- Joined
- Jun 19, 2014
- Messages
- 4,024
Some of you guys may know Ricky but I just wanted to say that I can't say enough good things about this guy! I met Ricky 4 years ago at Super Cel on the 50th Anniversary of the Bronco. My buddy Adam and I were there to check out all the broncos, sell a few shirts and do a little fishing. My first encounter with Ricky was a little tense when he came back from a drive to find two guys, a table of shirts, and a small mini pit/jack russle dog camped out where he had been parking his bronco. I remember him saying " Hey, what are y'all doing in my spot?" a sense of panic sets in and I'm thinking "oh man we're going to piss everyone off here and this isn't a good way to start things off if everyone sees this guy yelling at us" I quickly pushed those thoughts to the back and said " Oh man, I'm sorry, were totally new here, we're from Michigan and Tom told us we could set up here to sell a few things!" and Ricky was like "Oh ok" and I said " We can move if you need us to?" He was like " Naw it's ok, we can all fit, jut scooch over a bit and we'll be good!" I was thinking "whooh, disaster averted". The day progressed we sold shirts, met lots of people, talked a lot with Ricky as our neighbor and got to know him pretty well. It was a little past noon and the sun was beating down on us Michigan boys and we were not used to that heat coming from 40 degree Michigan. Ricky noticed we were getting a little crisp under the sun and said "Y'all want some shade? I got an extra umbrella I'm not using?" at first I was like "no it's ok man I can tough it out" but after another offer I agreed and accepted the offer. I can only imagine what he was probably thinking about us under prepared northern guys, ha. The event came to an end and we thanked Ricky for his help with the shade and not killing us for squatting on his spot and headed home. I realized when I got home that I may have accidentaly packed up his umbrella and took it home. I tracked him down through the site here and asked him if he still had his umbrella we borrowed and he said "no, I don't think so?" I told him I thought I may have packed it up and I'd ship it back to him. Well, I looked over hell and high water and could not find that umbrella. I took to ebay quickly and found him a nice oversize FORD golf umbrella and had it shipped. I gotta PM later from Ricky saying "thanks for my umbrella, looks a little different from the last time" I admitted I couldn't find his umbrella and hoped he liked his new one. Well, fast forward 3 years from then and every year I've camped out next to Ricky and his crew of family & friends. I have to say this year Rickys friendship and hospitality really came through! He let my girlfriend and I borrow his trailer so that we could pack up and unload easier and have an extra space to keep things dry. He was also there to assist my dad in getting the bronco off the trailer. I feel very fortunate to have met this guy when I did. I'm always offering him the same hospitality if him and Angie ever find their way up in my neck of the woods! Overall, thank you big time Ricky for all your help and being one of my best bronco buds I know!