Within 4 minutes, a response (from mattndallas) came back: "I heard it was a
rouge, splinter faction of the IRL Crew, which was formed to promote the same
ideas of the crew (support for the IRL), without all the unwanted moral
constraints required of 'legitimate organizations'." That was somewhat
correct….
Within the hour a more detailed and accurate answer came forth from our good
friend dog-ring: "Camp and Brew is run by GlennH and Tommy DaComic. I'll try
and look up the website for you but it's adults only...........run by a couple
of juveniles" (Yeah, we used to have some party girl pictures posted)
Another attendee, sf-indy-fan, who was at the first 2002 Camp and Brew chimed in
"It can't be explained. It can only be experienced." That sums up what
was building even though we certainly had no ability, intention or knowledge of
what we had laid the foundation of construction over the next 9 years..
At the time, Tommy described it as "... a place to talk racing, gawk at which
ever sex does it for you, hoist a few (or a few too many) drinks, maybe some
munchies and crash for the afternoon/evening/night, if you need to." It has
stayed remarkable close to that summarization. An essential part of that
equation that was left out, was our Charity fundraising for
Brian's Wish.
Brian was a young man much like any one of us with a caring family and a young
son. He also had a fatal disease; Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), known as
Lou Gehrig's disease. Brian, it turns out, was also a very big fan of Indy
Racing and the Indianapolis 500.
We became aware of Brian through Brian's special caregiver at St. Vincent
Hospice in Indianapolis, a wonderful and compassionate racing enthusiast named
Barb Lyons. She realized Brian's interest in Indy Racing and mentioned it on
TrackForum.com.
Our planning (or dumb luck) reached a new level over 2002 and we acquired the
coveted corner spot, much to the disdain of the previous years occupants. It's
a first come first serve system and according to them, they originally camped
there with Ray Harroun. They did not have a signed deed however, so no matter
how much they did not like it and harassed us, we were there to stay!
In 2003, we were fortunate to have the first of
many media outlets visit us.
Channel 59 put us on the local 10o'clock news. That year, we also an interview
we also gave to a Japanese racing website.
ABC Weekend World Report also spent some time with us, but unfortunately it
didn't appear that we made it on the air. Their loss, as far as we are
concerned, as ESPN would come through big-time for us a few years later.
In addition to drinking a few beers and talking racing, 2003 saw an increase in
various colorful strings of beads that made their way around the necks of many
fine female race fans. Rumors still not confirmed have them showing up on more
than one puppy dog and a mounted policeman’s horse!
