President’s Column, March 2006
by Bob MorinOur Annual Dinner didn’t turn out exactly as we expected, as Mike Miller called to tell us he had been to the Emergency Room after messing up his back pretty good. He told them that he needed to drive from PA to CT and the doctors basically said, “I don’t think so!” They then gave him some of those wonderful pills that say “WARNING, DO NOT DRIVE OR OPERATE HEAVY EQUIPMENT WHILE TAKING THIS PERSCRIPTION.” We scrambled around to try to find a last minute substitute, but no one was available on such short notice. We had decided we would just try an Open Microphone Night and see if anyone would like to tell us a BMW story of their own. As people arrived at the dinner to check in, Tim Healey walked up to the table to get his name tag, sign the guest book, etc., and happened to mention to jerri Wiley that if we needed any help with the evening, he’d be willing to contribute. She said, “How’d you like to be the guest speaker?” Amazingly, he said that he’d be willing to kick it off by saying a few words about what the club has meant to him and how it has made him a better driver through participation in Autocross and later Driver’s School. Sheila Morin then spoke by adding that Driver’s Schools are not just for the guys. Tony Nestora came out of the closet and admitted that he was a flaming car guy, that he liked the people in the BMW Club better than the Porsche Club (we should probably keep that to ourselves, so our friends over at Porsche don’t get mad) and how he has grown closer to his son through their mutual car club activities. Lastly Jack Jones told us how he came to buy his first BMW. It was all very entertaining. Thanks to Tim, Sheila, Tony and Jack for coming forward. The restaurant seemed to receive great approval from all and we need to thank jerri Wiley for making the arrangements. As usual, there we tons of great doorprizes and Roger Chartier was largely responsible for that, with some help from several others including Wendy Aldrich and jerri Wiley and of course our great list of supporters who donated all the prizes. I hope you will remember them when you are looking for some merchandise or a service. Nancie Giacalone successfully hawked tickets for the $500 Town Fair Tire Gift Certificate to raise money for Fidelco and we also sold off some of the remaining doorprizes for $5 each to raise more money for the hurricane victims in the Gulf Coast area. Of course, the Annual Dinner is also our Annual Election. There are a few changes from last year’s team. Notably, we are now fully staffed, if you will, as we are back to ten members-at-large. Welcome to Rudy Basztura and Mike Zarolinski who have both joined the board for the first time. It is always exciting getting new blood and fresh ideas. Rudy and his wife Cheryl started to become quite involved with Chapter activities last year and even volunteered to run the wonderful West Point Tour. Mike just jumped right in with both feet. After seeing my plea for candidates in the DZ, he contacted me and said he was a newer member who had never been to an event before, but wanted to become involved and he thought running for the board would be a good place to start. He has already volunteered to organize our upcoming Show & Shine. I also look forward to working with our new Secretary, Ev Newton. Ev has been around for a few years now and has contributed greatly while serving as a member-at-large. Ev replaces Jack Jones, who is taking some time off from the board, but has served this Chapter in just about every capacity for many years and deserves a great deal of thanks for his dedication to the organization. Check out this issue for info on our first two Driver’s Schools. They come rather close together. It may be too late to get into the April school, but you can check with Steve to be sure and the May school needs your attention, if you plan to attend. We’ve been able to hold the line on pricing, at least for these first two schools, despite more increases in our costs for both the track and our insurance, so you should take advantage while you can. Also, for non-track junkies, you’ll find the Wine & Cheese a lovely, low-key opportunity to meet some of the members in a nice social atmosphere. And of course, May 21 is the Show & Shine. Let’s all get out and support “the new guy” with his first event. By the time you read this, the F1 season will have begun. BMW Sauber seems to be behind the front runners at every testing session, although recently, they got it under a full second deficit for the first time that I saw. Look for them to be mid-pack and hopefully not at the rear. It could be a long season. In other motorsports news BMW has announced that they will offer a factory-built “customer” car, built from the upcoming Z4 M coupé. Check out photos at: http://www.speedarena.com/news/publish/sportscar/article_6494.shtml It’s time for me to get this off to Nancie. See you at an event soon. |
