by Bob Morin

The Dyno Tech Session at Bristol Dyno on August 21st was quite a success and at least 10 members ran their cars through and others interested came to watch.   Thanks to Michael and Jim Hurczyn for their work to make this event happen and we are already talking about doing it again, but maybe with a twist this time.   Stay tuned.

Thanks also to Gary Krancher for helping to promote the Chapter and the BMW CCA in general by welcoming members and prospective members over the Labor Day weekend at the Vintage Fall Festival at Lime Rock Park .   Gary passed out membership info, and sodas and water too, as people passed by his booth.   The following weekend was our ’02 Fest East, this year expanded to a two-day event for only the second time.   Willy & jerri Wiley and Everett Newton conspired to put together the Where 2? Rally on Saturday the 11th and Sunday the 12th was the traditional event held at Lime Rock.   Work obligations prevented our attendance on Saturday, but I heard some great reports from the participants on the rally about how much fun it was.   Sunday was a gorgeous day and Sheila and I made it up to Lime Rock to see the great display of 2002s on the main straight.   Thanks to Willy, jerri and Ev for their work on the rally and to jerri and Willy for the great day on Sunday.   I know that John and Barbara Bisset helped out on Sunday as well as Gary Krancher who did some hot dog duty when the caterer decided that it wasn’t worth opening to provide breakfast, lunch, drinks and snacks for 250 – 300 people.  

The October 22nd Driver’s School sold out immediately.   Apparently, people were feeling deprived after Lime Rock took our June date from us this year, because the response for this event was huge and early.   Steve had to close the event registrations and turn several people away.   Now, we just have to hope for a sunny day.

Depending upon response unknown as of this writing, November 13th may be a karting event at F1 Boston that Steve Wasley is trying to organize.   I know several members who have tried the facility and have raved about it.   You’ll have to check with Steve to see if this event is a go or not.

December 11th is our Holiday Party and Yankee Swap in Bethany and pending a blizzard like last year, should be a great time.   I hope you’ll be able to join us for the fun.

This is the time of year when we have to take care of some annual business.   The December DZ will contain the ballot for the Chapter Election and any of us on the board would love to hear from anyone who might be interested in running for any office.   We would be happy to explain what the job entails to anyone with an interest.   We will also be proposing a couple of changes to our Chapter’s Bylaws.   These require a vote of the membership (according to our Bylaws), but are necessary to bring them up to current BMW CCA National policy.   They will appear with the ballot in the December issue.

The F1 season is winding down, but things certainly haven’t changed much since my column last month.   I spoke with several members at recent events about the race at Monza and we all agree that it was without a doubt the most telling race of the season about how far superior Ferrari is to everyone else.   If you saw the race, you know that Michael Schumacher languished mid-pack and really never passed anyone and Barrichello wasn’t particularly impressive either.   Jenson Button led a significant portion of the race and yet somehow the two Ferraris morphed to the front with Rubens winning over Michael.   No one knew how they got to the front, but there they were when the checkered flag fell.   It’s almost like the whole thing is some bad dream.   Even poor Jenson looked like he couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t on the top step of the podium.

News From National this month shows membership up only 40 over last month to 76,598, but that’s a +4.23% change over last year.   While the site is still being discussed, the Newsletter Editors/Webmasters Conference will be held May 13th – 15th of 2005.   You may still have time to nominate or be nominated for National Office.   There is a 5:00 PM EST deadline on October 29, 2004 to send in your information to National.   Check with National for details, but the only offices members from our region can run for this year are Secretary and Treasurer, if you’re interested or would like to nominate someone who is.

I think I’m out of space for another month.