Contents:

· Banquet and party stuff, with a necessary RSVP

· Proposed 2003 schedule

· Fairgrounds speculation

· Convention update

Other valuable BS that you cannot survive without

THIS IS AN IMPORTANT ISSUE, SO DON’T LINE THE BIRDCAGE UNTIL YOU HAVE READ IT ALL.  DESTROY ONLY AFTER READING IT FROM COVER TO COVER.  (Caution:  this issue is printed on flammable paper!)

PARTY, PARTY, PARTY, ‘TILL THE COWS COME HOME

Mark this on your calendar – Saturday, February 8, 2003, at the Silver City Banquet Room in Black Eagle.  No-host cocktails at 6:00 PM; dinner at 7:00 PM.  A delicious buffet dinner with the always tasty assortment of salads, (two) meat entrees, soup, mashed potatoes, dessert, and all the trimmings and accessories.  Major grub.  Only $12.25 per person (And this year everyone pays up, right?  No one skips out on this!), which is a bargain at any price.  This is the best mid-winter gathering you can possibly attend; we absolutely guarantee 119% more fun than last year, no foolin’.

BUT YOU MUST CALL ED AUSTIN at 452-1135 by Tuesday, February 4 to confirm your attendance (bringing a spouse? guest?).  Silver City needs to know how many to cook for – you know the drill.  If you don’t call – you don’t eat.

And since no party or gathering is complete without a gimmick, here’s the deal.  Sure, points and awards will be handed out.  Memories of 2002, yadayadayada.  Sure, great gales of laughter will accompany every single fabulous (true) story told.  Sure, more mouthpower than you thought possible will be strewn across the room by careless frustrated pylon killers.  But there’s more, much more for sure.  White elephants.

Yup, last year’s white elephant deal was quite the nifty diversion, so we’re gonna do it again.  Bring a wrapped “gift” (OK, so not necessarily a gift, but certainly something you can live without and that is not illegal or repulsively vulgar [note – no cigarette butt collections, for example]).  And stay on the cheap side, nothing over $10 absolute max.  You will get a strip ticket and a “gift” later on after dinner.  Please bring your white elephants in for some fun; it was sure a hit last year.  If you have no white elephants, we’d still like to party with you, so come with or without a package.

So we will see you at our 2002 season wrap-up next month, right?  Only lily-livered communist perverts won’t show up, so you have every incentive in the world to be there.  Okay, we love you, too.  There, now you have both a positive and negative reason to attend.

And if you’re not there, the rest of us will talk about you.  Guaranteed.

See you there.  Now call!

2003 PROPOSED SCHEDULE

Your Board has the following proposed schedule in mind for 2003.  As of January 20, 2003, these dates are all possible, but some will take some explaining:

·        April 13  Non-points opening event (site not determined yet)

·        May 4  Points event (site not yet determined)

·        May 25  Points event in Helena at the Helena Regional Airport facility in conjunction with the statewide Mustang club event

·        June 8  Points event (site not yet determined)

·        June 22  Points event at Helena Regional Airport facility in conjunction with the Millennium Event Show in Helena

·        July 19 and 20  Double points Top Gun meet at ExpoPark in Great Falls

·        August ?  Demo Derby???

·        August 10  Points event (site to be determined)

·        September 7  Points event at Helena Regional Airport facility

·        September 28  Points event (site to be determined)

·        October 19  Points event  (site to be determined)

 This schedule includes:

    One non-points event

    Nine points events

   Three events for certain at the Helena site

   One event for certain at ExpoPark

   Five events at “site to be determined”

All of the “to be determined” dates are open ExpoPark dates, but we are pursuing other local sites (street event?) as well.  And there are other dates possible at Helena, too.

Which all brings us to the subject of ExpoPark and the fairgrounds.  The Board will meet with Bill Ogg, the new (old?) fair manager early in February to see just who/what/how/when/why answers are out there when fairgrounds questions arise.  The recent rescheduling of horse racing has already moved Top Gun and jeopardized the Demo Derby (a huge money maker!), so we need some straight answers from Mr. Ogg and SMG.  We may be victors or victims here – we just don’t know yet.  We may by party time in February.

The unanswered questions out there are, “Just how many local autocrossers will commute to Helena for a great event site, and how often will they do that in a season?”.  Everyone who was at Helena last year was darned impressed, but will/can we go there too often and lose our local participants?  Talk to the Board about this. Incidentally, the Board consists of Ed Austin (452-1135), Jerry Rukavina (761-4357), Paul Heppner (452-8301), and Jim Messick (268-1742).  So talk to us.  Whadyawannado?

Let’s talk about this at the February banquet as well.  See you there.