PGR_NTX Patriot Guard Final Itinerary - Gainesville Medal of Honor Events

Tue Mar 24 10:56:31 CDT 2009

FINAL ITINERARY

Medal of Honor Celebration

DFW Airport and Gainesville, Texas

Mission Dates; April 1 & 4, 2009

Ride Captains:

Dewey "Diehard" Dyer; 214-316-8730 (c); dgd8730 at sbcglobal.net;

Gene and Sharon Faulk; 940-284-1147 (c); quawanna at aol.com 

The North Texas Patriot Guard Riders have been invited to participate in
this year's Gainesville, TX Medal of Honor Host City Program celebration.
This year, 12 Medal of Honor recipients will be hosted by the city of
Gainesville and the Medal of Honor Program for many varied functions in and
around town.  The PGR will participate in an escort for the recipients from
DFW airport to Gainesville when they arrive in Texas on April 1, 2009, and
in a parade and book signing in their honor on April 4, 2009.  It is a great
honor to be asked to salute these men in this manner and we are proud and
humbled to do so.

Part 1 - Escort:  Wednesday, April 1, 2009 - 5:00 PM; Dallas/Fort Worth
International Airport to Gainesville, TX

Ride Captain - Dewey "Diehard" Dyer

Staging - 3:45 PM; Briefing - 4:00 PM

It is very important that you attend this briefing.  Miss the briefing and
you may not be allowed to ride.

American Airlines Cargo Terminal

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport

Northbound Service Road - North of Crossunder #2

The cargo terminal does not have a physical address that is recognized by
Mapquest or Google Maps.  If you pull up "DFW International Airport" on
either Mapquest or Google Maps and go to the aerial view, you can see the
cargo terminal on the north end of the airport, on the east side of the main
north/south roadway going through the airport.  It is opposite the large
parking lot on the west side (shaped like a terminal) and it's the last set
of buildings you see before you exit the airport on the north end.

Approaching the north airport entrance (heading south) take the service road
exit before entering the toll booths.  Take the second cross-under (the have
signs on them), U-turn and head north on the opposite service road.  The AA
cargo facility is the second to the last building on the right.  We will be
in the north end of the parking lot.

>From the south airport entrance (heading north), take the service road exit
before entering the toll booths.  Continue traveling north on the service
road.  The AA cargo facility is the second to the last building on the
right.  We will be in the north end of the parking lot.

There is a Shell gas station at the south end of the airport, on the airport
facility.  Please either plan to gas up there or shortly before you get to
the airport.  There is no gas, food or water facility at the staging area,
very limited access to rest rooms, and we will not be stopping once we are
on the way to Gainesville.  The ride to Gainesville is about 70 miles.  

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Medal of Honor recipients will be arriving at the airport throughout the
afternoon and will be spending time with the troops at the USO area.  When
all of the recipients have arrived and are ready to leave, the delegation
from Gainesville and the recipients will be brought to our location and we
will immediately depart for Gainesville.  Our PGR brothers and sisters in
Gainesville will have a flag line set up at the hotel to greet the
recipients when we arrive.  There is no scheduled event or greeting at the
hotel.  The mission is the escort itself.  The recipients have a private
event scheduled for shortly after they arrive at the hotel.  Our part of the
mission will conclude when the recipients are inside the hotel.  There is a
Cracker Barrel restaurant right next door to our destination and an
Applebee's in the shared parking lot a short distance away.  We will be
about 5 miles away from downtown Gainesville where there are multiple places
to eat.

For the GPS junkies among us, our destination is:

Hampton Inn

4325 N I-35
Gainesville, TX 76240
(940) 612-4300

(Exit 501)

Traffic will be very heavy at this time of day and a well disciplined
formation will be critical for our own safety, particularly while we are on
Highway 114.  This is serious business and must be treated as such.  Your
safety and that of the riders around you depends on being focused and paying
close attention.  Please be on time for the briefing prior to this escort.

Part 2 - Parade:  Saturday, April 4, 2009 - 10:00 AM; Downtown Gainesville,
Texas

Ride Captains - Gene and Sharon Faulk

Staging - 8:00 AM; Briefing - 8:15 AM

Old Gainesville High School Football Stadium Parking Lot

100 Block E. Hird St.

Gainesville, TX  76240

Map - http://tinyurl.com/cugsqm 

For those coming northbound on I-35 you can see that exit 496A, the Weaver
Street exit, takes you almost right to the staging area.  For those coming
from other directions, please avoid Weaver Street, which runs north & south
off of Hird Street and approach from the east side of the staging area if
possible.  Denton Street and Lindsey streets are good alternatives and both
cross Hird St.  The rest of the parade will be staging in the area of the
baseball field you see located near the intersection of Weaver and
California and this area will be very congested.  You may also find
California Street blocked in certain areas, as California street is the main
parade route.  Please just take your time and work your way to the staging
area.  We will stage with big flag bikes in front and others following.  We
have only a VERY limited space to put cages in the parade.  If you want your
cage in the parade, decorate it in a patriotic manner.  This is a parade,
after all.  Folks who don't ride motorcycles and cannot walk the half-mile
parade route (and then the approximately other half-mile to the book signing
location) can ride in a truck that we already know will be in the parade
with us.  We will work this out in the staging area.  Depending on the
number of bikes we have, we may go down the street 3 or 4 abreast.  Semper
Gumby.  We'll only be able to go as fast as the Marine Corps color guard
will walk so this will work out fine.  Since the parade is in the morning
and it's still early in the year, heat shouldn't be a problem for the riders
or the bikes.  We'll smile and wave to the folks and have a great time.

The parade line up at the time of this posting has a police vehicle leading
the parade, then a Marine Corps color guard, the Fort Sill Army Band, an
Army Recruiter, David Hall and the Liberty Bell, then us, followed by the
VFW color guard and float, then the recipients, the Grand Marshall, etc.  We
will have a reserved designated parking area at the First State Bank
building at the end of the parade where the bikes will be lined up side by
side as a show of patriotism.  Details will be given at the briefing. 

Part 3 - Book Signing:  Saturday, April 4, 2009 - Noon to 2:00 PM; 

Ride Captain - Sharon Faulk and designee(s)

Staging - Immediately After Parade; Briefing - Same

Post-parade parking area

The book signing will be in the First State Bank Conference Center, right
next door to the First State Bank building where we are parking following
the parade.  Briefing for this event will be held as soon as we are parked
and can muster for the briefing.

We have a limited number of spots for page turners.  We will be sharing 9
recipients among us over a 2 hour period.  For everyone who wants to get a
chance, we will need to cooperate well together.  PGR members ONLY will be
page turners, please. Sharon will be coordinating this.

The good news for everyone is that all of the riders will be arriving at the
book signing location ahead of just about everyone else so we should be at
or near the front of the line to go in. 

Weather:  Advanced weather forecasts are for good weather for all events and
temperatures in the 70s as highs for those days.  It's early yet for
predictions to be accurate so please be prepared.

Our mission is to honor these Medal of Honor recipients.  We will not be
honoring them if the focus is not on them the entire time.  Whenever we have
200+ motorcycles gathered in any one place, we are bound to attract
attention and that's OK.  But whenever we have 200+ bikes gathered in any
one place we also have a recipe for a disaster of large proportion.
Accidents happen and we all understand that.  Bikes break, flat tires happen
and things unavoidable sometimes just creep up on us.  But if our own
inattention to what we are responsible for causes a 20+ bike wreck, then the
focus is no longer on the recipients and the headline in all of the
newspapers and on the news is not about these brave men and their
accomplishments, but it is on the big bike wreck.  Plus, the all important
possibility of injured riders.  So let's please all double check everything
mechanical on the bikes, double check your flag mounts and poles, make sure
you have plenty of gas for the escort and the parade, that you are dressed
appropriately, etc.  Please make sure you are on top of your game at all
times.  Even forgetting to put down a side stand while parking could set off
a chain reaction of 75 bikes that could cost a lot to fix and maybe trap
somebody in the domino effect if they happen to be standing nearby. 

No water truck(s) are being specifically requested for any of the events in
this mission.  There may be something available but with the number of bikes
anticipated, we are simply not set up to accommodate the demand.  So.please
plan on being self sufficient for water, sport drink(s), snack, sandwich,
whatever you think you will need.  Anything above that is a bonus.

For all events please be sure to bring your cameras for plenty of photos,
including with the recipients when the opportunity presents itself.  Let's
have a good time, be safe, and make a great memory for the fine men and
great American heroes.

Respectfully Submitted,

Dewey "Diehard" Dyer

Sharon "Quawanna" Faulk

Gene "Walking Eagle" Faulk

North Texas Ride Captains

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