Dubs In the Valley (DIV) Oshkosh WI: A history lesson

In a land not so far away somewhere in the roundabouts of the last decade there was a group of guys who were into cars. Big cars, small cars, wheels, a propulsion system and badass were about the only items needed to muster the attention of these fellows.

They of course had a particular brand that captivated them the most, a brand that they had been drawn to from their early ages for a multitude of different reasons. Some had parents who had driven them, and hot rodded them, and their earliest memories were riding around in their parents old VWs. Some were enamored with them since their still developing minds could recognize what a car was. At events riddled with supercars and feats of engineering meant for the race track, these kids would gravitate to the dent riddled, battle scarred bodies of Rabbits modified with high compression racing engines, rollcages, numbers and sponsor logos all over the outside, and the cars held a certain mystique. The ugly ducklings that when put on the track blossomed into beautiful swans as they three-wheeled around the tight corners and outhandled cars of the same vintage that were equal to the difference of the pfister hotel and a one room shack with half a roof in the ozarks found abandoned by settlers decades ago.  I'm starting to ramble, telling my side of the story here, so let me get back on track......

This group of guys, all either deeply immersed in the VW modifying scene, or budding into it, were what the car world calls "enthusiasts". With a distinct passion for cars, beer, friends, and all things that go hand in hand with that lifestyle, these guys lived it. Always wrenching, hanging out, and having a good time in general.

Although from different backgrounds, all with a different idea of what they considered "fun" they had one thing in common. They loved getting their cars cleaned up, jumping in and driving to a car show.

They saw things at these shows that they found questionable at best. The awards, who was getting the awards, the activities, the location, blah blah blah. This was really the period where internet was starting to come of age. Peoples gripes and concerns were being heard via the internet as well as the golden age of: "internet fame" Pissing, moaning, building, yelling, name calling, and gratuitous complimenting were becoming prevalent and carshows were definitely one hot topic. Pages and pages of arguments, most started by a miffed attendee, and responded to by whoever was posting on behalf of the show. It made for hours of reading pleasure (I do think on of my favorite hobbies is reading arguments people are having on public forums, some of it is mundane, but every now and then you find some comments that lead you to believe that if society had not intervened with natural selection, there would be many less people on this planet)

These fellows were not the loud start a fight types on the internet, well, maybe once and a while when they something they thought was unjust, but they also held their own opinions about things. Usually  they held their tongues if only publically, as their thoughts generally came out to each other at what we could now call (looking back) meetings, normally held at the local VW shop where Benny worked or in my basement (the rock and roll palace also dubbed "manville" by my downstairs neighbor who built it) So that's it, a shop with cars, or loud sessions in a basement bar with instruments that carried alot of volume. That is where much brainstorming happened. How we were going to take over the world.

Circa- winter 06/07 Left to right: Ben Kwitek, Matt Kwitek, Bao Nyguen, And yours truly, Joe D. This photo is significant because it was the very first "official" planning session for DIV, the next paragraph will explain the premise of this night and leading up to DIV#1 in 2007.

In all the threads with complaints about carshows virtually every organizer responding to these gripes cited how difficult and time consuming it was to put all this effort and time into organizing said event. Committee meetings, venue problems, cost, infighting, etc. Toil toil boil and trouble right? Whatever, do you love it? Why are you doing it then if it sucks so much was the general consensus amongst ourselves. So in a (possibly inebriated, we'll never tell) discussion about this, as we laughed at these posts regarding how hard it was to set this up, we decided to have a carshow. If only to mock those posts. Yes, DIV started as a joke among a group of friends drinking beer in a shop In Madison WI. The photo above shows us at our first planning "meeting" at the Ale Asylum in Madison. A proposal was written up by one of us with scant (at the time we thought theywere plentiful) details about venue, basic cost, classes, etc. We were confident we had it all nailed down by the end of the first pint so shenanigans around Madison ensued for the rest of the night with the knowledge that we could actually pull this off.

And so it began. Next DIV installment will be about the players, the rulebreakers, the anti carshow carshow, and the development of a brand that is personal legend to us, and the times and trials of getting one of these off the ground. It's a good story, stay tuned. Up next will be a little closer look at some of the cast and crew, as well as some details from this:

Next up: burning questions left unanswered in this post. If we were in Madison, why is it "Dubs In the Valley" and in Oshkosh? Where did that badass logo come from that we plaster everywhere? Just to keep you interested, these are some original pieces of  memorabilia from DIV1, or 2007 as we called it then. See you next time and thanks for tuning in.