Notes from the President

December 2011

This is my last column as president. I’ve enjoyed working with those members of the board who have helped make my two terms manageable. The past year has been busy and I appreciate the help that many chapter members gave in making it successful.

In case anyone reading this column thinks I made a mistake in my opening paragraph they’re correct. It’s really been three years and what I had done was copy verbatim that paragraph from the last column I wrote as president back in February 1985. Would I try for a three peat at some time in the future? Probably not, but you never know.

I would like to add that it’s been an interesting term in office. I’ve seen the club go from a black and white newsletter to one in color. In addition the Chapter has made it further into the social network with a Facebook page. The color newsletter was possible back in ’85 but a social network was unheard of.

While I would like to list all of you who helped during the past three years I’d be afraid that I’d miss someone. I leave believing that the Chapter will have additional successes in the New Year with the new Board.

Willy Wiley

October 2011

Instead of starting my column by going over past events and thanking people I would ask you to direct your attention to the ballot attached within this issue. Please take the time to vote as well as thank those members who have decided to step up their commitment to the chapter.

Now reverting back to my normal habit I’d like to thank Matt McGinn’s Sports Car Restoration once again for putting on ’02 Fest East at Lime Rock Park at the Vintage Fall Festival. I’d also like to thank those members who helped us with the chapter hospitality booth also at the Vintage Fall Festival.

Once again on behalf of the chapter I’d like to thank Barbara Bisset for her coordinating the Humpa Picnic. Thanks also go to Tony Olivera and his son Victor of Tony’s Imported Auto Service for supplying the beer for the picnic. In addition I’d like to thank Detail Best and Performance Auto Inc. for supplying some of the door prizes.

Dave Ortoli and all those members who helped with our October Street Survival School should be thanked for putting on another successful event. The location at the Rock Cat’s Stadium in New Britain couldn’t compare with the exclusivity of the one at the Consumer Reports facility but I don’t think it mattered to the students who attended it.

Willy Wiley.

August 1, 2011

Sure hope your enjoying the weather this summer… just remember what it was like last February if you think it’s been too hot. In spite of the heat it hasn’t stopped people from coming to the Chapter’s events.

The Cruise nights have been popular and we’ve gone from Colchester to Granville Ma. to Simsbury to attend them. The July gathering at Gran-Val Scoop had the usual ice cream with really fresh ingredients: since it was attached to a dairy farm. It was great fun for the 25 or so members who attended.

Another successful summer event was our annual Bring More Wax, Show and Shine picnic. This event was again hosted by Mike Zarolinski and attracted a good selection of cars including couple club members from the Albany area.

While the summer was fun, there’s still more to come. There’s the ’02 Fest at Lime Rock Park and the Annual Humpa Picnic that I’m looking forward to. We’ll be holding another Driver’s School and possibly another Street Survival School. We’ve also got a rally planned for November so stay tuned for details. Further ahead is the annual Holiday Party in December with a new venue and a really top notch pair of speakers.

With the end of the year approaching we’re always asking for members to get involved in the leadership of the chapter. Please consider running for a chapter officer position, it’s a great way to influence our activities and it is important to the health of the chapter.

Willy Wiley.

May 31, 2011

While I have to write fewer columns since the newsletter comes out bimonthly it’s harder for me to keep up with what’s happened and what’s coming up. I’m still in awe of the length and number of columns that our past president Bob Morin wrote during his tenure. But as usual I’ll start by mentioning the successful events that we’ve recently held.

I’ll start off with our April Driver’s school. While it did not sell-out, our Driving Event Coordinator, Peter Rossato, did his usual best to make it run smoothly. As the school wasn’t filled, it was the source of some lengthy discussion at our subsequent business meetings. The conversations tried to look for ways to make sure it doesn’t happen again. We decided to ride it out and leave school price, number of students, number of run groups and number of schools as they are for the remainder of the year. To our great relief it looks like the June school will be filled.

Speaking of successful events, our first Street Survival School of the year was one for the plus side. Dave Ortoli, our Street Survival Chairman, spent many days in advance of the school coordinating the resources of the multiple stake holders in the event. His efforts paid off and the school, at the Consumer Reports’ test track in Colchester, was indeed a successful one.

From the reports, it looks like Bob and Sheila Morin put on a great bike tour. It sounded like the riders were a bit more serious this year then in the past, with the value of some of the bikes maybe equal to or greater than what jerri and I paid for our second 2002 in 1976.

At the time of writing this article, we’ve also held two Cruise Nights. One was in Manchester and the other one in Monroe. Watch for updates on the website and email blasts for the additional ones coming up.

A number of members from the Chapter also attended BMW of Bridgeport’s open house. The chapter certainly appreciated being invited to the event as we passed out a lot of membership fliers at the information table that had been provided by the Dealer.

In closing, I’ll mention the annual Bring More Wax Show & Shine and picnic coming up on July 10th. This happens to be one our two annual picnics and will once again be held at Wickham Park in Manchester. Hope to see you all there.

Willy Wiley

January 31, 2011

Instead of writing about the ton of snow on the ground and the forecast for more I’d like to start off the year with a brief mention of what I thought made last year an interesting one.

The first item that made it interesting was the change to color for the newsletter. It was big commitment that the board made to make the change but it was one that was worth it. Another item was the institution of the “Ice Cream Social.” This social event traveled around the state and was well attended wherever it went.

As I did last year I’d like to welcome the new board as voted in at the Annual Meeting. This year’s Board consists of Lance Johnson, Vice President, with Jim Hurczyn as Secretary and Dave Rich as Treasurer. In addition the following members were elected to serve another term as Members at Large: Bob Morin, jerri Wiley, John Bisset, Tim Parker, Andrew Hurczyn, Peter Rossato and Dave Ortoli. I’d also like to welcome to the Board as our newest Members at Large Blake Antrim, Botond Pal and Heather Centrella, who will remain our as Membership chairperson. In addition I’d like to give special thanks Nancie Giacalone, who won’t be returning to the board this year.

In ending I’d like to once again invite all to come out to an event this year. Whether it is to a social one, tour or driver’s school come on out, as we’d love to meet you.

Willy Wiley

November 29, 2010

At the start of a new year I would once again like to remind everyone that the operation of the Chapter is not limited strictly to the club officers or the members at large. This is important to remember in spite of the fact that the ballot at the rear of the last issue of the DZ did not contain any contested offices or hot issues. But rather than ignore it, why not send it in and utilize it as an opportunity to send us your comments or thoughts?

Also at the start of a new year I would like mention that some of the events have already been planned for next year. We have a number of driver’s schools as well as a Street Survival School in the works. In addition the Driver’s School Committee is also looking into putting on a skid pad training session and perhaps an autocross. Of course once the weather turns warm we hope to have the usual picnics as well as the popular weeknight “Ice Cream Socials”.

In closing I’d like to thank all who made last year a success and hope that the new one will be even more successful with more people attending our events and sharing their fun, I won’t use joy, with their cars.

Willy Wiley

September 28, 2010

Ok summer is over and the time for sweet drives in the sunshine is slowly diminishing but let’s be thankful for what we did get to enjoy. There were a couple of events since my last column that need to be mentioned

Matt McGinn’s Sports Car Restoration once again put on ’02 Fest East at the Lime Rock Park Vintage Fall Festival. On behalf of the Chapter, I’d like to thank him and his employees for their efforts. I’d also like to thank those members who helped us with the Chapter hospitality booth at the Vintage Fall Festival.

And on behalf of the Chapter I’d like to thank Barbara Bisset for coordinating the Humpa Picnic. Additional thanks goes to Victor and Tony Oliveira for supplying the beer for the picnic.

Before ending, I’d like express our disappointment for not having put on Street Survival School in October like we advertised. Dave Ortoli tried desperately to secure a place suitable to put it on. In the end we ran out of time.

The events we’ve all enjoyed through the summer need people to put them on. Please consider running for a Chapter Officer position. It is vitally important to the health of the Chapter to get people on board with fresh new fun ideas. If you aren’t comfortable running for Office or organizing an event on your own, then how about attending a monthly Board meeting to contribute your ideas.

Willy Wiley.

October 29, 2009

Here it is the end of a busy October for the Chapter. We had three different events in October, which by my accounting involved a total of almost 200 members in attendance.

The first event, a Street Survival School, was held at Rentschler Field in East Hartford. It was the culmination of a lengthy venue search by Dave Ortoli. In his search Dave visited numerous sites and viewed plenty of satellite photos trying to find a site that would fit the purpose. In the end we went back to Rentschler, which we had used last year. From the comments on the evaluation cards that the student drivers had submitted it appeared to have been a successful event. At that event we had nearly 25 students with about the same number of parents, 20 instructors and 15 event volunteers.

The following Friday we held our fall drivers school at Lime Rock. From all accounts the day started looking a bit iffy, with an over night accumulation of snow in some areas, but wound up with a sunny finish after noon. In attendance for the event were about 40 students, 40 instructors and about 10 volunteers.

A weekend later it was off to Turner Motorsports in Amesbury, Massachusetts. Veteran Board Member Roger Chartier set up the event with owner and racer Will Turner providing the entertainment. About 45 members made the trip there.

If you didn’t get a chance to attend any of these events we still have a few more coming up. There’s the Holiday Party in December and the Annual Election Diner Meeting coming in January so why not make it a point to come out and meet your fellow members and have a good time.

Willy Wiley

June 10, 2009

The year so far for the Chapter is going as well as one can expect with the economy the way it is.

This is especially true for the Drivers School at Lime Rock with one down and the second one looking to be just as successful. We are certainly lucky to have such a facility in our backyard as well a number of members who have been with the club for a long time. I mention this as I came across a list of attendees from our first school back in 1989 while going through some of the Chapter’s files. One of the members that has stayed and helped through the years is Wally Thomas. Wally, for those who don’t know it, is currently our Chief Instructor and I can only guess how many laps of the track that he has made between being a student, SCCA racer and instructor. On behalf of the Chapter I’d like to thank Wally for all the help he has given. I also look forward to many more successful Drivers Schools with other long time members as well as new ones who are just coming along.

While on the subject of Lime Rock, we are making plans to hold the ’02 Fest East there once again. It looks like we’ll be holding it in conjunction with the Vintage Fall Festival on the Labor Day weekend.

For those of you who are interested we are pursuing a venue to put on another Street Survival School this fall. It’s a shame that we got priced out of last year’s location, Rentschler Field, as it was a decent facility for our use. Watch for future updates as we are looking at some new locations as well as one we used in the past.

Willy