The Prez Box
by Ron Bone
A recent news report concerned a brain surgeon in
What made me think of this little episode was the response
of the local Chuck-A-Rama when we called to reserve a room for our next
meeting. Right now they’re flush with
customers and didn’t want to tie up their facilities. So the
monthly meeting will be held instead at the Sizzler Restaurant in
At the top of the agenda will be the decision about how to allocate our money from the Idaho Corvette License Plate program. Although we began this discussion at the last monthly meeting, there were some concerns that more members should be in attendance when we make this decision. There are a lot of good, deserving charitable causes out there but, unfortunately, we won’t be able to support them all.
Also at the top of the agenda will be a discussion about our annual Wild West Vette Fest show. There is some sentiment in the club that what began as an optional event has now become the de facto reason for our existence. The downside is that the large effort required for organizing and putting on the show detracts from other club functions, such as getting together frequently to enjoy each other and our cars. One way to free up more time for that would be to join with other clubs in having a combined show each year, where the clubs would alternate the responsibility for the show. There are probably other ideas worth considering. Clearly, this is something we need to openly address although there are bound to be strong feelings among club members on both sides of the issue. Since flak jackets are in short supply, we’ll need to be tolerant of our differing opinions and try to find a way to accommodate everyone.
So be sure to attend this meeting. We need your input.
Minutes Of March Meeting
by Barbara Bell, Secretary
The
monthly meeting was held at Me 'N Stan's in Rexburg on March
17th. There were 32 in attendance.
President
Ron Bone called the meeting to order. His inspirational
thought for the day was: "Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes
your time and it annoys the pig."
Ron
wished a happy birthday
to those in the club having a birthday in March.
Having a
specific club shirt was discussed. There was interest, and a
brochure was circulated. Blue
seemed to be the most popular choice for color. We will check prices
and give more information next meeting.
We then
discussed the long trips for the summer. Because of the weather trends in
A
complete Treasurer's Report was in last month's newsletter. Ron thanked Renata for getting that in. Also, as
announced in the newsletter, and in accordance with the club by-laws, this is
the last night to pay dues
for this year before your name will be removed from the club roster.
Ron then brought
up the suggestion of raising the club
dues by $10 per couple or $35.00, and leaving the single dues
at $25.00 per year. It was noted that two of the other clubs in the state
have higher dues.
Ron stated
that if we had more money to work with earlier in the year, it would help
with preliminary expenses for the Vette Fest Show. This brought on a flurry of
discussion. Some thought that the club was getting too involved and focusing
too much on the show. It was stated that the club was not as "fun" as
it used to be, with trips and socials, no roadside clean up, but that we were
all about the show and raising money, and that was not what the club was
intended to do at the outset. The question was asked: "Is the sole
function of the club the 'Vette Fest?"
Another
comment was that the registration for the show had been increased this year,
and that if you have more money it will just be spent. It was pointed out that
the show carries itself, with profit used for our Christmas project, and
that lets us think of and help others while getting to know people around
the area who come to the show. In addition it gives us an opportunity to enjoy
our cars with others who also love Corvettes.
Another
member commented that the roadside cleanup was abandoned
because so few had been showing up to help.
It was
then brought up that the other clubs in
Still
another member commented that if a majority of the members felt we were getting
away from the initial purpose of the club as it had been set up, and that if
they wanted to get back to just being a social club, we needed to bring it to a
vote. However, doing something for others certainly added another dimension to
the club, making the project very worthwhile. If all would help and get
involved with the car show, it would be a social thing, and even though it
did involve work, it brought the club together and gave the opportunity to do
something for the community at the same time.
After
much discussion and comment, the issue was tabled until next month.
What started out to be a question of raising dues slightly opened some real
dialogue.
Ron then asked if
anyone had come prepared to present ideas for disbursement of our share of the license plate
sales. The suggestions included D.A.R.E., Hospice, Boy
Scouts, Children's Hospital, SafeHouse for Women and Children, and Christmas
Family Project. It was suggested that we should choose and then give
enough to one organization that it would make a difference instead of dividing
it up into smaller amounts. We should vote every year and choose a different
organization each year, so long as the plates sell. There is a movement in the state to stop specialty plates. We should let our
representatives know that we would like to see sales continue, and we
should all have specialty plates. It was also suggested that the disbursement
needs to stay local, and that we should get the check and present it so that we
can have some publicity from it and people will see that we are giving back to
the community. We will wait another month to vote on this issue as well, since
there is not a specific deadline on deciding.
Please
try to support our sponsors
and tell them that you appreciate their support of the show.
We also
have need for shades for the road rally and other events at
the show. There are some on sale for $19.00.
Randy said
that Bish's had sponsored $500 last year and that we had
purchased the trailer from them. They are willing to sponsor for $500 again
this year, but would like something back. They would like to have a Corvette show, perhaps on an annual
basis, to take place on their lot on a Saturday afternoon. It would be well
publicized, and he would provide food. He would like a minimum of 20 cars. It
would probably be the first part of June. The club agreed that they would be
happy to participate.
Randy also
reported that he had attended a D.A.R.E. meeting and that the
officers again expressed sincere
appreciation to the club for the Corvette runs. D.A.R.E.
officers did a video of the Emerson run, and it was really good to see the
excitement it generated with the students of D.A.R.E. and the student body as a
whole. We really need to keep this going. This is a real standard that is used
to entice the kids to do well. They have raised the standards for the car ride because
there are so many doing well and graduating.
The
Next Meeting will be April
14th Wednesday, at the Sizzler at 7 p.m.
The
meeting adjourned at 9:05
Did You Know
by Egon Lamprecht
Have you been looking over things that the auto world is coming up with in theFuture? Wow!Looks like the steering wheel as we know it might be obsolete and in its place will be a "Joystick" like the kids use for playing games on the TV. Or they may use two pedals to drive the car. You know, many years ago there was a tractor-like vehicle that you drove like a horse for back-country farmers who didn't know how to drive a tractor. Its name was simply "Wheel horse". A satellite GPS system can tell you within a few feet of where you are. This is available is some cars now. Maybe it will come to this: You plan a trip to "Grandmas" for thanksgiving, 1000 miles away, set theunit up, and if you make a wrong turn, out pops a fist and bonks you. If youget to close to the car in head of you, same fist comes out. We already have the "change oil dummy”, “low on gas”, and “low tire pressure" warnings installed on your late model Vette. The speed now shows on the windshield.Forget a jack and spar tire, for 50 grand you don't get one. You do get door locks that you control from 50 feet away, and the horn beeps at you. You can also use the beep beep to find the car in the parking lot. Oh yes, the lights stay on so you can find your way into the house. There are now windows and convert tops that roll up if rain starts even if you’re not there. Next is, if the air bags deploy, the nearest EMS and Police get notifiedas to your location and can send help. Hummmm I am thinking, how much would it cost to up-date my yellow Model AFord? Enjoy the world we live in. News From Frank Wanted to pass a little info on to you so you can maybe pass
in to the club and perhaps the newsletter:
I'm
doing the website for the new Corvette C6 Registry (a continuation of the C5
Registry). It's located at
http://www.c6registry.com. I just uploaded a really cool
screen saver with over 50 photos of the C6 and there are a ton of photos out
there I've uploaded for some windows backgrounds, etc..
There
is no pricing yet, but all the RPO codes are there: colors, technical
information, and more. It's really growing.
I'll be back from
some meetings in
Lamest News:
There has been some
talk of making dealers get certified on the C6 before they will get any shipped
to them. This will avoid some of the problems they've had with the C5 being
worked on by untrained dealers. It hasn't happened yet, but. . . .
I
think it's going to happen. That will affect some of the smaller dealers that
some members may have a C6 on order, but the dealer won’t get one (if they do
this) until he gets a GM Corvette certified mechanic.
The
production startup will be with the C6 Coupe ONLY being produced for possibly
six to ten weeks to allow the production cycle to ramp up. After the
Coupe’s production is proceeding smoothly, then the C6 Convertibles will be
brought on line slowly…tentatively scheduled for mid to late October
2004. Because of the slow startup associated with any new model, it
appears that the 2005 model year run will produce approximately 4,000 fewer
Corvettes than in previous years.
Events Coming in 2004 by Ron Bone April 14: Monthly
CSEI Meeting at Sizzler Restaurant, 7:00 P.M. May 28-31: Fun in the
Fish IV at Whitefish, MT. Hosted by
Funseekers Corvette and Yacht Club.
Concours, Show & Shine, Funkhana, Rally, Autocross, “Saloon Shuffle”
Poker Walk. $130 couple, $70 single
before May 1, 2004; $150 couple, $85 single after. Host hotel is the Grouse Mountain Lodge,
1-800-321-8822, $75 per night; other hotels are available. Registration form and schedule: See Ron
Bone. More information: Mark Dowaliby,
406-862-2096 or dowaliby@cyberport.net. June 11-13: Border
Run 2004 at Jackpot, NV. Hosted by June 11-13: Second Annual Corvettes at June 25-28: Corvettes of July 22-24: Vette
Fest 2004 at August 27-29: Wild
West Vette Fest 2004 at West September 10-12: September 12-18: Corvettes of April Birthdays
Deena Larsen 4
Amy Forman
14
Bonnie Jones 18
Pam Valentine, Gary Hilliker 22