TRS 20-Year Anniversary

[Jim Oaks]

2019 - The Ford Ranger returns, and The Ranger Station celebrates its 20th anniversary.

Yep, it's hard to believe, but the 20th anniversary of The Ranger Station is less than a year away. I think this is a pretty big milestone. Especially since this has remained a privately owned website.

Obviously, we can't wait for 2019 to start planning for it. It's something that has already been in discussion with the forum staff, but I want you the members to be involved in the planning as well.

Starting back in 1999, I was all about the trail rides, posting useful Ford Ranger tech online, and posting pages with featured vehicles.

The only thing that has changed is that we haven't had a trail ride in years. If you recall, the economy wasn't that great a while back, and people really didn't have the funds to work on their trucks, and travel to a Ford Ranger gathering. It was a tough pill to swallow after a period when we could easily draw 2-dozen people. Heck, we even had sponsors for those trail rides.

Some Ideas:

As some of you know, I took an epic roadtrip last summer through (13) states and covered well over 7,000 miles. I want to do that next summer (2019), but in a Ford Ranger. I don't want it to just be a roadtrip. I want to meet you guys, hit some trails, and enjoy some bonfires. I want to take TRS to the people.

I want to come armed with TRS shirts. I want to be able to meet up with a Ford Ranger owner, and GIVE him/her a 20th anniversary t-shirt. FREE.

I'm thinking about creating a TRS 20th Anniversary Banner, but instead of having you guys move it, I'll be carrying it for people to sign.

How You Can Help:

First of all, we need some type of 20th Anniversary design. I'm not an artist by any stretch, so I need some help on this. I'm hoping someone here can come up with a design. If anyone wants to take a shot at it, here's a link to a LOGO SAMPLE. The logo doesn't have 'TheRangerStation.com' under it. I've always used the 'Impact' font for that. The logo will have to retain a clear background so it can be printed on shirts.

In addition, we need to revisit other items we've made in the past such as lanyards and embroidered hats. I know there have been members here that had these made up before.

Second, we need some sponsors. A company that would be willing to help pay for some shirts that I can giveaway. I'm thinking we could offset the cost of shirts by adding some sponsor logos on them. Maybe put a small anniversary logo on the front, a large anniversary logo on the back, and add a 'Sponsored By' with the sponsor logos below that.

If the sponsors have some goodies that I could give away at gatherings, that would be great as well. Maybe some of our members work for some companies, or have connections with companies, that might be willing to get involved.

Third, we need to schedule some gatherings. But I would prefer for you guys to see if you can get a Ford Ranger gathering together near you, or at an off-road park somewhere. If you guys can schedule some local gatherings, we'll put together a schedule, and publish it in a list of anniversary events. Hopefully that will help draw more participants. Obviously, you can't have them on the same weekends, so you'll have to share you're ideas in the forum so others know what's going on. I'll come, hang out, wheel, and hopefully have some TRS anniversary stuff to give away.

EDIT: I have announced a TRS 20th Anniversary Trail Ride in Wellsville Ohio. However, I still plan to roadtrip across the country to meet up with other people on other dates.

I think that the sooner we can get working on this, the better it will turn out, and the more fun it will be for all of us.

It's time to reunite with some old friends, hang out, share stories, and remind ourselves why we build these trucks.

Should we create a section in the forum for discussing this?

Also, please try to keep the anniversary discussion in the forum, and not on facebook. facebook discussions can be difficult to follow and keep track of. There's nothing wrong with sharing information there and spreading the word, I just don't want there to be any confusion, or anything overlooked because it was posted on facebook, and not here.

 

[Curious Hound]

Cool idea!

I think it might be wise to allocate a forum topic for this. You may want to add a calendar page to the site so that everyone can see what is being planned. That may help avoid conflicting events.


... and thanks for not doing this on Facebook. I refuse to pollute my life with Facebook, Twitter, etc. Forums are much, much better.

 

[MastuhWaffles]

It would be neat to maybe have some meetups or something, but as I stand I'm pretty bogged down on stuff.

I wouldn't mind buying a hat if you made some, the flexfits are always nice and I think a small logo on it saying TRS and under that saying 20th anniversary would be pretty neato.

As for company's, maybe send an email to Ford. After all, it is the return of the Ranger on TRS's 20th anniversary. Maybe the might be able to make something cool.

I think it would be wise to make a section on this, and have dedicated threads pertaining different info so it doesn't get bundled up in one post.

 

[91stranger]

I like these ideas. I used to be an artist back in high school and actually won some shows in my hay day so I will try to draw something up that represents what TRS is about and submit it on here if you don't mind. Anything specific in the drawing you want or don't want? I do like the idea of traveling to different states and actually meeting the people on the forum who put up so much information that you cant find online anywhere else or in books. Its the first hand experience from people who have actually been there and done that that make this site what it is in my opinion. I've always been answered when asking a question about my truck. if you did happen to come to Ohio then I would be down for meeting somewhere. my truck is just a 2wd so no wheelin for me but i'd still like to meet people. I'm near central Ohio and I know there's a few other people around here too. You could easily meet in Mansfield or Marion. Those are fairly big cities other than Columbus and easy to get to.

 

[Craig0320]

What about a meet a greet even if it is at a local community center instead of a off road park to just look at each others trucks and talk about them and maybe ride to have lunch somewhere. I understand a trail ride would be good also but a pavement meet would accommodate all ranger builds and designs.

 

[adsm08]

I love the idea. I feel like maybe you should try to be in the South Central PA area for the first full weekend in June, Ford Nationals and all.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

A meet and greet is a great idea. You should slip across the border and meet up with Mark_88. He missed out on the original banner signings and is a great member on site. I'm pretty sure other Ontario members would come out of the woods for a meet and greet too.

 

[ryan]

I think a separate forum makes sense, especially if you want to do a couple of different waypoints.

If you want to come east I could lead a day at Rausch very easily, and could do AOAA as well. I'd travel further than that too if we needed.

 

[Captain Ledd]

Well dang. I'm not sure if I'll be in a position to have Deathtrap running by then. I had that rebuild project slated for two years from now. I may have to cobble something together.

 

[MastuhWaffles]

Well dang. I'm not sure if I'll be in a position to have Deathtrap running by then. I had that rebuild project slated for two years from now. I may have to cobble something together.

Duct tape and WD40.

 

[Jim Oaks]

I like these ideas. I used to be an artist back in high school and actually won some shows in my hay day so I will try to draw something up that represents what TRS is about and submit it on here if you don't mind. Anything specific in the drawing you want or don't want? I do like the idea of traveling to different states and actually meeting the people on the forum who put up so much information that you cant find online anywhere else or in books. Its the first hand experience from people who have actually been there and done that that make this site what it is in my opinion. I've always been answered when asking a question about my truck. if you did happen to come to Ohio then I would be down for meeting somewhere. my truck is just a 2wd so no wheelin for me but i'd still like to meet people. I'm near central Ohio and I know there's a few other people around here too. You could easily meet in Mansfield or Marion. Those are fairly big cities other than Columbus and easy to get to.

Just need to add some type of 20th Anniversary 1999-2019 wording to it. I could just add the words under TheRangerStation.com in the logo (see the header image here), but I figured I'd see if someone here could come up with something a little nicer.

As far as Ohio, I'm from Ohio living in Texas. I go through Columbus on my way to visit my mom in NE Ohio.

What about a meet a greet even if it is at a local community center instead of a off road park to just look at each others trucks and talk about them and maybe ride to have lunch somewhere. I understand a trail ride would be good also but a pavement meet would accommodate all ranger builds and designs.

Does not have to be at an off-road park. Doesn't even have to be with 4x4 Ranger. I'll bring a lawn chair and a cooler.

 

[MastuhWaffles]

A meet in Texas would be pretty neato.

 

[Craig0320]

Does not have to be at an off-road park. Doesn't even have to be with 4x4 Ranger. I'll bring a lawn chair and a cooler.[/QUOTE]

10-4 on that Jim. I wonder how many members are around the Mississippi gulf coast

 

[Mark_88]

A meet and greet is a great idea. You should slip across the border and meet up with Mark_88. He missed out on the original banner signings and is a great member on site. I'm pretty sure other Ontario members would come out of the woods for a meet and greet too.

Thanks Richard...

That would be an excellent event that I'd like to see...

Not sure how many Ontario members are still active...I've seen a few posting now and then...so probably at least five that I can think of offhand not including myself...

We'd probably need to lure Jim up with some Maple Syrup and beaver...er, the animal...

 

[Jim Oaks]

You had me at beaver....wait, what?