I know most of you know me well and have heard my schpiel time and time again, but please bear with me since we have plenty of new members of our community.
Let me start from the beginning. . .
I'll be 23 years old in March. I've been on this forum since I was about 14 or 15, before I even had a driver's license. I didn't know anything about cars except what I had read in magazines, and I LOVED cars. My first E28 was a hand-me-down from my dad, who bought it new in May 1987 when I was 5 years old.
I LOVED that car, and I still do. I was ecstatic when it was given to me for college, even though it was worth well under $2,000 and had well over 200,000 miles at the time. Did I mention it was a slow, '87 528e AUTO?
I've grown up on this forum. The long-time members have seen me through thick and thin. We've all had our jokes and our quibbles, but the fact remains the same through it all that this forum is about the people, not the hunks of metal that we talk about so often.
There are a couple of guys on this board that I value up there with my parents, and I'm not exaggerating. They've seen me grow up and have taught me more about life and myself than they've taught me about working on a freaking E28.
Two years ago, for the second 5er Fest, 5er Fest 2003 in Boone, NC, I was about to start my fourth year in college. It was the summer time, and I was working in the dorms at school. Some time before 5er Fest, my funds took a dump and I found myself registered for the 'Fest, ready to go, hotel plans made and everything, but I had no money. Zero. Well, I had enough to eat on, but nothing else.
Quite a few of the members of this board were selfless enough to shoot some money out to me. Some more than others, but who cares about the amounts. The bottom line is that it was enough for me to make it to 5er Fest that year, and I had ball. I was ecstatic that I was able to make it.
I vowed that I was going to start a 5er Fest Scholarship Fund in the amount of $500 per year to be donated to one recipient that finds them in financial need come 5er Fest time. The fund is supposed to make it financially possible for them to make the trek to the 'Fest.
In May of last year, I enlisted in the Air Force and went off to learn what military life was about. Unfortunately, I was in Tech School learning how to do sheetmetal when 5er Fest came around, so I was unable to travel to San Diego for the 'Fest.
Last year was the first year for the Scholarship Fund, and I couldn't even be there! At any rate, Hartge Nate was chosen as the very first recipient of the Scholarship Fund, and he was quite grateful to receive it.
With that background, let's go into the details about the fund itself.
I donate $500 per year to it. Since it's my money, technically I can decide who gets it. However, I want others to contribute to it, and I also want the decision on who will be the recipient to be discussed within our community. It was because of this community that I made it to 5er Fest 2003, and I want it to be because of this community -- not me, alone -- that this year's recipient will make it.
The only requirements I have are:
#1: They must be an active member of our community. No lurkers, please. I want this to be someone that contributes from time to time. They might not be around right now -- hey, we all have job, family, and other obligations at times during our lives -- but overall, they're a constant part of our community
#2: They have to be able to make it to this year's 5er Fest as long as they have the money
#3: They have to be unable to make it to the 'Fest without the fund. This is hard to prove, so we're going on the honor system.
#4: Any surplus from their trip I would like to be contributed back to the fund. It's only a request, and, once again, it goes off of the honor system.
Well, that's about it. The 'Fest is only a few months away, and we haven't even started talking about who gets the cold, hard, cash!
Let the discussion begin. . .
