The day turned out perfect for the 13th annual ‘02 Fest East event, held once again this year at Lime Rock Park.  A quick history of the event: the first two years were at Indian Wells State Park in Shelton, CT.  The general public seemed a little antsy about a group of car enthusiasts gathering in a corner of the park, so we moved to LRP.  Another year, ’02 Fest East was held at Stafford Springs Motor Speedway – unfortunately not very picturesque, and we had to park in a dusty dirt lot.  Lime Rock is a beautiful setting for an event that draws people from as far as Montreal, Canada, to celebrate the ‘02 body style.  We were joined by folks from New York, New Jersey, Florida (didn’t drive an ‘02 to the event though), Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.  Oh, yeah, and good ol’ CT!

Every year the LRP gatekeeper tells us how many cars he admitted into the infield.  This year’s count totaled 115 cars.   You have to know that “only” 59 ‘02s were parked on LRP’s front straight this year (we’d topped out at 100 ‘02s a few years ago).   So we had 56 non-‘02s in attendance!  We don’t have an accurate headcount of attendees, since only 94 signed the guest book.  How many of the 115 cars through the gate carried two or more people is anybody’s guess.

Many participants, regardless of their ride, brought items for the swap meet that is such a very popular part of the event.  The swap meet occupied the hot pits, between the control tower and the front straight, allowing participants easy access to the display cars and to needed ‘02 parts (and other nice stuff).   The swap is a great opportunity to find that uncracked dashboard to replace the one you’ve lived with all these years, as well as other parts that don’t appear in your local auto parts store.

We learned only a few days before the event that the track caterer would not open for us and that we would likely face a lot of hungry people.  With no way to get the word out to everyone coming, and unwilling to face the hungry hoards empty-handed, we purchased hot dogs, buns, and a gas camp stove – which became one of the door prizes at the end of the event – and set up shop.   The hot dogs were a hit and disappeared quickly.   If the caterer decides not to open for future events, hot dogs may become a new ’02 Fest tradition!   As usual, there were plenty of free snacks and beverages – sponsored this year by Connecticut Valley Chapter.

Door prizes were extremely bountiful.   BMW of Watertown, in particular, was so generous that all 121 people who turned in their People’s Choice ballots received a prize.  Our own Connecticut Valley Chapter provided a few of the larger prizes and was the largest single sponsor of the event.   BMW CCA national, which usually kicks in substantial sponsorship, didn’t come through this year.  Apparently the monies earmarked for regional chapter events went elsewhere this year.  Thanks, CVC, for allowing us to offer the same high quality that this event has enjoyed over the years.  Thanks also to our additional sponsors: Performance Automotive, Bavarian Autosport, Mini Bimmers and Roger Chartier.

We have a tradition for awarding door prizes that seems to work very well.  The first person whose name is drawn chooses from all items available, the second person chooses from what remains, and on and on.   So, everyone goes home with something useful to them, which may not necessarily be the most valuable monetarily.

All who entered the track for ’02 Fest East received a People’s Choice ballot, allowing them to vote for their personal favorites.  Other trophy categories change from one year to the next, depending on the availability of sponsorship.  There was only one sponsored trophy this year, the Zymol Cup, presented through the generosity of Performance Automotive to the Best Overall ‘02.   Since CVC sponsored the rest of the event, we had the opportunity to choose the categories we liked: Best Paint, Best Engine, and Best Track Prepared.  Finally, a trophy went to the ’02 with the Farthest Distance Driven to the event.

This year, Farthest Distance Driven went to Lee Vuong who drove his 1969 2002 race car to the event from Montreal.   Lee’s car also took the Best Track Prepared trophy.  Best Engine went to Mike Foster’s 1975 ‘02 from Concord, New Hampshire.   And, of course, by longstanding tradition, Best Paint and Best Overall trophies went to Lawrence Charlemagne’s outstanding 1976 ’02 from Wappingers Falls, NY. Lawrence has won one if not both of these categories for so many years that we keep telling him he needs to retire! (He was beaten one year – by ONE point!)

We would like to thank our volunteers, without whose help on the day of the event both of us would’ve needed a serious nap before driving home!  John & Barbara Bisset manned the track entrance and handed out People’s Choice ballots, as they have for many years.  John & Barbara also sold T-shirts and chased people to sign the guest book and hand in their ballots.  We have come to rely heavily on their help.  Cheryl & Rudy Basztura joined us this year also, arriving early enough to help jerri set up the free snack area, later relieving John & Barbara at the gate and helping at the door prize table.  Dave Scofield helped Willy get all the ‘02s lined up on the front straight.  John Jankura relieved jerri at the hotdog table so jerri could go count the ballots with the help of Jerome Berger from Maryland and Frank Delbonis from Rhode Island.

So that’s it for this year’s ’02 Fest East.  We had a ball.  If you didn’t make it to this one, we hope to see you next year.