06/14/2020
**VA/NC COVID VAN NATS INFORMATION HERE**
--Purpose of eVANt: As requested by the National Truck-In Board, we have put this gathering together in our area of Virginia & North Carolina to represent the worldwide online Viral Van Nationals (VVN) which is taking the place of the 48th National Truck-In (Van Nationals) this year since it has been postponed till 2021. Just a note, this is NOT limited to just these 2 states....anyone who wants to come be a part of this from any state is very welcomed. The Saturday of the eVANt we will be setting up and videoing the show off for the Viral Van Nationals page. They have also requested that each individual Vanner shoot a 1 minute video of their Van and upload it to the VVN FB page to be entered into the show-n-shine.
--Description of what this is: Even though this will be a Van Gathering, we have not planned it to be a full out Van Run. It was simply put together just to represent the Viral Nats. I saw the post from Judith from the National Truck-In Board about representing Nats weekend in your area for the VVN and called up Ronnie from Random Vans in VA to see if he could line up Shands Park where his club does their annual Van Run in October, VATT Fest. We had a little hiccup in the beginning about the dates, but it ended up working out and here we are. As simple as we have tried to keep it, there has definitely been some elements of a Van Run added as listed below.
--Shands Park Venue: This place is a beautiful location that offers a picture perfect setting in almost every location of the Park. It has a large lake in the middle that offers fishing opportunities for anyone interested. There are a few different shelter areas and a stage. There is a bath house that has toilets and a shower. There are electrical hook ups throughout the park and even though there are some 30 & 60 amp hookups, this is NOT a campground with dumping stations and all that. This is a more "stay in your Van event". If you want to bring a camper that is fine but the hook ups for them is limited so if there are campers flipping breakers, we will unhook them so that the Vans have the power. If your camper is capable of being self contained, I would suggest it as a back up....or just come sleep in your Van like the rest of us.
--Price of eVANt: $15 per person for Fri-Sat-Sun (no matter what day you show up) and 1 can of food or non perishable item for the food bank--$10 extra per person if coming in on Thursday. Kids 15-under free. Campers $15 extra. Every bit of entry money is going to the Park owner for weekend usage of the venue.
--Show-N-Shine with Your Awards: As stated above, we will be videoing the show-n-shine for the VVN FB page and we will NOT have a full out awards line up with split classes and all that. But we have a cool idea that will make our awards ceremony interesting. You individually or your club are invited to bring your own award(s) to hand out to the Van(s) of your choosing. The awards can be anything from old post trophies with a new name plate to something anything you can think of. Example: Random Vans is gonna be giving out their top 2 picks of the show off with some post trophies that they are gonna be re-purposing for this eVANt. Since I'm in the thrift business, DropJaw Vans is gonna be giving out a couple of my own including a very cool metal yard art dog with shades on that I am re-purposing into a "Big Dog of the Show" award plus I have a really cool piece of wood off of a house built in the 1920s that was torn down next door to me and I will be engraving "Best Wood" for the Van with the coolest usage of wood. There is no wrong way to do this...whatever you want to do will be cool and if you don't want to then that is totally fine also....no pressure.
--Hot Wheels Van Race: DropJaw Vans will be bringing the track and hosting a Van Drag Race both Friday and Saturday afternoon in Tribe Town's shelter where Toopa Sinner Tribe home will be set up. There is a $5 entry and the 1st, 2nd & 3rd place winners will be splitting the prize b***y. This race is for stock Vans with no mods...they don't have to be in the package or anything, I think we can trust each other not to cheat...lol. Of course 1 on 1 grudge races can happen with any kind of Van whether modded or not.
--Relix LIVE on Stage Saturday Night: These guys were rocking the hell outta VATT Fest last year in October and everyone was raving about how great they were. I even mentioned in my write up about how I thought they were a "Van Nationals" level band and I guess in a way they are getting to play at Nats...at least a representation of it. I can't wait to see and hear them back on the stage again...ya'll are gonna love them.
--Chinese Auction: This was suggested by Deb when this eVANt was first announced as a way to raise a little loot for stuff like toilet paper and things we haven't thought of and since it is a no profit type eVANt, it was a great idea. We the host are going to have a few baskets, buckets & items in the auction but feel free to bring one of your creations to be added as well. How it works if you have never experienced this, we line the items with a jar in front of each item and sell tickets for $1 each. You then take the individual tickets and put them in the jars of the item that you would want to take home. If you are lucky enough, your ticket will be pulled.
--50/50 Drawing: We have been asked by the National Truck-In Board to sell 50/50 tickets to benefit the 2021 Council of Councils. I'm sure they usually raise a ton of money for this at Nationals but with it not happening this year, this is a much needed thing from all of us Vanners that are putting something like this together. We will be selling them all weekend and will have the drawing after awards ceremony Saturday night.
--Host: From all of us here at DropJaw Vans, Random Vans and the Toopa Sinner Tribe, we welcome you to come be a part of this very cool eVANt and have a great weekend with us representing Viral Van Nationals in our area. Keep On Vannin'
