[W126 Coupe] Del Val Invtl RALLYE REPORT AND PHOTO SHOW

[Dick Spellman]

Great photos!  The whole affair done to the 'Nines' per usual by Ellen.  
Well done!

Dick

190 Girl wrote:

> Gentlemen of the SEC:
>  
> I am privileged to share with all of you worldwide the engaging saga 
> of the Delaware Valley Invitational Rallye Party held Saturday, June 
> 24, 2006 in Chester, New Jersey. 
>  
> SEC...............Something  Extraordinary in Chester, for sure.
>  
> The magic started in late winter when we voted and agreed on line for 
> a mutual date for the Delaware Valley area SEC drivers and related 
> areas to gather for our semi-annual fun meet, the last organized event 
> having been nearly 2 years ago in 2004.  Markus Meyer of PA, a long 
> established Member, encouraged me to go forth and nudge the area 
> drivers out of hibernation to RSVP for an early summer date, so Ellen, 
> aka Legs, sprinted to action as Rallye Mistress requesting the 
> pleasure of all Coupe Drivers from FLA to New England, to commit to 
> attend her Invitational Party Rallye in New Jersey to savor the 
> pleasure of MB Coupes and see the Garden State.  The broadcast was 
> well received and to the bitter end, we shook down 15 MBz Coupes Men 
> and their fine Ladies to take the challenge.
>  
> I went on line frequently with updates "Legs Calling!" and that seemed 
> to do the trick to stir our Del Val Men into action.  "We are yours 
> for attention!" they responded and once the details were released, one 
> by one, we got confirmations of attendance.  An email was sent across 
> the Daily List for special party shirts, custom embroidered polos 
> which were to remain undercover, top secret, until party day 
> unveiling, and my computer jumped from Chester to Canada to California 
> with orders sight unseen even from those not attending in person, just 
> wishful thinking.  45 shirts were sold!
>  
> An email was sent day prior "Better Than Christmas Eve."  But just 
> like Santa and his elves working furiously at the North Pole, so were 
> we.  The Labor Crew that made this event extraordinary silently behind 
> the scenes deserves much mention and thanks, and herewith I 
> acknowledge those very special individuals.  My husband, Fred Perry, 
> who is long distance and my constant supporter, never once doubted my 
> ambitions with this project nor my requests, sacrificed a day off from 
> work to go out of state to pick up my parents, Bill and Eleanor Ruck, 
> who are my second shadow in Handyman and Culinary Aide, both of which 
> were extremely important skills for the DVIR party plans.  My dear 
> friend Sean Conner, W126 Driver of Desert Storm sedan, spent 2 of his 
> precious weekends with me plotting out the 80 mile Rallye Course 
> months in advance, and prepared a Devious MBz Quiz and burned a 
> special music CD called the "Ellenvitational" so we could party in 
> style.  Without these individuals, the DVIR could not proceed in the 
> fast lane.
>  
> Nobody makes the weather.  June 24th it was, rain or shine, folks were 
> warned.  TV Weather reports indicated we were about to enter a five 
> day rain/possible flood pattern, but the plans, reservations, food 
> purchases, etc were underway so we could not turn back.  DVIR Guests 
> were told to report at 1 PM sharp no matter what!  During setup Dad 
> Ruck looked up at the sky after building a plywood shelter for the 
> Coleman Generator which protects our power source from rain, and 
> declared "We're gonna party no matter what!". Go Dad, go, and 
> thankfully we all agreed, and no more than one small shower fell 
> during our outing that hardly spoiled anything at hand.
>  
> The first to arrive was Rocky Miranti in his sleek black 
> Coupe. Hot red pinstripe bodyside. Somebody has to start the party 
> right , and it was our lowest mileage car at 25K!  Barely a hug was 
> dispensed when here comes Markus and Nancy Meyer in their signature 
> Cabernet Coupe, tailed by Axel Wulff in a sharp white 560, who 
> travelled together out of PA.  Following that I could barely keep up 
> as our Rallye Crew rolled in one by one on time..........Next was 
> Malcolm and Kathy Lee out of MASS in an eye catching teal coupe 
> anxious for festivities, followed by my color twin, Tony and Maxine 
> Heywood of Rhode Island.  They'd motored south to NJ through some 
> fierce rains but nothing could stop their journey to The House of Benz 
> StarBarn, and oh, what hugs!  Each guest was well received and then 
> turned around into outgoing formation for the 2 PM Rallye course.  
> Sneaking in was Mark Sluscavage, a MB USA employee in his beloved 040 
> 300SE and his Lady Michelle Gallego, along with Roger Septoff of The 
> Big Apple, New York City, who joined our fest just days prior but 
> surprised us with his passion, and his Seat Cover of Carlos Varela, a 
> cutting edge young New York City professional photographer who would 
> capture our special  Rallye magic on film all day. Sean motored in 
> next with Ellen Hayden, a NYC highline catering manager, followed by 
> his wife Kristin with her friend Dawn, as we promised all of our solo 
> Coupes Men a Lady Seat Cover for the Rallye, guaranteed, so we all 
> could share the driving course fun.  Neighborhood friends Kris and Bob 
> Varzal, dual Mercedes owners, joined us as Seat Cover extras.  Long 
> distance Guest Bill Gallagher from VA deserves special mention.  
> Although he arrived in a five speed BMW sedan, he is seriously 
> shopping for a SEC and will soon be "one of us".  His enthusiasm for 
> knowledge was enviable.  Local Coupes Man Bruce Tranter from Southern 
> NJ joined us in his fine light blue 420SEL ComoMobile collector car, 
> with his lovely Lady Linda.  Nick Ford of NJ, having just sold his 
> W126 in favor of a W124, but who wouldn't miss the festivities for the 
> world, arrived in style in his Smoke Silver 400E, trailed by Sheila 
> Hopkins in her classic LWB W126 from NJ, as these 2 friends would 
> drive together in their quest for Rallye Champs.  Very well intended 
> and signed up but no show last minute due to personal constraints were 
> Paul Niessen of FLA, and Bruce Mendel of PA.  Well, there goes the 
> Gator Burgers, folks............
>  
> Rallye SendOff Time!  With Star Cruiser in the lead, my 91 560SEC 
> Anthracite over Lt Grey led 12 cars through the hills and dales of 
> rural New Jersey with Fred at the wheel and me with my Rallye Notes on 
> my lap, each one of us watching the side view mirrors eagle eyed 
> depending on topographical curvature of the landscape in favor, to 
> ensure each Coupe had complied and gone through intersections safely.  
> Several times "Alien SUV's" broke into our slow moving conga line, 
> likely wondering, "Fancy this! All the cars look alike!" , but that 
> was our private secret and we sought to purge the outcast efficiently 
> to insure our purity in the line up.  Drivers and Navigators had to 
> screen the scenic turf at hand top to bottom, yard to skyline level, 
> searching and recording answers to the Rallye Questions from Lawn 
> Detritus to Aerial Weathervanes.  Well, it would help baseline if you 
> knew what "Detritus" was!  The Rallye motored on lazily with many hard 
> downshift spiral curves necessitating pulling the gearshift down to 
> Low as we helixed past Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run Farm down to 
> the Musconetcong River in 18th century New Hampton  NJ, where time 
> hasn't changed a thing.  Rallye drivers were asked to guess an answer 
> rather than miss a point or two, which explained why Kris Varzal 
> driving with Bill Gallagher, said "What do Guys have that You 
> Don't?".  She politely answered "Sense of Direction" when the answer 
> really was "Guys have GAS!". Rocky was driving with Carlos, and 
> Question 30 stated, There is a Bathroom Here, and those two pen, Geez, 
> I NEED a Porta JOHN!!!!  (Did we serve too much lemonade beforehand?  
> )  Axel, driving with Ellen No. 2 and Dawn, answer "What's on the 
> Trellis?"  as "NOTHING!" (Universal Answer.) Question 28 asked "What 
> Gets Big in 5 Minutes?" and warned the Guys NOT to look for an answer 
> in their pants, and the answers provided are not printable here!  
> Those were discussed at the cocktail hour, no pun intended.
>  
> A favorite part of this Rallye is the Merrill Creek private reservoir 
> in Montana, New Jersey. Yes, there is such a place, alternately named 
> the Markus Meyer Memorial Distributor Failure Park.  Here, in 2004 as 
> the sun was waning and the Park Ranger departing, Markus' distributor 
> fried to a crisp more than calamari disabling him completely as large 
> Black Bears began to roam the the parklands behind locked gates.  
> Understandably, Markus buzzed down his one-touch window at this site 
> upon pulling in for the group photo shoot, drolly stated "I don't 
> think I like this place with the bears." Well, the bears did us one 
> better this time.  Upon arrival, a most innocent young fox trotted out 
> of the woods, pranced around for a few spins, executed a puppy like 
> belly scratch roll maneuver, then engaged in chasing the SEC Girls 
> around the parking lot with full glee startling the daylights out of 
> them.  The more the Girls ran, the more the fox chased them around, 
> thinking it a magnificent game!  Not sure if he was rabid or just park 
> tame, we did manage a group shot and back into the coupes to finish 
> the Rallye and head for the last Leg home, no pun intended.
>  
> At this point, Markus and Nancy, having a bit of experience in our 
> area, laid onto the gas pedal and shot out onto I-78 East like a Bat 
> out of Hell and lead the troops back to the Party Scene in a cabernet 
> streak of lightening.  Fred nudged Star Cruiser's gas pedal up to 90K 
> to catch them, my ponytail was flapping in the breezy draft, and 
> instantly, a shiny, fast, hot Coupe was on our tail back door.  It was 
> Tony and Maxine opening up the 560 to full potential shadowing us like 
> a ballet dancer with full agression letting it throttle after those 3 
> hours of driving 40 mph looking for landmarks, letting it rip with 
> full glee and passion shrugging off every care in the world as they 
> piloted the wicked Coupe homeward.  The three of us burned the NJ 
> tarmac to searing degrees until OOPS a NJ trooper was watching the 
> median about 5 miles from our exit. You never saw 3 Coupes pull over 
> and slow down so fast in your life to save face, but grinning with 
> pleasure and salivating for our cocktail hour upcoming, we glanced in 
> our rear views, saw a steady stream of flashy conga coupes behind us 
> with headlights sparkling like diamond jewels, and using the buddy 
> system, each followed the other home up the House of Benz StarBarn 
> drive. I think I still have burn marks in the gravel from the 
> returning cars!
> The HOB SB is a very special place.  We transformed it into a majestic 
> Coupes ClubHouse with cozy Oriental rugs, real chinaware and 
> glassware, antique seating, and candle lanterns with the Legs CD music 
> background in the foreground while the rear area had a display of 
> Legs' toys for viewing pleasure, on the floor and aerially in the 
> rafters with barn automotive artwork.  Not only a place for dreams, 
> but where good friends of the SEC shared much laughter, banter, and 
> serious engine talk .  Those of us who had given of our personal 
> schedules to share our passion, so we did, joyfully.  My parents, who 
> don't even own a Mercedes let alone a 560, said the party guests had 
> so much in common and so much respect for each other, it was an 
> incredible gathering of intelligence.  David Veith and his wife Donna, 
> in a pristine sans non other smoke silver 560 SEC of NJ, joined us for 
> dinner.  Mom Ruck and Legs put on their best German home cooking for 
> the crowd pulling out all stops while Nick Ford tended grill in a 
> custom apron made by his wife special for the event--you need to see 
> the photos to explain this! Need I tell you the devastating calorie 
> laden desserts the Coupe Ladies prepared?  Nothing like home cooking, 
> Guys.
> After dinner we danced a bit...........folks, Malcolm's new name is 
> Hot Legs.  What a way to cap an evening after Coupe Camaraderie !  
> Following are our Del Val Invitational Rallye Winners:
>  
> FIRST PLACE:  Markus & Nancy Meyer 
> SECOND PLC:  Mark Sluscavage & Michelle Gallego
> THIRD PLACE: Malcolm & Kathy Lee
> FOURTH PLC:  Nick Ford and Sheila Reusch
> FIFTH PLACE:  Bruce Tranter and Linda
>  
> QUIZ WINNERS:  Tony and Maxine Heywood
>  
> Congratulations to all of our Winners, and hard working Seat 
> Covers!!!!  You are all winners in my mind!!!
> I wish to thank every person who attended for making our event 
> festive.....Sheila for her 040 brownies and friendship, Nick for Grill 
> Skill, Kathy and Malcolm for their mile wide smiles (see photo!), 
> Rocky for his cheer, Axel and Markus for PA Power, Roger NYC You are 
> the best!, Tony and Maxine Go!, Mark and Michelle I Love you Both!, 
> Bill Gallagher Catch the Spirit!, Dave and Donna, go NJ!, Axel, Hot 
> Engine!, Ellen No. 2 Miss You!, Dawn, Visit again!, Sean and 
> Kris--100% Thanks; Mom and Dad, Love You!; Bruce/Linda Wish you the 
> best....and the Shirt Men.....Thank You!!!!!
>  
> Now, awaited...........the photos! 
>  
> Log onto http://www.cavaweddings.com
>  
> Hit Links.
> Hit Events.
> You need the Password.
> Small Wonder........it's    "legs"   Make sure to use lowercase.
>  
> Please email Carlos and thank him if you enjoy the slide show.  Please 
> order a print or two!   Thanks to him we can all share the love of 
> SEC's . Please email Legs if you need clarification of any photos. 
>  
> Love and thanks to our DVIR Party Guests,
>  
> Ellen/Legs/Star Cruiser
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
> -
>
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