President’s Column, January 2006
by Bob MorinHappy New Year! I hope you all had a nice holiday season and now we can look forward to 2006 with anxious anticipation. It’s hard to believe another year has passed. Our December 3rd Holiday Party/Yankee Swap kicked off the holiday season for Sheila and me as the Chapter returned to the Stevenson Fire House, site of many a past holiday party. The traditional Yankee Swap had its usual selection of oft traded gifts; the most frequently traded, at least by my unofficial count, was an animated singing bird that sang “The Bird’s The Word.” We are an easily amused group. Thanks to jerri and Willy Wiley for making the arrangements to secure the site and to those on the board who brought the beverages, etc., etc. Will this be the year that your New Year’s resolutions include making it to your first CVC event? A great place to start would be the Annual Dinner, if you haven’t already signed up. I’ve never been to 500 Blake Street personally, but this is the first time I have ever heard from members before an event that it was an excellent choice, so I’m looking forward to trying the restaurant. Then, of course, we are looking forward to ROUNDEL and BIMMER magazine’s Mike Miller as our guest speaker and if that isn’t enough, then the doorprizes should get you attention. Coupled with all that is an opportunity to hang out for an evening with a hundred or so BMW enthusiasts, so what could be better? While the election part of the program may not be as attractive as the items mentioned above, I hope that you will in fact, take the time to vote and especially to fill out the survey we include with the ballot. We do read every survey and many of your comments have resulted in us trying different things. Besides, you could win a one-year membership, just for voting! If you can’t make the Annual Dinner, then how about coming to the Winter Doldrums Party on March 4th in North Granby? This will be a smaller event, but still represents a chance to meet fellow members and think about how nice it will be to be driving on clean, clear roads before long. Be sure to check our Chapter website (www.ctvalley.org) for the latest information about our Chapter calendar and upcoming events. Out of the twenty or so of you who still give a whit about Formula, there are maybe five or ten who care enough to keep tabs during the off-season. For you few, how many are thinking thank goodness BMW Sauber was able to sign Jacques Villeneuve to pair with Nick Heidfeld? BMW has also signed Robert Kubica, Poland’s first Formula One driver as their test and substitute driver. So far the Sauber, with BMW’s new V8 engine powering it, has been about a second to a second and a half off the pace with fastest cars in testing. The big news of course is that Fernando Alonso has already announced that he is leaving Renault at the end of 2006 to go to McLaren. What is it with McLaren stealing all these drivers a year before their contracts run out (recall that they did the same thing when Montoya was with BMW Williams) and who will be hitting the bricks among McLaren’s current line-up, Juan Pablo Montoya or Kimi Räikkönnen? In News From National, membership is at 75,145, down .64% from same month last year. Good news for anyone who may have the new M5 on order. The Membership Reward Program now includes a $1000 rebate for anyone purchasing or leasing the M5. Registrations have already started to come in for Gateway Tech’s 25th Anniversary event. Guest speakers include Andreas Bovensiepen of Alpina and Boris Said, who was extremely entertaining at O’fest. Don’t forget to vote for National President, Vice-President and North Atlantic Regional V.P. when your February ROUNDEL arrives with the ballot enclosed. And remember, July 23rd to July 28th for O’fest in Grand Rapids, MI. That’s all for this month.
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