THE PORTAL HUB - Pinzgauers, Haflingers, Volvo 303s and more!

Mike Fodor and I have been talking quite a bit and we think there might be enough interest to have a Pinz Fest/ Treffen in the Upper Midwest. Our thoughts were to maybe start at my farm in Middlebury with a campout. I have plenty of water on the property for fishing and two good shooting ranges out to 500 yards if there's any shooters in here??

We could invite Jim LaGaurdia(Goatworkd) to come out and do a tech session service day in my barn and get everybody's Pinz in good shape and then head into Michigan for a couple of days on the trails and some more camping.

This could be two seperate events or one long weekend. I will cover Jim's expenses to do the tech session and you could generate a wish list of stuff you want him to cover during the course of the day so he could prepare well and we could get the benefit of his experience. Maybe we could get one of the parts vendors to show up and bring some of their wares??

My other big thought was to get a bunch of Pinz's to rendezvous at the Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot in the spring. If you haven't seen this event before it is amazing. You will see several days of anything from hand cranked gatling guns to electric Vulcans. There is a big swap meet there as well. Here's the link to it:

http://www.machinegunshoot.com/shootinfo.htm

If you ever watch "Mail Call" with R. Lee Erme (my hero), he did an entire show on this shoot with the finale being him firing a vulcan from Dillon's private helicopter/ gunship lighting up a car after dark. Simply amazing!! The location is just south of Louisville, KY.

In case you haven't noticed, cabin fever has set in early this year and I am dying to get some stuff organized for the spring to enjoy my Pinz with you guys and gals. Lets get those juices stimulated and get some stuff going.

I am also planning on doing some of the Colorado and South West Treffens this next year so let me know if you want to caravan with Mike and I.

All the best,

Maddog Mike (currently being snowed on with 10 deg weather, bah humbug)

What state or more defined area are you think of ?

I am in Minnesota and we generally get referred to as being the northern center of the upper mid west.

Ken

Ken A,

I apologize, I live in Middlebury, IN. It is located right on the Indiana/ Michigan border about two hours east of Chicago off of the 80/90 toll road.

Mike

From the volume of responses to your restored 712 post, I think you could get a great turnout for this event and just have it in your garage![/u]

Mike,

Thanks for getting this posted. This is a great idea. I'm interested in meeting Jim LaGuardia.

We're planning on attending. Are things still looking like early June-ish?

Also, just to ask early on; How do people feel about dogs? I happen to have two, and they always travel with me. As many of you may know, the RMM Treffen in Colo. has not allowed dogs to attend due to past liablility issues. I'd really like to see people able to bring pets, but they have to be leashed/controlled/picked up after/etc. Anybody have an opinion?

Paul Underwood

I'm going to be in Colorado June 13-28.

If it doesn't conflict with those dates I will make it if at all possible.

Regarding dogs... My feelings are in line with Paul's.

I would certainly be interested with my 710M, depending upon the date...

I love dogs and as long as they don't bite me or mine, steal my food, or poop where I'm walking they are always welcome. Until recently, I had two Labs and they had run of the place. I miss them terribly. There's lots of trails and water for them to play with so I am all for it.

Sounds like there's enough interest to move forward. I will email Jim Laguardia and see what his schedule will allow. It wouldn't hurt my feelings to shoot for early mid May when the weather is still good and before everybody's schedules goes nuts. I am very open to dates.

Give me some thoughts about what you would like to do. It sounds like Jim would be a hit and I could ask Swiss Army if they would like to come and bring parts/ wares for the event. Maybe set up a booth??

I have plenty of areas to camp on the property and I could have some portable toilets brought in. If you want something more sophisticated, there are B&B's in the area and a KOA just down the road.

My goal is to have some serious fun this summer and meet some new people. So let's have at it. Pinz on!!!