Rally e-newsletter April 26, 2005
CELEBRATION RA
OCTOBER 6-9, 2005
THE CELEBRATION/CALSONIC ARENA
SHELBYVILLE, TN
N35 deg. 29.403
W086 deg. 26.780 Greetings all! I bet you thought I'd forgotten all about you, but never fear, it's time to get this thing started! We've chosen a great site for the BMW Riders Association's 33rd International Rally. This site is not your traditional fairground, in fact if you've ever ridden through horse country, you will recognize the white fencing and meadering landscape.
The Site:
Time to take a little tour of the grounds. You will need to download a map of the facility from: www.calsonicarena.com/images/calsonicgroundsmap.jpg
The Calsonic Arena/Trade Fair Building is Rally Central. When you enter the building at ground level you are actually on the upper level of the arena. The arena slopes down into an area built for horse shows with stadium seating. I've given the upper level the nickname of the "mezzanine". The mezzanine will host the vendors all around the perimeter of the arena. Spots are already marked with electric available in each site. In addition, the back of the arena (where horses are prepped for entry into the arena), can hold additional vendors. The cool thing about this area is that two overhead doors allow trailers to be backed into this area. For those vendors that have trailers they work out of, they can be backed right into this area. So in effect, all of the vendors can be centrally located and under roof! The mezzanine also has a concession area with food and beverages as you wander around the vendors.
The Calsonic Arena also houses two conference rooms, which will be used for seminars. The larger seminars will be held in the Blue Ribbon Circle Club. This facility can house our seminars that draw greater attendance, along being able to utilize a full kitchen.
The Champions Arena is an open-sided, roofed arena, which may be used for the Bier Garden. We are still having a lively discussion about where to put the Bier Garden, but our BG Chair, Al Hennigan is scoping out the possibilities.
Camping:
The site marked "Camp Grounds" will house the RV camping towards Madison Street, with the Quiet Tent Camping are in the area of the pavilion. This area has its own toilet and shower facility with tall trees that provide some shade. RV camping has full hookups with 30 and 50-amp service.
The area marked "Barbecue Cook-Out" will house the less than quiet tent camping with areas reserved for the Air Heads, Chain Gang and other groups to put up their palatial palaces! This area also has trees to provide some shade.
The folks at The Celebration will also ensure that the horse stalls are clean out in the event that someone wants to pull their "horse and gear" into one of the stalls. There are also additional toilet and shower facilities in this area. All in all, we have plenty of room to roam around.
The fairgrounds sets on the edge of Shelbyville so you can turn right onto Hawthorne Street from the camping areas and you are out of the city into the countryside for some great riding.
Accomodations:
For those of you who want to camp indoors, Shelbyville has both hotels and Bed and Breakfasts. Two hotels are on Madison Street, which runs in front of the rally site. Folks in Shelbyville are getting ready and hotels and B & B's have already contacted me to ensure they are listed! You can access the accomodation list on the BMW RA website: www.bmra.org/rally/ or through the Shelbyville Chamber of Commerce website: www.shelbyvilletn.com
Volunteers:
As you know, rallies don't run themselves and can only be successful with the involvement of many dedicated people. Our hosting club is The BMW Club of Nashville and Polly Wright and Mike Gillespie have been working on this rally for months. If you are interested in helping out both before and during the rally, e-mail me at: rallyinfo.
Ride, Ride, Ride:
Time to send me your favorite rides in the area: on-road and off-road (or a combination, thereof). Share some great roads with your fellow rally goers. We want to highlight some of these rides in future eNewsletters and OTL. Send them to the rallyinfo e-mail address.
Tidbits & Teasers:
We will again be conducting the ERC (Experienced Riders Course) and DBS (Dirt Bike School). I've been talking with someone who is willing to conduct a Trials Class. Anyone interested?
We are working with the folks at Jack Daniels to have a luncheon on Friday of the rally at the distillery. Anyone interested?
Traditional country, bluegrass and blues were definitely the winners in our music survey, so I'm sure we will get your head nodding and toes tapping!
Riding season is upon us, I even camped with snow flying last weekend (ahh..spring time in Ohio) so get out your maps and start to plan your route to Shelbyville, TN!
Debbi Harbour, RAlly Liaison
BMW Riders Association
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