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Hey, it's time the New Englanders have a gathering!

Discussion in 'Local Clubs, Events, and Road Trips' started by bobc, Jun 30, 2005.

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  1. Sat. July 30th

    100.0%
  2. Sat. Aug. 6th

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  1. LisaMurray

    LisaMurray New Member

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    Count me in for either date. It's about a 3 hr drive for me (I think....I'd have to Mapquest it to be sure), but that's no biggie. I'd love the chance to meet some of you.

    Edward--I'd love to get one of those hood deflectors. My baby's only 4 months old, and I already have a couple of nicks on my hood. Let me know what I need to do to order. Thanks!
     
  2. mrv

    mrv Member

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    Gosh, it'd be nice if this was publicized on some of the other frequented Prius groups (to get more woners to show up), such as:

    http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/toyota-prius/
    http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Prius-2G/
    http://www.priusonline.com/
    alt.autos.toyota.prius

    or the more local groups:
    http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/MA-hybrids/ (group created for the last MA meet or two)
    http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Prius2004NE/
    http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/priusnortheast/

    The last three MA-area gatherings were open to all hybrids. Is this one going to be more closed? It's been nice to chat with the other hybrid owners, try out "the competition," and such.

    There have been too few people signed up on meetup.com that I haven't bothered going to any of the monthly meets. One of the groups (don't remember if it was hybridcars.meetup.com or prius.meetup.com) supposedly met at Ken's Steak House on rt.9 Framingham (Natick line).

    I don't recall who set up the meet in 2001. That was held at the Paparazzi restaurant in Concord MA on rt. 2. We just got together in their large parking lot, chatted for a while, then went inside to order food. Unfortunately, you really couldn't hear what was going on on the other side of the long table...

    Sam Williams did most of the work setting up the 2002 meet, although I did help out gathering names, announcing it, and such. Sam held it at his curling club in Wayland, MA (off-season, http://www.broomstones.com/ ). We had some sponsorship from Westboro Toyota for the hall rental, and otherwise we asked for $5/person for food and hall rental. Craig Van Batenburg gave a nice presentation, and we had open questions and any individual presentations... We also had the Voloci electric motorbike people give a demonstration and test rides.
    http://www.kluge.net/~felicity/pics/index.php?group=16

    2003 Gilles Labelle (Westboro Toyota) and Jim Dunn had me call for another hybrid meet, Oct. 18 IIRC. We held it at the Worcester Airport parking lot, in conjunction with WPI's Homecoming and 100th anniversary celebration of flight. (Worcester Airport was open to the public, with various personal planes and gliders on the tarmac, and they had a working replica of the Wright brothers' plane. Jim Dunn had the ePlane there, an electric-only plane that at the time was using Prius battery packs for electricity storage.) Craig happened to stop for gas the night before in his Insight, and was parked next to a 2004 Prius being driven by a Toyota Regional employee, and invited him to bring the car. It was the first 2004 Prius in New England, and we got it to climb all over and do test drives/rides in it for the Saturday meet. :) As for food, we had a pile of doughnut boxes from Dunkin Donuts and some coffee, which Gilles brought. WPI had a bunch of free cookies, and also had a small fee-based grill tent.
    My pics are at: http://www2.kluge.net/2004/

    2004 went by without a meet (that I know of). I don't really consider the 2003 or 2004 Altwheels festivals much of a meet, as it's difficult to get all the Prius owners or cars together (although most everyone did at some point come by my cars on display and say hi).

    My experience is that you'll want someplace where some people can sit down if needed (not everyone can stand around in a parking lot for hours on end talking), with bathrooms nearby, and that you'll want some way to get out of the sun or inclement weather (tent, building). (I got a really nasty sunburn at the 2003 WPI fly-in, and the Altwheels festival.) Unfortunately, the only place that comes to mind in the Framingham rt.9 area is the parking garage at the Natick Mall and the food court there (although that would be really noisy in the food court, and the covered parking spots get filled up quick).

    Where will all of the cars fit at the Tennessee's BBQ? On a normal day it is difficult to park there, let alone if you get the 2 dozen+ cars I'd expect minimally to show up... Maybe if you went to the anchor store at the end (what is it now, a Filene's Basement? I know it was a Frugal Fannie's for a while...) you'd get some parking, but...

    (I work in Natick, on the Framingham line, just off of rt. 9, so I do know the area well. If I come up with a location (I can ask around at work for more ideas), I'll be sure to post it (If Priuschat will let me in again to post, it's still browser-picky on me...).)
     
  3. bobc

    bobc New Member

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    Hi Michele,

    Thanks for your thoughts and input.

    No, it isn't closed to other hybrids. I don't have the time to frequent other forums so I limited the posting to this one. If someone wanted to post elsewhere, please do!

    I was totally unaware that a history exists of active meets in New England!

    Your comments about location are very good ones. Aerometer was going to look for a meeting place this Friday. He's thinking about a mini mall parking lot (I can't remember the store names....) I haven't been to Framingham in 10 years so I don't know the place. If others know of a good area with shade, or the ability to hang out inside in case of inclement weather and bathrooms, that would be great!

    And, should we look at another restaurant if parking is an issue as Tenn.'s BBQ?

    BTW, from the poll, it's looking like we'll be getting together the 6th. But, would still like to finalize things so that people can plan their day.

    -bob
     
  4. mrv

    mrv Member

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    To get your bearings, the Tennessee's mini-mall is on the street right across from the Framingham main post office on rt. 30. From the post office, on the left is a McDonald's, Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse, and eventually Walmart and rt. 9. On the right from the post office is Filene's Basement and the fast-food packed mini-mall, an apartment complex, Bennigan's grill/bar, and then rt. 9.

    Don't get me wrong, I love Tennessee's (I get take-out dinner once every week or two), I just don't see it as large enough to take in everyone, and the parking could be tricky. There's a little more parking at the ends (Lotus Flower http://www.lotuscuisine.com/ and Filene's Basement), but Tennessee's http://www.tennbbq.com/ is in the middle where there's only 2 rows for parking (and that includes the Papa Gino's http://www.papaginos.com/, Big Fresh, Gold Star Indian http://www.indiangoldstar.com/, and Boston Market http://www.bostonmarket.com/index.jsp). I suppose if people were willing to walk... or if we wanted to do reservations of some form...

    Other ideas that people at work came up with:

    To stay with BBQ, either everyone park at the Filene's basement and walk to meet over at Tennessee's or similar, or everyone park at Walmart over by the rt. 9 side of the lot and carpool to Tennessee's. Or, there's a bit more parking available at Firefly's on rt. 126 (really close to rt. 30 and 9): http://www.fireflysbbq.com/Framingham.htm (at least we could use the Stop & Shop parking area next door).

    Park at Jordan's furniture. eat at Kelly's Roast Beef. sit in comfy floor model chairs, or at Kelly's. be entertained by the Mardi Gras celebrations at Jordan's. send the family to watch an IMAX movie at Jordan's while you talk about car-things. http://www.jordans.com/about/find_store_de...asp?type=natick

    You could probably reserve a room at most any of the numerous restaurants in the area. Ideas are the Bugaboo Creek across the street from Tennessee's, and also the Vinny T's of Boston in Natick on rt. 9 (but getting to that location could be tricky as it's on the divided section of rt. 9), but pretty much you name the type of food or the national/regional chain, and it's here. Problem with a restaurant room reservation is that you'd really want to have people be able to mingle, and not stuck talking/listening to the same people on their end of the table if a sit-down meal.

    another suggestion was to go to someplace like Lake Cochituate State Park on rt. 30 in Natick. http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/northeast/coch.htm Problem there is that you pay per car to enter, and there's no food concessions. Good thing is that there are picnic tables, shade, bathrooms/changing rooms, and swimming for the other family members. So, if everyone wanted to do a pot-luck thing or pack their own lunch, it might be a good idea. There are some other state parks that might similarily work, such as Ashland http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/northeast/ashl.htm, Hopkinton http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/northeast/hpsp.htm, or Walden Pond (Concord) http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/northeast/wldn.htm. (although, if it's a hot enough day the parks could fill to capacity and close early... might be a good idea to call ahead here too...)


    unfortunately, most of the area newspapers require a 2-week notice for placement in their what's happening/community calendar sections, so it's doubtful if you could get the word out other than online forums.

    (I'll note that my 10-year high school reunion was only announced about a month before the date; myself and a bunch of people already had plans and couldn't make it. I'd suspect something similar with either date in the poll.)
     
  5. LisaMurray

    LisaMurray New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mrv\";p=\"108855)</div>
    Something like this would definitely get my vote. I think a pot-luck type thing at a park sounds awesome, and way more relaxing than sitting in a parking lot.
     
  6. aloha

    aloha New Member

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    Bob:
    Either date is fine with me, but I will vote for the July date. Looking forward to it.
    Aloha
     
  7. bobc

    bobc New Member

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    Hi folks,

    Great to see so much interest!

    Comments and the votes were tepid until Aerometer did the mass emailing last week. Great that the word got out and people are now aware and responding!

    Sorry that this is such short notice for a bunch of you... We're hoping to finalize plans by Monday (25th) so that things can be definitive for you. According to the poll, it looks like people are favoring the 6th.

    From a couple of posters, there is some concern about locations and having some basic amenities like shade, cover if its raining and bathroom facilities. Any other thoughts on the Lake Cochituate State Park? The fee for entry is $5.

    Also, I've been trying to line up a master tech. But, I haven't received any responses to the emails I sent.

    I
    As for location or if you know of a master tech, drop me a note. I'll get it quicker if you send it to my email: bobc at hopper dot unh dot edu

    Thanks and look forward to catching up!
     
  8. Areometer

    Areometer Silver Business Sponsor

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    Hello Everyone. A lot of beneficial input indeed. Pardon my unprofessionalism as I have never organized anything like this before, not even when I was back in school.

    I agree that Tenessee BBQ parking lot is a bit tight as we reach 20+ Prius. I agree that Jordan's Furniture parking lot is a lot bigger and there are restrooms & Kelly's Roast Beef & IMAX right there. But we will need Jordan's permission for sure. Will the Bugaboo Creek's parking lot be big enough? They are a Canadian BBQ house with great food (lcdJunky, hope your bf won't mind).

    The Cochituate State Park idea is also neat, but have you been to it lately during weekends? Will there be enough parking for say, 50+ Prius?

    I plan to drive around tomorrow (Fri) near the Framingham area (incl. Cochituate State Park in Natick) and look around. mrv if you have other great suggestions, please share. I'd greatly appreciate it. Time is running out. Thanks.

    Edward
     
  9. Russell Frost

    Russell Frost the whatdrives.us guy

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    I would be happy to help...

    I'm not sure what I could as I am far away (physically) and you haven't decided on a date yet. Nonetheless, once you do decide on a date, please email me and I'll be happy to post it on the site:

    www.priusownersgroup.com

    I'm not sure if I could make it to the actual meet, though, depending on the date, I will try. I'm in Lancaster, PA so it's a bit of a drive.

    Thanks very much for your work in organizing this and good luck!

    Russell Frost
    owner
    priusownersgroup.com
    2005 Super White Prius
    [email protected]
     
  10. hobbit

    hobbit Senior Member

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    ... Pardon my unprofessionalism as I have never organized anything like this before
    .
    Here's all kinds of encouragement; it seems like you're
    doing great! A couple of additional thoughts on venue ...
    seems like slightly out of Framingham you've got lots of other stuff
    around Rt. 9 and maybe Speen St, largish malls, that sort of
    thing, which aren't necessarily a single organization trying to
    preserve some kind of "image" [I'm thinking Jordan's here] and
    whose rent-a-cops may be less likely to get upset by a
    gaggle of Prii occupying an out-of-the-way corner of their parking
    lot for a while. Still, if it's generally felt that some kind
    of permission should be obtained in advance, hopefully
    that's reasonable and the querier won't just get blown off
    with an off-the-cuff "no".
    .
    Any further ideas about presenters? I could probably stand
    around and yak prius tech all day, but not in any coherent,
    organized fashion...
    .
    _H*
     
  11. lcdJunky

    lcdJunky New Member

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    Any updates?
     
  12. gwnc59a

    gwnc59a New Member

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    We seem to be running out of July. Do we have any definite word yet on where and when? We are looking forward to attending if the event gets off the ground.
     
  13. bobc

    bobc New Member

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    Aerometer was going to make one more phone call and then we were going to post.

    We're shooting for the 6th tho. It's a definite that it will happen! It's just the location that we're trying to nail down....

    Details hopefully tomorrow night!

    And, I'm pretty confident we've got a guest speaker. I'm just waiting an email back...

    Yeah, amazing on how a date creeps up quick and plans aren't finalized, but it's definitely a go!
     
  14. lcdJunky

    lcdJunky New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bobc\";p=\"110534)</div>
    Yippee!
     
  15. LewLasher

    LewLasher Member

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    I have plans for both weekends (like, reaching 260,000 miles on the Camry this coming Saturday) so I will be waiting for a report back here online after the meeting.
     
  16. Areometer

    Areometer Silver Business Sponsor

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    It's Jordan's Furniture @ Natick, MASS parking lot

    Hi Folks, it's definitely gonna be Aug 6th now and the location is set on Jordan's Furniture in Natick, MA (Route 9). I will leave it for Bob to do the formal announcement including time, directions, details, etc. I am so psyched to see you guys & gals next weekend! Please please come if you can.

    P.S. It took me no less than 15 phone calls to the Jordan's Furniture main office to get the permission. The Natick store manager finally gave me the ok this afternoon.


    Edward
     
  17. LisaMurray

    LisaMurray New Member

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    This will be awesome, I can't wait. The timing is perfect for me, too, since my husband will be away. He'd go as a favor to me if he were here, but didn't look too thrilled at the prospect when I first told him. Seems funny that I'm the one that wants to go sit around talking about my car....more of a "guy thing" you would think. :D :?
     
  18. lcdJunky

    lcdJunky New Member

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    Perhaps you can convince him with food - worked for me :)

    BTW, still BBQ?
     
  19. bobc

    bobc New Member

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    OK, here it is! These are the details of the gathering!
    -----------------
    Gathering of New England Hybrid Owners

    August 6th, 2005 at 2PM

    We’ll meet at Jordan’s Furniture in Natick, MA
    1 Underprice Way (Route 9)

    The directions as stolen from their website:

    Directions to our Natick, MA Store
    From Route 128 Area:
    - Take Exit 20B - Route 9 W. Follow approx.
    9 miles.
    - Jordan's will be on your left.

    From 128-Mass Pike & From Downtown Boston:
    - Follow Mass Pike W to Exit 13
    - Bear right after toll onto Rt 30 W
    - At 4th light, turn left at McDonalds
    - At 1st light, turn left onto Route 9 E
    - Jordan's will be on your right.

    From Springfield/West:
    - Follow Mass Pike E to Exit 13 onto
    Rt 30 W
    - At 4th light, turn left at McDonalds
    - At 1st light, turn left onto Route 9 E
    - Jordan's will be on your right.

    From Western New Hampshire/Vermont:
    - 93 S or 3 S to 95 S to the Mass Pike W. to
    exit 13.
    - Bear right after toll onto Rt 30 W
    - At 4th light, turn left at McDonalds
    - At 1st light, turn left onto Route 9 E
    - Jordan's will be on your right.

    From Maine and New Hampshire Seacoast:
    - 95 S to Mass Pike W to Exit 13
    - Bear right after toll onto Rt 30 W
    - At 4th light, turn left at McDonalds
    - At 1st light, turn left onto Route 9 E
    - Jordan's will be on your right.

    From Rhode Island and South:
    - 95 N to Rt 9 W. Follow approx. 9 miles.
    - Jordan's will be on your left.

    From Cape Cod - Bourne Bridge:
    - Rt 25 E to 495 N to 24 N to 95 N
    - Follow 95 N to Route 9 W. Follow approx.
    9 miles.
    - Jordan's will be on your left.

    From Cape Cod - Sagamore Bridge:
    - Rt 3 N to 95 N to Route 9 W. Follow approx. 9 miles.
    - Jordan's will be on your left.

    Jordan’s has bathroom facilities available in addition to Kelly’s Roast Beef and an IMAX theatre.

    The agenda:
    2PM -3PM: Meet at Jordan’s Furniture, casual discussion, lot of pointing of fingers at the cars and stuff under the hood.
    3PM-4PM: Hybrid talk/presentation/Questions and Answer with regional hybrid guru Gilles Labelle
    4PM-4:45PM: More casual conversation and introductions.
    4:45PM-6:30PM: Prius convoy to Bugaboo Creek for dinner.


    What to bring/do:

    Email me to let me know if you are interested in joining us for dinner so that I can provide the restaurant with an accurate reservation count.

    Email me at: bobc at hopper dot unh dot edu

    Just for fun, on a sheet of paper, write down the year and option package of your car and any modifications you have made to the car (i.e. floor mats, leather seats, subwoofer, hydraulics to make the car bounce, etc.) Add your name and post this on your car so that others can query you as they consider similar modifications.

    --------------------


    Aerometer and I very much look forward to meeting you all and sharing stories.

    Apologies to lcdJunky: We opted to go with Bugaboo instead of Tenn. BBQ because of the smaller size of the BBQ place. Hopefully, your husband will still want to attend since he can check out the IMAX at Jordan's and find some consolation in that Bugaboo Creek is kind of a 'manly' restaurant :)

    Thanks to beantown willy and mrv for pointing me to Gilles who has accepted to be our guest speaker!

    -bob
     
  20. sparqs

    sparqs New Member

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    It's northwest not south-shore, but if you want a spot to hold the next-next gathering, I volunteer Sparqs Industrial Arts Club in Woburn, MA. We have a nice air conditioned space (lobby, lounge, training room, and machine shops space has something for everybody) to allow folks to chat in comfort along with a big free parking lot.

    It dovetails nicely with the Alt.Fuel group that I am helping to organize for people who want to fabricate, customize, and repair their own alt fuel vehicles in the Boston-area (or further since gas mileage may vary!).

    Send me an email at [email protected] if you want to discuss.
    Cheers,
    Tim
    Founder
    Sparqs Industrial Arts Club
    www.sparqs.com