There was a first at Camp and Brew this year when, of all things, a line dance
broke out….We are not proud of this fact. That we tolerated it at all, is a
testament to the friendship that we have made (over the last 5 years) with the
fine citizens of Beaverville.
Their Mayor/DJ, Brian, had the tunes on request, and the system to play them…no
matter what the melodic taste of those in attendance demanded. Therefore, when
some break dancing started at C&B Corner on a piece of cardboard in the street,
we knew it would be a looooooong night.
Race day morning: 3:00am and the C&B Crew is still up and at it. Turdy Birdy had
long since run out of solar power (see the
pictures section if you
have no clue what we're talking about). Most fans were catching zzzzzzz’s
in anticipation of awaking to the sound of the bomb in a few hours. All the
time, not convinced that the morning would dawn clear and bright.
Sure enough, as our eggs and bacon were cooking on the old GRILL-2-GO, the rain
drops were forcing TommyD. to move said grill back under the awning. Our IMS
Productions camera crew showed up, almost on time, and even assisted in the
culinary chores. It must be noted that when the dishes were to be done, they
were curiously no where to be found?!?!?
As is often the case, the C&B principals departed based on seating arrangements.
Glenn and his lovely wife, Janet, left early (and often (inside
joke)) for their far away seats along the front straight, just south of
the start/finish line. TommyD. and JimmyD. held down the fort a bit
longer, before heading out to turn 3.
The race started on time under sunny skies. After 113 laps, only a very few wet
and very foolish fans prematurely declared Tony Kannan the winner and headed out
of the IMS grounds.
True race fans, and all friends of C&B, stayed put with full faith in the IMS
track and grounds crew. We waited and watched and had a few beers as the rain
subsided and the track drying commenced. We’d seen it all before. We were
rewarded by a re-start and shortly there after, some of the wildest racing we’ve
seen in a long time, as it was only a matter of time before the heavens would
surely open up once again.
Although we did not actually hear Tom Carnegie’s voice say “Oh no, Andretti has
flipped on the back stretch” we sure could imagine it from our high turn 3
vantage point. With that, the impending rain made its eventual return and Dario
‘Mr. Judd’ Franchitti became the winner of the 91st Indianapolis 500.
Heading back to Camp and Brew in the rain, we knew it would kill our post race
visitors as well as our chance to bring up our Brian’s Wish donation totals. We
thank those faithful folks who showed up anyway to relax with us after the race.
Sometime the next morning, earlier than we can remember in a long time, C&B was
dismantled, picked up, and all but disappeared to the common onlooker. The couch
was all that remained, for a short while, as silent testament to the Greatest
Spectacle in the COKE Lot.
Within hours in some cases, days in others, everyone was home safe and sound.
By now all the pool winners have been notified and paid out. We appreciate the
extra generosity of some of the folks who donated their winnings back to
Brian's Wish!
Thanks for all your support of 2007 Edition of Camp and Brew. We once again
declared it “The Best Ever”.
As for Brian's Wish, we
raised $4,600 and have our sights on even more next year. We were also able
to acquire a very cool steel folding lounge chair set for the Opener Party to be
auctioned off thanks to
Camping World. They first donated a single chair that fetched $100 on the
spot for Brian’s Wish, so we do want to thank them.
The next official event will be a rekindling of Camp and Kool-Aid
on Friday and Saturday night of the Kentucky Meijer 300 on August 10th & 11th .
We say "official", because we have heard that there may once again be
rouge C&B South perpetrated at the Richmond race June 30th. We will certainly be
investigating any unauthorized use of the C&B name and justice will be served!
--TommyD, JimmyD, GlennH, Andy, Sue, and Scott
PS--We still have some C&B 2007 shirts available--WITH shipping!
Go here--NOW!
