Land Use & SkillzDay ’17 – A Match Made for Modern Jeepers

Skillz Day by MetalCloak — Fun and Learning for All, by Del Albright

Every year the great folks at MetalCloak conduct their invention for modern jeepers, Skillz Day.  It’s a day of fun, family, jeeping, learning, vendors, incredible lunch and land use at Prairie City SVRA near Folsom, CA.

The MetalCloak team always go out of their way to include land use groups like BlueRibbon Coalition/Sharetrails.Org, the California 4Wheel Drive Association (CA4WDA), and the Rubicon Trail Foundation (RTF).  Stations are set up and participants have to visit every station to accomplish the course.  Land use is a huge part of the course.  Stacie and I had the privilege of representing BRC/ST with our land use booth.

The morning begins with a driver’s meeting by Matson Breakey of the MetalCloak team, a dedicated jeeper and land use advocate himself.

Several supporting vendors show up every year to not only display their products but also teach participants about what their product does for the modern jeeper.

Thompson’s Jeep of Placerville was on scene with a fun toy and their great business of selling jeeps (and more).

I always enjoy my pics and selfies with Matson Breakey, even though our hats are a bit different — we both believe in jeeping, four-wheeling, family and fun!  And oh, yes, land use and keeping the sport alive and well (smile).

You can see the BRC/Sharetrails booth station number 7 proudly displayed.  Stacie is in the booth explaining to participants all about Sharetrails and land use in general.

Stacie and I try to make sure we do not bore the participants with long winded speeches, but rather we focus on key, salient points that they can remember to help save trails.  Our talk centers on the importance of JOINING what makes sense to you because without members (numbers, names), the folks in Washington DC and other elected officials are not impressed.  WE MUST HAVE VOICES.  And voices means names of members in organized recreation.

The other key point we tell folk is to ADVOCATE for their sport.  That means to tell folks WHY they love jeeping and WHAT it means to them and their family.  Share the good news; explain why we challenge our rig and our driving skills.  And to also brag up how we pick up our trash and that of others; how we don’t get off trail; and how we set the example for younger jeepers.

Skillz Day is a great way to bring together hundreds of modern jeepers to enjoy our incredible machines, the company of others,  and the learning you can only get at an event like this.

Hats off to MetalCloak and Cloakworks4x4.