The Pit

Nothing truly creates the social atmosphere for our club members as our car shows and picnics. Our Summer Fest event, hosted on Nancy and Larry Friend’s property, was truly a laid back experience. This event was different from all other picnic/car shows, because we began the event in the afternoon! It was a truly elegant and wonderful day… and night!

The day started (of course) with the threat of rain. Setup began early in the day. The event boasted professional catering, 60’s and 70’s music, a bean bag tournament with $200 grand prize, a clown for the kids, and of course our car show.  Three large 20 foot tents were also erected to serve as a safe haven in case the raindrops fell. Nancy and Larry’s house also served as a point of entertainment. Their home, a log cabin having undergone several renovations and additions, was nestled amidst very natural surroundings. Trees adorned their property and a large lake serves as a wonderful backdrop. The kids were pleasantly surprised by the Friend’s two floor arcade which included pinball, video games, air hockey, and ping pong. The rest of the members got comfortable in their huge backyard.

Members began to arrive at 1:30. Cars were arranged by the three general car classes they would later be judged. Vipers were parked along the perimeter of the lake and surrounding the area where members played! It was a great sight! Though the weather scared off a few Vipers, actually scattered thunderstorms were a likelihood, 16 Vipers had the guts to brave any impending rain. Though members did bring several interesting non-Vipers to the event including a 300C SRT, Jeep SRT, and RAM 1500 Rumble Bee.

We also had a big showing from several Wisconsin members who drove down to join the fun (a couple of them driving over 100 miles)! All-in-all we had over 50 attendees from all over Illinois and Wisconsin. The party started without a hitch and on time!

The weather ended up holding up quite well! The day was cooler than that of the 90 degree days previous, it was actually very pleasant! The lunch that was prepared was great… hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken, corn on the sob, potatoes salad, etc… Wouldn’t be a summer picnic without it! Practice for the bean bag tournament began early and lasted through lunch. Members tried getting into their groove early for the coming competition. The beanbag tournament was free to enter. It was a bracket style elimination that yielded a $200 cash jackpot to the winner! Nearly everyone signed up for the coed competition. Funny how everyone is always a little pessimistic of their chances of winning, though it’s always a joy to see the game play out and see who is in the playoffs!

As the bean competition was in full swing, a gentle (but once again very distinguished) band of characters made their rounds to judge the cars for the car show. Our winners were decided by group judging. Judging the cars using a panel of experts allows members to focus on having fun at the event and not worry about voting on cars. The judging panel is usually made up of the event hosts, club veterans, and Viper experts. The panel this time was made up of Nancy Friend, Howie Frank, and Ben Madey (Alex Ristanovic also stepped in at times when the judges’ own cars were being scrutinized). They perused each vehicle for a good period, decisions were made across several criteria including total mileage, age, cleanliness, car care, and vehicle condition. Very nice award plaques were on hand for each class and we also had stand up trophies for the specialty awards like Long Distance Driver, High Mileage Award, and President’s Choice. The decisions were kept secret until the end of the vent.

The little kids were busy being entertained by the clown. There were games, prizes, and animal balloons for all of them. Some kids found refuge in the arcade rooms, playing away the day! Meanwhile, the “big kids” continued to go hot and heavy in the bean bag competitions. The outcome was getting interesting. Mid way through the competition, there were still an equal number of men and women vying for the prize. In the end, the three people in the play offs were Wanda Hill, Steve Hill, and Eric Krachtus. The game came down AGAIN to the last few bean bags. It was anyone’s game and the result… you’re winner was Eric Krachtus!

The day was flawless and ran on time, even with trying a new timetable things worked out perfectly. The day ended right at 6:30pm. It was funny, at that instant a consistent drizzle began. A few members hopped in their cars and slowly headed home, but many others found comfortable shelter under the tents to watch the rain and chat. Interestingly this proved the most relaxing time of the day. As the harder rain fell, there was laughter echoing through the forest and a wonderful calm that settled in. While the rain killed plans for the bonfire, members stayed through 10:30pm chatting away under the tents and enjoyed what was a wonderful first “day/night” club picnic.  An event to remember and recipe we’ll likely keep next year!

1st - Nancy Friend
2nd – Robert Salus

1st – Glenn Davis
2nd – Duane McGowen
3rd – Randy Mather

1st – Larry Friend
2nd – Mike Caplan
3rd – Steve Anders

President’s Choice - Sam Krauss
Long Distance - Steve Anders
High Mileage - Steve Hill

As always the weather God’s were smiling on us. Surrounded by rain, the club picnic went off without a hitch and was well attended! 25 Vipers made an appearance and 75 club members converged on Lamb’s Farm to enjoy some food, fun, games, music, car show, and competition!

We had a wonderful spot staged at Lamb’s Farm. We had a pavilion right on the lake and we were surrounded by lots of space to have fun. Vipers were broken up by category for the car show, drivers we’re guided to park their cars on an angle down the drive as they arrived. It was a good sight to see!

The picnic began with good music, good food, and of course some prepping of our cars.  We did things a little differently this year, we wanted folks to enjoy the picnic and spend time playing games and socializing. So the judging was done by an expert panel of Viper board members and volunteers (Alex Ristanovic, Denise Braun, and Howie Frank) rather than having club members vote. As members enjoyed the day, the panel made their way from car to car, rating each car on predetermined criteria centered around cleanliness, mileage, usage, etc… It made for a fair outcome and some rewarding results!

While members immersed themselves in the club activities, they also visited the petting zoo, took horse rides, and train rides. The kids even got small gifts from the club to take home. But the main focus of the day was a little surprise Denise and Alex arranged...

As we all now, our club is tight knit, and we always enjoy some friendly competition. What better way to have fun than a bean bag tournament. And to make it really competitive, we offered a $200 grand prize to the winner! Oh, it was on! Members practiced into the afternoon and the tournament began around 1:30. The competition continued to 4:00pm, when it was paused to do awards for the car show and acknowledge all those good folks who brought their cars out. We had 1st-3rd place awards in all classes as well as a President’s choice award, High Mileage award, and Long Distance award. While the last three awards were handed out, the class awards would be a bit special. The pictures of each winner will be placed on their respective winning plaques! They’ll be in the mail soon!

Once we completed awards, it was time to name a victor in the bean bag competition! It was an interesting and hilarious battle. The final three were Don Sterly, Jim Cincinello, and Ron Adee. They had to be pros to make it this far! Each member got 12 bean bag throws to earn the highest score.

As the competition continued, the game whittled down to Ron and Jim. Both showed a particular concentration witnessed only during brain surgery itself! It came down to the last 2 THROWS! In the end… your winner... Jim Cincinello!! Jim was handed a giant 4 foot check commemorating his victory (and a small envelop with some hard earned cash). Congrats Jim!

The day ended with hugs and good bye’s. Vipers slowly disbanded a little after 5:00pm. A successful and fun day it was for the whole family! Special thanks to Denise for helping to arrange the majority of the event, her fine touch did the trick in making this enjoyable for all. Other thanks to Dave Pinder, Kristina Ristanovic, and Brian Karstensen for helping out at the event!

1st – Rob Boerman
2nd – Kim Peterson
3rd – Butch Williams II

1st - Rick Manfredonia
2nd – Robert Salus
3rd – Jim Cincinello

1st – Glenn Davis
2nd – Mike Carlin
3rd – Don Sterly

1st – Mike Caplan
2nd – Gary Grube
3rd – Gus Tsloutsias

President’s Choice - Nancy Friend
Long Distance - Ron Cohen
High Mileage - George Bockwinkel