Northern New Jersey Region SCCA – USMC Toys for Tots ‘2021 Teddy Bear Road Rally’ By Peter Schneider

This event is a simple-to-follow road rally using the back roads of Morris, Warren, and Hunterdon Counties. The event started at Route 46 Subaru/Subaru World of Hackettstown and ended about 45 miles later at the Long Valley Brew Pub in the center of Long Valley, NJ.

The rally was open to the general public and required only a car or light truck with a working odometer and a pen/pencil to compete, and it was a lightly-trapped Social ‘gimmick’ rally. The entry fee per car was a new Teddy Bear or toy worth at least $35.00 retail donated to the USMC Reserve Toys for Tots Program. 

‘Toys for Tots’ began in 1947 when Major Bill Hendricks and a group of Marine Reservists in Los Angeles collected and distributed 5,000 toys to needy children. The idea came from Bill’s wife, Diane. In the fall of 1947, Diane crafted a homemade doll and asked Bill to deliver the doll to an organization, which would give it to a needy child at Christmas. When Bill determined that no agency existed, Diane told Bill that he should start one. He did. The 1947 pilot project was so successful that the Marine Corps adopted ‘Toys for Tots’ in 1948 and expanded it into a nationwide campaign.

The Teddy Bear Rally is a mileage-based course rally. One hundred points are awarded for each mile variance from the official route. The contestants note their car’s odometer reading at unmanned (DIY) checkpoints listed in the route instructions. The club utilizes an odometer calibration leg to compute corrected leg mileages and compare them with the official leg mileages to determine scores.

Since 2016, the Region has posted event notifications on Facebook and targeted individuals in NJ, NY, and Pennsylvania. With low-cost ads and email blasts on Constant Contact, we have maintained a steady list of entries for our events.

Since its inception, the ‘Toys for Tots’ rally has used ‘Photo Clues’ (a format borrowed from the Metro Porsche Club – Snowflake Rally, which has run for the past 66 years) to provide contestants a little extra challenge. These Photo Clues can be compared to ‘Lettered Route Instructions’ used on SCCA National Course events. The Photos are of signs/scenes along the rally route, which at times are hard to spot (but not impossible) or of easy-to-see everyday common signs that have slight variations due to weathering or defects. All of these features must be taken into account when correctly executing a Photo Clue instruction. In addition to the Photo Clues, the rally has also used standard route following traps based on the ‘onto’ rule and reversed numbered route instructions. All route ‘traps’ are self-correcting, with the difference in the official on-course vs. off-course mileage helping separate the scores.

This year’s event had only four legs, an odometer leg, and three scored legs that contained simple route following traps and could be driven in about two hours. Since some of the route following traps ‘short cutted’ the route, several teams finished the event in less time.

Leg 1 — The Odometer Leg

No route following traps on this leg; everyone got a zero on this leg.  Since the rally organizers utilize an Excel Spreadsheet to compare the contestant’s leg mileage to the official mileage, any leg that does not contain a route following trap can be used as the odometer leg.

Leg 2 — Photo Clue A, which began after Instruction #20

For Instruction #22, you were looking to make a L FOPP (First Opportunity) after SOL “DAVID POST RD.” As “DAVID POST RD” was in all capitals and in quotes, according to the Generals, you were looking for a sign that said this. SOL meant it was on the left. When you came upon this sign, the L FOPP was David Post Rd, as the signpost was on the near side of the road, so you should have correctly made a L on David Post Rd. If you thought that the L FOPP was after David Post Rd (the actual street, not the sign), then you would have gone down the road a little further and made a L on Hook Mtn Dr. Both teams would then have executed Instruction #23, L at STOP. Those on-course would have made a L on Petticoat Ln. Those off-course would have made a L at STOP on Herman Thau Rd. Both would eventually come to a STOP, see the two dinosaur sculptures in Photo Clue A, and then make an L on Petticoat Ln based on the Photo Clue Instruction. Both groups would then have made a L at STOP, and then a R FOPP onto Mt Grove Rd where you came to Checkpoint #2 at the “NORTH STAR DR” signpost. Penalty:  203 mileage points (over mileage)

Leg 3 — Photo Clue B, after Checkpoint at Instruction #26

This was an expert trap. According to the Generals, the rally course is on through, paved, public roads. Since you were told that North Star Dr is an unmarked dead end (and according to the Generals, a non-existent road), then you should have followed the third Route Following Priority, and drove straight as possible when you left the Checkpoint, while you were looking to execute the second part of Instruction #26, which was then S. Those who thought that going straight when you left the Checkpoint completed Instruction #26, would have then turned L FOPP on Hoffmans Crossing Rd and would now be off-course. 

Those who knew not to count leaving the Checkpoint as going S would have gone S at the intersection of Hoffmans Crossing Rd (where those off-course made a L FOPP) and would have continued going straight as possible and eventually saw the sign in Photo Clue B. Both groups would eventually come to a T and make the L at STOP at T onto Route 513. What also made this an expert trap was that those on-course came to several intersections where they would have encountered some crossroads and needed to keep going straight as possible. This is also known as a “confidence trap” and tests the rallyists on their correct application of the Route Following Priorities. Everyone eventually executed Instruction #29 and made a R onto Route 628, which would have brought you to a STOP sign at a T, which was Checkpoint 3. If you missed this, it’s part of the learning process and becoming a better rallyist (we know, because that’s how we learned about it!). Penalty: 171 mileage points (under mileage).

Leg 4 — Photo Clue C and Clue D after Checkpoint at Instruction #32

For Instruction #33, you were directed to go R onto Mt. Lebanon Rd. According to the second Route Following Priority, when you are directed onto a road by name or number by way of the use of the word “onto,” then you are to follow that road by name or number until the execution of the first action of the next numbered instruction. As you are driving on Mt. Lebanon Rd, you come to an intersection where you could have gone straight on Pt Mountain Rd or made a R to stay onto Mt. Lebanon Rd (please note that there was also a sign on Mt Lebanon Rd before the intersection that showed you that Mt Lebanon Rd made a right).

To stay on-course, you should have made a R where you would have encountered the SOL scene in Photo Clue D and then made a L FOPP on Turkey Top Rd. If you went straight, you would have encountered the scene in Photo Clue C as you crossed the bridge. Both teams then made a R onto Penwell Rd and then executed Instruction #35, R on Califon Rd. The HELPER that the street sign may be turned and HTS (Hard to See) only pertained to those on-course, as the Penwell Rd sign was turned. Eventually, everyone got to Checkpoint 4 at the STOP. Penalty:  48 mileage points (over mileage). It should be noted that while some teams did successfully notice that Mt Lebanon Rd made a turn, they still had problems in this leg because they failed to notice or forgot to look for the Photo Clue D and added mileage to their score.

Closing

The event was scored in three classes: Novice, Intermediate, and Expert, with Special Awards for Best First Timer, Best Subaru, Best Porsche, Best Family, Best Husband & Wife/Partners, and Dead Last But Finished. Class winners received a framed photo award, and all Special Awards receipts received medals.

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SCCA-NNJR and the Motorsport Club of North Jersey would like to thank all that participated in our annual event. Our great appreciation and thanks to Eric and Pat Sjogren, who designed the route and worked a Passage Control, and to my wife Joanne Schneider, who checked the event with me several times and for her assistance with the event since its inception in 1990.

Photo credits to Eric and Pat Sjogren.