Monte Carlos in Attendance

The 2016 Western Meet
by Aaron Dodsworth

My wife April and I look forward to the Western Meet every year, and it is no secret that we will drive long distances to attend. We had just purchased a 1971 Monte Carlo from another club member only a month before the meet and proceeded to take it on the 2,000 mile round trip from British Columbia. The trip was certainly met with a few challenges as this car had not had many miles put on it in recent years, but it was nothing we could not overcome. We had a blast on our first road trip with this Monte. April and I travelled with members Matt and Christine Hilla for a couple days of the trip. Overall there were 14 members from California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Alberta with a good variety of stock, modified, restored and unrestored Monte Carlos.

Thursday

Matt, Christine, April and I arrived at the hotel on Thursday evening and the party was already in full swing. A night of pizza, friends, Montes and a few beverages is what we all looked forward to. It was great to see old friends again and meet some new ones.

Friday

A cruise through Nevada County was organized by member Doug Scofield. We cruised through some nice windy back roads and made several stops along the way to chat, look at the scenery and take some photos. One of our stops was at Empire Mine State Historic Park where we had a fantastic lunch prepared by Doug. The weather could not have been more perfect and we had a great day of cruising. We really appreciated Doug for organizing the cruise and lunch.

When we arrived back at the hotel, a few of us spent the afternoon washing our cars and doing some detailing. I had some hood alignment issues so a large group of us worked on that for a while, which proved to be entertaining. If you have ever tried to line up one of these hoods, you know it is not as easy to do as it appears to be. The evening was spent in the parking lot with lots of laughs and conversation, while more members arrived to join the meet.

Saturday

We were up early Saturday morning to get an area in the Nevada County Fairgrounds for our group of cars as part of the Cruisin’ the Pines car show. This event had a lot to see with 700 cars on display, a car corral and many vendors on hand. As usual there was a fair amount of awe from spectators when they saw how many first generation Monte Carlos were there as a group. One of the members of the Roamin’ Angels car club that organizes the event owns a silver 1972 Monte Carlo which was on display also.

Sunday

We drove back to the Nevada County Fairgrounds for the Cruisin’ the Pines awards ceremony. The 2016 Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi who grew up in the Grass Valley area was there with the Borg Warner trophy to make a speech and sign autographs. As we were enjoying the car show I was asked by a car show offical to be in the parade of cars during the awards ceremony. I accepted the club participation award on the club’s behalf and also received the Longest Distance award.

In the afternoon we had our club banquet at Smiley Guys Smokehouse. We handed out a number of door prizes and the 12 categories of FGMCC awards to the deserving recipients. I certainly was not excited to get the hard luck award, but I guess it was my turn this time.

On Monday morning it was time to say goodbye to all the great people of this club, and drive the 900 mile journey back home to Canada. The trip back gave April and I time to reflect back on a great meet and laugh about the fun moments that occurred over the past few days. Thanks to all who came to make this a successful meet and we look forward to seeing you all again!