Blue Maxi Jerry Schmidt Memorial Chatterbox Cruise 7/8
 

I wish I was organizing this cruise to the Chatterbox under happier circumstances, but as I posted earlier this year I offered to organize rallies to several large venues this season. Sadly, for those of you who have not heard, the Camaro Community has lost one of its earliest members on Tuesday June 6 who peacefully passed away in his sleep at the age of 76. We can only hope he was dreaming of driving his car when he left this life, and his warm and joyful personality will surely be missed. Jerry was the proud owner of the Blue Maxi 69 Camaro Z/29 made famous by Car & Driver Magazine (Cover July 69 & Feature Road Test Aug 69) and owned it since 1971 making him one a member of an elite club of the few people with continual ownership history of the same car that dates back almost to the birth of the Camaro. How many people have a 67-69 they owned since new, and Jerry still drove the car weekly to cruises and shows throughout the North Jersey area and was as much a historian as an enthusiast. His knowledge of the First Generation Camaro was encyclopedic partly gained from his years as a mechanic at Chevrolet Dealerships back to the 1960s so it can be said without dispute Jerry was the Real Deal. Jerry was a good friend to me and everyone who met him, so in his honor I am organizing a rally to the Chatterbox on Saturday July 8. It just so happened that Jerry and I were recently discussing this trip as we did not want to take the cars very far before the Nationals, and coincidentally his family called me this morning with that date for their service so I took it as a sign that Jerry wants the cruise to still happen.
For those of you would like to pay your respects to his family I welcome ALL who wish to come to an INFORMAL gathering at the Marrocco Memorial Chapel in Clifton NJ 11am to noon. http://www.marroccos.com/contact-us/...and-directions
Jerry was a casual guy so come dressed as you would attend a car event because I'll be wearing driving shoes and a Camaro shirt just as he always saw me.
We will leave directly from the funeral home and drive to the Chatterbox in Agusta, NJ which is about a 45 minute ride. I will be posting the route as soon as possible so we can continue to pick up members along the way. I would like this to be a memorable ride for his family and those who come along as it will be Jerrys last rally (his ashes will be riding shotgun), so PLEASE PASS THIS ON and lets get as many cars as possible!
Jerry's Blue Maxi and my Fellows Sunoco Camaro were accepted to the Chevrolet Nationals Invitational @ Carlisle on June 23-25 and his family graciously supported his wishes to be there and is allowing me to take his car so it can be seen as we had planned. If you will be at that event PLEASE stop by the T Building and see the Blue Maxi for its first National Event in nearly 20 years!

Very thoughtful of you all to organize this. I'll try to make myself available for this ride Saturday, July 8.

i may be able to participate

I remember him! RIP Jerry. I will try to go to Chatterbox that day.

http://www.superchevy.com/features/1...ue-maxi-lives/

http://blog.caranddriver.com/maxi-mu...in-new-jersey/

The Gerald Schmidt Blue Maxi Memorial Cruise
Saturday July 8, 2017

Those who wish to pay their respects to Jerry's Family are welcome to come to
Marrocco Memorial Chapel
470 Colfax Ave
Clifton, NJ 07013
11 AM - Noon
Dress appropriately for the car show at the Chatterbox

Special Parking will be provided

Overflow Parking / Pre Cruise Meet at Clifton High School
333 Colfax Ave

The Cruise will leave the Chapel 12:30 and continue to the Chatterbox Drive In
Rt 15 Agusta, NJ 07822

There will be meeting points along the trip for those wishing to join up after it has begun
see facebook for details contact Mike 201-627-4506

The Family is awarding a scholarship in Jerry's name for Automotive Restoration
Donations can be made to:
McPherson College
1600 East Euclid St
McPherson, KS 67460
Please include Gerald Schmidt in the memo

can you post the stops and times?

Last Saturday I did a test run from Marrocco Chapel to the Chatterbox in my daily to check traffic. For those of you who do not wish to come to the Chapel to pay respects to the family, you are still welcome to jump in at the first location (Cedar Hill Reformed Church) OR ANYWHERE ALONG THE WAY!

If you are planning on meeting at one of the rendezvous points: PLEASE BE ON TIME BECAUSE WE MUST ARRIVE AT THE CHATTERBOX BEFORE 3PM FOR THEM TO HOLD OUR PARKING AS 1 GROUP!

Cedar Hill Reformed Church is the starting point I intended on organizing cruises from when I posted I would earlier this year, several months before Jerry's passing. Jerry and I had planned on making this trip on this very day so its important we go on the 8th. If it rains it will be the next Saturday as Jerry and I also planned. I will lead in the Sunoco Camaro, and Jerry's his nephew Brandon and brother Fred will be in the Blue Maxi (with Jerry's ashes riding shotgun) behind me.

The rendezvous points are there in case there are several cars who want to gather and wait for us to arrive but you can simply wait along the side of the road ANYWHERE ALONG THE ROUTE and jump in.

THIS IS A BIG DEAL!!! THE CHATTERBOX AND WANDERERS CAR CLUB HAS OFFERED TO RESERVE THE ENTIRE BACK GRASS LOT FOR OUR GROUP!!! THEY ARE ALLOWING NON-QQ PLATED CARS TO PARK THERE WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN ALLOWED BEFORE!!! THIS IS THE ONLY TIME THE ENTIRE CLUB WILL BE ALLOWED TO PARK TOGETHER AND NOT SPLIT UP BETWEEN QQ AND MODERN MUSCLE AREAS BUT YOU MUST ROLL IN AS PART OF THE CARAVAN TO BE ALLOWED TO PARK WITH THE GROUP!!!

We will leave the Marrocco Chapel on Colfax Ave in Clifton at 12:30. I counted over 50 parking spaces at the Chapel but IF it is full, OR those of you who are NOT going into the chapel, can meet at the Clifton High School parking lot about 1/4 mile down Colfax Ave on the right side (just past the chapel) and wait for us to leave at noon.

Traffic along the route may be a factor so keep in mind the times are approx. If we are early to a point we will leave at the posted time.

Leaving the chapel we will get on RT 46 EAST toward Paterson, and get on RT 20 NORTH towards Hawthorne, taking RT 20 until it ends, and make the RIGHT at the end of RT 20 onto Maple Ave. Go straight through the light on the bridge, continue past the cemetery and Toyota dealer, and get on RT 208 NORTH @ Maple Ave in Fair Lawn (near Nabisco).

We will exit RT 208 NORTH @ Cedar Hill Ave Wyckoff and meet in the Cedar Hill Reformed Church parking lot which is the Wednesday night Wyckoff Show location. We will arrive approx 1:15 and wait for 5 minutes for anyone else to arrive.

At 1:20 we will LEAVE the church and get back on RT 208 NORTH and continue through the RT 287 SOUTH merge in Oakland, and take EXIT 52B / RT 23 NORTH Butler.

The second rendezvous point is the large parking lot past the Burger King entrance at the Kinnelon Road intersection on RT 23 NORTH. It is just after the 6th light on RT 23 NORTH. We should arrive approx 1:35. We will get back on RT 23 NORTH and follow it until the highway ends and turns into Newark Pompton Turnpike through West Milford and surrounding towns. We will pull into the Picnic Area Rest Stop on RT 23 approx 1:45 but will not be waiting for cars. We will stop to let cars already there to get in line. We will pass the Welcome to Sussex sign on RT 23 approx 1:55 and The Hamburg Mountain Wildlife Management Area 2:00 but not stop at either as we should have around 30 cars at this point and it is difficult to get everyone back on in one group. From these areas the road has a full width shoulder and anywhere will be good spot for others to meet up and wait for us to pass so you can jump in. We will look for you and be sure to let you in the group so you're not separated by regular traffic (which should be light anyway).

We will make a left onto Munsonhurst Road and follow it where it then turns into Main Street (RT 517) in Ogdensburg.

This next rendezvous location we will drive past but it would depend on the amount of cars gathering in this area IF WE PULL IN AND STOP because it takes us off the road a few hundred yards. IF there are more than 15 cars that will be gathered, we would meet at the UPPER parking lot at the Sparta Middle School on Main Street which is between Roamin Way and West Mountain Rd. Arrive approx 2:10 but I will need to know how many people are going to meet there (PLEASE REPLY TO THIS POST OR PM ME) because it will divert us off Main Street as it is set way off the road. If you dont let me know youre gathering there, we will see you from the road and slow down as we drive by, so be prepared to catch up if we dont pull in. Regardless if we stop there or not we will drive by it on Main St and will get on RT 15 NORTH and follow RT 15 NORTH through where it turns into Lafayette Rd which is where the Chatterbox is located.

The FINAL rendezvous point is at the Sparta Evangelical Church at the RT 15 / Houses Corner Rd intersection. We will be making a right at the Houses Corner light, and the first right into the Church driveway. There are several lots at that location so when you pull in off the road, the driveway splits by a grass median. Go to the lot at the very end of the driveway on the left. This will allow us to organize the cars into their final grouping to roll into the Chatterbox. From that location the Blue Maxi will lead the rest of the way. We should arrive at the Sparta Church about 2:25 -2:30 if we end up meeting at the Middle School, and will wait a few minutes to be sure everyone in the caravan has arrived before leaving directly for the Chatterbox at approx 2:45. I will have a quick drivers meeting at each rendezvous point to instruct where we are going next for anyone who just wants to meet at any of the locations and join in without pre-planning the route. It is an extremely easy and safe route which several of us did last year and had a great time. Lets make this a huge turnout and represent not only Jerry but NJFBOA as best we can!

Memorial service is rain or shine but rain date for Caravan is the following Saturday 8/15.

No better way to honor a great local car guy in his memory. I will definitely make every effort to attend.

I just set up a facebook page for the event:
Gerald Schmidt Blue Maxi Memorial Cruise
PLEASE PASS IT ON

Mike,

Fixed your Facebook link in your last post and shared the page on the official NJFBOA page.

Thanks!
I'm not on FB so it was my first posting. Set up a fake user name "Cam Arrow" (get it) just for his page. I have a thing about being monitored so I've resisted the FB revolution but I guess its time I finally cave in.
PLEASE PASS IT ON so we can really represent a true Camaro guy!
Right now there are about 25 cars confirmed, mostly Jerrys close friends he attended shows with so its going to be a great mix of F Bodies, Corvettes, Hot Rods and other cool rides. At the last rendezvous point I will organize the cars in order of his close friends out of respect, then Camaros by generation, then Firebirds in random order, then everyone else. Lets get as many F Bodies as we can and take over the Chatterbox for Jerrys Last Ride!
If it rains it will be the following Saturday but we will leave from Wyckoff instead of Clifton.

I wish I could go, sadly I work that whole day

Call in sick. If you tell your boss you have explosive diarrhea nobody will ever question you.

I like the old, "I'm having vision problems". I just can't see coming in today!

They had a nice memorial set up for him tonight at Cedar Hill CRC. A guy named John had some booklets made up with his whole story that you could take. I did not know him very well other than seeing him at a different gatherings but he was always great to chat with.

JT

Did you get one? Maybe we could get a scan posted.

no joke, i had a guy call out with that.

I scanned it today. On a tablet now. I will get it to you tomorrow
JT

Unfortunately the file is too big
I'll have to break it up so it can be uploaded
I can email it to people if you post it or pm me

JT

Email it to me bonzohansen AT NJFBOA.org

Blue Maxi Camaro Gets TOP HONORS at Chevrolet Nationals
 

Hello All,
Lots to tell everyone about the Chevrolet Nationals this weekend so you will just have to come to the rally to hear it directly from me. I'm still getting back to normal from the event but wanted to post it first here before it goes viral throughout the automotive community.
I am proud to announce with great honor that Jerry Schmidt's Blue Maxi Camaro received "This Car Matters Award" from the Historic Vehicle Association which is the TOP AWARD given at the event! Its the giant crystal cup sitting in front of the car.
It was accepted on Jerry's behalf by his brother Fred and nephew Brandon Schmidt who is now the custodian of the car.
This was a bittersweet event for the family since Jerry passed just a few weeks ago. Needless to say his family has become overwhelmed with emotion so I am asking EVERY MEMBER to PLEASE email me mbrienza@optonline.net with words of congratulations, support, sympathy or condolences or whatever you would like to help them through this difficult time. I will print the emails and give them to his family at his memorial service before the rally to the Chatterbox so please jot a few words down and get them to me ASAP. I ask you email so they will know who sent the letters. Please include your NJFBOA username as well. I will be sure that everyone who asks for one will receive one of the memorial Booklets youre talking about which Jerry and my friend John wrote and printed.
After the cars left the display building, a private group photo was arranged outside for 6 special cars which all have some connection to each other in order to document the event. While photographers were doing their job, I managed to snap a few hundred pix of my own. I took the group photo from inside the glass transport trailer for VIN 00001.
The first 4 cars you probably all know: V12 LS1 Camaro, the First Camaro Built, the Blue Maxi, my Fellows Sunoco Camaro. The blue 69 next to my car is a new car to the scene which was inspired by the Blue Maxi and was just completed 2 weeks ago in its current configuration. It is a car that I personally predict is going to create a new classification of builds since it doesnt fall into Pro Street, Resto Mod, or Pro Touring, but is a mix of the best of what defines those build categories. This is a car to watch as I believe its a big time contender for major awards. While the car is still unamed, the owner and I have discussed a few that are suitable, and I will post the name as soon as its decided upon. The last car in the group is a White Turbo TA which was also in the Invitational Display, and belongs to a good friend of mine and Jerry: Joe Vito. Joes TA was parked next to the Blue Maxi at the LAST SHOW Jerry took the car to just 3 days before he passed.
At this event, Joes car received a LOT of attention by some big names in the TA world. They and I consider it to be one of the best examples existing. It will also be doing the rally so youre going to get to ride with 3 of the 6 cars in the group. If time permits I will arrange your car to get parked for pix just as we did in this lineup.
This rally is going to be a ONCE IN A LIFETIME EVENT and is your chance to be seen with the Blue Maxi before it goes on to the world stage so be sure to save the date.

Jerry Schmidt Blue Maxi Memorial Book
 

Here is the book in PDF format

Lou from the Wanderers Car Club (who are the show organizers) called me last week and said he would reserve the entire back lot for our group- up to 150 cars!
Even if you have a brand new Camaro you will be allowed to park with us for this event. They have NEVER done this before and may possibly be the ONLY time it happens, so lets take advantage of the opportunity and have a strong showing! 4 of the 43 cars in the Chevrolet Nationals Invitational Display.

Unfortunately, I'm out for this. My car won't be back from the tuner in time, and I have another conflict as well. It's a shame because from the sounds of it, it's going to be a real sight to see.

Please document it, guys.

It looks like we will have over 30 cars for sure. Every day I get another call from someone asking if they are allowed to have more cars join in so I only am aware of about 30 but I don't know what to expect. Lou from the Wanderers said he would be able to reserve spots for up to 150 cars & anything over that I was on my own. Nothing would make me happier than to run out of spaces. At that point we would overflow into the Modern Muscle parking as long as its not already full. He said on a good day they get OVER 400 cars show up, and some as early as 9 AM to stake out a spot! We had about 10 cars make it last year and that was a blast; imagine rolling in with 30 or more!
One of the Camaros that was in the Invitational Display with us is driving 3 hours up from Maryland just for this and is also bringing other cars! Its sad that Jerry isn't able to physically be here with us for this monumental event but I know he will be watching over us with a great big smile. Since the Blue Maxi won the HVA Award at the Nationals last week, it's sparked a renewed interest in not only the car but the history around it and what it actually started: it is quite possibly the first Pro-Touring car built and that movement is still alive and well almost 50 years later. Besides being able to rally along side the Blue Maxi, just the fact that the ENTIRE GROUP will be allowed to park together at the Chatterbox is a HUGE DEAL in itself! Don't worry about documenting, there is going to be professional photographers there to capture this meet. As long as you meet up with the group at the last meet spot (the Sparta Evangelical Church at Houses Corner Road) so you can get lined up for the final mile and roll in with us you will be allowed to park in the back lot with the group. Keep in mind they wont allow a daily driver minivan there but brand new Camaros and other performance cars will be allowed.