And Now, A Word From Our
2009 President, Bruce Wentzel:   

July 2009

First I must say that is was a treat to see Kim Fast not only at our June 21^st autocross, but to watch her drive and drive well.  More hugs to you Kim. It is also great to see Barb Bush back behind the wheel and going very fast. CCM has some tough women. Or is it that competitive women are tough? Although not a CCM member, Elizabeth Antos is also back behind the wheel and competing for overall FTD.

Then there is this note from Dyan, who sold the winning Encounter charity raffle ticket.

I did get a hold of Kathy the grand prize winner of the Raffle tickets from Saturday.
I found out Kathy is pregnant with her first child and they are looking for a house.
This couldn't have been a better time for them.
Also, Kathy works with ALS patients. They have a friend of family that has ALS right now. They said they were all happy to contribute to the cause.

With the tough times that we in Michigan are dealing with, count these blessings.

I appreciate the feedback that we’ve gotten regarding SlipStream. Most of you said that a reminder that the latest issue was available would benefit you. We will do that from now on and have established a constant link to take you to it,   http://www.corvetteclubmi.com/currentslipstream.pdf    Then the previous month’s e-SlipStream will get archived with a different link. If you’d like to take advantage of the constant latest link anytime, feel free to bookmark it.  We are continuing to investigate printing options, weighing the cost issues.

My thought now is how do I get this information to you? Of course it will be in the e-SlipStream but that’s a catch 22. I’ll have this report emailed separately to all to keep the communication as strong as possible. Just don’t expect the July issue until you get that notice .

Bruce

May 2009

Spring is in the air!! And it was a strong 70 mph air today. YIKES! Thankfully our power was only out for a few hours. An hour of chain sawing and my trailer is again free.

It is in the air in many more ways too. First Rally of the year, driver’s school and the first autocross are in the books. And speaking of books, lets keep our fingers and toes crossed for some black ink in the auto industry books. If you can help with that, go for it.

Our latest meeting program was the presentation of the Club Sport car built by Katech and sold exclusively by Les Stanford Chevrolet. A lighter Z06 with bigger brakes. Now that’s a package! We also revived the auction with some 55 and 65 Corvette parts. If you are a collector, you missed a great opportunity. So get the membership meetings on your calendar. We will have some auction items in May. Sorry I don’t know what May’s program will be but this year’s programs have not been a disappointment.

Before the spring storm today we had a great turnout to do some long needed maintenance on the club trailer. As with many of our maintenance projects, this one got moved to the top of the priority list when the trailer jack broke after the first event this year. So we took the opportunity to make some other upgrades within the trailer and clean some pylons. The crew worked hard to get about 25% of them looking better. Thanks to, in no specific order, Carl Ek, Paul Yuska, Dave Krom, Chris Davies, Ken Sumner, Rodney Slusher, Jim Rees, Fred King, Chris Scafero for the volunteer hours and to Tom Dunn for the use of his shop. And I hope to heaven that I haven’t forgotten somebody who was there.

Do you realize that the Encounter is less than 2 months away? Have you been out there selling those raffle tickets? Don’t forget, the primary charity is for ALS. You know that significance of that. Nuff said.

See you May 27

Bruce

April 2009

Oh, I am sooo disappointed. It seems like just last week I wrote this:
Maybe the good news is that next month will be really looong. 

It was not.

Do you have an interest in a specific program for the membership meeting? Please let our Program Director, Gary Claudio know if you do. Is there a particular vendor who’s stuff you have used and really like and want to share them? PROGRAM !!

At the March meeting Gary Pratt and Mike Atkins of Pratt & Miller brought a C6RS to the meeting and Gary gave an overview of the history of Pratt & Miller from 1999 to 2008. I found the stories of instantaneous ingenuity during races when an unexpected problem arose to be fascinating. Those are the things that make true champions and give the Corvette a newfound respect around the world. Mike is the Program Manager for the C6RS and in conversation with him I learned that they are going to sell individual components of the package. So, if you’d like some or all of the body kit, the interior or just the seats, contact Mike at C6RS@prattmiller.com

I wish I could tell you what the program is for April at this time, but whatever it is I’m sure you’ll want to be there. As always, the meeting is the  4th Wednesday of the month, April 22. April has 5 Wednesdays this year. Don’t be late. We start the meeting promptly at 7:30pm. The last of us were out of the building by 9:30 in March. Maybe we can organize a coffee/desert stop somewhere after the meeting.  Yeah, just what my waist needs is more desert after donuts at the meeting! How about just some extended socializing?

Read elsewhere in this issue about the upcoming Social and Competition events. I can feel Spring in the air.

See you April 22
Bruce 

March 2009

There are so many clichés about how time flies, but there are some corollaries that may not have come to light. First is that when there is a deadline each month to write an article, those months get really short. And second is that not only is February a short month, but when the publisher needs to bump the deadline by a week due to his work commitments, well HOLY COW !! Maybe the good news is that next month will be really looong. 

I am one who likes to have my SlipStream in hand. Many of you have said the same thing for your own reasons. The most challenging has been some of you have a dial up Internet connection and downloading SS is nearly impossible. Your Board is not insensitive to the problem and some things are being considered.

First is that our publisher is looking at doing two versions, the really nice one that we currently enjoy and a bare bones version without the graphics. We tried a variant of this a while ago by just doing the cover in black and white that really did not solve the problem. If this happens there will be separate links to choose your SS download.

Second is my own hairbrained idea. I looked into the costs of mailing a SlipStream and for $2.50- $3.00 per month to cover printing and mailing a hard copy could be in your hands each month. Mailing would be first class USPS, not the discount bulk mail we used to use. The printing would not be the same quality and might even be grayscale. It would not necessarily be an official club function. So, two things need to happen to make this happen. I’d need to know how many people would pay $30 - $35 a year to get the paper version and second if there is somebody who would like to do this. If you have an interest in this idea let me know. It would not be a high volume thing as it looks like we only have a dozen or so members that are on dial up.

Read elsewhere details about the March program. Representatives from Pratt & Miller will visit us.

See you March 25
Bruce

February 2009

While the memories of last night’s Awards Banquet are fresh I’m putting fingers to keyboard. If I were to say what a great event it was you’d think “they always say that” and you’d be right so let me tell you how it was great. Of course all the things we do were done last night, but with a fresh approach. For the second year LIVEWYR has been involved in helping with the awards presentation and she is not stuck in the paradigm of how we always did it, so each year she has taken a different approach and it is both brief and entertaining. As a presentation preparer in her day job she is full of ideas and is already thinking of next year.

Tom Dunn did a great job of honoring Gil Roycraft in 2 minutes instead of the usual 5. The year in review was split between the competition and social directors with entertaining video support by Dave Krom, not to mention the background video of the 50th Anniversary highlights that Dave put together that ran in the background on that monster screen thru the evening. And then there was the most special award. The Most Valuable Member Award has been renamed the Ken Watson Memorial Most Valuable Award and was presented by Brett, Kris and Diane to a very deserving Chris Scafero. It was a moving presentation. We had a guest who is not a CCM member and at the end of the evening his comment was, paraphrased: I go to many holiday parties and this was the best one. Expect him to become a CCM member.

We also had a raffle and an auction, one item being the CCM 50th logo from the large banner. Proceeds of over $500 from both will be donated to the ALS Ken’s Friends fund.

Last night was the general membership meeting. The turnout was a little light due to the weather, but Mr. Art Spong, Group Manager, Brand Quality Performance Cars, rewarded the brave souls who came with a great tech presentation. If you had any questions about your Corvette he truly had the answers. Maybe he will agree to return later in the year when the weather is better. Thanks to Gary Claudio for making the arrangements for Mr. Spong to attend.

Thanks to Bob Palmer for offering to join the Board of Directors as the Detroit Council of Sports Car Clubs rep. Welcome aboard.

At the February meeting Harlan Charles will again join us and is planning to bring another Corvette Engineer with him to further enhance our Corvette enjoyment

See you Feb 25
Bruce
 

January 2009

It’s Christmas Eve and time for me to stop procrastinating. I hope you’ve all had a Merry Christmas and wish you a great and Happy New Year. The past year had it’s good and not so good and may next year bring better health to all.

          There are numerous bright spots on the horizon in addition to the usual fine jobs being done by our social and competition committees. Their reports are elsewhere for your enjoyment. The Corvette Encounter will also have some surprises for you that we are not yet able to reveal and I’m sure Jim Rees is chomping at the bit to be able to tell you the news. Also, look for an Open House at Les Stanford in March with a significant announcement from them regarding a special car they will have available from some un-named company that just might be located in New Hudson.

          Our new member to the club and Board of Directors, but not to the Corvette world, Gary Claudio, has some great plans for Programs throughout the year so mark all those 4^th Wednesdays on your calendar so you don’t miss any membership meetings. Remember the general membership meetings now start at 7:30 p.m.  I hear that he might also be able to arrange some alternate prizes for the 50-50 raffles so there could be more than one prizewinner each night at the membership meetings.  We always have coffee and donuts in the back room for our members/guests compliments of Les Stanford Chevrolet. 

          Don’t miss the next CCM big event, the Annual Awards Banquet on Jan 24 that will culminate our 50^th Anniversary year celebrations.  This is one event you will not want to miss (buffet dinner, open bar, dancing and lots of door prizes). The deadline to RSVP is January 11^th  ($35.00 per person).   Contact Pat Jutras at 734-397-6942 to make your reservation.  Cocktails at 6:00 p.m. and dinner at 6:45 p.m.  Be sure to see the special Corvette from Les Stanford that will be on display.  I’ve heard a rumor that despite the poor economy in Michigan we will have some great door prizes. Don’t miss our biggest and baddest Social event. Get on your fancy duds and see if you can recognize all your friends in their fancy duds, instead of shorts/jeans and T-shirts. Don’t forget to wear your dancing shoes so we can kick off the next 50 great years.

 Save the wave,

Bruce

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