars through Sarnia - The Sarnia Observer - Ontario, CA
Vipers invade Niagara during weekend event « The Scoop
http://www.wellandtribune.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1748032&auth=JOHN%20LAW/Sun%20Media
Niagara Falls RESTAURANTS, Niagara Falls, RESTAURANTS, Niagara Falls, PUBS, CLUBS, FINE DINING, Movies, Salons, Festivals, Spas, Arts, Attractions, Restaurants, Nightlife, Shopping in Niagara Falls
DODGE VIPER
Pulse Niagara Online Edition
Queen Street Niagara Falls


Recap DVD
We’ve gotten a huge contingent of people asking for pictures of the event taken by our club photographers. Because we were able to take some profound photos, we will be creating a DVD that will contain all the pictures and video clips we took. This is not a DVD to play in a DVD player, but a data disk packed with items for your computer to use the files as you wish. You’ll find pictures of the Detroit Pit stop which includes the “no cameras” warehouse tour, Ralph’s house event, and even the aerials from the plane that we contracted for fly-bys. The DVD will also include thousands of clips and pics from the falls which includes general photography, group photos, behind the scenes pics, viper cruise pics, and of course the aerial photos taken the last day of the event from a 150 foot crane (we made sure to try to capture every car at least several times from the air). I have also received the digital version of the publicity flyers that were shown around the town (many of you wishing you could take one), we will include the file on the DVD as well as clippings and news casts that we pickup on. If you are interested in this DVD, they will be sold for $45. All proceeds go to cover the cost of the little extras like plane, crane, DVD media, and shipping of the DVD. You’ll like what you receive. If you are interested, simply mail your check for $45 (made to Viper Club of Illinois) with a return address included to:

Viper Club of Illinois
681 Saratoga Circle
Algonquin, IL 60102

We’ll begin shipping them shortly in the next two weeks after we collect the pics/video. If you are interested in offering your pictures on the DVD, send a CD of all your pics to the same address above. The more the merrier.


Our Sponsors
This event began to take on some serious numbers of enthusiasts early on. Sponsors stepped up to shoulder the cost of this event. Niagara is known as a very expensive location. And if you checked prices while you were there, you would have noticed the exceptional prices we received on everything from the hotel to the tours. I want to thank our 8 key sponsors who went a long way in keeping these costs down. I couldn’t have created such an elaborate event for so little if it weren’t for many thousands of dollars contributed by these great folks. Please thank them by giving them your business, even a call and thank you goes a long way! In order of contribution:

Dodge Just buy their cars!
IL VCA We thank you for joining us!
Partsrack (360) 837-3937
Roanoke Motor Company (800) 541-6858
Prefix (248) 650-1330
Details by D (248) 390-4646
OnTrack Insurance (866) 638-0505
Northern Trust Bank (800) 388-5316


Our Supporters
Last but not least. A big thank you to all the people who helped and were involved with putting on this event. Forgive me if I miss a couple: Ralph and Doris Gilles, Mark and Jo Schumann, Gus and Gail Pablecas, Steve Loudin, Denny and Ginger Kurzejewski, John and Deb Guyitt, John Gastman, Pat Davis, Rob Buckman, Tim Waedekin, Chris Wohlschlagel, Jesse Hackney, Howie Frank, Matt Feher, Mike Caplan, Bill Sampognaro, Jon Brobst, Bob Mason, Roger Meiners, Nabil Arafat, JR Thompson, Pam Underhill, Caryn Peters, Don Weaver, Stephanie Le, Dan Reid, LouAnn Gosselin, Toni Williams, Christel Romer, Niagara Park District, Niagara Police, Niagara Mayors office, Niagara Event Planning Commission and of course the various volunteers who stepped in during the event from the Viper Club of Illinois! Thank you all.


This club has a truly unique group of people. We all created some truly profound memories and even made a little history. I hope you enjoyed the event! No need to reply with any thank you’s, I’ve already been overwhelmed with the wonderful emails and calls from people. I truly enjoyed doing it and I gained a profound sense of accomplishment just seeing all the smiles on everyone’s faces. You’re all worth it and I had a great time myself!

[SmoknTires]

[SmoknTires]

The full write up on the event is on our website:

The Pit: Special Club Events (Viper Club of America - Illinois Region)

[yellowvipergts]

Thanks for a job well done Alex and the Illinois Club. We had a GREAT time @ Niagara.

Denny & Ginger

[Rich Wesorick]

Alex - I am truly sorry I missed this. Ben and Sandy (nice pic of their car BTW) had a great time. Kudos to you for such a terrific event.

Rich

[Mopar Boy]

Thanks again Alex! Was the highlight of my year!

[NSviper]

Finally home and rested after a 20 hour drive! We have been able to take some time to review photos, videos and commments from the Viper Club and other websites, and are enjoying everyone. As this was our first ever Viper event, both Janet and I would like to say that we so much enjoyed the experience and met so many great people and learned so much valuable information!!! We now have a greater appreciation for " Join for the cars, stay for the people", as we do love our Viper, but realize that the people make the experience! Alex, awesome job!!!! The whole event was so well planned and organzed, and went off without a hitch. Mother Nature was even on our side! Looking forward to getting together with you guys in the future. Oh, by the way Mopar Boy, thanks, as I was speaking with Chuck and the car has been booked in for early November for my upgrades. Just installed the SCT and it works great.
First thread, sorry so long, but had to!
Shaun

[Mopar Boy]

Shaun,

Welcome to the VCA Funny Farm!

Was a pleasure meeting you and Janet and get to hang around the two of you for the week! You both are a great addition to the VCA!

Glad to see you joined the boards as well! I tell ya, I actually believed you that you did not know how to use a computer well! Man, you even have an Avatar and everything already! Well done!

Glad to hear you made it home and that you enjoyed your first Viper/VCA event!

Robert

[Viper 55]

Alex is the man! Our fearless leader. Not only did he, along with help from Kristina, Mark and Jo, put on an event second to none, but Alex saw fit, when the city would not allow a pre-scheduled helicoper to take photos, elected to be hausted up 150 feet in a construction boom with a fellow member (Rob) to shoot photos of the car show event while the small fenced area of the "bucket" blew in the wind. Not once, but were hausted several times in different locations to capture the car show event. Let me tell you that took a lot of guts and all for "for the cause". Not sure how many of us would have done the same. I take my hat off to Alex and Rob, truly committed to our Viper endeavors.

Gail and I had a great trip. The weather was perfect and best of all, we got the opportunity to meet some great people. Shaun, Janet from NS, Ron from Kansas, MoparBoy Robert and his dad from Ontario, JohnB from PartsRack and many, many others. Sitting around the "dinner table", I learned a lot about the Comp Coupe from Ben and Steve and saw the personal touches that so many added to their Vipers. I was sorry to see it end.

Gail and I are looking forward to hopefully more events in the near future. Until next time, lets keep Viper in business!!

[Leslie]

Salute to Alex and all who helped to make this event a trip to never forget

I met sooo many wonderful people, jI thought I was going to feel outta place being 'solo' on this trip, but I have to say once you jump into the group you don't!

I met a LOT of couples who have been together for 30+ yrs, gives me a good feeling to see people enjoying the Viper together.