Hey everyone, I was just wondering, out of those of us who helped start this tradition (in other words, those who went to the Dragon in May of 2003,) how many of us have been every year?

I know Clover, Pat, Koolmini, Ryephile and myself have been every year since this got off the ground...

But who else?

Sorry if this has been discussed in another thread.

 

I haven't missed one yet.

 

Then there are those of us who were forced to watch from the sidelines for the first 3 years... ...and are still trying to make up for lost time!

 

It would be interesting to see a complete list. As I understand it, there was somewhere between 60 and 80 people at the first one. That's an impressive number for a first-time major gathering, especially in 2003 when the MINI was still so new!

 

It would be great if someone wrote up a history of MINIS on the Dragon & how it all started

 

I am one of the "originals" too. 2 years ago, in the resgistration packet there was included a brief history of MOTD. I don't know if I still have it, tho'.
The way it started for DCMM was back when we just had a Yahoo site to post in..this is prior to NAM. Someone said, "hey, there's a cool road in western NC....roadtrip!" or more or less to that effect. A bunch of us from the DC metro area formed a caravan, and headed down. Our group included 3 founders of DCMM.
The 1st 2 years, I stayed at the Microtel..then got wise and started staying at the Fontana. The 1st year at the Microtel was a hoot....folks in Robbinsville had never seen a MINI, much less the 25 or so that filled the hotel's parking lot. It was fun to see the parade of locals, including the police, driving by just to stare at the cars.
I met some new friends that year and have looked forward to renewing the ties every year.

 

The first year, I motored up (in Dolly, my first MINI) to NC with Vince (Orbhot) and his friend. We met up with the Atlanta MINIs and had a blast on the way to the Dragon.
I think that year, the FL crew consisted of Vince, David (minimotorin), Mike (2minis,) Pat (sndwave) and myself. Correct me if I'm wrong, please.
The next year we had a TON of MINIs up there...and every year FL has had a bunch up there.

 

My wife, Cindy, and I were members of the very first MOTD We stayed at the Microtel and had a blast I can remember a few names that were there however, there were many, many more and I'm sorry if I can't recall all of you

Smokey
Mike and Donna
DaCrema
Drakiounus (sp)
MINIclo
Normalizer
HMS MINI
MoonPie and MINImiller
Aprilwine and Fuzzyface
KillerBee

We held our "Welcome" dinner in the back of an old cabin at Fontana, BBQ hamburgers and hotdogs - and the main event was a trip to the Biltmore Estates for lunch on Sat., a tour of the estate and pictures of MINIs circling the front marque, and watching KillerBee's MINI go up in smoke as, you might recall, the dreaded "Overflow tank" defect in the earlier MINI's

That set the tone and I've not missed one MOTD since

Sam

 

ahhhhh..memories...tho' Sam, you forgot me and Paul s'ok.

 

Okay, since I'm not sure which of those previously listed in Sam's reply have been every year, I'm going to start a list of those who have been at every dragon since 2003. I apologize if I've left anyone off...I think its going to be neat to see who all has been there since the beginning. Please add yourself if you're one of the ones. :P

1. MINIclo
2. sndwav
3. Ryephile
4. YuccaPatrol
5. Koolmini
6. Hollister (HollyRN76 back in the beginning...)

 

Another ol'timer chiming in here.

I was there in ought3; 2nd behind Bill Koff for the Dragon Run. What a blast. The MINI behind me (Mugami or CatDog)... his brakes were smokin'! But that was after he dumped his girl at mile marker 5 when she got sick.

I haven't missed a year yet.

We'll see you soon.

 

Yay, thanks for letting me know!

1. MINIclo
2. sndwav
3. Ryephile
4. YuccaPatrol
5. Koolmini
6. Hollister (HollyRN76 back in the beginning...)
7. Mini03Tiger84

keep 'em coming! :D

 

Hey Holly LTNS

I haven't missed one...yet.

 

Haha....and then we watched the video at the hotel. I was there.

 

Dang it! I would have been to all of them except I had a death in the family last year on the day I was heading up. You would think people would have the sense to pass 'after' the dragon. You hear me up there grandpa???? It's a shame I missed last year but somethimes other things take over our lives. Of course this year I'll be up there in a friggin Element.

and here's some of the first year crowd

 

From the above list, the ones that I'm sure have attended all of the MOTD's....
Me, majormini
MINIclo
Draikonius
DaCrema
Smokey (normally in and out )
and I'm almost certain, Normalizer...

Please add me/us to the list of all time attendees
Thanks

Sam

 

I"m so sorry
But you know how "old" men are And they say that the mind is the
first thing to go

Can't wait to see you guys again

Sam

 

Hard to believe we almost fit the whole group in the Crossroads of Time parking lot.



or the gravel area at the end of the run

 

it'll be just me again this year..

ahhhhhhhh...ye goode olde days.

 

Well for all of you folks who were there the first year, my hat is off to you. I would have been there but I was driving a Honda CRV at the time.

And just so you know, I still have about 14 complete sets of the fabulous MOTD embroidered patches left and I have a bunch of the ones from the first year left. Those first year patches don't even say MOTD on them, they say "Dragon Run." COOPERation and Sndwave helped me with the history on that.

So let me know if you're interested in getting a set of patches. They are really beautiful and a nice collectible. And the best part is the proceeds from the sale go to Easter Seals.

All the info is RIGHT HERE.

Looking forward to meeting all you folks.