Man was this lots of work!!!! But, we raised money for SCA, had a very successful event that will be the foundation for many "annual events" to come, and most important we had a GREAT TIME!!!
First - EuroSunday had some fantastic 2007 sponsors;
ASG -
www.assetstrategiesgroup.com Larry Stiver
Bella Piazza Winery -
www.bellapiazzawinery.com
Commerce Printing -
www.commerceprinting.com Gil Caravantes
CSAA -
www.csaa.com
IPB AutoSport -
www.ipb-autosport.com Ron Kain
It's A Grind Coffee -
www.itsagrind.com Mark Wadell
The Late Shift Creative Group -
www.lateshiftcreative.com Steve Alfano
Surprisiningly, EuroSunday main event had its lowest turnout ever! I believe we had a higher turnout during February's rainstorm. Adam and Steve counted in the neighborhood of 50-60 vehicles. We later found out that we had some folks showed up at the other "Its A Grind Coffee" in Elk Grove, while even more showed up at the Pavilion's site for a EuroSunday. Without realizing it, we had 3 EuroSunday sites on this overcast day. Not bad...but of course we wanted everyone in one spot. For reference to all...EuroSunday will continually change locations. Its important to take notice via word of mouth, emails, or the website for the next event's location. I heard EuSu venues have been likened to "Fight Club", where you must know the right way to obtain the location to be able to attend. We will continue this format in the future to keep the public at bay, not wear out our welcome in any one spot, and to gather sponsored venues to keep this event thriving!
On to the Rally 4 Kids;
Our "Breakfast Club" made a spirited run to start the event to find tons of volunteers getting banners up, setting up giveaway items, and gathering more sign-ups for the rally, scavenger hunt, and the dinner. Its A Grind Coffee was rolling out their "EuroSunday Blend" of coffee, River City Promotions was rolling out the beginnings of apparel for EuSu attendees, and the mix of Euro cars and motorcycles began to roll on in.
The rally started @ 10:30 am and had a few teams caravanning together making the ride much more fun with radios, cell phones, and a bit of spirited driving throughout Sacramento. We had representation from BMW, Lamborghini, Bentley, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Porsche, Audi, and Mercedes. The scavenger hunt was an all out war among some participants (many of which had been gathering items for up to a week in advance - i.e. one Ferrari owner (Orrie) was carrying a mannequin in his 355 Spyder for a week on his quest to win!). Winners of the rally were Colby Sandman and Joe DeSantis of Luxury Motorcars...they were easy to spot driving around the greater Sacramento area in a Bentley Arnage. Michael Devereaux drove his Alfa Romeo in areas not even necessary and was granted the coveted "Most Lost" award! The Swain family walked away as winner to the scavenger hunt. Despite the intense competition....they easily man-handled all of the competition in their Dakar Yellow BMW M3. Most thought Orrie in his Ferrari 355 Spyder was a shoe-in win with his many hard-to-find items (incl. a mannequin) already at hand. The award for "Spirit of the Rally" went to Gene and Jo. Of course they were there in their Fire Red Mercedes. Both with smiles as they came close to drifting through a few corners on the rally itself. Seeing them have so much fun elevated everyone else's enthusiasm to another level!
Dinner at the winery was FANTASTIC. The winery folks really set things up nice for us. The weather was perfect, and scenery was outstanding. We had some great raffle prizes and giveaways while drinking our wine, enjoying tri-tip, smoked pork, Italian sausage, numerous side dishes, and making our signature EuroSundays (ice cream with your choice of toppings!)....all in an effort to raise money on an ever so grateful Sacramento Child Advocates. Thanks for participating everyone! And if you missed it this year, we'll begin ticket sales for next year at our EuroSunday table on October 28th being held at the Pavilions. See you there!
