Post by Go Bubba Go on Sept 12, 2007 10:19:24 GMT -6
FYI after checking with RacerX this is essentially a cut and paste of a post I put up at DerbyTalk that I thought might also interest the members on this board as well.
Earlier this year in a post on DerbyTalk, a few of the members got to discussing the possibility of providing materials to our troops in Iraq to allow them to conduct a Pinewood Derby there, both for themselves and perhaps for some of the local children as well.
Initially we could not find a good contact on the ground there, but one of the DT members (kratev13 aka Army Major Matt Voyles, who was serving full time stateside at the time) indicated that he was being deployed to Iraq shortly and would love to facilitate the effort on that end after he arrived and had a little time to get established.
“Major Matt” went quiet for a couple of months on DT (got his hands full as you would expect), but he recently re-emerged and posted the following:
Hello again from Iraq. I just got done writing an email thanking Dave at Supertimer.com for his generous gift of a four lane Supertrack, timer and race software free of charge, shipped to us here in Diwaniyah. The generosity of folks is amazing. I can't thank him enough. Dave has stated that he's going to ship her out in the first week of September and we're probably looking at holding our on-base race for the troops sometime in November and the one for the local Iraqi kids in either December or January. If anyone has any extra kits, tools, materials, weights, whatever, that they'd like to send, I'd really appreciate it. We've got U.S. and Coalition troops from 13 countries on our base and I'm not sure yet what the level of participation might be. I'm going to draft up a flyer to post in the DFAC (Dining Facility, we're not allowed to call them "mess halls" anymore) to begin sign-up and get an idea of how many Soldiers will want to take part. I've discussed it with the Polish forces here and they have something similar in Poland and are eager to give it a go here. It's amazing how many Soldiers were cub scouts and have great memories of the PWD when we were boys. Our little base is not a major facility and we don't have much in the way of MWR (morale, welfare and recreation) here so this will be a great activity that we can use to reconnect to home. Again, thank you in advance for anything you can spare. My address is:
Major Matt Voyles
U.S. Army G-Staff
Camp Echo
APO AE 09332
P.S. Shipping to an APO (Army Post Office) address is like shipping to the east coast of the U.S. Once it gets to Dover, DE, it goes on a military plane from there. If anyone has stuff but needs me to pay for shipping, just let me know. Again, thank you.
MAJ Matt
First, thanks Dave!!! for providing the track, etc. That is too cool!
Second, thanks RacerX!!! for allowing me to post here and for offering up tools, wheels, and axles from DerbyWorx. I sent Matt a PM and expect a response from him shortly on what he could use from your generous offer.
Third, my fellow pineheads, OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS!!!
For those that are interested in sending materials directly to Matt on their own, he has posted his address above. From my experience it takes about a week or so for smaller packages to make it to him.
For those that are interested in pooling (and maximizing through discount and shared postage) their resources, arrangements have been set up with MaxV (Randy Davis of www.maximum-velocity.com) as follows:
Randy has set up a web page www.maximum-velocity.com/iraqderbydonation.htm with some background info on our effort and an “item order number” 11000 that allows one to “order” a contribution to this effort in $10.00 increments, essentially in the same fashion that one would order any of his regular items.
Randy has agreed to aggregate the funds and assemble a “Derby in a Box” Pinewood care package complete with kits, lube, decals, etc. (see his web order page for detailed list). Significantly, Randy has agreed to discount the materials he is assembling by 35% in order to give us the biggest “bang for our buck” with this effort (Thanks, Randy!!!).
The web page www.maximum-velocity.com/iraqderbydonation.htm is now operational, and will remain “up and running” through 10/31/07. The item number is 11000, “Iraq Derby Donation”. Randy’s contact info can be found on his webpage at www.maximum-velocity.com/customer_support.htm.
I have agreed to field any questions about this effort, and would appreciate any “public” or “typical” ones being attached to this post, to which I will reply for the benefit of all interested parties. Any more personal questions could be sent to me directly via PM (Go Bubba Go here on the Derby Worx board).
Since Matt plans to hold his Derby for the troops in November, time is of the essence. My plan is to send him 2 packages from our “pooled” effort, one at the end of September (to give them plenty of “build time”), and the other after Randy closes the order page down. Depending on the response, we might send additional packages in order to limit them to a reasonable size.
Please spread the word, and I invite you all personally to support Matt in his endeavor, whether through an individual package being sent to his address above, through contributing to our “pooled” effort, or through simply letting others who might be interested in helping out know about this opportunity.
In closing, a little reminder about what having a Pinewood Derby might really mean to a troop in the desert:
1. It’s a “little bit of home”
2. It’s a break in the routine (do NOT underestimate this, you vets know what I’m talking about)
3. It’s a chance to compete with their peers (and troops from the other countries stationed there) in a wholesome activity
4. It’s a chance to build a little something to send home to loved ones (esp. the little ones of “Pinewood age”)
5. It’s a “creative outlet”
6. It’s a reminder of their own PWD adventures, be it through Scouting, Awana, etc.
7. It’s an opportunity to reach out to the local children
8. And many, many more…
Thanks in advance to all of you for your support. Many of you have previously indicated your willingness to contribute once we got the supply lines established, so to speak, and I have found Pineheads in general to be a very generous lot.
Rick (aka Go Bubba Go)
p.s. A little background on my relationship with Major Matt (i.e. who are either of us, anyway?) Matt and I are both Cub Scout Leaders and unmitigated Pineheads. I met Matt a couple of years ago at our Council Pinewood Derby race when one of my boys matched up against his in the Semi-Final race (his went on the win the Finals, we we’re still fairly new at the time but “wait ‘til next year”). In the course of our conversation I discovered that he was working full time with the Army National Guard, and that we had many mutual acquaintances from my previous service with a unit 200 miles away. Small world. Anyway, Matt went to Iraq back in April (just when I thought I had him convinced to build his own car and send it to a league race so he and I could have a "dads matchup", have to put that On Hold I guess), and I’m currently stateside (I was medically discharged after being a passenger in a UH-1 helicopter that flew into some trees many years ago – a long story I won’t relate here but trust me, gravity works). If it weren’t for the medical issue, chances are I’d probably still be in uniform and be over there somewhere with him. So for me personally, it’s more than just a Pinewood enthusiasm issue, it’s a Golden Rule issue - If I were still in uniform and over there, I’d reeeaaally appreciate somebody shipping me a couple big boxes filled with Pinewood goodies.
Earlier this year in a post on DerbyTalk, a few of the members got to discussing the possibility of providing materials to our troops in Iraq to allow them to conduct a Pinewood Derby there, both for themselves and perhaps for some of the local children as well.
Initially we could not find a good contact on the ground there, but one of the DT members (kratev13 aka Army Major Matt Voyles, who was serving full time stateside at the time) indicated that he was being deployed to Iraq shortly and would love to facilitate the effort on that end after he arrived and had a little time to get established.
“Major Matt” went quiet for a couple of months on DT (got his hands full as you would expect), but he recently re-emerged and posted the following:
kratev13 said:
Hello again from Iraq. I just got done writing an email thanking Dave at Supertimer.com for his generous gift of a four lane Supertrack, timer and race software free of charge, shipped to us here in Diwaniyah. The generosity of folks is amazing. I can't thank him enough. Dave has stated that he's going to ship her out in the first week of September and we're probably looking at holding our on-base race for the troops sometime in November and the one for the local Iraqi kids in either December or January. If anyone has any extra kits, tools, materials, weights, whatever, that they'd like to send, I'd really appreciate it. We've got U.S. and Coalition troops from 13 countries on our base and I'm not sure yet what the level of participation might be. I'm going to draft up a flyer to post in the DFAC (Dining Facility, we're not allowed to call them "mess halls" anymore) to begin sign-up and get an idea of how many Soldiers will want to take part. I've discussed it with the Polish forces here and they have something similar in Poland and are eager to give it a go here. It's amazing how many Soldiers were cub scouts and have great memories of the PWD when we were boys. Our little base is not a major facility and we don't have much in the way of MWR (morale, welfare and recreation) here so this will be a great activity that we can use to reconnect to home. Again, thank you in advance for anything you can spare. My address is:
Major Matt Voyles
U.S. Army G-Staff
Camp Echo
APO AE 09332
P.S. Shipping to an APO (Army Post Office) address is like shipping to the east coast of the U.S. Once it gets to Dover, DE, it goes on a military plane from there. If anyone has stuff but needs me to pay for shipping, just let me know. Again, thank you.
MAJ Matt
First, thanks Dave!!! for providing the track, etc. That is too cool!
Second, thanks RacerX!!! for allowing me to post here and for offering up tools, wheels, and axles from DerbyWorx. I sent Matt a PM and expect a response from him shortly on what he could use from your generous offer.
Third, my fellow pineheads, OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS!!!
For those that are interested in sending materials directly to Matt on their own, he has posted his address above. From my experience it takes about a week or so for smaller packages to make it to him.
For those that are interested in pooling (and maximizing through discount and shared postage) their resources, arrangements have been set up with MaxV (Randy Davis of www.maximum-velocity.com) as follows:
Randy has set up a web page www.maximum-velocity.com/iraqderbydonation.htm with some background info on our effort and an “item order number” 11000 that allows one to “order” a contribution to this effort in $10.00 increments, essentially in the same fashion that one would order any of his regular items.
Randy has agreed to aggregate the funds and assemble a “Derby in a Box” Pinewood care package complete with kits, lube, decals, etc. (see his web order page for detailed list). Significantly, Randy has agreed to discount the materials he is assembling by 35% in order to give us the biggest “bang for our buck” with this effort (Thanks, Randy!!!).
The web page www.maximum-velocity.com/iraqderbydonation.htm is now operational, and will remain “up and running” through 10/31/07. The item number is 11000, “Iraq Derby Donation”. Randy’s contact info can be found on his webpage at www.maximum-velocity.com/customer_support.htm.
I have agreed to field any questions about this effort, and would appreciate any “public” or “typical” ones being attached to this post, to which I will reply for the benefit of all interested parties. Any more personal questions could be sent to me directly via PM (Go Bubba Go here on the Derby Worx board).
Since Matt plans to hold his Derby for the troops in November, time is of the essence. My plan is to send him 2 packages from our “pooled” effort, one at the end of September (to give them plenty of “build time”), and the other after Randy closes the order page down. Depending on the response, we might send additional packages in order to limit them to a reasonable size.
Please spread the word, and I invite you all personally to support Matt in his endeavor, whether through an individual package being sent to his address above, through contributing to our “pooled” effort, or through simply letting others who might be interested in helping out know about this opportunity.
In closing, a little reminder about what having a Pinewood Derby might really mean to a troop in the desert:
1. It’s a “little bit of home”
2. It’s a break in the routine (do NOT underestimate this, you vets know what I’m talking about)
3. It’s a chance to compete with their peers (and troops from the other countries stationed there) in a wholesome activity
4. It’s a chance to build a little something to send home to loved ones (esp. the little ones of “Pinewood age”)
5. It’s a “creative outlet”
6. It’s a reminder of their own PWD adventures, be it through Scouting, Awana, etc.
7. It’s an opportunity to reach out to the local children
8. And many, many more…
Thanks in advance to all of you for your support. Many of you have previously indicated your willingness to contribute once we got the supply lines established, so to speak, and I have found Pineheads in general to be a very generous lot.
Rick (aka Go Bubba Go)
p.s. A little background on my relationship with Major Matt (i.e. who are either of us, anyway?) Matt and I are both Cub Scout Leaders and unmitigated Pineheads. I met Matt a couple of years ago at our Council Pinewood Derby race when one of my boys matched up against his in the Semi-Final race (his went on the win the Finals, we we’re still fairly new at the time but “wait ‘til next year”). In the course of our conversation I discovered that he was working full time with the Army National Guard, and that we had many mutual acquaintances from my previous service with a unit 200 miles away. Small world. Anyway, Matt went to Iraq back in April (just when I thought I had him convinced to build his own car and send it to a league race so he and I could have a "dads matchup", have to put that On Hold I guess), and I’m currently stateside (I was medically discharged after being a passenger in a UH-1 helicopter that flew into some trees many years ago – a long story I won’t relate here but trust me, gravity works). If it weren’t for the medical issue, chances are I’d probably still be in uniform and be over there somewhere with him. So for me personally, it’s more than just a Pinewood enthusiasm issue, it’s a Golden Rule issue - If I were still in uniform and over there, I’d reeeaaally appreciate somebody shipping me a couple big boxes filled with Pinewood goodies.
