The Saratoga Lawn Show Party

by **mr71transam** Sat Oct 23, 2010 7:25 pm

What a Great group of people. Thanks Jim. I started this post because I'm sure this event will need it's own area.
Here are pictures of just the cars that our members have there.
The Saratoga Lawn Show Party 100_4042

by **69_RAG_TOP** Sat Oct 23, 2010 8:39 pm

One of the nicest collections of Trans Ams and Firebirds... I would love to own any of these cars.

Hat's off to Jim and the crew that hosted this event.

The hospitality and guided tours were fun. Thanks to Jim for sponsoring this and picking up the tab for the party. I will highly recommend this place to other high end collectors.

I finally got to meet quite a few people who post on this Board too. It was nice to put a face to a name...lol.

It was nice to see all those wonderful cars... Firebirds, Trans Ams, Collector Editions, Pontiac GTOs, Dodge Challengers, Superbirds, Cadillacs, Austin Healeys, Aston Martins, Bentleys, Dusenbergs, Lambos, Ferrari's, etc...

by nap Sat Oct 23, 2010 9:49 pm

Thanks guys. I was glad the two of you and everyone else were able to attend. It surely looked like everyone enjoyed themselves. That was the whole idea for the party and to show our appreciation to the organizers of the All Firebird Lawn Show (Tom & Sandy Smith, Keith Fuerst and everyone else that helped with the judging and staffing).

Rick, Thanks for posting the pictures. They came out great.

I just want to go on record that I was not the only one to pay for this party. My friends Nick Rossi and Phil Ginsbreg helped out with the support of this show. Thanks guys I couldn't have put this together without your help.

Jim

PS - When I was leaving Steve Manning's Turbo Trans Am was still in the parking lot, but Steve could not be found. We had to check every car and finally found him hiding in the trunk of the Superbird. LOL. Laughing

by **mr71transam** Sun Oct 24, 2010 8:55 am

The Superbird is probably the Only car that had a big enough trunk. Nap, when Larry, Brad, Martin, Carolyn, and I left you were no where to be found. We all wanted to thank you, Nick, and Phil for the Great Event. So Please pass on to Nick and Phil that we all had a Great time and appreciated all that you guys did. The looks on Tom, Sandy and Keith faces when the awards were presented was "Priceless".

by Steve Sun Oct 24, 2010 11:04 am

I knew I should have picked the Caddy to hide in!!!!

by blue81ta Sun Oct 24, 2010 11:50 am

Jim, I want send out a big THANK YOU to you, Phil and Nick for hosting this wonderful event. Cool

It was a great day!! It was good to have a chance to hang out with everyone and not have to tend to car show duties. It was also great to meet other members of this board. This is proof that cars are nice, but it's the people that make this hobby truly enjoyable.

Thank you for showing you're appreciation to Tom and Sandy Smith, myself and all the staff of the All Firebird Lawn Show. It was truly unexpected. Usually, I don't have too much problem speaking in front of a large group of people, but yesterday was a little overwhelming. I felt honored and humbled. So hopefully, I made sense and I didn't make a fool of myself. LOL Laughing

Thank you Jim for giving me an opportunity to see some absolutely amazing and stunning cars. The Dusenberg is drop dead gorgeous... a work of art. I know I've never seen so many 427 Corvettes in one place in my life. Very Happy

Two Ferrari F40s Shocked

I LOVE that car. The Superbird, want one very badly. So many 70 GTOs, my absolute favorite Goat. Cool

The list goes on, but I must say that all the Firebirds made my heart beat just a little bit faster than the other cars....

Thanks again.

by Martin Sun Oct 24, 2010 9:23 pm

Hi Jim,
Carolyn and I had a wonderful time as well, and would like
to thank you, Nick Rossi and Phil Ginsbreg for your
hospitality. It was a great time....I loved the Bentley racers
as well as all of the other wonderfuls that were there...it was a
real treat.....It was also great to meet the members of the
Saratoga club...

Thanks again to all

Martin Very Happy

by **69_RAG_TOP** Mon Oct 25, 2010 12:56 am

It was good to meet members of the Saratoga Club and chat with some of the guys from New York and New Jersey.

It was also nice to finally meet Steve from the Massachusetts Pioneer Valley Club.

This party was a great way to show the appreciation to the organizers of the All Firebird Lawn Show, Tom and Sandy Smith, Keith and the rest of the team.

Jim has also acknowledged that this could not have happened without help from his friends Nick and Phil who helped out with the support of this show.

I think that the Saratoga Show next year can easily grow to 300 vehicles just by word of mouth and Tom's ideas to make the show fun.

by Black_Bird_99 Mon Oct 25, 2010 10:42 pm

OK, I am finally alone so I will post the next message.

by Black_Bird_99 Mon Oct 25, 2010 10:48 pm

First and foremost, thanks so much to Jim Napoletano for organizing the party. Thanks also to Nick and Phil for helping to sponsor the party. Quality people make themselves known by their actions, not just their words. You guys are truly quality people and I feel privileged to know you.

To the people at the party that I did not know and I still do not know, I apologize. I really wanted to meet most of you and shake your hand and thank you for coming to Saratoga in the past or invite you to come to Saratoga in the future. But alas, I was in a state of shock and awe from the award and from being among so many millions of dollars worth of cars in one secure location. It was almost like being at a Mecum auction or Barrett Jackson auction except you could only look, not buy, even if you had the $$$$$. I am still smiling.

I have to say it was great to see many of the Firebird guys and Saratoga show regulars that I know including Pete (Maddog) M, Steve M, Nick – Phil – and Greg, Jim Nap, Rick H, and others and I have to mention a few FNONA guys that drove down including Gerry G with his son Paul, and Keith T with his wife and 2 sons Jack and Sam.

Ask anyone who really knows me and they will say, I can be quite wordy and sometimes go on adnauseum. My wife always tries to muzzle me but she is not here so please be warned, since I now have the floor, I have a lot to say. Since you are at your PC, you can tune me out at your pleasure, so to some degree; I do not feel too guilty for being lengthy in this reply except for being piggish with bandwith. I just feel the need to give credit where credit is due and I did not want to take that amount of time at the People Party. That said, here we go.

You all realize that a show such as the Saratoga All Firebird Lawn Show takes a lot of work and staff. It takes a lot of careful thought and planning. It is important that each staff is in a position where he/she is knowledgeable and feels comfortable. That is one of my jobs. I try to assign staff to positions where they can act with knowledge and authority. Whether you think of parking staff, food staff, judging staff, trailer and registration staff, it is important that they all know what they are doing, and if they do not, I work hard give them the knowledge to know their task and act with quality action.

Sandy Smith, where do I start? She is FNONA Treasurer and in charge in the registration trailer, the head Queen. The Trailer Queens, as I call them, consist of Sandy Smith, Arlene DeLaney, and Margo Bagneschi and they are very important to our organization. You all know what goes on in there: Organized chaos. Sandy makes sure that 150-200 Firebird enthusiasts get registered in a timely and orderly fashion, get dash plaques and judging sheets, get goodie bags, are able to purchase show t-shirts, etc, etc, etc. She personally takes care of everyone who is pre-registered. She almost never gets to see the cars but she gets to see almost all of the people. Sandy works with our t-shirt vendor, orders the show t-shirts and picks up the order. Then she gets the bills paid by getting the invoice to the right people. Sandy also deals with the NYS Health Department and gets our NYS food permit, works with many of our sponsors who give us stuff for our goodie bags, picks up goodie bag donations and in the past was one of those volunteers who stuffed your goodie bag. She is my gofer and copy girl and makes all the copies for the show and all the show flyers for distribution. It is important to note that she is the main interface to Special Olympics Saratoga County and Special Olympics New York. She knows all of the main players and they all know and respect her. Her job really starts about 6 months before the show and continues about 1 month after the show. After the show, she organizes all of the registration forms and judging sheets, she counts all of the money and she writes the check to Special Olympics. She also helps me clean all the junk left over from the show in my trailer. Sandy was at the party.

Joe Carey is FNONA Vice President and a very important component of the All Firebird Lawn Show. Joe is the guy who single handedly organizes the Friday night All Firebird Cruise and arranges for the SSPD Police escort. Joe also arranges for the Cruise to use the SSPD PBA hall and grove. During the show, Joe judges stock and modified First Generation Birds and when all judging is completed, he organizes all of the completed judging sheets in a way that makes our awards ceremony go as smoothly as possible. In 2010 when I had lost my voice at the show, Joe stepped up and conducted all of the awards ceremonies. Joe has also passed out show flyers in his travels and his help is highly valued. Unfortunately Joe could not make it to the People Party.

Eddie Barra is a name that many of you know and if not, you certainly know his 1986 Trans Am Goldzilla and his black car hauler. Each year Eddie hauls his car up to the show and places it there For Display Only, then he lets us use his trailer as our registration trailer and base of operations. We also use his generator for our power. Eddie is also one of our knowledgeable judges and has judged Third and Fourth Generation Birds in both stock and modified classes. Eddie was one of the guys that helped me design the show field layout on the big field. He is also involved in our after show critique session each year in which we figure out what could be improved or done differently to make it run more smoothly and efficiently. Unfortunately Eddie could not make the party.

Keith Fuerst (Blue81) is a name you all know on this board. Keith eats, lives, and breathes Firebirds. His position is to listen to the pulse and monitor reaction on the show field and on the forums. If he hears someone that is unhappy about anything, he brings it to my attention and makes me aware of a potential unhappy participant so I can deal with it in a timely fashion. I stay in close contact with Keith, feed him current and important info, and depend on him to post this info to the boards and keep everyone informed. If board members have ideas or suggestions, he brings them to me for discussion. As I said at the People Party, the two of us came up with the idea of a Firebird show more than 8 years ago. As you know, Keith is a valuable and knowledgeable judge of the Second and Fourth Generation cars in both stock and modified classes. He has also been there stuffing goodie bags and passing out flyers at multiple local shows. Keith helped Eddie B and I design the current layout at the big field. He also writes the story for NFTAC. Keith was at the party.

Joel Auger is our Director of Parking and the first FNONA staff you meet as you drive onto the show field. He normally greets everyone with a warm friendly hello, asks you what year is your Firebird, hooks you up with a parking staff and points you in the right direction on the field. Joel always helps set up the show trailer and then break it down after the show. He is a part of the 'after show committee' to discuss what might be done differently next year. Joel could not make the party.

Ron Pratt is a guy that most of you probably do not know. Ron is as nice a guy as you will ever meet. He is a pretty low key guy but I need to mention him anyway. Ron is the guy that single handedly got FNONA incorporated and also single handedly help FNONA get our 401- (c) (3) status. Ron takes care of our corporate responsibilities with the US Government and files our taxes. At the show, he is one of the guys that parks you in the correct spot on the field and makes sure that there is enough space between you and the Firebird next to you so that we do not have any door dings. Ron could not make the party.

Gerry Gerring (with son Paul) and Keith Tanny (with wife and sons) did make it to the party. Gerry is one of our dedicated All Firebird Lawn Show parkers and Keith Tanny with his sons Jack and Sam are the 50-50 Raffle team on the field. If you remember buying 50-50 raffle tickets from a guy with two little boys in tow, that was Keith Tanny with sons Jack and Sam. Both of these FNONA members also help us set up the registration trailer and break it down after the show. Keith has also worked parking detail.

In 2010 FNONA member Rick Holloway and FNONA member Michael Thomas helped judge the field. FNONA member Steve Reed also helped judge Third Generation cars while his wife FNONA member Shelly Reed worked in the goodie bag trailer. FNONA member Ray Eggert helped park your cars and is also a highly valued show sponsor. As I said earlier, quality people make themselves known by their actions and Ray is a quality guy. Dave (parking cars) and Lisa Lord (goodie bag trailer) help out all the time at the show and have also stuffed a number of goodie bags. Other staff involved in the 2009 All Firebird Lawn Show includes FNONA member Dean Meneilley who helped us judge the Third Generation stock and modified Birds. FNONA and Charter Oaks member Neil Silberkleit helped us judge the First and Second Generation stock and modified cars.

So with all of this help and all of these quality people, what is left for FNONA member Tom Smith to do? It is nothing more than a 12 month 365 day labor of love job. As Head Cheese, I find and contract vendors, I design the show flyer, dash plaque and t-shirt artwork, meet with major show sponsors Saratoga Auto Museum, Mangino Pontiac, Special Olympics New York and the New York State Park service. I order dash plaques and trophies. I contract with the DJ, the show photographer, and the food vendor. I also contract with the Fairfield Inn show hotel. I write and answer countless e-mails to club members, show participants, and perspective vendors. I draw up the field layout for the parking guys. I write all of the announcements for the DJ. I write the guidelines for the judges and the Trailer Queens. Since I count on Keith F to update Charter Oaks, 78 TA and TAC, I post on many other forums including LS1.com, Thirdgen.org, WorldWide FBody Hideout, LS1LT1, LS1Tech, NewJersey FBody, Performance Years, All Gens TransAms, NFTAC, HPP, Hemmings, and lots of others. Plus I post to TV websites, and lots of other National and regional car club websites and show calendars. I organize the show work crew and delegate assignments. I haul all of the trophies, goodie bags and everything else to the show in my trailer. At the show, I conduct the judges meetings, parking staff meeting, and trailer queens meeting. I photograph the show for the FNONA website and the HPP story and I write the HPP story. If we have a problem at the show, I solve it. It sounds like a lot and it is, but I love it and love our cause.

I could go on for a long time (I told you I can be wordy) but I will wrap it up. In addition to our club staff, we have many volunteers from Special Olympics including our son Brian Smith and other Athletes who go out on the field to award Participant ribbons to the cars they think should win. Special Olympics coaches including Ron Delaney help park cars, set up the registration trailer, and work with the Athletes.

In order to keep our judging impartial and non-political, I invite non-FNONA members to act as Guest Judges with our guidelines and scoring criteria. These have included Michael Tyler from Ohio and the Ohio Firebirds, Ray DiCresenzo with the POCI club Mohawk Valley Pontiacs, Pete and Heather Defazio from Fbodywarehouse in Tennessee, and Brad Benoit with Charter Oaks Firebirds.

I wish all of the people mentioned above could have been at the People Party at the Collectors Car Garage to receive the staff award because it really belongs to all of them. Unfortunately they could not, but at least now you know who they are.

If I forgot to mention someone I apologize in advance. Drop me an e-mail and I will edit this post.

Once again, I sincerely thank Jim Napoletano and Nick and Phil for their expressions of appreciation and kindness and I pledge to all of you that with help from my valuable staff, Sandy and I will work to give you the best show possible without politics or stress while we raise money for Special Olympics with your help.

Oh and one more thing: please look for future announcements about a new competition class: 'The Best Of The Best' will hit the show field running in 2011. This class is open by invitation only to 2010 First Place in class winners and Best of Show winner and will be the only class in which those cars can compete.

With warm and sincere thanks,

Tom Smith in Saratoga Springs NY

a.k.a. Head Cheese J

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Get ready for a long winded epistle

Thanks so much to JN and Credit where Credit is Due!

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