Surfing the net one day, I found out about the Volkswagen Traffic Jam in New York City NY. The thing that caught my attention was the location of the show. The organizers had chosen the Governors Island for the show. The Governors Island is a small island approachable only by ferry so on the day of the show, all cars would need to be ferried over. The island is normally a pedestrian zone but VW’s would be allowed as a special favour. I always try and attend at least one new show each year and this was going to be ‘IT’
I wrote back to the organizer of the show and she e-mailed me right back. Her excitement level kept on growing as I introduced Billo to her. I sent her Billo’s picture and she called me right away requesting permission to use the picture in the promotional material for the show. I sent her a high resolution picture that I had taken on the day of the Kitchener waterloo Bug Out 2011. Laura did a tremendous job at promoting the show and Billo was the icon of the show. From the city events page in the Wall Street Journal to Time Out New York, Billo’s picture was everywhere. The activity guide for Governors Island had a picture of Billo as did the posters advertising the show.
Billo was a star in the Big Apple!
They put a picture of Billo on the website with a short intro and on their Facebook page. The excitement and the anticipation was growing with every passing day.
I have family in Staten Island so we decided to make a family trip out of it. I had sold the tow dolly early 2010 due to parking issues so rented it for the trip. Billo followed us to Staten Island where we spent the night. The next morning I took an early start to wash and wax Billo and ready her for the show. It was a Saturday so the morning traffic thru Manhattan wasn’t as wild as on a regular day. I made it in good time to the ferry terminal and met everyone as we waited for the ferry to take us along with our rides to the island.
The settings were simply fabulous. The Statue of Liberty stood in the back ground and the cool breeze even though tainted by the New York pollution was still quite refreshing. The show was very well organized and the settings offered a fun relaxing time for everyone. The spectators (and there were a whole lot of them) could rent bikes and ride all over the island or just relax on the cool benches provided. As always there was a crowd of people who were fascinated with Billo’s artwork and I had a busy time explaining the background and the motivation. I was interviewed by at least three TV teams - one of them was filming for a Beijing TV channel!
The sky was overcast and the forecast was for rain showers. The weather man was right. It did rain and it rained like no-body's-business. However we took it in stride and waited it out. After about an hour it stopped raining and even the sun peeked for short intervals.
Each spectator was allowed one vote and when the votes were counted….
Billo was the Spectators Choice!
