[JAGNUTS] Triumph TransAmerica Tour Update

[E.A. Driver]

Hi all

Just a quick update that isn't much of an update. We are still finalizing
dates when John will be in Regina; there was a bit of geographical confusion
about what clubs were where that lead to some head scratching, but it's
getting straightened out now and I'll let you know as soon as John gets back
to me with the times and dates he will be in Winnipeg and Regina. Most 
likely
dates appear to be arriving from Winnipeg on Tuesday, Sept 2nd and departing
west in the late afternoon of the 3rd or early AM of the 4th.

The tour "organizer" wants to leave each stage of the trip very open ended
and in control of the clubs in the region that John will be passing
through - basically the ball is in our court as to what activities we want
to do while he's here. So far we've got:
    - Jagnuts BBQ (time and date to be finalized, along with other details)
    - John's visit to his grandfather's house on Retallack on Sept 3rd; he 
has not
contacted the current residents but it might be nice if someone could check
with them ahead of his arrival and see if it would be possible for him to
have a look inside.
    - any press interviews that we can arrange (I am putting together a
little press release)

It would be  nice gesture if someone would put John and his co-driver (his
son) up for the night (or two if he's here that long)

Ed D and I are planning on heading east to meet John en-route and would
welcome all the company we can get. The Winnipeg clubs are planning to
meet him at the US border on (probably) Aug 31st and to escort him to the
Sask border (or a mutually agreeable stop close to it) on (likely) June 
2nd.
For those wanting a longer trip, you could head all the way to Winterpeg
and come back with the whole entourage. I haven't been in contact with the
Calgary clubs yet, but a similar arrangement going west sounds appropriate.
If you can't make the inbound leg, maybe you can do a run out to Speedy
Creek or points west to see John off.

While John is in town we could do a group session to fuel, water, clean, 
polish and care for the STAG
so it looks good for any publicity shots we can scare up and to send it on
it's way properly looked after. (I think Winnipeg is doing an oil change, so
hopefully the maintenance will be pretty minimal - anyone got any Stag parts
just in case? I'll check with the SBCC Stag  owners).

In case of breakdown, we are requested to provide emergency transport /
breakdown assistance in the unlikely event of a breakdown on our stage of
the trip. The tour organizer also asks that we have nominated a willing and
qualified driver to drive the Stag on to the next stopover in the (very
unlikely) event that neither John nor his co-driver is not able to continue
the drive for any reason.

That's about it for now - more new when I get it. In the meantime, any ideas
are welcome.

cheers
Scott

PS: John sent the post below out to the Triumphs mail list following a 
recent show
in England:

From: John Macartney - Trumps

Standard-Triumph Marque Day in the UK was the hottest day of the year, so
far, held at RAF Duxford - a branch of  The Imperial War Museum near
Cambridge. Organizers said there were about 750 cars present. My wife and a
friend were walking to buy ice-cream and overheard the following:

A little girl (about 3 years old) was walking along the serried ranks of
gleaming cars with her Mummy.
"Mummy!!!! Look, there's another old Trump!!!"
"No darling, ssshhhh - you don't say trump. It's Triumph"

For those of us divided by a common language, the use of 'trump' in the UK
is a polite euphemism for flatulence. So probably, if we'd all listened very
carefully during the day, we might have *heard* the odd "trump" - but
there's absolutely no doubt that there were a number of Old Trumps driving
the vehicles on display. I'm pleased to say I was one of them!

Jonmac