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By Dave Pratt Well, that was a close call! The forecast for the Il Giro del Dedham rally on Sunday, July 29th, had been looking really good … right up until Saturday, at which point they were predicting overcast skies with a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms. Porca madonna! Sure enough, Sunday arrived drizzling in some places and outright raining in others. A couple of people called to ask if the rally was still on. It was! Nearly everybody who had signed up for the event arrived in Westwood on Sunday morning, the only two exceptions being one gent with an overriding familial obligation and another with a non-starting Alfa — no cancellations due to the weather! It was an excellent turnout of 18 cars and 32 people running the rally, plus rallymaster & rallymistress and a couple of Tom L’s who showed up later (Lesko making a Presidential appearance and Letourneau of the non-starting Alfa). After the usual tire-kicking session and fluids exchange visits to the Dunkin Donuts behind which we were assembled, we huddled for a driver’s meeting. Here, the rallyists were given the route sheets — six pages of turn-by-turn driving instructions, interspersed with questions to be answered about the roadside features they’d be passing. Some were straightforward observation, some involved a little whimsical deceit, and a couple were even better answered with the use of a smartphone. (So much for old-fashioned road rallies!) In addition, there were a few cumulative questions, such as how many times the route crossed the Charles River. We also handed out “emergency kits”, which were large, detailed maps of the entire route and an emergency phone number, with a seal that would cost a 10-point penalty if it were broken. A little after 10am, the first car was sent off, followed at roughly two-minute intervals by the others, until they were all on the road to start their adventures. Of course, it didn’t really matter what the intervals were, since the Alfas were soon passing, re-passing, and crisscrossing each other throughout the journey. At about 1/3 of the way along the route, the rallyists got to stretch their legs at Jane & Paul’s Farm, where they were asked to buy a little something for the communal salad for lunch later or something for the communal bouquet, depending on whether or not their Alfas were red. Turns out that the farm didn’t really sell cut flowers (mea culpa), so we ended up with tons of vegetables plus various fruits, pies, and desserts. (As for the bouquet, see the photo at the bottom). The rallyists got another chance to stretch at around the 2/3 mark, where they were asked to find a bit of information from a tomb in a centuries-old cemetery. A little after noon, our intrepid but thirsty and hungry tourers began rolling into the final destination (i.e., our house in Dedham) in nothing that resembled the order in which they were sent out a couple of hours earlier. I was relieved to see that 1) they arrived at all, and 2) they all appeared to be smiling. I have a feeling that nobody had believed my claim that they’d be driving over 50 miles inside I-495 without seeing a single stop light, so it must have tickled them when that turned out to be the case. They loaded me down with their completed rally answer sheets, as well as lots and lots of tomatoes, peppers, berries, and pies. (And a jar of beet balls.) Six volunteers helped with the scoring (thank you so much!), each responsible for one sheet of the six, and this made the task go very quickly. Everybody else found their way to the beer taps and munchies, and hung out comparing stories from the rally (and from other important highlights of their lives). When we were certain that all of the rallyists had pulled in, lunch came out — a huge tray of sausages, peppers, and onions from Mercato di Dovera (all right, the Dover Market); pasta, cannellini, and coleslaw salads that Vi had made (what a woman!); breads; and of course our communal garden and fruit salads, which people helped prepare after they arrived. Once everyone appeared sufficiently sated and the line for seconds slowed, we gathered outside to announce the rally winners. I was astounded by the diligence, effort, and thought that everybody put in to answer the questions! I never expected that people would get so many of them right! And not a single “emergency kit” seal had been broken! Well done! The top spots were very closely contested, but in the end Peter Walker & Meg Anderson took First Place with a score of 63 (out of a possible 73). Tied for Second Place just one point behind were the teams of John & Lauren DeWaele and Dan & Deb Donovan. We also presented a Broken Giubo Award (the Brits can keep their Broken Spoke) to the team, uhhhhhh, showing the most room for improvement, and this went to Steven & Jane Silberberg. This was their first AONE event of any type, as was also the case with a few of the other rallyists. Hope you had fun and our antics didn’t scare you away from future events! Then the desserts came out — cheesecake with fresh peaches & blueberries, various confections, and the assorted pies etc. that the rallyists scored at the farm. Quite a feast! Gradually, the party broke up, the Alfas untangled themselves from where they were parked in the driveway making their heart-warming Alfa sounds, and people headed for home.
And there wasn’t a drop of rain all day!!!
Il Giro del Dedham Participants
Carl & Paula Anderson - 1992 Spider
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(Click on the thumbnails below for a larger view, and then
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