Hello GD.comer’s, my name is Robert Tron, and boy, where to begin…I got involved in glamisdunes.com back in the late nineties when I was heavy into racing motocross and riding dunes with my brother Cheff. It was really my first “website” or internet experience on that old board. But prior to that, our family first began doing the desert in Ocotillo when I was the age of 4, pole line road was our stop. But once I went to Glamis, I fell in love with the place. My brother and I slept on cots and rode three wheelers, all day and all night. I couldn’t get down there enough. The stories I could tell (which I will share soon) could fill an entire book. I was just a regular glamis off-roader, and then I met a special character named Slappy McDuner on that old board, a strange character who introduced me to the beauty of Glamis and all the wildlife that live upon her. He taught me so much about the little things that Glamis had to offer, and not just being a place to go ride dirt bikes. I gained such an appreciation for Glamis from his teachings.
I was very excited to see that Kurt Leptich, who owned glamisdunes.com at the time and who was quite fond of Slappy, gave Slappy a forum on his ‘newer’ version of GD.com, an up-grade might I say. The upgrade had forums that are similar to what we have now, and he titled it “Slappy’s Neighborhood-The Enlightenment of Glamis”. I was really excited for Slappy, for he had so much to tell and share about the beauty of Glamis. Then, Kurt Leptich decided to sell Glamisdunes.com, and Slappy told me to go after it. Now, at this same time, I met The Magic Man (FNG) at our local bowling alley (yes, we were in a bowling league together), who said, “Let’s get it, I do computer stuff”. I jumped at it and became the owner of Glamisdunes.com. This I believe was around 2000 or 2001, (the timeline is a bit jumbled; lots was going on). And during all of this, the BLM closed 49,000 acres of our beautiful sand dunes, and the fight was on.
FNG and I promoted the symbiotic relationship between off road enthusiasts and the wildlife of the Algodones Sand Dunes, and we let Slappy out of his cage. The wildlife became the forefront of our education program offroad (EPO), with Slappy leading the way, with the goal of educating off-roaders about the wildlife that lives out on Glamis; endangered species and species of concern would be the focus. Our program: Educate every single off-roader about the wildlife so that we knew more about the wildlife than the greenies did, hence, we knew what to look for and how to protect it, and with that new found knowledge, we could ultimately open the dunes. Slappy was nonstop. He wrote stories of all his journey’s with the critters of Glamis, played riddles and games, captions contests, and with those games we gave prizes to those who could answer the riddles or come up with the best picture captions or post the best poetry or stories about Glamis. Slappy’s McScrappbook was soon created; he saved his favorite member posts in this scrapbook. With Slappy’s ideas and wisdom, the education program sprouted faster than a Milkvetch. His idea was to teach everybody about Mother Glamis’ wildlife. And if one person or group could stop while out on a ride and identify the milkvetch, or the Dune Evening Primrose, or the Algodones Dunes Sunflower, then the program would be successful. Soon Slappy’s Brotherhood was created, The Brotherhood of the Slap. And with the rapidly growing number of members here on Glamisdunes.com, The SlapArmy was born. Glamisdunes.com members created a family right here on the board. They gathered together for Taco Tuesdays, parties, Glamis gatherings, events, clean ups, Sand Sports Super Shows, golf tournaments, EPO’s, Veterans Ceremony’s…it was endless. Although there was much talk about all things in life with this new family, the underlying theme was the wildlife, opening Glamis, and taking care of each other, NO MATTER WHAT. I became part of an incredible family; it was and is the best I’ve ever seen.
There was something that The Pastor told me a long time ago when we first got our whip flags and stickers. He said that no matter where he is or what he is doing, if he sees someone with a glamisdunes.com flag or sticker on their car, buggy, quad, or motorcycle, that person will have your back no matter what happens. And that is so true. If I am out on G and I see a glamisdunes.com flag, I know that he or she is my friend, and we have a family connection. That is something to be very proud of.
I’ve met so many good people these last 22 years here on glamisdunes.com, my best friends as a matter of fact. The people who have stepped up and volunteered their time and effort to make the events of glamisdunes.com successful and great, are the finest people I have ever had the pleasure of working with. And you know who you are. Vets, golf, EPO, Sand Shows…As Trap has said many times, “How about a big hand for the Event Staff.” This Glamisdunes family has been together and supported each other through life’s hard times, and we’ve been together through life’s good times. Family members born; family members lost. Anything life threw at us, we lived it and got through it, together. I could write a book about all of the events and the intricate stories that happened during the gatherings and events, and someday I might. And like anything that is planned or created, I no doubt could count on glamisdunes.com people stepping right up and volunteering their time to help, and I know it would be the best.
The crash of 2021 hurt us, hurt us really bad. When FNG told me on that fateful Wednesday, “We lost her, we lost everything”. I felt the pain in his voice, and I couldn’t believe it. I sobbed and cried, and I couldn’t stop. I hadn’t cried that hard since my dad died, and it felt the same, like I lost a family member. I can tell you that from deep in my heart, I sobbed for the members and of what we created together. I know FNG and Stugots cried, because we did it together on the phone (Sorry FNG, Stugots, I know you didn’t want me to tell anybody). And I know how terrible FNG felt, because he is so passionate and proud of GD.com and so good at what he does; to him it was his worse nightmare. There was no yelling, anger, or fault on anybody, it happened, and we felt pain. I didn’t sleep that night, and I didn’t go to work the next day, nor did my wife. When the morning came, Jen and I just sat quietly on the couch, and didn’t say anything for over an hour; I just stared out the window. It was quiet, serene, and it felt weird. I then broke the silence and said, “What are we gonna do?” There was a long pause, and Jen replied, “Do we let her die?” It was hard to believe that we were thinking along those lines, because I never imagined GD.com ending, only passing of the torch someday, but never dying. I always considered her bigger than any of us, she is a platform for so many people, and she will be there, even when I am not. But she died that night. We talked whether we could start from scratch, or do we even have the energy to do it all over again. We talked about selling the domain name, but I couldn’t fathom that. But what else was there. Could FNG do it again? The years and time he has put in behind that keyboard, the magic he created for all of us, and all the things me and Stugots has asked of him over the years, could he even find the energy to do it. (And trust me, Stugots and I are, and have been, A PAIN IN THE ASS TO FNG). What about the mods? Sponsors? Do I tell them it’s over? After being together for so long? Little did I know that behind the scenes, FNG had already started working on a new GD.com. And then the phone call came from Stugots, “Robert, let’s rebuild that bitch, what else do we got to do. She can’t die like that.” Randal saved me, and that was all that it took.
I was immediately pulled out of my funk, positive energy flowed, and I got excited. “HELL YES, LET’S GET HER BACK UP.” I told Randal I needed to call FNG and hope that he would work his magic once again, and Randal said, “I already talked to him, he’s been working on it all night long, let’s go.” I called FNG and we had a great conversation. He said, “Let’s do it for another 20 years pumpkin.” And then the conference calls began, the mod team was set up and we all had our duties to perform; Greasemonkey, Crusty, Stugots, FNG, sndsamplr was the team, and we were on it. This team worked non stop for over a week, every single day to get her back up and running. The late-night calls, endless texts and emails, changes to this, changes to that, building this and building that, throwing ideas at FNG faster than you could imagine; all working together like a fine-tuned machine. I tell you what, they were fantastic. The team was the visual, and FNG was Mr. Wizard. Patience and persistence brought GD.com back to life, and in record time. It’s no easy task to build a site like GD.com, and FNG was so good and so VERY patient with us. There are many apps that are running on GD.com, it just doesn’t come as a package, you have to build it, and FNG did. He is the best. Grease was checking every detail, Crusty's positivity kept us rolling, and Stugots the superintendent, and FNG the builder. Stugots and FNG have spent more time talking to each other this last week than they have the last 15 years combined, and I am so thankful for those two. They just basically told me to stay out of the way.
But, I do have to spill the beans on this funny story. The day we were going live, at 9 am, three hours prior to launch, Stugots decided that he wanted to make a change to the home page. He wanted to raise the Random Adverts block to a higher spot on the home page. FNG hadn’t gotten up yet, so Stugots decided to give it a try himself. And we know over the years, when we make a change, we don't do it unless we have FNG looking over our shoulder. So, when Stugots made the change, BOOM, the entire home page completely fu**** up. The vets video disappeared, the random pics went somewhere, and Stugots texted me and FNG, “PATRICK, HELP, I EFFED UP THE HOME PAGE”. I laughed my ass off. Patrick says, “Were you guys doing something you weren’t supposed to be doing?” It was great.
FNG, Stugots, GreaseMonkey, Crusty, thank you. It’s good to be back.
Oh, let me introduce myself, my name is Rob, and I’m a member on glamisdunes.com.
