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**I will preface this thread by saying that, if this is considered poor form please feel free to delete.**
First off, THANK YOU to Mr loudbeard for putting the pieces together in order to make a BBQ a reality. Also, Duncan, thank you for having me be a part of the efforts! It means more than I am able to express and I am very appreciative of that opportunity to support the NEMRR community.
I entered the paddock around 1pm on Saturday. The idea was to watch some racing then head over to the Smoke Shack to help prepare food at 2:30p. I parked my truck near the Smoke Shack, went in to introduce myself to Donnie and my plans to watch a few races were immediately replaced by two crates of unshucked corn, courtesy of Donnie.
So, with Production Mode engaged, I started shucking what seemed to be an entire mountain range worth of corn. I was eventually joined by a woman I know only as "Tanya (Chuck's wife)" and together we decimated the shucking and subsequent halving of the ears. A new PB of 1h 34m 15.036s for corn shucking was achieved.
As we pressed forward, a flurry of activity was taking place in the kitchen as Donnie and team prepared to shut the Smoke Shack down in order to begin preparations for the BBQ.
Tanya (Chuck's wife) and I transitioned into setting up the potato salad, cole slaw and salad. Posted new PB's of 22m 12.738s, 19m 53.748s and 34m 19.098s, respectively.
Around 2:30p Zev popped in to help however, by that time Tanya (Chuck's wife) and I were nearing the end of the food prep and started moving all preparations into the Smoke Shack fridge while the mac-n-cheese, chicken and corn were being cooked by Donnie and team.
Once I was released from my duties I started to walk around the paddock and saw plenty of familiar faces in addition to many new faces. At that point I decided to hang out on the front straight to see the start of the upcoming race. I didn't catch which race exactly as my mind was swimming in emotions of all kinds.
The green flag dropped and a tear rolled down my face because I was back at a place I have always loved but also feeling the sense of loss within the paddock was impossible to ignore.
Around 5:30p the BBQ was getting set up so I made sure Donnie knew I was still available if need be. At that point in time I was fairly content...it felt great to be a small part of this amazing effort and to be able to watch it unfold is an experience I will take with me for the remainder of my days.
Just before the BBQ began, I glanced over at the SVM garage and saw a face that was very familiar to me. A face I haven't seen in many years....the face of Eric Cormier (AM 629), a lead technician at SVM.
Eric and I go way back to the days of working at Town Fair Tire in Nashua, NH. This has to be more than 20yrs ago at this point. He is someone I never forgot and when I left TFT, we simply did not stay in touch. Years later we would cross paths again when I was Control Riding for Boston Moto. I was in the scales garage one morning doing the Tech thing when Eric (accompanied by Scott) came walking up to say hello. Eric was about to embark on his first trackday to which I warned him there was no turning back. My jaw dropped at that time for the same reasons I was blown away to be seeing him again, this time in the SVM garage.
The common thread here is that Scott Mullin had brought Eric and I back together on two completely unrelated occasions....Eric's first trackday and also with this BBQ.
Anyway, after a quick chat with Eric, I took my place behind the serving tables ready to assist if needed.
For the next hour plus, the line for the BBQ seemed to have an endlessness that was similar to the line that was at Scott's wake. That said, the Smoke Shack crew had the food estimation nailed....something that still amazes me. I'm not entirely sure how they did their estimate for food amounts but I guess when you're in the business long enough you can get it to near-perfect because that's what happened at the BBQ.
Once everyone had their plates full I checked in with Donnie to see about cleanup and was ultimately released to the paddock since Donnie had the hands available.
I was able to meet up with my good buddy, Justin Landry (EX 39), and got all caught up with him. He and I had some great battles back in the day along with James (union) and it was fun to relive those early days.
I have to admit that I was nervous entering the paddock as I know I have not been exactly easy to deal with at times over the years. I am (and have been) in a place where I am certainly sorry for my actions, I am sorry for imposing my thoughts on others in a way that has damaged relationships and above all, I am sorry to have been that guy who didn't bring much to the table yet wanted it all.
All in all, Scott's passing has placed me squarely on some sort of personal journey to heal, to be present and to be available to people in a much different way besides causing friction within the paddock and people in general. It's part of the reason I have stayed completely away.....that and it's not a whole lot of fun for me to be a spectator. LOL
In closing,
Mr Duval - Thank you for taking the time to chat during the BBQ. I hope to have my Glass Car in circulation for Palmer....provided it stops spitting out the new parts I've installed.
Mr Gaboriault - Man, it means a lot to me to have reached a good place with you. Your hair looks amazing, BTW.(Fun fact: You are only the 2nd person in the entire racing community to have seen tears in my eyes. The other time was at an LRRS banquet when BJ Worsham's family had put their cat down and seeing his kids upset definitely hit me in the feels. Dolla Bill caught me in the act of trying (and failing) to keep it in.)
Mr Lakas - Always good to see you and have some laughs
Mr Wood - Dude, it was great to see you! You have a beautiful family and again, thank you for having me be a part of this.
And finally, after several long years I once again heard the all-too-familiar words "ATTENTION IN THE HADDOCK...", courtesy of one Johnny B.
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Originally Posted by Pookie
