Denton 2015 - Did Not Disappoint!

[quick993]

Eric , I m from Florida too, riding here does not even come to close to the Carolina's. I do a lot of riding up there and who could argue the point , just go to the Blue Ridge Parkway or the Dragon and see how many people travel to see this area, and in the fall the numbers really jump. I m sure if the event was changed to the fall al lot of people would make a point of taking a few extra days to incorporate some riding. It really is a great opportunity to make a change for the better. Hope to hear some more on this.

[rwm]

you have a better chance of this in oct. then may. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...ina_hurricanes

[exeric]

I'm just saying it would be nice in October; it's the chapters that do work that I abide by. What is best for them is best for us.

[quick993]

I agree with you Eric, that it s up to the Chapters but I sure would like some ore people to chime in on this so that the Chapters could actually see some support for this. I guess some phone calls will have to follow. I will work on this and see where it goes.

Steve O

[hogchild71]

Hello All
I talked to the lady in charge at Denton after the Town Hall Meeting about available dates in the fall. She said that the Farmpark does an annual Christmas event and that all of the decorations are set in place in October.Though, there may be some wiggle room early in the month she did not seem very enthusiastic. Spring or fall, Denton is a great meet.
Fred.

[quick993]

Hi Fred, when you have a minute could we possibly talk.
954 605 6853. Thanks

Steve O

[quick993]

If an imaginary date was to be worked on, would columbus day weekend be feasible ? a lot of people get the day off, adds an extra day for a possible ride or for people to travel ?

[rousseau]

Steve O

You are trying to "fix" something that isn't broke.

[quick993]

Does something have to be broken in order to make it better ? I m sure that does not apply to most of our bikes, why should it apply to the meet. Like I said earlier , this meet was originally intended to be a fall meet, I agree Barber is kind of close to Denton so what is the issue with proposing a change of date ?

Steve O

[quick993]

Hello All
I talked to the lady in charge at Denton after the Town Hall Meeting about available dates in the fall. She said that the Farmpark does an annual Christmas event and that all of the decorations are set in place in October.Though, there may be some wiggle room early in the month she did not seem very enthusiastic. Spring or fall, Denton is a great meet.
Fred.

Hi Fred, I tried reaching out to you, I spoke with the owner of the park right after the town hall meeting in Denton and just recently talked to the park, I don't quite know who you spoke to or heard from but it would seem that there is a lot more wiggle room than you referred too and some people might get the idea that this has been thoroughly looked into .I would appreciate some input from you as to what you might have heard . Thanks

Steve O

[LouieMCman]

Of all the comments on this thread NONE of you have anything to do with the Southern National Meet. Steve O, I have no idea who you are but if you want to have a meet in the fall go ahead, do it in FL they need some help down there. The past history of moving our meet began well over a year ago, not when you said you mentioned it at the town hall meeting. The national have been planning the Barber meet for quite some time and tried to get us to move so they could have the month of May, but what is upsetting is the way it occurred which was by telling us our meet was doing bad and declining failing to mention the plans for a new Barber meet. We had a few meetings on moving the meet and we (the Southern Coalition) ALL voted to keep our meet the way it was. A fall meet means competing with Biketoberfest, Myrtle Beach, and Barbers Fall meet. I think its going to be surprising to some when they go to Barber and try to get in free and have to pay how much??? My bet is $25/head.

[exeric]

The Southern Coalition works hard to put on the Denton meet. It's still a great meet, at a great location regardless of the time of year. As I said before, what's good for them is good for us.

[Rollo]

I have been going to the Denton meet every year since the first one and I like that meet a lot and only missed it once due to a heart attack. Got calls in my hospital bed about how much fun folks we having and how much I was missing. Just what I needed for a speedy recovery!!! I read in the new mag about the Barber meet and think I might want to go to that too now. My plan is to swing by Denton and then on the Birmingham after that. May be too much time for some but I doubt I will do Barber every year like I do Oley, Denton, Wauseon and Jefferson, but I want to see what all the hubbub is about. All of these events are a lot of work. I know as I work on all our chapter ones, and to not support them is a shame so I try to make the mentioned swaps and at least one Road Run in support plus to have fun and talk bikes. Barber is an up and going business and has been for years and will be long into the future and has full time staff that work there. That is why I might do every other year or something like that for Barber but every year in support of the local chapter (or coalition) events to help insure their survival. I know Barber will have chapters involved and volunteers but it is also being professionally managed and sponsored so it isn't quite the same to me, especially if you are collecting a gate fee on top of vendor fees etc. JMHO.

Tom (Rollo) Hardy
AMCA #12766

[hogchild71]

Rollo
Like you I have attended all but one Southern National Meet at Denton. I don't vend, just hang out and have fun. I think Denton is a great event and thank all that work so hard to make it enjoyable for all that attend. The spring date allows me to get away from the iceland we call Ohio. The Farmpark has so many items unique to the South, not to be found in other places. The locals are among the friendliest folks you will find anywhere. The first time I went to Denton, I stopped in town for directions and some guy says "just follow me, I'll show you where the Park is", at the gate he turned around and waved and said "y'all have a good time".

All
Since I am an AMCA Board member I'll make no further comments about how the meet is operated or the meet dates. The Southern National Coalition knows what is best for the future of their meet. I will support any decision made by the Coalition.
Best regards, Fred

[Lonnie]

I agree wholeheartedly with Fred's comments, you will never meet a better group of folks than those at Denton, both in the sponsoring chapters and in the community as a whole. The location is superb and the riding in the area is great. That being said, I feel the need to clarify a few things, at least from my perspective.

In discussions I had over the last several years, some of the vendors, both local and from out-of-state, brought up the possibility of the Coalition moving the event to sometime in the fall. For the out-of-state vendors, those who try to attend as many of the East Coast Meets as possible, the issue revolved around trying to attend the Oley Meet, driving down for the Denton Meet, and then having to travel back North for the Rhinebeck Meet. Their obvious concern was the travel expenses. For the local vendors, their issue, at least those voiced to me, was the overlap between the Southern Meet and the Harley-Davidson Rally at Myrtle Beach, which runs that same week climaxing on our weekend. A third group of participants expressed a desire tp be able to attend both the Denton Meet and the Riding Into History event in Florida, both occuring the same weekend. Also brought up were the NASCAR races in Charlotte that weekend. Many of these conversations occurred well before there was any discussion or even casual mention about an AMCA meet at Barber's.

For those who are unaware, the entry fee charged in Denton to the non-AMCA members is split between the Coalition Chapters and Denton FarmPark; that is the basis of profitability for both. With the resurgence of attendance at the Myrtle Beach Rally, some of the participants, both vendors and spectators, expressed their thoughts that this has the potential of impacting attendance by non-AMCA members from the NC/SC area at Denton. It reallly involves competition for non-AMCA spectator dollars.

Based on the conversations I had with these various folks, I broached the idea of moving the date to the committee that does all the behind-the-scenes work at Denton. The biggest concern that was voiced was the feeling that moving the meet date would have a negative impact on both vendor participation and spectator attendance. The date(s) most often mentioned to me and discussed in the meeting were sometime in October, after Jefferson, to take advantage of the early fall weather and the change in leaf colors in the area. No matter the date of the Meet, there is conflict between motorcycle-related events in the area. If the date is moved to avoid an event on one weekend, the date selected could overlap with another elsewhere. As a result, the committee vote was to remain with the status-quo.

To be honest, I have never heard a conversation between any AMCA Board members where someone stated that we were doing bad. Whether a Meet is successful is totally dependent on any profit generated, strictly an accounting perspetive. Like any AMCA Meet that is held outdoors, Denton is subject to being rained out. Good weather equals good attendance is the general rule, while bad weather equals poor attendance which equals poor results. Though Denton has never been physically rained out, it has been impacted in years past with rain all around the area damping attendance. This past year was beautiful and attendance was good.

Personally, no matter the date, the FarmPark is an excellent venue in a beautiful area of N.C. and I would highly recommend that everyone try to attend.

Thanks,
Lonnie