August 2009 Newsletter
Visit DtRC on the
web at: www.downtheroadcorvettes.org
Visit the Rocky
Mountain Region NCCC at www.rmrnccc.org
Visit NCCC on the web
at: www.corvettesnccc.org
Next Meeting: 4th Thursday
of the month. August 27th, 7 PM Go Chevrolet - 7320 North Broadway near I-25 and
the Boulder Turnpike.
Guest Presenters - Limit of 2 presentations per meeting, please make
arrangements with the President at least a day in advance to be placed on the
agenda and to see if the limit has been reached for this month.
2009 Down the Road Corvette Club Officers
President |
Mike Davis |
Vice President |
Bill Schultz |
Treasurer |
Gail Krusen |
Secretary |
Nancy Keyser |
Governor |
Nancy Burritt |
Board Members |
Mike Kelley |
Newsletter Info (Deadline the 15th) |
Official Club Address |
From the president:
Of somewhat interest to members……..
Well, another summer (rainy) month has about come to a close. With not much fanfare except for the Convention and a Mystery Meal, (thank you Bill & Cathy), not much happening.
This month brings a very important discussion & decision at our meeting. As everyone has probably heard by now, the Caravan has come up short on sponsorship funds for the Denver stop. We all want to make sure the Corvette Population has something “Fantastic” to say about the Corvette Clubs & participants in the greater metro area. A few things to mull over, some of which I’ve been asked by club members, (if you get this letter before the meeting), would be:
1) How much do we as a club contribute?
2) Where did the balance of the monies come from?
3) How many other clubs are participating? (If so how much).
4) Is this to benefit the Corvette Image or the Museum?
5) Why are the G.M. dealers not participating if this is to further the image?
6) As with everyone, (including DtRC), monies are not that easily gained.
Just a few ideas, I’m sure others will have concerns & ideas, please, this meeting is the time to be heard!!
I’m sorry I don’t have very much to say this month that is positive, but it seems we are at a crossroads on an issue that is, as they say, “near and dear” to most members, (club money).
Now, everyone get ready for lots of driving, some of us will be going to Gunnison for an interesting 3-day weekend, while some will go on the caravan, some other fortunate members will do BOTH!!!, Everyone have fun, but be careful!!
Till the meeting,
Mike
I found this on the net, thought it might be of interest with summer coming to a close:
Labor Day History
As the Industrial Revolution took hold of the nation, the average American in the late 1800s worked 12 hour days, seven days a week in order to make a basic living. Children were also working, as they provided cheap labor to employers and laws against child labor were not strongly enforced.
With the long hours and terrible working conditions, American unions became more prominent and voiced their demands for a better way of life. On Tuesday Sept. 5, 1882, 10,000 workers marched from city hall to Union Square in NYC, holding the 1st ever Labor Day parade. Participants took an unpaid day off to honor the workers of America, as well as vocalize issues they had with employers. As years passed, more states began to hold these parades, but Congress would not legalize the holiday.
On May 11, 1894, workers of the Pullman Palace Car Co. in Chicago struck to protest wage cuts & the firing of union representatives. They sought support from their union led by Eugene V. Debs and on June 26 the American Railroad Union called a boycott of all Pullman railway cars. Within days, 50,000 rail workers complied and railroad traffic out of Chicago came to a halt. On July 4th, President Grover Cleveland dispatched troops to Chicago. Rioting & bloodshed ensued, but the government’s actions broke the strike. Debs and 3 other union officials were jailed for disobeying the injunction. The strike brought workers rights to the public eye & Congress declared, in 1894, that the first Monday of September would be the holiday for workers, known as Labor Day.
While the founder of Labor Day remains unclear, some credit Peter McGuire, co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, or Matthew Maguire, a secretary of the Central Labor Union, for proposing the holiday.
Although Labor Day is meant as a celebration of the labor movement and its achievements, it has come to be celebrated as the last, long summer weekend before autumn.
So Enjoy!!
Misc. ramblings from the
Editor:
Where did the summer go!? It seems it was just starting, and now there are only
about a dozen events left in the season?!?!?
I must say, that the events over the last few weeks were interesting, to say the least. Attendance at the premier event in Colorado, Vette’s on the Rockies, was off about 50% from what I could tell. The strange thing to me was that there were lots of new faces and new cars there, but a vast number of the “regulars” were missing. I don’t think the reason was the cost of gas either.
I was glad to see that attendance at the NCCC National Convention didn’t seem to suffer the same as VotR. I don’t know how many cars were registered for the event of even for the low speed auto-x, but I know there were plenty of cars to get runs on the low speed auto-x. As always, our club did an extraordinary job with timing, scoring and keeping the cars following. From what I heard, during the morning of the second day, we averaged 110 runs per hour over a 3+ hour period. That is a number to be very proud of! Because of our teamwork and dedication, participants got FOUR runs on the track instead of the usual 3. Our efforts will raise the bar for other clubs at other conventions just as all of our events raise the bar for other clubs.
On a different subject, by now, most of you know that sponsorship for the Denver stop of the National Corvette Caravan has pretty much fallen through. I think I’m most disappointed because we never even got far enough in contacting the local Chevrolet marketing group to get turned down. I don’t understand what’s going on in the world, but it seems as if everything is so crazy right now that organizations and people are failing to honor commitments they’ve made even if they have no stake in the outcome. The organizing committee for the Denver stop of the caravan is still committed to making sure that caravan participants stopping in Denver will have a wonderfully memorable time during their brief stay in the Mile High city. We have announced that instead of a free evening meal this time, there will be a $10 charge for the fantastic BBQ from Franks. The fee will just cover the cost of the meals however and there are still some expenses to cover. I did hear yesterday that a few of the local Chevy dealers may still come to the rescue for some of the non-meal expenses, but with the experiences we’ve had so far, I’m not holding my breath. I should have more information on this by the meeting and I will share that with all of you then.
I guess I should also remind everyone that it’s time for officer nominations once again. The club bylaws require 3 opportunities for nominations before the election in October, and if you count opening the nominations one last time before the election, it means that the August meeting marks the opening of nominations. One of the things that makes our club unique is an ever changing focus. We have that because we have an ever changing leadership bringing new energy and ideas into play. Please toss your name into the hat if you’ve ever said to yourself “well, that’s not the way I’d have done it”. It’s precisely that involvement that keeps our club at the forefront of Corvetting!
Tim
Minutes of Past Meeting
Guests: Hava & Aaron Brewer
Quorum was present.
Member introductions were made.
Visitor: Al Meyer from Bullet Polish
Al polished Frank Arko’s Corvette so members could see the results of the polish.
Treasurer’s Report: The Treasure’s report was approved as given.
Governor’s Report:
1. All regional events are posted through June, 2009. The regional calendar is updated.
2. Pagosa Springs car show has been moved to 9/12/09
3. Grand Junction auto cross is on 9/20/09
4. DtRC Car Show is on 9/19/09 at Jay’s Bar & Grill on 78th & Washington
5. National convention begins 8/9/09. DtRC is running the timing for the low speed autocross on 8/11 & 8/12. Gates open at 7:00am and first car out is at 8:30am. High speed is running simultaneously inside the track (PPIR.) See Nancy B for questions and more details.
6. Casper is hosting their event on Labor Day weekend.
Membership Committee
No new members. A few registration forms have been sent out to those who have shown interest.
Social Committee
1. Nursing home car show was a success.
2. Annual DtRC BBQ at the Barnes’ was a success.
3. Mystery Meal is scheduled on 8/15. Meet at the Park-n-Ride at 120th and I-25. Caravan will leave at 10:00. Bill S. promised not to get us all lost.
National Corvette Museum
1. All club information has been loaded into the data base and they know DtRC exists. We are on the ambassador’s ling.
2. Raffle for free Corvette. Richard will get more tickets if needed. Tickets are $10.00
3. The big ordeal at the museum is the push for the caravan. See Richard if interested.
4. Need help with caravan stop (local) and see Richard for details.
Gail won the raffle prize (C5 gym bag.)
Frank to check availability of CSP track in 2010. Motion was made and approved to put 2 down payments on auto crosses for 2010.
7/31/09 – Last day fro drag races at Bandimere. Gates open at 3:00pm, time trials start at 3:30pm and eliminations start at 7:30pm. Many members showed interest in going out to show Joan our support.
DtRC Car Show
1. 9/19/09 at Jay’s Bar & Grill @ 78th & Washington
2. Jay’s will honor 20% discount for all participants.
3. Registration begins at 9:00am.
4. Peoples Choice voting and DtRC members will not enter their cars.
5. Jay’s will provide coupons for door prizes.
6. There will be a 50/50 drawing.
7. Club approved to spend $500.00 for the show. This includes trophies and other incidentals.
Golden Parade (Buffalo Bill Days) on 7/25/09. Meet at Stevinson @ 8:00am, leave for parade at 8:30am.
Meeting was adjourned.
submitted
by Nancy K.
Club News:
September Birthdays:
Joan Breher -
11th
Tech Tips with Bill!
By Bill Schultz
I guess that we should be accepting of the
fact that Bill devoted all his time this month to the mystery meal. I know we
all actually got there this time. Maybe he’ll resume the tech tips now that the
Corvetting season is winding down.
Upcoming
Other Events
Rather than try to put the entire schedule in here, I’ve opted
to include items both NCCC and otherwise into a close up schedule. If you want
to see the entire NCCC schedule, please go to the Rocky Mountain NCCC regional
site at http://www.rmrnccc.org/
Date |
Event |
Sponsoring Club |
Aug 31st - ?? |
National Corvette Caravan |
NCM |
Sep 5th – 7th |
Corvette Roundup – Casper |
CWC |
Sep 19th |
Pagosa Spring Show |
CSCC |
Sep 19th |
DtRC Show |
DtRC |
Sep 20th |
3 Auto-X – Go Kart Track |
CWCC |
Sep 26th/27th |
AutoX – High Speed – LaJunta |
DCA |
Oct 04th |
Double Low Speed Auto-X |
CSCC |
Oct 17th |
9Cares Food Drive |
CCC |
Oct 18th |
All Hallow’s Eve Rally |
TORCA |
Oct 25th |
3 Low Speed Auto-X |
CWCC |
Mystery
Meal August 15th
Saturday was an extremely fun day.
Bill
& Cathy's mystery meal should have erased all the past "Red
Feathers" jokes!! Their mystery meal included a nice scenic mountain
drive, good Vetting roads, cool day, rain, some good friends, good food, &
one new face, welcome Fred, a friend of Don R. (also one of Denver's Finest).
With eleven cars that showed up, the owner reserved us a parking place, so he
could have a mini car show with pictures, by the way pretty good food.
Well
done Bill & Cathy!!!!
Mike
& Mary
DtRC
Club Bone-Head award
I’m sure by the time those who went to the show in Gunnison return, we’ll have another good reason to give Bill “the bones”, or will we? Has Bill turned a new leaf in life?
Who will be the unlucky victim this month?
Committee
Updates
Social
Committee
Mary Kay, Mary and Cathy
Watch for spur of the moment events!
Governor’s
Report -
By Nancy B.
"Low Speed
Rocked"
That is a direct quote that I heard shouted from a table over to my right Friday morning at the awards breakfast during the presentation of the low-speed trophies. And we were sitting with the guys from our region - and it wasn't them - so it wasn't a plant. It was one of the many racers who had a great time on the low-speed course at PPIR Tuesday and Wednesday. Also during the presentation of the trophies - the low-speed chair - Sean S. thanked Down the Road for doing all the timing and scoring at the event and asked anyone that was there to stand (that was Dave and I). "We" (DtRC) received a huge round of applause.
The low-speed event was a joint effort between DtRC and CSCC - and it worked great. John A. laid out what I heard was fun course, challenging and fast, but not so hard to be frustrating. We know he has been doing this for years now, and he came through once again. Sean S. chaired the event and among a ton of other "jobs" during the event - was the interface between us, the convention heads, and whoever was dealing with the track, and was very easy to work with in preparation for the big days. So a big pat on the back to them and their teams also.
Then came the execution. 66 racers (spread over 2 heats) on Tuesday - 4 runs each. And on Wednesday - about 125 racers (spread over 3 heats) - 4 runs each.
"You Guys and Gals from DtRC ROCKED". And that is a quote from me. I'm proud to be part of such a great team - you guys and gals all worked so well together. As the emails said - there were many, many compliments - and Walt J. (Convention Chair) wanted to pass on his thanks also. I personally appreciate you taking the time and effort (not to mention the expense of staying in Colorado Springs for a couple of nights) and for your dedication to putting on a quality event. And as your governor and representative to NCCC - hugs to all. It was a great turnout from the club and we needed every one of you - as it allowed us to not run short-staffed at our positions and to do things with the proper attention. I'm not going to name names, you all know who you were and each and every one of you were a key part to the success of the event. You all chipped in wherever necessary and adapted to the situations to get the job done. Thanks again. And we're going to have to get together for Strawberry Margaritas at Chile's again real soon. Cheers.
King of the Hill
The hill in Morrison called Bandimere that is. Dave B. brought home 4 trophies from Thursday at the drag races. After spending three days at PPIR - we got up and left Colorado Springs at 5 a.m. Thursday for Bandimere. The big difference being that once we got there I got to park my behind in the stands and chill out.
The first race was "record drags". With record drags - your dial in time is the current record for your class. There were a few records set - but Dave didn’t set one of them. What he did do was beat the other car in his class to take first place for his class. The winners keep racing for top eliminator. Dave lost in the finals for top men's eliminator. And then the guy he beat lost to the top lady.
The second race was "bracket drags". In these - you set your own dial in time. They divide the groups into one of four classes depending on the times you say you are going to run. Dave won the "Group B" class - the biggest one. That was trophy 2. Then they take the winners of the four classes and put them in a bracket until there is a men's winner. In the finals he beat a big block souped up C3 from Texas that arrived in a semi-truck with it's own pit crew - to take Mens top eliminator. Trophy #3. So then (after some confusion) he raced the Ladies top eliminator - and won - to become King of the Hill - or Top Top Eliminator - as the announcer called it. So - trophy #4. It was a long day - with a rain delay thrown in - but hey - four trophies - always more fun. Dave will bring his "acrylic-ware" and some pics from convention to the next meeting.
Other Convention
Tidbits
We had a brief governors meeting on that Sunday. I didn't take notes - so really don't have anything to share. I know the RCDs discussed in their meeting where to class the new Grand Sport - I'll get all the details at my next regional governors meeting. If you need to know before that - let me know - and I'll contact our RCD.
Phil O and Dave B both did the high and low speed races. Dave came in 9th (of 13) in LS - and according to him last in his class in HS (I never saw the results). Phil came in 3rd (of 7) in LS. I don't know about HS - he'll have to brief us at the next meeting. Thanks for representing the club guys.
Next year's convention is in Palm Beach Florida (West Palm Beach?). For the year after that I know one of the Chicago area clubs is making a bid for convention. The governors will vote on that I would guess the end of this year. I don't know if anyone else is bidding for it or not - I think not as the Chicago club is the only one that got up and talked during the governors meeting.
It doesn't really belong in this article - but I do want to
thank Bill Schultz for leading the mystery meal today - and to the club for a
great turnout. It was a lot of fun. And afterwards we went and checked out the
new Grand Sport. Pretty snazzy (except
for the maroon seat in the victory red car J
).
15th Anniversary National
Corvette Caravan - August 31 – Labor Day 2009
Tim B.
As I write this, there are less than 10 days left until the caravan participants arrive for the BBQ at the Aurora Sports Park! Someday, when this is all behind us, I’ll share with you all the frustrations the caravan committee has had to deal with. We’re still going to have a ball and remember, even if you are not a part of the caravan, you can still come out to the sports park and greet the participants coming in from out of town or help send us off in the morning.
Thanks to all of the club members who have worked so hard to make this event happen!
Tim
Drag
Racing Report
Joan B.
The 2009 drag racing schedule has been updated on the club web site. Please come out and at least tailgate with the DtRC warriors!
AutoCross
Committee
Frank A.
No report this month.
Merchandise Report
Mike and Martha P.
Thanks to all of the members who support the Tim’s Challenge raffle! Gail K. won a nice Corvette duffle bag donated by Mike and Mary Davis last month.
NCM
Ambassador’s Report
Richard Loch
For the latest news and events at the museum go to http://www.corvettemuseum.com/.
Want to
Advertise?
If you are a member of Down the Road Corvettes, you may place a For Sale or
Wanted Ad for any Corvette related items in our newsletter for free.
Submissions must be received via E-mail to the editor no later than the
15th of each month.
Disclaimer: All prices listed here are not guaranteed. You will need to confirm any and all prices with the selling party.
Advertising
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*** Member Ad ***
For Sale:
1980 Corvette 4 Sale, Automatic, 60K miles. glass tops, Silver / Dark Blue,True Spoke wheels & new tires, + original wheels.
Original and stock. Good condition. Tell me what it's worth.
Bruce Kinney
(303) 543-1238
2009 Committees:
Dealer Rep |
Mike K. |
Membership & Directory |
Cathy S. / Nancy B. |
Social Committee |
Mary Kay, Mary and Cathy |
Merchandise Committee |
Mike and Martha |
Rally Committee |
Joan – Chair, |
Show Committee |
Open |
|
Richard Loch |
Webmaster |
Mike P. |
Newsletter |
Tim B |
Drag Racing Competition Director |
Joan B. |
Autocross Competition Director |
Frank A. |
Tim’s Challenge Representative |
? |
Sno' Big Deal Extravaganza |
Open |
Roving Reporter/Photographer |
Bill S. |