August 11, 2007

Summer Fun Run

Manalapan, New Jersey

Written by: Kevin Abato

Summer time, summer time, sum...sum...summer time... OK... So it's kinda hard to "sing" on a web page, but there is just no way to express how great this year's Summer Fun Run event was! The east coast was hit with high heat and humidity for several weeks, only to have a huge downpour of rain the day before our event.

Once again, the DMA lucked out! The weather cleared up perfectly to give us 78 degrees and partly cloudy. AN AMAZING SUMMER DAY!

We decided to kick off this year's summer fun run with a bit of an educational spin by getting a tour of Monmouth Battlefield in Manalapan, NJ.

The tour of this historic battlefield yielded some truly interesting facts about the revolutionary war, and how this was "The battle that George Washington was determined not to fight!"

Our tour guide was very insightful on many topics about the battle that was fought on the site, and how current day research and archeology has helped to uncover many fascinating facts and relics from this now peaceful countryside.

The tour was about an hour in length and brought us to the far side of the battlefield which made us appreciate the distance covered by artillery used in the battle.

After our tour of the battlefield we were ready to get into the local orchards. We all hopped into our DeLoreans and head down the road to BattleView Orchards to do some peach and nectarine picking! The day was perfect to be outside, and we leisurely walked through the orchard and picked out some of its beautiful ripe fruit.

It wasn't hard to get seemingly lost in the rows of trees as we darted from side to side looking for the perfect fruit to pick. After a while the orchards were buzzing with the laughter of the DMA members (everyone else was busy admiring the 20 DeLoreans in the parking area)

Rule number one of peach picking: "Please don't eat any peaches in the orchard area. You must pay for your peaches first." OK... Yeah right... This was a tough rule to follow!

The peaches and nectarines at BattleView Orchards were so good looking, it wasn't long before someone had to taste one. They were so delicious that most of us wound up buying more than we originally intended because we enjoyed the flavor so much! The real problem was that its gets hard to fit a huge bag of fruit into the limited amount of space in your DeLorean when you have packed it with other items for the weekend.

With peach picking completed, it was time to set off for the "Fun Run" part of the day. Tom and Roe Sweeney were kind enough to map out a wonderful drive that took us all through the scenic areas of central NJ.

The driving tour was approximately one hour in length and took us past farms and fields bursting with summer time colors.

The final destination on our drive was Turkey Swamp Park. Even though it has the word "swamp" in the name, the park was very beautiful. The DMA had reserved the picnic pavilion at the park and while our members were driving, our magical "DMA fairies" were hard at work getting lunch ready!

After our drive, we arrived at park to a delightful spread of grilled foods, chips, drinks, and many other goodies that had been set up by the magical DMA Fairies (Shari, Cheryl, Karen, and Tiffany). Everyone was hungry and dug right into the food and chowed down.

As everyone enjoyed the feast, we laid out the raffle prizes and sold tickets. This year we expanded our raffle with some new DMA merchandise and artwork that was DeLorean related. We also worked with automotive manufacturers like Mothers, Lexol, and Eagle One who kindly donated great items for us to raffle off.

The DMA would like to thank all of the following people for donating time, raffle items and helping plan the 2007 Summer Fun Run. Without your help, we would not be able to host such a great event! Marc Levy and Shari Deutsch (Event Coordinators), Stephen Clark - BTTF.COM, Stephen and Ruthie Card, Tiffany Olejnik and Ryan Brandys, Kevin and Cheryl Abato, Tom and Roe Sweeney, Lexol, Maguire's, and Eagle One

The biggest thanks goes to our members! Without you there would be no DMA. It's all about you, and we thank you for your continued support!

After all of the official events had concluded, members were invited to hang out as long as they wanted and enjoy the rest of the afternoon at the park. Some people choose to chat at the pavilion, while others either gathered around cars in the parking lot and discuss "tech talk". Later in the evening, Marc Levy was kind enough to invite those who were still in attendance back to his house to play in his 1980's style arcade.

Pizza, video games, and even a late night run to a local ice-cream stand, the DMA members obviously love more than just their cars. We like to eat (a lot) and play also!

With this year's Summer Fun Run concluded, we all took our leave of Levy Land and thanked Marc and Shari for inviting us over and letting us play with all of their toys.

We look forward to seeing all of you at the next event: The 2007 Fall Foliage Tour!

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Upcoming Events

We host four events per year that attract crowds from all over the region. This includes our Spring Social tech session, Summer Fun Run and Fall Foliage Driving Tours, and Winter Holiday Party. Check out our upcoming events for sign-up information.

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