President’s Column, January 2009

by Bob Morin

Happy New Year!

On December 6th, we held our Holiday Party/Yankee Swap at the Stevenson Fire House in Stevenson, CT. This year, the Yankee Swap was quite swap active, with some guests having their gifts swapped out so many times, we lost count. We also had an attendee all the way from St. Louis. If he could make it, what happened to you? Okay, okay, he is moving to CT and was already here to start his quest to find a home, but that’s just a technicality. Special thanks to jerri & Willy for lining up the site for us and for their work in organizing the event and to Rudy & Cheryl for helping with the set up. Also, we can’t forget to thank Barbara Bisset, who has been our swap mistress for as long as I’ve been around, so there’s no telling how many years she’s been doing it.

As you read this, there may still be time to sign up for our Annual Dinner on January 26th. If you are planning to attend, don’t forget to bring your ballot along, unless you’ve already mailed in it, of course. And, if you attend, you will probably take home a nice doorprize, too.

Also, on the subject of elections, the National Club election is also taking place, and this year, you must vote online (by noon on February 13th), so don’t forget to cast your ballot there as well, as there is a contested position for office.

We’ve got some events planned for the late Winter/early Spring time frame, but the dates aren’t firm, so I’m not going to mention them yet, but we’ll get the information to you in time to mark your calendars.

With last month’s column, I had concluded the F1 season, but I wanted to make a few more comments on the subject. In my opinion, this was may be the best F1 season I can remember. There were seven different winners, representing five different teams, three first-time winners, the youngest race winner ever, the youngest podium ever, the first-ever F1 night race, and the first BMW Sauber win (Kubica), which was actually a one-two finish. Robert Kubica finished tied for third in the Driver’s Championship and BMW Sauber finished a very strong third in the Manufacturer’s Championship. At any given race, you weren’t really sure who might win, or even which team. Unlike last season, when it was certainly going to be a McLaren or a Ferrari, this year, it could have been any one of about eight different drivers. Eleven drivers scored more than 20 points. There were five drivers in contention for the Driver’s Championship with two races to go and three still in contention going into the final race. The Manufacturer’s and Driver’s titles were both decided at the final race and the Driver’s Championship was decided on the last lap of the last race and only by a one point margin. All this, and it wasn’t even some corny Hollywood movie, it was all for real. So, of course, what should Sir Bernie do after such a successful season? Well, let’s try to change just about everything in the hopes we can screw it all up. I guess we’ll have to wait until March 29th in Melbourne to see if things remain as exciting as the 2008 season. One thing we already know about 2009 is that the very underachieving Honda Team will not be with us any longer and that means F1 has lost two teams in less than 12 months, which I’m sure contributes greatly to the FIA’s desires to find more ways to cut costs.

In this month’s News From National, membership now stands at 74,673, down 0.48% from the previous month. Congratulations to Frank Patek II on his first anniversary as the Club’s Executive Director. Welcome to BMW ownership, Frank. (He recently purchased a 645Ci coupe) March 6th – 8th National is holding the Driving Events Conference in New Orleans. Oktoberfest 2009 (the 40th Anniversary) will be at Road Atlanta, which is a great track you won’t want to miss driving. The dates are September 28th to October 4th and the site hotel, the Lake Lanier Islands Resort is already accepting reservations. Check out www.bmwccaofest.org for more details.

If you’ve been paying attention, you will have noticed by now that I am not running for re-election as President. After 11 years (I think) it’s time for someone else to take over. So, this will be my last President’s Column. I’ll still be around and I’m sure I’ll write some things about F1 from time to time. There are so many people that I should thank for all the help during my tenure as President, but surely I would forget someone if I tried. I do want to thank every member who has served on the Chapter’s board or volunteered at any event while I was President. You all made my job easier by being there. I’d also like to thank my wife Sheila, for all her support during my time as President.

Unless there are some write-in votes, I will probably be your new Vice-President, which means I will have overall responsibility for the events that will appear on the Chapter calendar. So, if you have any ideas for an event, or more importantly, if you’d like to help organize an event, please contact me.

See you at an event soon,

Bob Morin