Hello Hagerty Spring Thaw Hopefuls!

Knowing that everyone is experiencing heart palpitations with the agony of finding out whether they are “in” or “on the waiting list”…I thought I’d take the moment to highlight a couple of details or things I really need to you know. It takes a couple of weeks for me to put all the email addresses into our system and start emailing you as entrants, so this seemed like the most efficient way to reach all of you before that’s ready to go!

Start Location
The starting location has been confirmed, and this year we’ll be starting in Kamloops B.C. We have hotel space blocked on Thursday Night, and we’re currently working out the dinner details. Once that’s complete, we’ll be sure to update everyone as quickly as possible. But the basic details are:

Thursday Night – Coast Hotel, Kamloops B.C.
Thursday Night Dinner – expect a 7:30pm dinner time -> So you may want to arrange an early day from work, or *cough* that sudden 12hr flu before the Spring Thaw weekend.
Friday Morning MANDATORY meeting – 10:45am. All cars must be registered by 10:30am. Technically you can make it from Vancouver to the start in time for Registration (9:45am)…but we hate early mornings, and suggest you enjoy a Thursday night with us instead.

Finish Location
The Finish location is still a floating point on the map, but the possible circle is getting smaller and smaller. At this stage, with this being our ten year anniversary, you can be sure we’ll be doing the Duffy Lake road to the finish. Finish will either be Pemberton BC, or Whistler BC.

10 years of Photographs??
We would _really_ appreciate it if you could take some time between now and March to look through your photos from year’s past. What we’re most interested to find is photos of guests who have been on tour with us over the last ten years. We have LOTS of photos of your cars, but photos of our friends are going to be pretty fun to see after ten years. Warwick and Dave look like teenagers in year one, while some of you haven’t aged a day. If you have 1-5 great photos we should include in our Saturday slideshow, would you email them to info@classiccaradventures.com?
Bonus points for anyone who has a great photo of the 2011 Bonfire at 108 Mile House!

The 2018 Entry List
The 2018 Entry list will be posted shortly…after a latte and an arbitrary amount of time to add to the agony(!). Hmmm…maybe I should post it 10 cars every hour? Stay tuned…it’s bound to go up, or at least some of it, soon…

Dear Waiting List Members…

It’s with heavy heart that I write this letter to you, as your name is found on the waiting list for the 2018 Hagerty Spring Thaw. Some of you have become fantastic friends over the last ten years, some of you I am hopeful to get to meet for the first time in 2018…

I know the agony I feel at having limited spaces is only a fraction of what you’re feeling today, having found yourself on the waiting list. I am writing this note to remind you that it’s FAR from over!!

In 2015 we moved ten cars up from the waiting list…
In 2016 we moved nine cars up from the waiting list…
In 2017 we moved twenty-one people up from the waiting list. (it was something like 17 or 18 cars, and the rest of the people joined in as co-driver’s in cars listing a TBA)

We’re talking about classic cars here, and just a hair over three months to the start of the event. Heck, even getting the organizer’s car to the start can be a challenge!

The best thing you can do right now, is not panic. The second best thing you can do is look at your schedule, and work out for me how much notice you’ll need in order to go on the event. Some of you are booking flights, and may need 4 weeks notice. Some of have jobs that require a week or two notice, some of you may pack the car and be ready to go if I call you on Thursday night. Whatever your scheduling requirements are, make sure you have dave@classiccaradventures.com in your email contact list, and 604-849-0076 in your cell phone contact list. If a space opens up, my first call is to your cell phone. I then call your day time phone number, and lastly I shoot you an email. Usually there is a 24 period to claim the spot, unless we’re in the last week before the event in which case I may go down the list by phone numbers until I get someone who can take the spot.

With luck, I’ll be ringing your phone soon enough.

Cheers,

-Dave

(if you’re wondering why this is posted on Jan 22nd 2017, it’s simply because by ‘back-dating’ the letter, it doesn’t show on the homepage of the website)

An important note about 2018 Entries

Hello Entrants!

The following contains important details about the 2018 Hagerty Spring Thaw entry process, which are NOT found in the Supp Regs document. All the information contained below should be considered “in addition to” the supp regs document.

Separate Room Option – Please note that for the 2018 Hagerty Spring Thaw, we may not be able to accommodate any separate room requests. We are still working on options, but our current hotel contracts have ‘just enough’ rooms, without any extras. We will do our best to accommodate, but this year will be particularly difficult. Choose your snoring (or non-snoring) co-driver accordingly!

Post-Mark Dates – Years ago, when our cars were rolling fresh off the assembly lines, dropping a letter into the mailbox was both a normal, and common, occurrence. When you did so, mail was picked up on the same day, and a stamp was placed upon your letter which both marked the stamps so they couldn’t be reused, and dated your letter with the date it was sent.

These days, I actually couldn’t tell you where to find a mailbox, I always have to drive to the post-office.

I’ve been told, but cannot confirm, that letters today may not be stamped with the date they were mailed. Now, I’ve been watching each piece of mail that arrived in my mailbox since Dec 1^st, and all of them are dated. BUT some of you have been very concerned. For those of you who are paranoid, you have two options; choose a service that automatically dates the letter, or simply go to the post office to drop off you letter and you can ask them to stamp the date on your letter.

Why is this important? Entries this year will be considered in order of their post-mark date, NOT the date they arrive. Those of you sending Xpress-post, FedEx, UPS, or DHL don’t need to worry, those services automatically date the shipment when you purchase the service. Only those of you using standard Canada-Post and USPS with a traditional stamp need to ensure your letter is stamped with the date.

DO NOT use a service that requires a signature!! Dave is out of town – Shortly after issuing the official Supp Regs for the event, I was called by the LeMay Museum and America’s Automotive Trust, asking if I could assist with an event. Having occasionally been the guy on the phone asking other people to save my butt with some help, I thought it only prudent that I “pay it forward” when asked to help. Unfortunately, I will be out of town when your letters start arriving; enjoying sweep duties in the east-coast winter storms!

Arrangements have been made to ensure that your entries, regardless of method used, will be picked up daily and not lost. We will not, however, have someone waiting daily to sign for envelopes. Please ensure you use a service that does not require a signature upon delivery. You’re more than welcome to use a service that allows for tracking, just confirm they won’t require a signature or your entry will not arrive.

If you have any questions regarding the above, a telephone call is likely to go to voicemail if I’m travelling. The best way to get a hold of me is by the following (in order of preference):

1) Text message to 604 849 0076
2) Facebook message
3) Email to dave@classiccaradventures.com

Cheers,

-Dave