Monday, October 29, 2007

You don't know what I got

Brendan has a car for sale:

I thought I would give everyone a FYI on the T that I will be selling.
Model T coupe Two passenger--bummer
Family discount. $8,500


Friday, September 14, 2007

All That's Old Is New Again

The Onion reports that Ford Is Reintroducing Model T Line That Made It Great:

DEARBORN, MI--Still reeling from a $12.6 billion loss last year and a steadily declining customer base, the Ford Motor Company announced plans Monday to invest its entire third- and fourth-quarter manufacturing and advertising budgets into reintroducing the Model T, one of history's best known and most innovative car models.


A Ford spokesman poses with the once-revolutionary automobile in a Michigan showroom.



"Today's drivers want to get in touch with the experience of sitting behind the wheel of a finely crafted, planetary-gear vehicle with manual crank shafts," said Ford's president and CEO Alan Mulally, who expects the first line of Model Ts to be available for sale by mid-December and safe for driving as soon as it is neither snowing nor raining. "We're getting back to the basics, bringing the quality and elegance of 1908 into the 21st century. We want to show the country why, at one point, every single car driven in America was a Ford."

Monday, September 03, 2007

Bidness Matters

A couple of items of to note:

1. I sent Danette some money out of the Doughty 500 funds to cover the design and label printing costs for the bottled water she brought this year. She plans on getting some more for next year's 500 and will be taking pre-orders.

2. Brendan and Bernie both have suggested that we use some of the auction proceeds to buy new banners for the cars. I think that's a great idea. Brendan also suggested that we have a poll when we get closer to the aught-eight five-hundred to let people decide what other areas we want to use the money on.

3. I'm going to be making some behind-the-scenes technical changes in the next week so the site may be unavailable for a few days. Don't worry, it is coming back.

4. Does anyone have Doug's e-mail address? If so, please drop me an e-mail with it. He had suggested that we set up an account at a site to store all the photos and I want to get the names of the place he had in mind.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Click, Take A Pic

Dan has kindly forwarded this link to Walgreens Photo Center where you can go and view his photos from this year's Doughty 500.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Blast From The Past

One of the nice things about being in Ladysmith for this year's five hundo was seeing some of the old sites again.

Like the high school (now middle school) that my dad attended:



And the creamery where he worked:



Last but not least, on my way out of town I just had to stop by the site where the flea market still takes place:



Other than the empty tables, it doesn't look all that different from the place that I fondly recall prowling around with Grandma and Grandpa Doughty over thirty years ago on the hunt for comic books and army men.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

In The News

The 2007 Doughty 500 is covered in the Ladysmith News:

The Model T Ford, the car largely responsible for putting America in the automobile age, brings the de-scendants of Herb and Ruth Doughty together every year for a family reunion unlike any others.

The Doughty family brought 18 "Tin Lizzies" to Ladysmith Monday (July 30) and drove them on the "back roads" to various destinations each day, logging over 500 miles by week’s end in the 22nd annual "Doughty 500."

A total of 65 family members and eight friends participated in this year's gathering, headquartered at the AmericInn on College Avenue, the same place the family assem-bled in 1997 for their last reunion in Ladysmith.

"It went very well," said Bernard Doughty, who had the responsibil-ity of organizing this year's event. "We didn’t have any car problems and the people here (at the motel) took good care of us."

Bernard (Excelsior, Minn.); his brothers Hal and Dan (both of Eau Claire), Paul (Haugen) and Brendan (Nekoosa); and his sister, Nathalie Doughty Swienton (Florida) repre-sent the oldest generation participat-ing. Their children now own and/or drive Model T’s. The third genera-tion was represented by a 13-month-old.


The whole piece is definitely work reading. The ending is fitting and appropriate for a small-town paper:

Next year's Doughty 500 is be-ing organized by Paul and Bernice Doughty of Haugen with Cumber-land as headquarters.

The Lord willing, the six surviv-ing Doughty children and their off-spring will gather again for another reunion and adventure down mem-ory lane in their Model T's.


Not something I'd expect to see in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. And that's a good thing.

Monday, August 06, 2007

Move Over Sotheby's



The first ever Doughty 500 auction held last Thursday night was a smashing success. Brendan, Karen, and Dixie did a nice job running the show. The items that were donated far exceeded expectations. The auction itself was a lot of fun and we got a taste of the business acumen of the D3 brothers as they bid on just about everything possible (often against each other) driving the prices through the roof. It was good experience for them as they start bidding on government contracts. Halliburton's got nothing on these boys.

Best of all we raised a boatload of money for the web site. $1017 to be exact. I'm going to tuck away $200 of that to cover one year's cost of running the site (web hosting, domain registration, etc.) That leaves a nice sum left over to be put to other uses. Possibilities include:

- Buy t-shirts for everyone on next year's tour

- Buy booze for the happy hours on next year's tour

- Use some of the money to help get a copy of Doug's documentary (work in progress) to everyone

- Use some of the money to redesign the web site

- Bankroll Aidan at a Texas Hold 'Em tournament

Let me know what you think would be a good use for it. For now, I'm going to set up a Doughty 500 savings account and deposit it there.

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Teed Off

John Paul Newport on annoying golfers in Saturday's Wall Street Journal (sub req):

The lesson, I guess, is that when it comes to annoyance, the annoyee is often just as much the problem as the annoyer. A character in one of P.G. Wodehouse's marvelous stories claimed to have been distracted before a poor shot by "the uproar of butterflies in an adjoining meadow." I doubt those butterflies were really very loud. It's all just a matter of coping.

Fortunately, we didn't have to deal with any annoyances or annoying golfers during our traditional Doughty 500 golf outing on Thursday in Ladysmith. Our foursome--Josh, Aidan, Jay (he's not annoying, he's my brother), and yours truly--enjoyed beautiful weather and a fun if not proficient nine holes of hacking.









Saturday, August 04, 2007

You Are What You Mix

The process of gathering notable quotes from this year's 500 now begins. The first one that comes to memory is from Tuesday night's happy hour:

"It was just too fruity for most people."

- Mike Doughty on the drink concoction that HE had mixed up
A Glimpse Of The Future?

On Wednesday, we lunched at a resort on Fish Trap Cove. The resort had eight cabins set on a placid lake along with a full service restaurant and bar. Throw in a sandy beach for swimming, pontoon boat, fire-pit, lake jumping with fish, surrounding woods and it had all the best that Northern Wisconsin has to offer. Opinion was pretty much unanimous that such a resort would be a great place to base a future Doughty 500 at. What's not to like?





Tuesday, July 31, 2007

A Very Happy Hour Indeed

A Very Happy Hour Indeed

I arrived in Ladysmith tonight in time to catch the tail end of a very happy hour (or three). From what I understand, Monday's event was equally impressive. A high bar has been raised (no pun intended).

Monday, July 30, 2007

It Has Begun

The 2007 Doughty 500 officially kicked off earier today as a caravan of Ford Model Ts started the journey in Eau Claire.

From a weather perspective, it should be a great week. Check out the daily highs/lows and chance of rain:

Mon Jul 30 Sunny
87/62 0%

Tue Jul 31 Sunny
90/63 10%

Wed Aug 1 Sunny
89/63 10%

Thu Aug 2 Partly Cloudy
82/55 20%

Fri Aug 3 Mostly Sunny
82/60 10%

A little hot early on, but otherwise not much to complain about.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Rule of the Road

Rule of the Road

One rule that I would like to implement for this year's Five Hundo is that you can't ride in the same T every day.

Exceptions will be made for small children (and Jay) of course. Part of the appeal of the tour is spending some time with extended family members who you don't get to see all that often. Riding around with your immediate family all day might be fun (right), but you can do that anytime. How many chances do you get to talk to your cousins, uncles, aunts, in-laws, breeders, etc. who live in different states?

Riding in a T (and the accompanying breakdowns, flats, etc.) provides plenty of opportunities for casual conversation (at least between those seated next to each other). So let's be sure to mix it up this year and do lots of car-hopping. Anyone found disregarding this rule will be penalized to the furthest extent allowed under family law: riding alone with David all day. (shiver of fear)

Be Happy

Brendan would like everyone to know that the first happy hour begins at 5pm or when the crew arrives at the motel on Monday. He also was suggesting that perhaps pizza could be ordered, eliminating the need for anyone to have to drive for dinner and allowing happy hour to be to enjoyed to its fullest extent as the Good Lord intended.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

The Countdown's On

Less than a week to go before the start of aught-seven Doughty 500. It's important to make a thorough list to assist in your trip planning:

- Beer? Check
- Gin? Check
- Swim suit? Check
- Gold clubs? Check

Let's roll.

Monday, July 09, 2007

Agenda

Quick schedule update:

Monday July 30th

Start in Eau Claire. Leave Dan's at 9am. Meet up with Hal and crew in Colfax. Lunch at Gilligan's.

Brendan and Karen host happy hour at the motel in Ladysmith.

Tuesday July 31st

Leave motel at 9am. Lunch at the Turtle Club.

Sean, Mike, and Tom host happy hour at the motel. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Wednesday August 1st

Leave motel at 9am. Lunch at Fishtrap Cove.

The Swienton's and Jill wil host happy hour at the motel.

Thursday August 2nd

Leave motel at 9am. Lunch at the Beechmoor Restaurant.

Bernie, Jay, and Chad host happy hour at the motel. Dinner at 6:30pm at Tee Away followed by first ever auction.

Friday August 3rd

Leave motel at 10am. Lunch in Stanley on way to Eau Claire.

You may notice that there isn't an "off day" in this year's schedule. The reason is that there aren't any mandatory "on" days either. You wanna go out and tour for the day, you go. You wanna sit back and the motel and chill, you do that. You wanna go shopping, play golf, eat a block of cheese, whatever you want to do, you do it (within the limits of Wisconsin law of course).

The whole point of the Doughty 500 is to get together with your relatives and have fun (no, that isn't a paradox). Just because some people like Jay enjoy nothing better than riding in a T from sunup 'til sundown, doesn't mean that everyone does.

We want to offer a choice, not make it a chore.

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

The Rockets Red Glare






















Have a great Fourth of July! Fly the flag, fire some 'works, and celebrate America's birthday.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

No Room At The Inn?

No Room At The Inn?

Rumor has it that the AmericInn in Ladysmith on 800 College Avenue (Wisconsin has colleges? Who knew?) is full up and all the reserved rooms for the Doughty 500 have been taken.

But if you (like me) haven't made your reservation yet, fear not. For there is another AmericInn very nearby. Right across the highway in fact, within easy staggering distance.

If you still need to take care of your lodging, book you room at the this AmericInn and you'll have a place to lay your weary head to rest.

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Double Booking?

Double Booking?

The link that I posted on the sidebar last week was to the wrong AmericInn in Ladysmith (who knew there were more than one?). The correct AmericInn is the one on College Avenue. Sorry for the confusion.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

3-2-1 Contact

Making Contact

Since my family contact information is grossly out of date, I decided to start from scratch. What I need from everyone is your e-mail address, where you are currently living, and the names of your children (at least the ones that you know about).

Send them to me at rightwinger23@hotmail.com and I'll create a family new directory.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Family Business

We Don't Discuss Business At The Table

Word on the grapevine is that Tom, Sean, and Mike have started up their own company and even have a website for it. I tried the obvious URLs

www.threeblindmice.com

www.threestooges.com

But had no luck. Just tonight, I finally happened upon D3 Air & Space Operations. Check it out. I notice that the elder (and therefore wiser) brother has been named president. A very astute move.

I would imagine that family members will get first crack at the IPO.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Prep Work

Be Prepared

Word has it that Bernie is busy feverishly preparing for this year's Doughty 500. The planning of an event involving logistics of such a magnitude is not to be taken lightly and no detail is too small not to be carefully evaluated. All possibilities must be considered. All contingencies must be planned for. All systems must be vigorously checked and double-checked for redundancy.

Here's a snapshot of Bernie's rigorous pre-tour activity:



It's not an easy job, but somebody's got to do it.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Speaking Of Auctions...

Speaking Of Auctions...

Getting Them All, Saying Goodbye (WSJ-Sub req):

Richard J. Solove spent 38 years and millions of dollars on a singular obsession: owning a model of every Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost produced from 1907 to 1915. Now, just months after completing the collection, Mr. Solove is reaching for his next dream: selling all the cars at auction.

"I'll have to bring along a big box of tissues to the auction," the 82-year-old real-estate developer from Columbus, Ohio, says. "But people who know me understand why I'm selling them." The answer lies in Mr. Solove's commitment to a local charity -- and in the peculiar psychology of conspicuous collecting.

The collection of Rolls-Royces, believed to be unique, is scheduled to be sold in August at Gooding & Co.'s annual Concours d'Elegance auto auction in Pebble Beach, Calif. Auto fans prize Silver Ghosts, among the first Rolls-Royces ever built. Mr. Solove's cars "are in incredible shape," says Bob Austin, spokesman for Rolls-Royce Motorcars North America, a unit of BMW Group. "You can eat off of them, and they all run."

The collection will almost certainly be broken up, because different collectors are interested in different cars. In all, the nine cars, plus five more antiques he's selling, are expected to fetch between $8 million and $11 million. But with the auto-collecting market on a tear -- antique cars are favored by the ever-growing set of new millionaires and billionaires -- the lot could fetch far more.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

The Tiki Torch Is Lit

The Tiki Torch Is Lit

The happy hour schedule is now complete.

On Monday, we learned that:

The Swienton group along with Jill will host a cocktail night.

On Tuesday, the last slot was filled when Sean finally figured out how this new fangled e-mail thing works:

Mike, Sean, Tom are volunteering for a Happy Hour night. We are kicking around different themes and would like to know what themes have been taken. Mike is in favor of a "frozen drinks with fruit and umbrellas" theme, Tom is going with the "Name your Pink Drink" theme, and I was thinking of a "world liquors straight up" theme. I think their ideas are a soft and they cry in fear when I mention mine.

Any help you could provide would greatly improve the odds of a successful happy hour. Also, do you know what night we would have?


Now that we have the hosts, we need a schedule. By the way, if you wanted to host a night, but didn't get a chance to throw your hat in the ring, I'm sure that any of the other crews would appreciate a helping hand. Especially Mike, Sean, and Tom. The chances of those guys being able to figure out to use a blender without a trip to the ER are slim to none.

The particular drink of choice for each evening still needs to be determined, but here's the lineup:

Monday July 30th--Brendan and Karen will kick things off

Tuesday July 31st--Since Wednesday is a day off, it's probably a good idea to give the Booze Brothers the night before. God only knows what sort of grain alcohol fueled concoction Mike, Sean, and Tom are going to brew up.

Wednesday August 1st--The Swienton crew and Jill

Thursday August 2nd--Bernie, Jay, and I will wrap things up in style

Now the only question that remains is what our drink of choice should be. Let the great experimentation begin.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Like A Rented Mule

Eric Felten, the Wall Street Journal's resident mixologist, focues his attention this week on one of Jay's favorites, The Moscow Mule (subscription required):

Hopper's error didn't derail the cocktail's progress, which Martin and Morgan promoted by having mule-engraved copper mugs made. They hyped the thousands of cups stolen by over-eager customers; Smirnoff would later sell the mugs nationwide. The Moscow Mule is still properly made in a copper mug, originals of which can regularly be found on eBay.

When the drink got its name, Uncle Joe Stalin and Uncle Sam were allies, if not exactly pals. But by 1950, not unlike a few Hollywood screenwriters, Smirnoff and its flagship drink were taking heat for their Russian association. Assuming Smirnoff was a Soviet import, unionized bartenders in New York announced a Moscow Mule boycott, refusing to "shove slave labor liquor across the wood in any American saloon." Smirnoff rushed to testify that its vodka was not, and never had been, a member of the Communist Party -- and got some help from Walter Winchell: "The Moscow Mule drink is U.S. made, so don't be so political when you're thirsty," he wrote in May 1951. "Three are enough, however, to make you wanna fight pro-Communists."

The Mule survived the red scare, but couldn't weather the nuttier notions of the marketing department. In 1965, the drink was relaunched as the Smirnoff Mule, complete with a massive ad campaign targeting the groovy new "discotheque" scene. This being the era of the Frug, the Mashed Potato and the Shrug, the Smirnoff folks figured they could use a novelty dance of their own. The company hired dancer "Killer Joe" Piro to create a sort of deranged Watusi to go along with an overgrown boogaloo jingle performed by Skitch Henderson and Carmen McRae. "Stand stubborn/Stop sudden/Look cool," implored the lyric. "Turn it on/Take it off/The Smirnoff Mule!" And that was that: The drink didn't fade away; it just died of sheer embarrassment.

And what a pity, because the Moscow Mule is a terrific summer refresher, and well worth the effort of seeking out ginger beer, a soft drink with the spicy bite that ginger ale only wishes it had. Or just find one of the growing number of bars that have revived the drink in the past few years, such as AZ88 in Scottsdale, Ariz., Bar 89 in New York's SoHo neighborhood, and PX in Old Town Alexandria, Va. -- all of which have taken the trouble to acquire copper mugs for proper presentation.


Nothing better on a hot summer day. Gotta have it in the copper mug though. A potential Doughty 500 cocktail night choice perhaps?

Monday, June 04, 2007

New Logo & Tour T-shirts Now Available

There are now men's and women's t-shirts, baseball jerseys, and kids shirts available to purchase that feature our brand new official Doughty 500 logo:




The ones that say "2007 Tour" also feature a list of all the 2007 tour stops. You can check them all out at the Doughty 500 Store at CafePress.com.

Prices start as low as $8.99 for a basic T-shirt for the new logo. Be the first one on your block to sport the new look.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Let's Opening The Bidding...

Let's Opening The Bidding...

It has been confirmed that the first ever Doughty 500 Auction will take place after dinner on Thursday, August 2nd. All proceeds will go toward upkeep and maintenance of this site. Bring something decent to auction off and be ready to bid.

Over There

Over There

They say that you can find just about anything you want on the internet (and a lot of things that you don't want).

Proving that there's more out there to surf than you can possibly image, I came across Royal Herbert Doughty's draft registration card from World War I at Ancestry.com's Military section:



You can click to enlarge the image. It's still a little hard to read, but everything appears to be in order. What a world.

Monday, May 28, 2007

Memorial Day

Memorial Day

Peter Collier recalls some true profiles in courage at OpinionJournal:

The POWs of Vietnam configured a mini-America in prison that upheld the values beginning to wilt at home as a result of protest and dissension. John McCain tells of Lance Sijan, an airman who ejected over North Vietnam and survived for six weeks crawling (because of his wounds) through the jungle before being captured.

Close to death when he reached Hanoi, Sijan told his captors that he would give them no information because it was against the code of conduct. When not delirious, he quizzed his cellmates about camp security and made plans to escape. The North Vietnamese were obsessed with breaking him, but never did. When he died after long sessions of torture Sijan was, in Sen. McCain's words, "a free man from a free country."

Leo Thorsness was also at the Hanoi Hilton. The Air Force pilot had taken on four MiGs trying to strafe his wingman who had parachuted out of his damaged aircraft; Mr. Thorsness destroyed two and drove off the other two. He was shot down himself soon after this engagement and found out by tap code that his name had been submitted for the Medal.

One of Mr. Thorsness's most vivid memories from seven years of imprisonment involved a fellow prisoner named Mike Christian, who one day found a grimy piece of cloth, perhaps a former handkerchief, during a visit to the nasty concrete tank where the POWs were occasionally allowed a quick sponge bath. Christian picked up the scrap of fabric and hid it.

Back in his cell he convinced prisoners to give him precious crumbs of soap so he could clean the cloth. He stole a small piece of roof tile which he laboriously ground into a powder, mixed with a bit of water and used to make horizontal stripes. He used one of the blue pills of unknown provenance the prisoners were given for all ailments to color a square in the upper left of the cloth. With a needle made from bamboo wood and thread unraveled from the cell's one blanket, Christian stitched little stars on the blue field.

"It took Mike a couple weeks to finish, working at night under his mosquito net so the guards couldn't see him," Mr. Thorsness told me. "Early one morning, he got up before the guards were active and held up the little flag, waving it as if in a breeze. We turned to him and saw it coming to attention and automatically saluted, some of us with tears running down our cheeks. Of course, the Vietnamese found it during a strip search, took Mike to the torture cell and beat him unmercifully. Sometime after midnight they pushed him into our cell, so bad off that even his voice was gone. But when he recovered in a couple weeks he immediately started looking for another piece of cloth."

Thursday, May 24, 2007

1 dollar bid, now 2,now 2, will ya give me 2?

1 dollar bid, now 2,now 2, will ya give me 2?

Brendan e-mail with an excellent idea from his better half:

Karen had an idea. Why don't we ask people to bring something to the 500 that can be auctioned off one night...an "at the auction" night? All proceeds would go to upkeep of the web site.

Items could include a bottle of something good to drink, jewelry, clothing, travel items, bar accoutrements, picnic items, anything relating to Model T's or travel or anything just for fun. Not real expensive... maybe limit of $35 or something like that.


That is a heck of an idea, especially since I was considering shelling out some dough to get a Doughty 500 logo professionally designed. And to think, she's not even a Doughty by birth.

I'm thinking that Thursday night would be good. Unless anyone has good reasons to object, the event will take place on Thursday August 2nd. I'll send out an e-mail to everyone that I have an address for advising them of the plan. If everyone just brings one decent item, it should be quite successful.

Another possibility is embarrassing pictures of your immediate family. Some people would want to get their hands on the goods for purposes of mockery, while the person in question would want to secure the photos to ensure they never saw the light of day. Quite a bidding battle could ensue.

Brendan and Karen have also graciously volunteered to host one of the cocktail hours. That means there only two slots open. Get your name in now and start planning your concoction. And no Sean, Kerosene is not a cocktail.

Friday, May 04, 2007

Rooms To Let Fifty Cent...

Lodging info for this year Five Hundo from Bernie:

Motel information. We will be at the America Inn on Collage Ave. Ladysmith. check in on July 30th. check out on August 3rd. Phone 715-532-6650. Room rates, 61.90 single, 6.00 ea. additonal person. Call before July 8th. and mention Doughty 500. I have 20 rooms blocked.

Baby On Board

Baby On Board



Isaiah Chad Doughty
Born May 3rd at noon
7 lbs 3 oz
20 1/2 inches

Mom, dad, and baby are all at home doing fine.

Monday, April 30, 2007

Hit The Bumps, Then Have A Couple of Bumps

Hit The Bumps, Then Have A Couple of Bumps

After a long day of cruisin' the bumpy, dusty trails of the Northwoods, changin' tires, and askin' "where the hell are we going now? twenty-nine or thirty times, nothing hits the spot like the first cocktail of the day back at the hotel (unless you're David in which case the first cocktail of the day come just BEFORE you leave in the morning). The hotel happy hour has become a traditional, integral, and I would argue absolutely essential part of the Doughty 500.

This year, I propose that we make it extra special by taking a little time and effort to give it the true consideration that it deserves. When you break it down, there are really four opportunities for post-driving, pre-dinner imbibing: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I think that one group should agree to host the cocktail hour each day and supply the necessary accoutrements.

And by that I mean more than plastic cups and a jug of rot gut vodka (yes, I'm looking at you Sean). Each cocktail hour should have a theme and a unique drink to complement it. Martinis are an obvious choice and I definitely think that should be the drink du jour one day. But let's expand our horizons.

There are hundreds, nay thousands of cocktails out there. Jay should know as he's tried damn near all of them and even created a few himself. There's still three months before the 2007 Five Hundo kicks off, which means there is plenty of time to scour your bartender manuals (you do have bartender manuals, right?) and explore the wonderful world of mixology.

Get together with your nearest of kin and pick an appropriate drink. Plan on having all the required ingredients on hand at the 500 and some accompanying hors d'ourves (that means munchies Mike). Keep in mind that we're talking Doughtys here so don't be shy with the booze. There's no such thing as "too much."

Since Bernie is hosting this year's event, we'll take it upon ourselves to handle the set ups for one evening. We need three more groups of volunteers to step forward as happy hour hosts. Let me know if you're interested in the comments or by dropping me an e-mail at:

rightwinger23@hotmail.com

Anybody else getting' thirsty?

When Life Gives You Lemons...

When Life Gives You Lemons...

...make beer with lemonade. If you haven't had a chance to try Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy yet, I urge you to get yourself to a beer store toute suite. The newest addition to the Leinie family is refreshing, tasty, and very quaffable. It will no doubt be my beer of choice at this year's Doughty 500.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

The Shop Is Open!

The Store Is Open!

For the best in all officially licensed Doughty 500 merchandise, be sure to check out the Doughty 500 store at Cafe Press, your one stop online shop. At this point, there are two items available for purchase, but I plan to add more soon.

We have two t-shirts available with a small picture on the front showing a Model T and a road sign saying "Rough Road." On the back is an outline map of the state of Wisconsin with a list of all the planned 2007 Doughty 500 tour stops.

One of the tees is a v-neck designed for the gals (and Sean) and the other is a men's ringer tee. You can view both of them by following the link to the Doughty 500 store at Cafe Press.

I'll be adding more designs in the future, including some options for the kids. The nice thing about ordering from Cafe Press is that you choose the sizes and quantities you want and have them shipped directly to you.

If you have any suggestions for designs or products, please drop me an e-mail at rightwinger23@hotmail.com

2007 Tour Stops Set

In addition to the home base of Ladysmith, here is a list of towns that the 2007 Doughty 500 will be hitting:

Colfax

Chetek

Hay Stack Corner

Loretta

Winter

Radisson

Exland

Jump River

Medford

Perkinstown

Sheldon

Conrath

Bruce

Stone Lake

Imalone

Stanley

Eau Claire

Groupies get ready! For those towns passed by this year, fear not, there's always next year. By the way, free beer would definitely improve the odds of your town being added to the tour.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

New E-mail For Dan & Terry

New E-mail For Dan & Terry

We have a new e-mail address. It is;

dntdoughty@yahoo.com

The old one will still work for a while.

Monday, April 02, 2007

Ladysmith Links

A little history from Wikipedia:

The city was founded at the intersection of Soo Line rail line with the Flambeau River in 1885, as "Flambeau Falls" after the Ojibwa name for the area Gakaabikijiwanan ("of cliffed rapids"). Robert Corbett, a logging and lumbering entrepeneur, held the dominant influence on city in its early years, first renamed as "Corbett", then to "Warner" in 1891, and then to the present name on July 1, 1900, after the bride of Charles R. Smith, head of the Menasha Wooden Ware Co.

Maps from Google.

Ideas of what to do from Wisconsin Travel.

Places to eat and drink from MyTravelGuide.com and PubCrawler.

Monday, March 19, 2007

T-shirts and Lids

T-Shirts and Lids

Okay, here's the deal. Bernie is going to order some Doughty 500 hats, with each family getting their own color (unfortunately he ignored my suggestion that Sam's boys get bright pink). I don't want to shell out for shirts as well.

But, since there has been some interest, I think I'll create a couple of designs and then set it up so you can order them off the internet at some place life Cafe Press. That way if you want a shirt you can the one you want.

Sean has already given me one design idea with the Top Ten Doughty 500 quotes on the back. The problem is that he could only think of four. If you have a classic quote for the shirt, send me an e-mail or put it in the comments section.

Another shirt will probably just be a Doughty 500 2007 logo on front and a list of the towns we visit on back.

Other ideas? How about a Breeders design? Or are they all too busy popping out new Doughtys?

UPDATE: In addition to the ones in the comments, here's a list of quotes we have so far:

A Drinking family with a Model T problem

Hush up, the men are talking

Have you been drinking? Um...No?

We're too drunk to drive so we'll take a Model T

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Where The Street Has Our Name

Where The Street Has Our Name

Check out this great ad on a "world without America" from the guys at 18 Doughty Street.

Friday, February 16, 2007

Sheets & Shirts

More info on this year's tour from Bernie:

Motel information. We will be at the America Inn on Collage Ave. Ladysmith. check in on July 30th. check out on August 3rd. Phone 715-532-6650. Room rates, 61.90 single, 6.00 ea. additonal person. Call before July 8th. and mention Doughty 500. I have 20 rooms blocked.

I'm considering ordering up a batch of t-shirts for this year's five-hundo and would like to know what the interest level would be. Probably about 15 bones each.

Drop me an e-mail and let me know: rightwinger23@hotmail.com

Monday, February 05, 2007

Extreme Thrashin'

Extreme Thrashin'

Brendan brings us this picture of the Black brothers out in North Dakota:


Wednesday, January 24, 2007

2007 Dates Set

2007 Dates Set

From the office of the 2007 tour director:

The 07 Doughty 500 will be July 30, 31 Aug. 1,2,3. We will leave Eau Claire at 9:00 Monday July 30, for Ladysmith. Tour for three days around the Ladysmith area then leave to return back to Eau Claire at 10:00, on Friday Aug. 3.

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