Mt. Dora attendees

[nelson625@aol.com]

In the upcoming Amphicar Newsletter, in the Mount Dora write up , I listed
all of the Amphicars (13 vs 14 last year, but in either case, the largest
Amphicar Swim-Ins ever in the southeastern U.S.) and I tried to list all of
the owners (with or without their Amphicars) who were at the festival. If I
overlooked anyone, I apologize, but I think the list is complete to the best
of my knowledge. As the write up should make obvious, anyone who missed the
show really missed a great time. With spectacular weather for the 6th time in
a row and great people, coupled with a really nice "Captain's Party" courtesy
of the Antique Boat Club on Friday evening to kick things off. The party was
both inside and outside of the Lakeside Inn as well as across the street and
the temperature was in the 80's, so it was hard not to have had a great
time. The Party was gratis for registered attendees and had a no cost bar and
oodles of Hors D'Oeuvres at outdoor stations. They had large tables and
chairs set up to provide eating places and with such an agreeable
temperature, everyone had a ball. Our own sizeable Amphicar Banquet on
Saturday night was enjoyed by everyone, I believe, - so much so that we have
reserved the same facility for next year. In a conversation with our club
president, I was disappointed to have him tell me that a principal reason why
he and one of our Tennessee members did not come back this year was that they
had found the people in Mount Dora to be quite rude. This came as a big
surprise to me, as I, who live close by, find Central Florida to be so
pleasant and relaxed and the people on average so friendly. In fact, my wife
and I moved to this area and then moved to a different property in the same
area when we, being retired, could have gone anywhere in the country.
However, we found the area and the people to be overly friendly. When he
attended the Mount Dora Swim-In a year or two ago, he had experienced someone
spitting on his car and sitting on his bumper for a picture he told me. I
could only say that in my experience, one can encounter such boorish people
anywhere, but certainly not more so at Mount Dora. I am new to this internet
group and so I do not know what conversations there may have been previously
on this subject. He said that the concensus of the Amphicar internet group
members was that this seemed to be a "California or a Florida thing" to
which I could only reply that I had not been privy to the internet discussion
(I joined right after that conversation) and could not speak for California,
but though I have been to all 6 Mount Dora shows, I have found no such
situation myself. As I told him. I also come from the Midwest (Michigan) and
feel it was just unfortunate in his case because I think that such incidents
are rare and are to be found all over. I do not think it is anything new or
endemic to specific areas. I would be interested in being enlightened about
any previous internet discussion of this situation as well as anyone else's
negative experiences here, because to me, the Mount Dora festival has been a
terrific annual event with no small part of the credit due to the Amphicar
presence.
Victor "Splash" Nelson with the "Split Personality"
('67 Aqua)


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[tommyintpa@aol.com]

In a message dated 5/1/03 6:47:55 AM Pacific Daylight Time, nelson625@aol.com
writes:

<< he Mount Dora festival has been a
terrific annual event with no small part of the credit due to the Amphicar
presence.
Victor "Splash" Nelson with the "Split Personality"
('67 Aqua) >>

When Lynne and I grow up we are going to move to Mount Dora for sure, it is
one cool little city. Tommy in Mount Dora (wishful thinking)

 

[nelson625@aol.com]

Thanks Tommy and Lynne for the input and reinforcement. I really was taken
aback when I was asked if I had found the Mount Dora folks to be rude or the
suggestion that the concensus of the Amphicar internet group was that it
seemed to be a California or Florida thing. We live only 35 miles away from
Mount Dora and find this whole area to be so wonderful that we chose it over
all the other places we might have considered. That is why after moving to
the DeLand-Daytona area and living here for 2 years after we retired, we
decided to look for an ideal property which ended up being only 2 miles as
the crow flies from the first place. It is so quiet and peaceful and friendly
and so accessable to everything - 20 miles to the Daytona track, 35 miles to
the Orlando attractions, 4 miles to I-4 and 15 miles to I-95 so we can go in
any direction with ease. For us, especially, there are so many lakes - Lake
Helen 1 mile north, a private lake we are welcome to use 1 mile south, etc.
for us to go "Swimming" in with the "Split Persopnality." You'll get to see
where we are one of these days when we arrange a mini Florida Swim-In. We
were out of town when you came over to the St. Johns River which is only
about 10 miles away. Peter Fredsall of South Daytona comes 25 miles over to
Lake Helen to Swim because it is so nice. We do not worry about locking our
doors in general or our cars particularly. We just didn't know there were
still places like this - hence our surprise at the question. You speak of
when you grow up. Why do you have to grow up. It's never too late to have a
happy childhood ! Cheers - Capt. Splash


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[Marc Schlemmer]

Victor,
I was away from my computer on Thursday and did not see your post about Mt.
Dora people being rude until today....but I must say, I can't believe that
you would find it appropriate to discuss a personal conversation that I had
with you on the phone with the 300 or so people on this Digest.
First off, I must say that I wasn't in the best of moods when I called you.
The reason I placed the call in the first place, you may remember, was
because I had just received the "Welcome Amphicar" banner back from you
after it was used for the Mt. Dora event. The Amphicar Club pays to ship
that out to folks hosting regional events, but it is my own personal banner
that I was willing to let the Club use. When it arrived back from you, I
found that there were two holes poked in it....no explanation or anything.
Yes, I was quite aggravated that someone who was responsible for the banner
would let it be damaged and not even mention it. When I called, you
basically said that you knew how I felt because someone had stolen a photo
that you had displayed at the event. I don't exactly see the connection
there...because the person who stole the photo was most likely a stranger,
not a fellow club member. Plus, an enlargement of a snapshot isn't worth
the same as the banner is. You said yourself that it was only worth a
dollar or two. Besides, the photo might have just blown away! That led to
the whole discussion of people at the Mt. Dora event being rude. NOT the
Amphicar people...the spectators.
As for your own spin on the conversation about this being the reason why
Rick and Jo Young from TN didn't attend the Mt. Dora event...that isn't true
whatsoever. A year ago during the Mt. Dora event, Jo was 7 months pregnant!
I don't really think that a young couple expecting their first child really
needs an excuse not to attend a Swim In that is over 600 miles away. The
only information I shared with you about Rick and Jo was the fact that
someone reached in their car and was looking through papers. I don't
believe Rick and Jo even saw it....I think they were away from their car at
the time....so I doubt that it was really a reason not to attend, you'd have
to ask them. I only mentioned it to illustrate my own personal opinion that
the spectators at the Mt. Dora event (not the Amphicar people) are generally
rude, and yes, that is the main reason why I haven't attended that past two
years. Read my post on this Digest number 1695 from two years ago.
And for your comment about this rude behavior being a California or Florida
thing as the "consensus of the Amphicar Internet Group". I can't speak for
what the consensus of the group is....but what I did say is that it had been
discussed before. The specific conversations I was referring to started
with post 1692 by Amphipoda just pondering the whole notion of this type of
behavior. All of my own comments about this issue are stated in my post
numbered 1695. Additional people weighed in with these posts.... 1696,
1698, 1700, 1702, 1711. I'm sure there are other posts as well on similar
topics, but this is the thread I was mentioning to you. I'd suggest you
read through these and you'll know what actually was said. Personally, I do
feel it is an EastCoast-WestCost-Florida thing...but I don't have any reason
to believe it is the consensus of this Digest. Read the posts and decide
for yourself. In general, traveling throughout the country (related and
unrelated to Amphicar trips), I was more inclined to have a bad experience
with the general public in those areas than others. Maybe it's just the
fast paced life in these areas..... but it seems different than in the
MidWest. Of course, that isn't everyone....it only takes a couple of people
to give one that impression.
In any case....none of this was related to Amphicar people anyway, as you
can see in my post from over two years ago. I was referring to the general
public.
Basically, the whole conversation, which seems odd that you felt should be
shared along with your "twists", was really out of frustration with dealing
with you in the past couple of months. It all started when you insisted
that the Club pay for copying your Mt. Dora Swim In flyers...and I said that
we never had in the past for others, and I want to be fair to all members.
You indicated that you just wouldn't have time, and that it was inconvenient
for you to travel to the post office and copy center because it was 10 miles
away. You seemed shocked that it would be at least that far for me to go to
the copy center, too....and as for having time, well, I'm not retired...so
there's 40+ hours head start that you have in time over me. But in an
effort to be helpful, after your persistence, I said...okay, send an
original and I'll get copies. Well, believe it or not, you chose to send it
to my old address....an address that has been changed since 2000. My new
address had been in two Club Membership Rosters, and 11 Club newsletters.
It really should have went to the club address anyway, which has been
unchanged since mid-2000 as well. But no, you chose to use an old
Membership Roster....one of Jeffrey Sweet's rosters. That was disappointing
news to hear, because the whole Membership Roster plan had been changed on
your request to me back in 2000. You asked that it come out early in the
year rather than at the end, and include a "state" listing in addition to
the alphabetical listing....both you felt would be improvements over Jeff's
old rosters. Appreciating the comments, I took your suggestions, only to
find that when it came time to send something to me, the first thing you do
is look at one of Jeff's Membership Rosters from at least three years ago.
You didn't even use one of the Rosters that were made based on your own
suggestions! By the way, that's another reason the state listing wasn't
included in the 2003 Roster because you obviously didn't even use it in the
past. As it turns out, so many others enjoyed it, it will hopefully be
back.
So here we are with the original of the flyer not here, and the newsletter
deadline already past. You called, and after I told you that the flyer
hadn't arrived, I said that I really needed you to get the copies made and
sent right away because I was busy printing, folding, etc.. the newsletter.
You asked how many, and I said I needed 350 copies eventhough I was only
going to be mailing 325 or so. (I always like to include the flyer to
members that join late in the year so that they can plan for upcoming
years.) You didn't even send enough for all the current members to get a
flyer! Not everyone received a flyer, and new members haven't received one,
either.
Then here comes the event. By all accounts it was a great success, and the
banner comes home with holes poked in it. No comment from you about it...no
apology....nothing. I had to call YOU to see what happened. If you would
have called or included a note explaining how it happened, I really wouldn't
have cared...accidents happen. But when someone damages something of mine
and doesn't have the courtesy to even mention it, yes, I get aggravated.
Then...when during the discussion I mentioned the Internet Digest, you said
that you were not involved in it, and had only recently even found out about
it. Well, Victor, the "Off the Wire" feature in several of the newsletters
over the past two years has included highlights of some of the topics along
with how to sign up for the Digest. As early as the January/February 2001
issue shared information in the Internet Digest and how to join.
Again...that was one more thing that was frustrating to me when you said you
only recently found out about the Digest. Haven't you even read your
newsletters?
Meanwhile...through these phone conversations and others, you always turn
the topic to wanting me to send you some sort of photo from Celina one year
of the Amphicars in the water. You don't even know where you saw the photo,
or who took it, or what it is, but you want me to find it and send you a
copy of it. I don't even know what it is! From your description, it sounds
like one Elizabeth took from our car during the helicopter photo on the lake
in Celina....a photo like many others took during that event, and gee, if
you had attended, one like you could have taken!
Just one more of the frustrations I've had in conversations with you
recently.
In any case....the whole point to my email is to indicate that I do not
appreciate you sharing a private conversation that you and I had on the
phone with the entire Internet Digest....ESPECIALLY when you don't even have
your facts straight!

Marc.