Great Lakes Chapter

Volvo Club of America

Our October news is our minutes from the September 20th, 2011 Chapter meeting. 

 

GREAT LAKES CHAPTER, VCOA 

Tuesday, September 20th, 2011

Members present

Tim Cox, President, Harriet Cox, First Lady

John and Nancy Northup, Co-Treasurers

David Irvine, Secretary

Daryl & Bonnie Tammen

John and Janet Mendler

James and Joyce Webb,  Rick Webb

John and Nancy reported we have $677.25 in our account.  Nancy has send out 26 letters to those who have not renewed and has received some renewals. We have approximately 60 paid members. Cost of mailing pins has gone up from $1.21 to $1.71.

President’s Report

OLD BUSINESS: None.

NEW BUSINESS Bylaws – suggest asking other Volvo Clubs for their bylaws. ACTION ITEM: Tim to ask other club when he is at the Malibu, CA meet. Ask also why there is a VSA and VCOA, and suggest combining.  Tim could also ask Gretchen, and also suggest having Tim contact Jan about our November meeting date being different (Saturday).  

Betten was very generous in providing a location and barbecue for all attendees at the Saturday, August 27th. We had approximately 25 cars there. Will support if we did a color tour cruise in Mid October.

ACTION ITEM: board members and members who attend board meetings to actively recruit for new board members. The board also decided there is not enough time to properly coordinate a color tour cruise in Mid October.

Tim and David talked about a show at Gilmore. Thereis a date available on August 11th. We would use the G Barn field that would allow us to have a goal of 100 cars. There will be a group of motorcyclists by the diner, but that will not affect us.  Tim has volunteered to head up and do the organization. The group took a vote and it was unanimous we continue this every other year tradition. Tim suggested a picture of the rows of 1800s with writing over it to promote our event and will send one to the folks in Malibu from the Gilmore photographer’s collection. The Gilmore charges us nothing and we are all set to hold this. We will have expenses for tents, etc….  We purchased a membership to help to sponsor them as a corporate member to show our thanks. Tim encourages our members to buy a family membership for $50 that covers your entry, VIP passes and a very nice dinner for sponsors in the spring.

Tim and his car “may” be in a movie with Richard Gere that comes out on Friday, September 23rd, 2011 called “The Double”. He is not sure it is in the final cut yet.

Tim discussed a color tour and due to the closenessof the date, we have decided to pass, and consider doing it next year. Suggest a Saturday Meeting on November 12th at 12 noon

Janet Mendler enquired about east side events. It was mentioned Motor Muster has drawn a few Volvo enthusiasts in the past. She suggested having events on the east side of the state and west side events to get east side people involved.  Tim suggested researching a “spring dust off” in Dayton, OH, the Wright Patterson Air Force base.

ACTION ITEM: John will research both ofthese.  (see end of minutes for follow up that John did since the meeting)

Officers:

Tim and David have expressed an interest in stepping down from their respective jobs. We need to have two year officers. Tim is gathering ballots. David said he would be willing to run for office but if elected, would only serve for a one year period so that both officers would not leave simultaneously. So far, our nominations would be as follows:

David Irvine, President Pro Tem (one year)

Darryl Tammen, Secretary

John and Nancy Northup, Treasurer, as well as sending e-mail communication out monthly as they have the roster.

Any member  can run for office. If you are interested, please contact Tim Cox at timcox102@hotmail.com.

ACTION ITEM: David to create a survey monkey for a ballot. Election would be open for a set period betweenNovember and December with new officers starting January 1st, 2012.

Tim suggested waiving Paul Fletcher’s membership to thank him for his web services. The other suggestion was to make the club more visible and “branding.”  There was talk about t-shirts to cover cost and help to “brand.” The use of Facebook and other social media sites could also be used.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:00 pm.

Respectfully Submitted by:

David Irvine

September 20th, 2011

LINK TO PHOTOS OF THE MEETING: https://picasaweb.google.com/102693683722660518447/VCOAMeetingSep2011 

SUMMARY OF PROPOSED SPRING DUST OFF EVENT

When:  late April, early May

 

Where: Ypsilanti, MI.

 

What: Spring Dust-off Proposal, 2012

 

Places of interest:  Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Museum http://www.ypsiautoheritage.org/     (Miller Motors)

                                 Michigan Firehouse Museum  http://www.michiganfirehousemuseum.org/index.html

                                 Sidetrack Bar and Grill www.sidetrackbarandgrill.com

 

Nancy and I have been to all three of these places on many occasions, and can highly recommend them.  TheYpsi Automotive Heritage Museum is run by Jack Miller, a personal friend ofours, and a fine gentleman.  Jack's family ran one of the last (if not the last) Hudson dealerships in the country, and the building now houses a widevariety of vintage cars. Jack also still sells one or two Hudsons per year, as well as engaging in some restoration work. 

 

The Michigan Firehouse Museum is a fine place as well.  With many vintage firefighting apparatus (apparatii? You can tell I never studied Latin!) on display, it does a great job of preserving firefighting history, as well as promoting fire safety.

 

The Sidetrack Bar and Grill, as the name implies, is located adjacent to a railroad track, and when the Amtrak screams by, one would have to be completely unresponsive to all forms of perception to not take notice!  Seriously though, food and drink is fabulous, and they are specifically noted for serving one of the nation's twenty best burgers.  One is surrounded by vintage railroad memorabilia, and the ambiance of it all is inescapable.  (Sort of a Clara’s of East Michigan, if you will.)

 

All three of these places are on Cross St. in Ypsilanti's historic "Old Depot Town" and are within walking distance of one another.  There are several motels in and around nearby Ann Arbor, if some of our people are inclined to stay overnight.  I haven't done any investigating of them just yet, but am willing to do so in the event there is some interest. Please have a look at the accompanying websites and let me know what you think.  All input graciously received.