engine and drivetrain Atlanta 2002 gatherings: a call for help

[Guest Anonymous]

Some of you know me as the guy who's been

holding Atlanta 2002 gatherings or “parking lot

hangouts” for the past few years. Well, I've been

heading up this effort w/ help from some other

2002ers most notably Russ Gezon (One of

Atlanta's most knoweledgable and committed

‘02ers, in my book).

I've been in contact w/ and have had attendees

from Georgia, Florida, Alabama, North and South

Carolina and beyond. Even had some attendees

from Arkansas! My contact list is now upwards of

150 people. By spreading word of my gatherings

through email, message boards and word of

mouth, I think there is a lot of interest in getting

together, popping hoods and talking about our

cars, in a “local” format. This is something not

offered by the internet, or reading a repair manual.

I'm soon to be relocating out of Atlanta and am low

on time and resources to plan a “final” gathering. I

would like to pass the torch on to someone/some

others who'd like to keep this group of 2002

enthusiasts involved. In order for this group to

keep from withering and dying, we need some

participants to become more involved and do

several things:

• Plan some gatherings: ie, pick a date and

location.

• Notify people via email/message boards and

answer questions.

• Handle door prizes or giveaways if someone

wants to donate them (this has always added an

extra, fun element to the gatherings)

Ultimately, I see the main agenda is that the ‘02

community get together w/ other enthusiasts on

the common ground that we love and appreciate

these old cars for the fun and quirky engineering

marvels that they are. The “parking lot hangouts”

are a great/easy way of staying connected w/ other

2002 enthusiasts outside of the message boards.

I hope that everyone who’s attended a gathering

has left w/ a little more knowledge, a little more

appreciation for the 2002, or a little more desire to

keep their car on the road. Perhaps, even just a

few of these people would like to plan the next get

together. If you would like to continue the Atlanta

2002 gatherings, post your desire to help under my

message here.

If the new "torch bearers" want to keep doing

parking lot hangouts, that is fine w/ me, if they want

to do drives or have seances and try to conjure up

spirits of lost, rusted away '02s, that's fine too. I'm

leaving this in their hands. But, for now, I've got

other priorities that outweight my need to keep the

gatherings going. It's been fun, and I look forward

to attending the next local '02 event!

Rob