Veterans Day Celebrations

Good morning friends of Mission Repair-

Join us in Kansas City as we honor those who served in defense of our country. KC was recently rated as one of the top locations in the nation to honor veterans. Commemorations, concerts, symposiums and more were planned throughout this special weekend. Did you watch any football this weekend? You might have seen the orchestrated “Thank you Veteran’s” signs in the stands only viewable from the air. There were also lots of other tidbits including camouflaged ribbon footballs, goal post wraps, and equipment that every teams is using. In my opinion the NFL has always done a great job honoring the nation’s Vets.

Here in Kansas City today, at the Liberty Memorial you can see a Color Guard Parade – This spectacular representation of Kansas color guards groups will be held just before the morning ceremony. It features a wide array of veterans group from history re-enactors to Patriot Guard Riders. Followed by an assembly and Overture by the American Legion Band Conducted by Heather Picket, the American Legion Band will fill the stage of J.C. Nichols Auditorium, performing music before and during the morning Veterans Day Ceremony including the Armed Services Medley honoring those who served in all branches of the armed services. They are capping off the festivities with Veterans Day Formal Morning Program – This year, Dr. Matthew Naylor, President and CEO of the National WWI Museum, will be Master of Ceremonies as the program highlights remarks by Kansas City Mayor Sly James, Congressman Emmanuel Cleaver, author Richard Rubin and more. Ron Guttierrez, Iraq War Veteran, will sing the National Anthem.

I even got up early (I’m talking “crack of dawn early”) to fire up our 1968 Deuce and a Half and deliver it to a Desoto School District Elementary School as a display to honor Veteran’s and help educate students on the importance of the day. Check out a video of our Deuce that I made last month here.

I have a close connection to this Day, November 11th – Veteran’s Day – as it was just a couple of years ago that my father, Gary A. Arter a Vietnam Veteran passed away on November 14th. I can clearly remember speaking to him on Veteran’s Day 2011 and hanging an American Flag in his bedroom. That flag is with him as we speak and will remain with him forever. His time spent serving overseas was a huge piece of his life which has translated over to me.

Thanks Dad, and every other Veteran that has sacrificed their personal well-being, time, family and health for protecting our country. Without you, we would not have what we have.

On that note, and before I get too choked up, I’ll conclude this blog and get back to work. It’s a busy time here at the Mission Repair headquarters and there’s no time to lose!

Take care, Ryan

The Maple Leaf Festival was a ton of fun!

Hi friends,

ZIP – Monday has FLOWN by here at Mission Repair. I looked at the clock when Melanie and Adam (who sit in the office next to mine) turned off their computers and headed out the door.

What?! It’s 5:00pm already? I haven’t even begun my first blog of the day yet. Sheesh I might be losing my touch; I’m going to work on it.

Last weekend we had our Deuce and a Half in the Maple Leaf Festival in Baldwin City, Kansas. It was a brisk Saturday morning as we packed up and headed out to get the rig ready for the mass of 75,000 parade goers that line the streets each October. We had 17 HUGE bags of candy to hand out (we’ve run out before that’s no fun), flipped on some “Vietnam Era” music and had a great time.

Above is a shot of the group (I’m behind the camera) just before the parade started. Left to right that’s Casey, Neal, Martha, Lennie, Jordyn, Michael, Baby Mason, Lexi, Derrick and Dandra in the back of the truck hiding in the camouflage!

Since I couldn’t stand it, I had to post a couple of pics of the cutest baby around. Here’s Derrick and his boy Mason up close sporting his very own custom Mission Repair tshirt! How cool is that!?!

Finally, one more shot with Mason who is ready for some action. Truth be told, he got to ride in a stroller and he actually fell asleep before the parade route was over. It’s good to be a toddler 😉 I’m going to start training him on iPad repairs next week…we’ll see how he does!

Ah, I’m just kidding. The technicians that we employ are all over the age of 18 even though they may act like children sometimes. You know who I’m talking about. Jake.

Well the parade was a lot of work like usual, but the reward is the packed front office all day today. We always meet a ton of new people and customers when we do these parades. It’s just part of the fun here at Mission Repair.

Have a good evening everyone- take care, Ryan

Snowmageddon part 2, but we are open!

Hello everyone, it’s been an incredible 7 days with our winter’s worth of snow packing into 2 large storms.

Last week, winter storm “Q” really unleashed a pile of snow on the Kansas City and Midwest area that crippled us for a day. Then last night, winter storm “Rocky” was predicted to drop another 15″ of snow, but frankly, it was a huge letdown in that case. In fact, we are open today and rolling out repairs so our customers can get back in business as soon as possible! In fact, we’ve already received walk-in customers today, so it’s been a busy morning at Mission Repair so far!

However, Fedex has warned us that we will not have a normal pickup that afternoon, but we can still drop off packages to the station. . .which we will do. Risky you might ask? Not when I’m going to drive the Mission Repair M35a2 full of packages to the FedEx hub!

With a license plate “NVRSTUK” we will make it to drop off those packages!

OK, so taking the Deuce out was for just a little bit of fun 😉

We are unleashing our own storm here at Mission Repair and adding a ton of new services as we speak. We will back at the blogging here today, and watch the presswire for other announcements. Stay tuned, and stay warm!

Take care, Ryan

Have you seen this vehicle running around the city?

Good afternoon all- we’re warming up the Mission Repair Mobile and heading out to support all of our customers with a little flair.

What you’re seeing here is our 1968 M35A2 (Deuce and a Half)!

This Deuce and a Half was born in 1968 by the Kaiser Jeep Corporation and was completely refurbished in 2011. It is now classified as a decommissioned military vehicle and is 100% completely street legal registered in the State of Kansas. The body was taken off of the frame and all the pieces were stripped, sand blasted and undercoated. The body was disassembled and repainted in modern-day Desert Tan paint. The military was kind enough to upgrade this unit – the engine, transmission, transfer case and all 3 axles were replaced with new assemblies. If you get a chance to hear it, it runs the legendary “whistler” turbo diesel engine that can move the 13,000 lb truck up to 65 miles per hour and it gets about 11 miles per gallon.

Our particular Deuce is 100% stock except for the paint color, wheels and tires. We upgraded the rear hubs and removed the stock 38″ dually tires – we “singled” the rear axles and installed a set of MONSTER 47″ Michelin mud tires to make this 6-wheel-drive truck unstoppable in the snow, mud or on any off-road trail.

It’s cargo capacity is 10,000 lbs, and it can drive through 40 inches of water without an issue! It’s also a multi-fuel truck that primarily uses diesel, but will run on regular gasoline, kerosene, jet fuel, used motor oil, transmission fluid, hydraulic fluid, and veggie oil. They just don’t make them like they used to!

This Deuce has a history of combat in the US Army and is a tribute to all the men and women that have served or are currently serving in the US Armed Forces.

It’s life is easy now and serves as the mascot for our business which allows us to carry out our Mission – to service our customers.

We will be displaying this truck and promoting our business in several parades coming up in the next few weeks, I hope you can make it out:

September 10, 2011 – Old Settlers Parade in Olathe, Kansas
September 17, 2011 – Spring Hill Fall Festival in Spring Hill, Kansas
October 16, 2011 – Maple Leaf Festival in Baldwin City, Kansas

Stop by and say hello!

Best, Ryan