Greetings all,
For those who missed the announcement in my aftermath thread, or the big meet in Detroit this past Saturday, there is a new/old club in the area that I'm now in charge of, Tri-State SHO/SVT. It's been around for a few years now, but it's been primarily a SHO group with informal meets a few times a year. It's been pretty quiet for awhile now, as the last two Presidents have been pretty busy. Since I'm a deadbeat bum
I jumped at the chance to run the club when the former President asked me to back in May. As of the meet last Saturday I'm now running the show, and I'd really like to get the Contour community more involved
Membership requirements? A passion for the 'tour and Taurus. No fees, no fuss, no muss.
For the past couple months I considered different kinds of activities, different directions in which to take the club, etc. The club covers a large area and in the past there's really only been one person running thing. The biggest change, effective as of this past meet, is the addition of several regional representatives to assist with club activities. Tri-State SHO/SVT covers a rather fat chunk of the Great Lakes area; with gas prices at record levels and free time for many growing smaller each day I'll be the first one to step up and say that I'm not going to be driving to a heck of a lot for meetings, and I'm sure others will agree. With that in mind, I'm hoping to make Tri-State more active overall, but also more active on a smaller, regional level. I see Tri-State as having a few big events a year... perhaps 2 or 3. But on smaller levels maybe we have events happening at a rate of 2 or 3 every month or two. Naturally everyone would be invited to the smaller, region-specific events. But by holding a drag day at Lapeer in Michigan one week, a GTG at Quaker Steak in Ohio the next and an autocross in Indiana a couple weeks later, suddenly the summer becomes pretty active for ALL the enthusiasts in the club without the need for them to drive hundreds of miles just for a little activity.
To coordinate this activity we have two separate tools: Our new regional reps and a brand new email listserver through yahoogroups. All events will be Tri-State events and they'll have the support of myself as well as all available resources from the club itself. However it will be the regional representatives who take the lead role in event organization. It will also be the responsibility of the regional reps to campaign for club discounts at places of their choosing. In this day and age any kind of price break is welcome, and you'd be surprised at just how easy it to get these discounts... walk in and say "hey, I've got this car club; if you can cut us a special deal I'll see about throwing some business your way." Every place I talked to back in the SVT/SHO Society days gave some kind of discount, so reps... let's get some good deals for our members! Part stores, shops, restaurants... the sky is the limit. And hey, if you're NOT a rep but think you can get some club discounts, go for it!
Since we're a group of SHO enthusiasts as well as Contour enthusiasts, I've created a Tri-State yahoo group to help us all stay in touch. With the yahoo group we can use a single email listserver and stay in quick contact. This will be ideal for those "last minute" meet ideas that pop up, or if a member is in need of local parts or a little mechanical help.
I ask that all Tri-State members subscribe to this group. It's VERY easy; it will only take a minute and it's completely free of charge. Just click on the following link to access the main page, click the join button on the right side and then follow the instructions.
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/tristateshosvt/If you don't have a yahoo account you will need to register for one, but it's very simple (and free) to sign up.
I plan to do most of the club news and updates through the yahoo email list, so I do ask that current/prospective Tri-State members sign up as soon as possible.
As for the regional reps... I bet you're wondering who they are
So without further anticipation:
Western Michigan: Todd R. (Todras)-SHOforum & CEG
Steve C. (Xchang)-CEG
Indiana: John E. (SHO2NV)-SHOforum
Ohio: Denny R. (Denny)-SHOforum
Eastern Michigan: Chris S. (that's me!)SHOforum & CEG
Beth M. (Bizzy)SHOforum
I'd still like to add another rep for Indiana and Ohio so if anyone is interested hit me with a PM or just post here. In fact, I'd prefer to have these reps from the Contour community to help balance things out. As for the future, it's all flexible. If there are a lot of enthusiasts in a particular area we'll add more reps. If an area becomes dead then we'll take reps away. Basically, if there's a group of enthusiasts in this area looking for a serious club, we want to be there, and I have no problems adding new reps to different areas if there are enough enthusiasts.
As for future events; we do have a couple things in mind yet for this year. Among them, a Lapeer drag day, year end cruise (working with Mark on that one), Christmas party, and actually I wouldn't mind holding a Haloween party somewhere if there's enough interest. Costumes can be fun.
Anyway, that's the latest. As always, a club is only as good as its membership, so SPEAK UP with any thoughts, ideas, requests etc.
Here's to a great looking future for the enthusiasts in our area
91 SHO plus black/black, work in progress