On August 28, 2022 the time had finally come! Sunday around 9:45 am, we were still doing the final construction work, the first participant rolled his Seven into the parking lot and the 1st Black Forest Sevenerlei meeting began. By the afternoon, more than 50 Seven and Lotus vehicles came to the parking lot at the Wildpark in Villingen-Schwenningen and the first meeting that I organized myself has become complete success for the participants and for me.
I first thought about organizing something like this was about a year ago. Corona dominated life in Germany. The desire to meet like-minded people grew more and more and the idea of a kind of rally with the Seven had been in my head for a long time. After a visit to the Wildpark restaurant, I noticed the fairly large parking lot there. Located on the edge of Schwenningen, there would be space for parking for at least 40 vehicles.
Shortly afterwards I spoke to Bianca, the hostess of the Wildpark, about it. She was immediately enthusiastic about the idea and promised me her support. Still a little unsure whether I actually wanted to organize such a meeting, I let Stefan Heth in on my thoughts shortly before Christmas. He too was immediately enthusiastic about the idea. Until then, I was still thinking about a first meeting in 2023, but Stefan wasn’t. We’ll do it next year!
OK. What has to be done now? First I asked Stefan to take a look at the parking lot and the restaurant with me. During the site visit we counted the number of possible parking spaces and came up with around 40-50. We also set the date and decided to invite all kinds of Seven and Lotus. I simply find it more varied when many different vehicles are represented. I would continue to take care of the organization while Stefan takes care of articles and advertising on social networks. He also provided an email address specifically for the meeting.
It was now February and after many attempts I finally reached the responsible official of the town by phone. Some of the parking spaces in front of the restaurant belong to the city, so the administration had to be informed and a blocking organized. To get the event approved, I had to fill out a multi-page application. It’s good that we have the restaurant on site, so I don’t have to worry about toilets, catering and accident insurance. After a few weeks, the town approved and promised to close the parking spaces to the public on the day of the event. Again we were one step further.
From April we began advertising the Sevenerlei in the club magazines and internet forums. The first registration actually came shortly afterwards! A Norwegian traveling in Europe with his Seven wanted to stop by us. That started well. After that there was nothing for a long time…
At the meeting we decided to lay out suggested routes so that participants could organize a short trip themselves and thought about nearby destinations for sightseeing. I had small stickers printed to commemorate the meeting. Everyone would receive a bag of gummy bears and stickers. Gummy bears are ideal for the Seven – they don’t drip or spill and if you find them under the seat after years of cleaning, they are actually still eatable.
Time passed quickly with the Jim Clark Revival, trips and finally the Oldtimer Grand Prix at the beginning of August. Stefan came to meet me in the paddock on Saturday morning and happily announced: “20 registrations”! Excellent. The first Sevenerlei event would definitely take place. I informed Bianca about the number of participants and together we thought about what dishes the kitchen could offer especially for the Seven meeting. Participants were able to choose between different dishes on a small, beautifully designed special menu. “Fish and Chips” became an absolute hit in a very British way. New registrations came almost every day and shortly before the meeting there were a good 40 participants. Now, a few days before the appointment, we began to look at the weather. It looked mixed. It was clear to us that if it rained on Sunday only a few Seven would be there.
I had agreed with Dieter to put up a small signage in Schwenningen on the Friday before the meeting. But rain stopped it! And he didn’t like my idea of simply painting the cardboard signs on site and hanging them up at all. So I asked my daughter to draw a seven on the yellow cardboard using a stencil. We were actually able to hang these signs around the restaurant on Saturday evening. The weather had gotten better and it was supposed to stay dry on Sunday!
Sunday morning, 9 am. I made my way to the Wildpark with my little one. I packed stickers, gummy bears and a donation box. There weren’t any major expenses, so we didn’t want to charge a participation fee. Nevertheless, I was hoping for a little sponsorship from the participants. As promised, the city had put up no-parking signs at the parking lot and the entire parking lot was available to us. Stefan came shortly after me and brought a tent for a small information stand. He probably didn’t quite trust the weather yet. And then it began. Seven and Lotus came to us seemingly non-stop. I tried to greet everyone and keep some order in the parking lot. Roughly according to the motto “Seven on the right, Lotus on the left and please drive a little closer so that there is room for someone else”.
The time flew by. In the afternoon the first ones made their way back, others had arranged to go on a short trip. There was a happy atmosphere, it felt like everyone was talking to everyone else and somehow it was like a big get-together. The rally concept worked. We had participants from all directions as far as the Allgäu and Switzerland. The Norwegian also came, however with an ADAC rental car, which he parked discreetly on the side. His Seven was broken and in a workshop for repair. I finally had a chance to try the soup, toast and stew. By this time fish and chips were already sold out. Peace slowly returned to the parking lot and around 6 pm. I was the last to drive my little one back into the garage. Now take down the signs and end of day.
To be honest, I was expecting a maximum of 20-30 participants the first time. Over 50 was great! So we’ll do it again next year! The 2nd Black Forest Sevenerlei will take place on August 27, 2023 in Schwenningen. Maybe we’ll see each other then. I would be happy!
Many thanks to Stefan, Dieter, Bianca and Frida for their support and help with the organization!
Thomas Krausche
PS: There are more pictures from the 1st Sevenerlei meeting here!