[Double Venom]

Ahh, last but certainly not least! At least in my eyes…ME.
What did I “take” from Fling IV? Hell, what did I take from all the Flings? I honestly don’t know how to answer that. Any Vet will tell you, you will never make a true friend like you make in the service of your country. A friend that you will never forget, a friend that will do ‘anything’ at ‘anytime’ just for you, no matter what it is! I made ‘those’ friends while being in the service. But, now I know hundreds more of those friends, thanks in part to all the Flings. The support, the phone calls, the e-mails, guys AND gals that come up to me and give me a handshake or a hug, (I like the hugs better-but not from you ‘guys!”) The smile on Jenny’s face, the knowledge and that she has/had shown some very serious improvement since the original Fling. I’ve seen Cobra families come from thousands of miles to be together for nothing more than to greet, drive, drink ‘a little’, show off and then raise some hellacious amounts of money for a terrible disease.

DV’s take: Hell, you can’t put a price tag on that!
To answer the question that is obviously being asked? $.ZERO

JP, responding to you once again: Same thread, just down the page a little.

“I can’t imagine 300 of them showing up at the same place one weekend and not raising more than 8 grand.” Then you state, “Does it sound cold-hearted for me to say that the Fling was not about Jenny in the beginning?”

DV: Fella, with your statements, and wrong interpretations, I’m damned if I do, Damned if I don’t. Once again I wish you had been around since the inception of the DVSF. Last year it was all about making the Fling smaller, getting back to our roots. Now that “we” did and it is, you complain that we only took in $8,000.00? Once again to set the record straight, ‘WE’ took in a helluvalot more than that. The $8,000.00 that you have misquoted is what ‘WE’ GAVE/DONATED to CF, NOT what we took in.

It’s not for CF it’s for “US”, the donation should be secondary. (Once more, please read post 1, the correct amount is stated.) I believe Turk indicated that the infamous “Gasholes’ spend over $20,000.00 collectively, to attend the Fling. Come to think about it, maybe that’s why we ‘only’ made $12,000.00 plus this year…they didn’t make it!
My point is, and this is for everyone…SHOULD WE TAKE THE DVSF, TURN IT INTO A BUSINESS AND SOLEY RUN THE BUSINESS FOR CF OR ANY OTHER CHARITY OF OUR ‘FAMILY’S’ CHOICE? Or…. should we keep it as “our” picnic and whatever IF any extra monies left over should be donated to what ever the ‘Family’ chooses?

JP: “It sickens me to think that in the hubbub of commercializing the fling, we have lost complete track of what is all about in the beginning – friends.”

DV: It truly sickens me of your interpretation of the DVSF! It sickens me to see your misconception of the DVSF. Would you OR anybody please tell me what is commercialized about the Fling? You make it sound like we’re selling shares for the picnic! Do you see any of the sponsors telling us how to do things? How about the few vendors that we have? I guess you and I certainly use a different dictionary to define commercialization!

JP: (out of text but I’m cold and tired) “Imagine the same 300 people come this year with no agenda, no name tags, no maps etc., etc.” A few locals plan some fine things if people are so inclined.

DV: This is good, really good. JP, do you know the original DVSF was to be four hours only on a Sunday afternoon? Of course you don’t, you weren’t around then. Do you know that the first Fling was to be in the central U.S. in a ‘Wal-Mart’ parking lot? Of course you don’t. Did you know that Dr. ‘D’ (Semko) is ‘the’ one that suggested that we hold it at my small shop? Nope, don’t reckon you knew that either. Did you know because of the “family” that the first Fling was instantly turned into a full day event on Sunday and then to both Saturday and Sunday, before I could even respond to the first,’ all day’ Sunday post? Of course not…. Do you know that it was made a three-day event for DVSF II, before DVSF I was even over with? MY decision? Not on your bibby!

Then to finish on your last comment, dropping everything that the “FAMILY” has already asked for, you state… QUOTE:“A few “LOCALS” plan some things if people are so inclined.” UN QUOTE.
Tell me JP, just who are the “few” locals? Are you one of the “few “ locals? Me thinks, YOU THINK YOU ARE. Check Hotfingers post on page 16. Obviously I am NOT the only one that thinks so too!

How about the agenda, the maps, the nametags? Obviously you think those were my ideas too. Well, you’re again, and again and again WRONG! All of this came from the Cobra family! Why don’t you get back up on the pedestal and tell all of them that they were wrong and that you have the right idea? I don’t care; I WILL do what ever “they” decide to do. Always have always will.

As you suggested, I guess I chewed on it for a while and this is the beginning of the results. By the way I wouldn’t dare “PM” you as you suggested, it needs to be done here. (OK, sarcastic and an attitude. Allow me to sincerely apologize now, but I’m not going to change what I have said.)

Moving on, we’re up to page 5!

Turk: Picnic? Autocross? Poker Run?

DV: Turk, we have had a picnic every year from the start, albeit it took place inside at the lodge. If we ever go back to the lodge I’ll personally import the ants!

Autocross? DVSF III my friend. Brought to you by Jamo and Rick, among others of course. (Note-I make no secret of holding back on the autocross simply because I refused to let the DVSF turn into a ‘Run-n-Gun’. As stated, the above and many others showed me the errors of my ways.

DVSF IV autocross-well, it would have been one helluva an autocross if Nationwide hadn’t stepped in and squashed it in the last 10 days or so of the event.

Poker Run…blame that on Rick too! I listened to him again!

Partial quote “The input (WHICH WILL BE IGNORED ANYWAY) is about improving the Fling and making it inclusive.”

DV: I’m sorry Turk, I just can’t swallow that and I think it is an unearned attack. What “input” have I ignored or not answered to over the last four years? I really want to know. I know you don’t like the way I post, the alleged secretiveness, if you will about the events. I will correct that to be sure. Simple really, I WILL post the upcoming events that are chosen by the “family”, ONCE THEY ARE LOCKED IN. I will no longer post a ‘ wait until tomorrow type thread.

Moving on.
Page 7:
Never mind, re-read it if you want, but I could go on for pages covering JP’s statements to this point.

Page 8:
This is the page where I asked JP if I was wrong about him coming to DVSF IV as an official member with his Dad, and indicated that he really should have been here from the beginning.

‘clayhouse’ makes a statement referring to ‘keeping it simple and uncomplicated.’ Then goes on: ‘If you go all the way back to your firsts posts, and the many posts you wrote before IV, they were much about how complicated everything was, and how much work it takes, how much time.’

Clay, when I have brought this up, it was only given as a reason for, in some people’s eyes, not working or typing fast enough. IF ANYONE thinks I was complaining/whining, then you/they are wrong. I do this because I love the event and what it really does stand for. I have yet to regret a single moment. Of course that hasn’t kept me from beating my head against a wall more than once. I don’t even have a single regret about this thread! I am however amazed at the attitude it has taken in spots, let alone the innuendos that some people have expressed.

JAMO: Growing pains? I have been putting up with the growing pains since BLACKJACK spent three (?) days with me after the first Fling was over. He and I WENT OVER EVERY EVENT, every step, and came out with many new ideas for any future Flings. I still use that list he made to this day. I know the Fling has to have its growing pains, or ‘this hobby and this event will die of stagnation.’

DV: I sincerely hope that it doesn’t die from stagnation, or any other causes.

PAGE 9:
JP, I love your first comment: “In keeping the spirit of this being a public discussions, let’s save the private call bull.”

So everyone knows, I told JP I would be glad to discuss anything he has asked about, either publicly or by phone. THIS was offered ”PUBLICALY” as JP had mentioned in an earlier post that if I wanted to discuss anything about the Fling ‘behind the scenes’ that I was welcome to call him instead. Tit for Tat.

But, as a response to my, ‘number of Flings you have attended’… you go on… ‘Look…to me, this is along the same lines as post count. I get so sick of hearing people get yelled at for opening up their mouth with 20 posts. If someone has something to say, they are allowed. Maybe they’ve lurked for a year before posting. You NEVER KNOW, ED. You never know what someone’s background is.

DV—and your point?

JP: “See, one lesson I’ve learned in life is that if you say to someone, “Hey, I need to talk to you about something,” and they respond with, “I didn’t do it! Why are you blaming me for it!?” then by gosh they did it.

JP, you’ve made my point again. If you really did know me, if you had any idea what I am about and how I work, first of all you would never have taken my comment about wishing you had been here from the very first day the way you have. It WAS NOT a slam or dig against you in anyway. (I did see where Pat made a post regarding this and he too obviously thought that it was some sort of jab.) That being the case, it was not. Only wishing you had been here from the beginning.

Continuing on… “You NEVER KNOW, ED. You never know what someone’s background is.”