Master's Miata Club

Our thanks to all that attended the Miata club 2019 Christmas gathering; even a few members that we haven’t seen in a while were there.

The venue was perfect, although a bit chilly to begin with, especially the restrooms. The roaring ‘real’ fireplace added a lot to the ambiance and kept some backsides warm until the room temp raised. Thanks to the guys that kept it fed. The food items offered a variety of choices, all seemed to enjoy them, and that salad was the talk of the crowd. That recipe has already been posted on the website. The gifting is always the fun part, some interesting items were exchanged, and I think all went home with something of use. All in good fun.

Although this is not a meeting event, we did discuss several things that face us in 2020: low membership, the high cost of keeping the website and meeting venues. Low membership will be addressed as we have in the past with a drive to encourage new by handing out the ‘cards’ and I’m looking at whatever free advertising I can find – problem with getting too big is meeting venues. That too was discussed, and an idea was presented that I like and will ask for your input. Some other clubs stick to one or a few places a year (three or four), rotating in sequence. That would eliminate the constant asking for suggestions but would keep it realistic for everyone. This would also offer the possibility of better service and a possible discount from the restaurant by knowing when we are coming with more business on usually a slow night. I have at least two places in mind, open to other suggestions.

Night meetings were mentioned. I know I and most of our other members are reluctant to drive at night as much (especially during the colder/darker months), as our eyes age and the increase in traffic that is only getting worse. For now, unless I hear otherwise, let’s keep the Thursday night meetings and visit that topic again down the road. Saturday b’fast’s and drives are the easier part and maybe we can move to holding our meeting then. I know that some still work and their weekends are filled with to-do lists around the house, and that all cannot make every meeting, so we’ll watch and make adjustments as they seem needed.  We have a blank slate for the year, as far as events go; any suggestions are welcomed. I have few ideas and will offer those soon.

We discussed, with the current membership, we can no longer justifiably afford our website. We paid $185 for the year, that’ll end in October, and Go-Daddy let us down by deleting out site and it’s still not right. We either find a better deal (as in lower cost), or as I’ve suggested we create a Facebook page for a while; it’s no cost and can be managed by the officers to keep it clean and modest.  We have had the best Miata Club website of any I’ve seen, and we thank Brian for its creation and the work he’s done; but it’s time to move forward. Maybe the FB page would be found by more looking for a local club. As with this email, we’ll try to keep everyone informed and up to date with events and news. If you are reading this, kindly acknowledge that you received it, to verify your email address. I’ll always use Bcc and promise to not send junk.

I did ask again for club President nominations/suggestions; there were none and I’ve asked several that declined. So, with no objections and if no one steps up, I guess I’ll take it on default.

Dennis Mason will be our VP.

Karol Mason our Secretary, for one more year.

Mike Dyer our Treasurer, for one more year.

Due to the closeness of our next meeting date to the holidays, I’m moving it to the 9^th instead of the 2^nd. Let’s meet at Pot Smoker BBQ, in North Augusta, actually Belvedere, (which is one of my four meeting places mentioned earlier). They have the room for parking, meeting and are always glad to see us. And besides, I love good bar-b-que.

Breakfast on the 18^th to be determined; thoughts are Steak & Shake (Bel Air and I-20), Chick Fil A in North Augusta.

Hope all have a great Christmas and New Year. Stay safe and keep it between the lines.

Larry Garner

When: November 7th, 2019

Where: BJ’s Country Buffet

Who: Cathy and Sonny Black, Don Boltz, Kurt Breitinger, Mike and Shirley Dyer, Larry and Rita Garner, Brenda Hays, Jennie Hodges, Jeff Kelley and Gary Lynn, Glen and Deb Link, Dennis and Karol Mason, Hal and Trudy Scott, Stacey Timmerman, Rolf Wilms.

Thanks to Tom Varallo for planning this dinner meeting. We all grabbed and ate a tasty dinner before Larry Garner opened the meeting by telling us that Brian and Donna had been out in Oregon for a couple of weeks now and had looked at over 21 homes before finding one they both liked and fit their needs.

Larry also told us Mike and Shirley Dyer had a bad accident last week and rolled their truck several times. Mike and Shirley said they were just happy to be here, and we all agreed. So glad they are doing well with only a few aches and pains.

Hal Scott talked about our Deals Gap/Leaf Peep trip to Robbinsville area. We drove up on Friday on some winding roads to Highlands and had lunch, then on to Robbinsville and some more winding roads. Spent the night in Robbinsville at the Quality Inn and got up in the morning for a drive through the Tail of the Dragon, then on to Maryville and Tellico Plains where we had lunch, then drove onto the Cherohalla Skyway and stopped along the way to Bald River Falls, on the way back to Robbinsville. A full day of driving but we saw some beautiful views and very nice leaf colors along the way. A few got a fire going in the fire pit at the hotel that evening after dinner, then hit the sack for the “on your own” drive home on Sunday. All in all a wonderful trip! Thanks to Hal and Trudy Scott for leading this trip!

Larry also stated this meeting we are taking nominations for officers and Karol has agreed to be secretary for 1 more year but no longer, Mike Dyer agreed to be Treasurer for 1 more year but no longer as well. Nominations were being accepted for President and Vice. Dennis agreed to run for Vice since no one else was volunteering, and we got no nominations or volunteers for President. We vote for Officers at the Christmas Party, so please someone volunteer to be President! Contact Larry Garner if you want to run for ANY office!

Last, we discussed the Christmas Party. Since we cannot get the Clubhouse again this year that we have held the party in the last couple of years, the search was on to find a place. Bob Tarrant came through for us and was able to reserve the Outing Club for Saturday, December 21st. It’s an older 2 story home that has been turned into a lakeside clubhouse. It has room downstairs for us to hold our party and a nice fireplace, as well as a screened in porch on the back by the lake. It has a very “cabin like” feel. There is a $50 charge for someone to come in and clean up after we leave. That is the only charge to use it. It’s outside Aiken and a bit out of the way. We debated about doing potluck, catered, or appetizers in the afternoon. Catered was too costly for our budget, and the vote went to appetizers in the afternoon, particularly since the Club is on a backroad with no lighting, we thought we can do the party from 12-4 and everyone can get home before dark. We also decided to charge $5 per person to help cover the cost of cleaning and any leftover would go back into the club account. Karol will circulate (via email) a list for folks to sign up for the appetizers and since there is no December meeting other than the party – we will have to do everything by email. Please RSVP to Karol at Kyyrie55@gmail.com or call or text at 706-631-0532 to let her know you are coming and what you plan to bring. We’ll collect the $5 per at the party. We’ll also do our usual White Elephant gift exchange, so don’t forget to bring a wrapped gift of $10-$15 for each person that wishes to participate. Hope to see everyone there~

Treasurer’s Report: The balance for October 1st to 31st started at $883.03, and added $20 in dues and deducted $0, leaving an ending balance is $903.03.

Club Business:
• The Deals Gap/Leaf Peep drive on Friday-Sunday November 1-3rd went very well and Hal and
Trudy did a great job of filling at the last minute since Brian and Donna couldn’t. There’s a great synopsis written by Hal on the website blog. Pics posted too. If you haven’t taken your Miata to Deals Gap you will definitely want to do it! It’s a perfect drive where the Miata really excels.
• A reminder that dues are coming due by the first of the year – But they will be accepted any
time until then. Please see Mike Dyer to pay your yearly dues soon!
• Please remember to RSVP to our events – it makes it difficult for the planner if we don’t
know how many will show – especially for smaller venues. Your RSVP is greatly appreciated!

Ongoing:
• See Dennis Mason for name tags, if you so desire.
• Club merchandise is available: Pins are $3 each; “Support Vehicle” car magnets are $25
per pair, canvas tote/shopping bag $20 each. The 3” window stickers have come in and are available now.
• Coffee mugs and other items are available from http://www.cafepress.com/masters_miata
Communigraphics in North Augusta has our logo, for $8 you can have it embroidered on just about anything.

New Business/Upcoming calendar events: