Event Coverage Impromptu car show for Jay Leno

Hi fellow HAMB'ers,

I live in Ohio and work in the small town of Wilmington. We are one of many towns having troubles because the big company is moving out, in our case DHL air freight. This town is losing 8000 jobs (estimated) and has been featured on 60 minutes and also during the presidential election.
Well, one guy is doing something about it, Jay Leno. He is putting on two Comedy Relief Shows on mothers day. Totally for free. My idea is for Jay to maybe enjoy a little impromptu car show provided by you and me. I propose that you dust off your ride / bike and head out to Wilmington Ohio. I need a little help from the local HAMB folks as to where may be a good hangout as I just drive 45mi. back & forth to work at the cancer center. I can tell you that getting here is a beautiful drive though rolling farmlands and the small town has plenty of restaurants and small town shops etc. Here is a link to one of many news stories about Jay's generosity. http://www.seat42f.com/index.php/la...-as-the-next-stop-on-his-comedy-stimulus-tour Hope to see you around!

 

What a great idea......and what a great guy Leno is for going this show!!! We need more celebs and other folks like him to step up and show folks hitting on hard times a little stress relieving fun!!! Way to go....both of you!!!!

 

sounds like a good start, to hopefully turn around a bad sitsuation

 

That is GREAT! I'm sure Jay will love it.

 

Jay came to Detroit a couple of weeks ago and did the same thing. HUGE turn out. I might suggest doing the impromtu car gathering at the same location as the show he is doing. I'm sure he's under a tight time schedule. I would also alert the media regarding the gathering. Sounds like a GREAT human interest story attached to Jay's human interest story.

"Car community gives back to Jay Leno" kinda thing.

It's a wonderful idea. I hope you run with it and it's successful. Don't forget to wear your HAMB shirt!

 

Hi folks,

Been getting a nice response so I will tack on my recent reply to blown49 who recently pm'd me about any details. I told him:
Hi blown49,

Jay's show is Mothers day May 10th. I don't have a location in mind. I checked google maps and Jay's show is at 68 & I71. If you are getting to Wilmington via. I71 it is the northern exit right by the big trucking company. I have only used this exit one time as I always come from the south. The town of Wilmington is about 10 miles from the highway using either the north SR. 68 exit or the south SR. 73 exit. I do know there are restaurants there by the highway that could probably be a gathering spot, but as I originally said, I am hoping for some suggestions from folks more familiar with the area. This was not intended to be a formal car show, just a be in the general area kind of thing in case Jay can get out of his hotel. Heck, for all I know he is a HAMB'er himself and may chime in. Hope this helps.

I appreciate all the comments.

 

Several HAMBERS in the Dayton/Fairborn area close to this that also may be interested.

Link to our local newspaper suggests that the venue has expanded to two shows; one starts @ 3:00PM and another at 8:00PM.

http://www.peoplesdefender.com/main.asp?SectionID=13&SubSectionID=83&ArticleID=129445&TM=41427.9

 

Thats a really neat deal. I will have to check that out....I used to work at DHL. Thanks

 

The Roberts Center is right on I-71. Has a big marque sign you can't miss from the highway. There is also a HUGE R & L trucking terminal across the highway. Real hard to miss.
The Roberts Center has a very large RV lot next to it I believe is for participants of the conventions & festivals held there (2 big Bluegrass shows each year) + a large grass area as well.
I do believe if you were to contact the management of the center they would be happy to work with you on a parking area.
Hope this helps. GOOD LUCK.
I can show up for a few hrs. early but have to be back in Columbus to work in the afternoon.

 

I guess I should spell it out clearer, Jay is not staying in a hotel in OH, trust me on this one. He will fly in on his private jet, do the two shows and fly out after the second one, being back in CA at just about the same time that he left Ohio because of the time difference.

If you want even the slightest chance of Jay having the opportunities to check out the cars they need to be at the venue he will be performing at. If it's set up like the Detroit show the parking will be free at the venue and you just have to pick a corner of the lot to gather.

 

I contacted Ms. Judy Clark (Director of Sales) about our idea. She said they will be hard pressed for parking so they will not allow us space. At 4,000 tickets for each show (2 for each request) that equates to about 2,000 parked cars. Sounds like it'll have to be McDonalds across the street or contact R&L trucking for space.

 

Hi All,

Thanks for your input, and blown49 for your legwork. I decided to go have a look last night after work as I'm just not that familiar with that exit / area. Here is what I found. The Holiday Inn (Roberts Center) is the first driveway as you get off the highway. There is a Dairy Queen with a small parking lot on the access road. Just beyond that is a truck stop that was so busy there were 4 trucks idling in the road waiting to get fuel. A little ways beyond is a Wendys and across the street from that is the McDonalds. Behind the McDonalds is a HUGE Tech Center for the R & L Trucking out fit. SR 68 is a two lane road with a turn lane between the businesses, so with all the folks showing up to see Jay's show it will be no picnic driving around there. Driving a little ways down the road though may be the answer to our little get together. There is a nice sized motorcycle shop called Clinton County Motor Sports. They could accomidate around 50 cars there. It is also convienient to the McDonalds. There seems to be an access road to the Roberts Center beyond the truck stop so... maybe Jay could sneak out the back door, if he knew the show was going on. I will try to call the bike shop today and pitch to them to host the impromptu show. They could probably get Ms. Judy Clark to get word to Jay about the gathering since they are neighbors and all.
I agree with hotrodladycrusr about Jay not staying in Ohio. I don't know if Jay will be allowed to fly into the Wilmington airport or not. In which case he would probably fly into Columbus and drive down I71 to get there. Either way if he goes directly to the Roberts Center he would not pass the bike shop, McDonalds or other spots, only the Dairy Queen. Since he is not sticking around the best time for our gathering is between his shows and I propose between 5:00 PM & 7:00 PM. I will let you all know if anything else comes together.
Thanks again for the interest!

 

I sent a question to his garage website[asking if they would get a message to him about the get together and if he could maka an appearance. Don't know if it will be passed on or not. If I hear back I'll post it here.

How about we start a new thread titled "Wilmington, OH. Jay Leno Meet & Greet May 10?"

 

Keep in mind a few things.....

Jay has access to the best of the best cars in the World, so he might not be that excited about some local cruise night fare. ( I may be wrong)

He is also traveling out of his own pocket and doing TWO shows, meaning, he may be very tired and need a little rest and relaxation before/after/between these shows. Having traveled a good bit and done a lot of public speaking, I can tell you from experience it's a lot more draining and tiring than it looks. Check with his people before you plan anything, and if he is up for it, go fot it!

 

I would guarantee that not only would Jay Leno have interest in your local cars, he'd be even more interested in the owners.

 

You were featured on 60 minutes and the presidential election and the guy "doing something about it" is Jay Leno...what's wrong with this picture? Who did your state vote for? Who are your representatives?

After Jay "does something about it", then what? Yuc it up at the unempoyment office?...What was done?

 

He's bringing some comedic relief to the people.
What are you contributing by whining?

 

Well lets see... Jay is putting on a free show. So maybe some of the unemployed folks here can have a night out at no cost. Oh, and the folks at the big hotel have another night of work, and maybe get a few tip$. The local restaurants will have a bigger Sunday night than usual. Maybe if I can get the bike shop to host the impromptu car show someone may buy some parts or a new bike. As I see it the city of Wilmington is coming out of this pretty well. I hope for your sake that you, your family and friends can remain employed through all this because I want to read about all your fun car escapades on this post. As for my part I have an unemployed friend helping out at my house earning a few extra $ and keeping their sanity while doing the job search thing. I personally have been laid off, down sized and outright fired too many times over the years and I know that you never know where that next break or job lead may come from. So yes I appreciate what Jay is doing for the small town I work in.

 

Anybody went to Jays garage site and post the info or a link?

 

Great Ideal, God Bless.

 

I did see above

 

I guess if this thread gets closed it's because of answers to threads like this. Keep the political bull**** out of this post. Start a new one if you like but we would like to keep this one open thank you very much.

Ryan please don't close this post because of one ass****

 

I live 30 miles from Wilmington and know what this town is going through. Jay is trying to help these folks keeps their chins up.

Douchebag.

 

Hi all,

I have an update regarding the airport. The husband of one of our nurses works out at the airport so I asked if private planes can land in Wilmington and she said oh yea, that the owner of the Roberts Center is has a private hangar there. So that means that with all likelyhood Jay's plane will land in Wilmington and they will travel up SR 68 to get to the gig. That would possibly open up some other spots on the opposite side of the highway. But of course I didn't go over on that side last night so I have to make another trip up there to check it out. I am having a lot of fun with this. Thanks!

 

Me too.....

 

Hey all,

I got a break here at work and called the folks over at Clinton County Motorsports. Wow is all I can say. Originally I spoke with Jason the manager who answers the phone, hey you are Mike the guy trying to organize the car show. What do you need us to do? So we talked about loosely organizing a show and not wanting to overrun the area restaurants or step on anybodys toes. He enthusiastically gave us the OK to use their parking lot for the show. He did go oon to tell me that when Sarah Palin came to the Roberts Center folks parked up their lot and they were open trying to do business. They are normally closed on Sunday and with Mothers day they will not be there to open the business, so they are going to set out orange barrels to keep out the non-car/bike show people. So whoever HAMB'ers get there first you are in charge of moving the barrels and starting the show. And vise-a-versa the last one out put the barrels back. Check out their website and especially the testimonials. I think there is hope for all of us yet!
Later
http://www.clintoncountymotorsports.com/default.asp

 

So to make it official:
The Car Show to Thank Jay Leno for Supporting all the Folks of Wilmington Ohio

Where? Parking generously provided by Clinton County Motorsports
6002 U.S. Hwy. 68
North Wilmington, Ohio 45177

Time? Between the 3:00 pm and 8:00 pm Comic Relief Shows
5:00 pm to 7:30 pm

Hope to see you there!

 

This is going to be too cool if it works out. I'm picking Big Olds up next weekend in Hartsville TN and driving him back home to Detroit on that Sunday, Mothers Day. I'll be cruzn up I-75 and will try to time it so I arrive at the motorcycle shop about the time you guys will be there.

 

That's what everybody needs right now, more generous people like Jay Leno and Clinton County Motorsports.
Both of them doing it without asking for anything in return.

I hope the get together turns out good and Jay can at least make a quick walk-thru.

Maybe leave some thank you notes at Clinton County Motorsports or send some emails thanking them for letting you guys use their lot to let them know it's appreciated.