August 2016 News Letter
by Robert Gamble (Go Kart Guru)
Well it has happened, it has been accomplished. The hard work building 5 wood go-karts over the past year, has come to an end and fulfilled its purpose. Its purpose to be showcased as part of a wholesome family entertainment movie called God Bless The Broken Road.
The movie was filmed in early April in the tourist town of Manistee, Michigan. The movie folks were great to work with as they made us feel right at home. The director, Harold Cronk even let us sit in and watch the screen as he was crafting this movie. It was amazing to see the color tints, the film effects already present as he and his diligent crew shot this movie. The lighting made a cold dreary day feel like a summer day with the sun in a full sky. Amazing….is the best word for it.
We were called on hand to help with any possible go kart problems, and obviously to make sure the go karts performed as expected. The perfectionist in me was disappointed as the go karts acted up, which as anyone who works with gokarts knows, nothing is perfect. The go kart for example lost a pad on the go kart brake (which should never happen, but it did…). The go kart brakes worked but sounded horrible. But the more I sat back, I realized it added to the realism and the effect of actually having a homemade go-kart!
That being said there was a go-kart race and as far as I could tell (because I haven’t seen any previews yet) came out spectacularly.
In case you are new to the whole Wood Go-Kart Movie Extravaganza, we (the GoKartGuru.com team) were asked to make five wood go karts for a movie called “God Bless The Broken Road.” This movie is about a distraught wife of a recently killed soldier. The daughter and mother are at odds as the mother tries to find the purpose in all the grief and finds her way through a race car driver/mentor. The go-karts come into play as the daughter tries to find relief and inspiration through making and racing gokarts. Because the mother is dirt poor, the daughter finds a way to make a go kart through an online contact…called the GoKartGuru.com which shows her how to fab up and make her own go-kart out of wood.
Harold Cronk Director of “God Bless The Broken Road” (Left) and Robert Gamble (Right ) GoKartGuru.com on the Set of Joe’s Garage. The blue go-kart in the background is the Caleb Coupe.
The Official Ethan of the Ethan Speedster fame posing in the line of go-karts for the movie shoot.
The large Caleb Coupe sitting on the side lines at the movie shoot, at Joe’s Garage.
Bree’s go-kart as it was being wheeled around. We did our preliminary inspection after the go karts had been painted.
The “white go kart” number 18 showing the GKG or GoKartGuru emblem.
Go kart number 18 showing the Go-Kart Guru.com on the side of the go kart. You can also see our sponsors image, the VisionViewPoint.com right above the front wheel on the side as well.
There were 4 smaller gokarts, this shot shows three of them. The Red #13, Pink #3 and White #18 Go Kart
One of the film directors taking a cruise on the Caleb Coupe between the racing sequence shoots. The artistic talent on the 10 West Studios set was incredible. The go karts were transformed from shoddy looking pieces of plywood to pieces of art. It was just awe inspiring.
The larger Caleb Coupe Go Kart #51 and Name Badge.
The same director, taking a ride past the race line up.
As shot taken from behind the scenes from Joe’s Garage. You can see the go kart line up. The final go-kart #8 can be seen in this shot. Go Kart Guru making final inspection of the Caleb Coupe kart
When we first arrived Robert Gamble took a final inspection and ride to make sure everything was a go. The sponsor, JDLaserinc.com, for our Lasered metal parts can be seen on the center of the hood. We had could have fabbed ourselves, but asked the laser house to make them to save some time, especially when making 5 go karts!
Thanks to our sponsors:
Every company has its beginnings. The lowly garage with the boy starting from scratch with a beginner’s electronics kit and ending up with a computer… or the fellow who started his engine in a humble kitchen sink (Henry Ford). These are well known true stories. In this case, Go Kart Guru began years ago with a boy who loved go karts and became the man who loved engineering.
This engineer, like many before him, had talent and ideas, but needed the keys to effectively unlock the market around him. Vision View Point provided those keys and a vision for sharing values, faith and family fun through the exciting world of go karts. In short, Vision View Point.com is the reason GoKartGuru.com exists.
VisionViewPoint.com is the brain child of Wayne C. Sedlak. Wayne Sedlak is an extraordinary pastor, leader and business man with insights into the world in which we live and the one person who has given me vision and drive, without which, my business would not exist.
Wayne provided me with the skills I needed to put a product in place that fit my expertise in go karts, engineering and business building. I owe a significant amount of gratitude to him for guiding me through these many years. Having him as a sponsor for our go kart project is a great honor for me and for my family as well.
Vision View Point is an online presence that channels the Christian mindset, coupling it with a powerful Christian world view needed for building families, churches, and businesses, each with a vision for sharing the Truth of Jesus Christ throughout the world. It’s much more than sending dedicated missionaries abroad or putting needed soup kitchens in place for the poor, as Vision View Point has taught thousands about a world where the vanity of the world’s glitter and appearances disappear, and true wisdom in applying real life answers from the Word of God, leads many to find the meaning of their lives as they are led to the world’s most gracious Saviour and glorious King, Jesus Christ.
JD Laser is a company that specializes in lasering and metal part forming. They are a local business that I have worked with professionally for over 15 years. I approached JD laser to fabricate some metal parts for the go kart steering and they offered to provide the parts for free. These parts that they made saved several days of fabricating parts by hand and also made a more clean and aesthetically pleasing product in the end.
