2007 Ridgeline Owners Club National Meet Held In St. Louis
With heat indexes hovering over 100 degrees, we had 39 members make an appearance from 18 states and D.C. Some drove over 1,000 miles to participate in the event. I think I can speak for everyone in attendance - this meet was well worth the drive and the heat! This was a great time and a great opportunity for everyone to meet new friends or to catch up with old friends. And it's the Honda Ridgeline and our Ridgeline Owners Club that brought us all together!
Many arrived on Thursday afternoon or early evening and got the festivities started in the lobby of the hotel. It was hard to miss the obvious, growing group of ROC'ers in the lobby as the conversations were flowing and the smiles were all over. There was nothing formal planned for Thursday night, so everyone scattered to different places for dinner and later met in the parking garage to start up the late-night activities. A large group assembled there, looking at everyone's trucks and hanging out.
On Friday morning, most met behind the hotel for a trip to downtown St. Louis. We had a caravan to the St. Louis arch, where most toured the welcome center and others walked over to Busch Stadium for a behind-the-scenes tour of the new ballpark. Later, the group met once again at Anheuser Busch for a plant tour. Even more members who had just arrived met us there so our group continued to grow. The tour was great and of course, their tours always end with FREE COLD BEER (and soft drinks) in their hospitality room. As you might guess, we cooled down there for a while.
Friday night, we had reservations for 60+ people at Trailhead Brewery in this historic district of St. Charles, Missouri. This is a great place with their own beer selection and some great food as well. By the time we arrived, most members were in town, so we really filled the room! And after dinner and our time at Trailhead, we later re-assembled in the hot parking garage for more late-night fun and hanging out together. Fortunately, the heat was knocked down a bit by an impressive storm that blew through.
Saturday was a day that most in attendance had been looking forward to for months. We were fortunate enough to have several Honda reps and engineers, including Gary Flint, the large project leader for the first Honda Ridgeline, and the newest large project leader as well. Joining them were engineers from R&D, product planning and marketing. Following a welcome by our site founder and event organizer, T Mac, Gary Flint led a presentation about the Ridgeline. At the end, a Q&A session was held with the club members and those from Honda. How often do you get the chance to interact with those responsible for your vehicle? This was fabulous!
From there, we made the drive to Huey's Honda of St. Louis, where we pretty much took over the dealership for the afternoon. Service clinics were offered for member's trucks. They offered free food and drinks and even passed out free hats to the ROC crowd. In the showroom were toys that Honda brought in that were valued at over one million bucks! Two SEMA trucks and a white cut-out body of the Ridgeline were on display. The SEMA trucks were roped off to keep the drool to a minimum because these trucks were sweet! Other highlights of Saturday afternoon included a live rock drop demonstration where the Honda crew repeatedly dropped 600 pounds of rock into the back of one of their trucks, showing zero damage after removing the rocks. Also, demonstrations were given on the 4-wheel-drive system. Between the heat and the many things to see and do, Saturday afternoon was overwhelming. What a great time!
Tired or not, most headed out to Westport Plaza, a fun nightlife area in St. Louis near our hotel, for some dinner. And that was followed up by another late night in the parking garage. Okay, it was very late, but how often do we get together with one another? Usually only a couple times a year and you have to make the most of it. And that we did!
I want to thank each and every member who made the drive to St. Louis to make this event so great. I want to thank Gary and the crew from Honda for making the drive or flight to interact with us and to add even more value to what we had going on. And of course, thanks to our many event sponsors who gave prizes to be donated at the meet: 303 Products, 5S Dude - Door Sills and more, AAA of St. Louis, Burtman Industries, Cloud Rider, ELEMMAT Bed Liner, H-and-A Accessories, Huey's Honda - St. Louis, Mechanix Wear, Pilot Pads, Portland Business Graphics, Real Truck, RETRAX, Roll-N-Lock, Stoner Car Care Products.
To view photos from the meet, click here.
We hope to see you in 2008!!
