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Did
you just come back from the 2002 Convention?? Get Ready for 2003
by Mike Stella
I joined the TCA in early 1979 because I heard that the 25th Silver
Anniversary National Convention was to be held at Disneyland and
that is just down the road from where I live. I joined, I attended,
I bought a 700E and made my wife cry. In the 24 years that have
followed I have attended TCA Conventions in Seattle, Phoenix, Dallas,
Oakland, and Providence. While I haven't purchased any other 700E's
I have managed to make my wife cry a few times. Since that first
TCA convention in 1979 I have tried and tried to get my division
to host another convention in Southern California. It took about
10 years of talking up the idea before a proposal was submitted
6 years ago for the 49th convention in the year 2003. I had been
watching with interest the building of a new convention center in
Ontario (California!) and it was solely my idea to hold it there.
Located adjacent to the Ontario International Airport I highly recommend
anybody flying in to do whatever it takes, whatever the added expense,
to AVOID LAX and use the best airport in Southern California. Remember,
it is right across the street from the convention center! Ontario,
California is located in the Inland Empire. It is INLAND. It is
about 40 miles due east of downtown Los Angeles, about 55 miles
from LAX. Traffic and checkin/checkout times around LAX will add
3 to 4 hours to your travel time.(EACH WAY!) PLAN AHEAD, use the
Ontario airport. I happen to know that Jet Blue has a daily flight
from JFK to Ontario. I have this feeling that every train club will
start saying ,"The Place to be in 2003," to promote their
conventions. I wanted to use, "It Won't be Free in 2003,"
but I think that will get voted out. I did attend the Chicago Hobby
show a few years ago and ran into the folks from Stoney Express.
I proposed that they do the "Grizzly Flats" train station
as a way for my division to earn the funds necessary to host the
2003 convention. Well, I hope you are all aware by now that the
project is well under way, the station looks terrific, and I am
thankful that Ward Kimball was so helpful and got to see the completed
project before he passed away. I hope EVERY TCA MEMBER will purchase
one of these beautiful stations so that our division can afford
to give me one free since this entire project was my doing! Actually
there is a desire to host the best WELCOMING PARTY in the history
of TCA. This takes money. Each station purchased will insure a bowl
of free chips, maybe a soda?
Hosting a convention takes a lot of planning .... ATTENDING a convention
can sometimes take more. Why would "YOU" want to visit
the Inland Empire? You can drive to the top of our 8000 foot "hills"
in less then an hour. You can swim in the Pacific Ocean about an
hour to the West or the South. Cajon Pass (sort of a real railroad
famous spot) is 1/2 hour away. The Union Pacific (ex SP) main runs
right past the convention center parking lot. A gigantic MALL (for
the wives) is located two miles up the freeway. We actually have
a Metrolink commuter railroad with two lines each having a station
stop in Ontario! You can spend a wonderful vacation here without
ever leaving the Inland Empire ... OR ... you can always fall back
on Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, 6 Flags Magic Mountain, Hollywood,
Universal Studios, and about a zillion other tourist traps. Can
you see why I wanted to say, "It won't be free in 2003?"
But for the rest of you I guess we can always fall back on, "The
Place to be in 2003." Gee, only 10 months until the Ontario
Convention. |
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