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T.C. Thompson’s Child Life department spends a great deal of time and effort to make Christmas as festive as possible for their kids. Lois and colleague Fi Fi Ginsburg were ecstatic, to say the least, when they saw Region’s donation. Santa Claus will deliver our toys to the children on Christmas Eve. Even though we didn’t have a Ho Ho Solo event this year, Jamie and Gail Perry took it upon themselves to keep the annual toy drive going. Gail emailed and nagged members for donations, then Jamie picked up the ball and nagged some more. Then, she went shopping at least three times to buy toys.
Never underestimate the power of even the smallest gift. Merry Christmas everyone! -- Ruthie Cartlidge |
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November Meeting Minutes November 2, 2004 -- Komatsu We had 20 members present for our monthly meeting (pretty good for a rainy, foggy election night). Business:
Sporting: Solo – no local events. Amy Wagner placed 4th of 5 in her class at Nationals. You Go Girl! RallyCross – We had a RallyCross this past weekend with a small turn out. Hopefully entries will increase as insurance costs and site costs are high and we cannot continue to hold events that lose money. Road Racing – Chattanooga Region was well represented at the SIC (see Ruthie’s Road Race Report on the website) and we have two drivers entering the ARRC (Will Perry and Vesa Silegren) We will have 3 members working the event (Art and Ruthie working corners and Bill Perry Asst. Chief Steward for Tech). It looks like the weather will be great and I think the racing will also be great. Hopefully some folks will come down to spectate. -- Gail Perry |
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October Meeting Minutes October 5, 2004 -- Rivergate Shop BUSINESS:
-- Gail Perry |
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September Meeting Minutes September 7, 2004 -- Komatsu BUSINESS:
SPORTING: Our next event is the Divisional Road Rally on September 18, 2004 starting at the Dalton Chamber of Commerce. The next RallyCross will be held at Renegade Trucking on October 3, 2004. The next Road Race will be the SIC at Roebling Road October 9-10. -- Gail Perry |
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August Meeting Minutes August 3, 2004 -- Komatsu We had 20 members and guests present at our August meeting at Komatsu. BUSINESS: The minutes from our previous meeting we approved as posted on the website. Treasurer’s report indicates a balance of approximately $8800. Solo II Report: In his search for a Solo II site, Chairman Heyward Wagner has met with an official at Chattanooga State. They discussed the possibility of our Club holding Car Control Clinics in their parking lot on Saturdays, with Autocrosses on the following Sundays. The clinics would be a continuing education course. Further meetings will be held to finalize the arrangements. Heyward is looking at other sites and we hope to have two or three sites so we can offer a more varied course layout. RallySprint/Hillclimb Report: Bill Perry has met with some county officials who seem interested in allowing a RallySprint to be held on a local paved road, probably this fall. This would be an introduction to holding a Hillclimb there next year. We voted to hold the RallySprint, possibly at a small monetary loss. Locations will be announced after contract agreements have been signed. Renegade Trucking will allow us to use their lot again for another RallyCross, with more entries next time. We do need a few volunteers to help pick up bricks and rocks we uncovered in the corners. If you can help, please come to the site this Saturday morning at 10:00. Dave Brooks will really appreciate the help. We did get a volunteer for Activities Director for the remainder of 2004. Joshua Morgan volunteered (or was volunteered) and we really appreciate it. The Club voted to purchase a new van and bought Art Thompson’s 1991 Ford Van for $3,000. Our next meeting will be Tuesday September 7th at Komatsu at 7:00 PM. SPORTING: RallyCross: We had a good event last Sunday at Renegade Trucking in Soddy-Daisy. We had seventeen entries, no flat tires and no disabled or broken down vehicles. Amazing! -- Gail Perry |
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July Meeting Minutes July 13, 2004 -- Rivergate Shop The meeting was called to order with 19 members present. That’s pretty good for July. The minutes from the previous meeting were approved as posted on the website. Treasurer’s report indicates we have $9100.00. There were no Solo II committee members present to give us an update on their search for a Solo II site. We have a RallyCross scheduled for August 1, 2004 at the Renegade Trucking lot in Soddy Daisy. Dave Brooks is organizing the event and reports that the lot is a bit smaller than we have had in the past so he might need a “Paddock Chief” to indicate where participants should park their tow vehicles. We have a limit of 20 entrants requested by the property owner. Details on this are on the website. Dave Brooks is now the SEDIV RallyCross Steward. He has been working on a rules package for 2005 and hopes to have a SEDIV Championship Series in 2006. Mike Strawbridge is again organizing a Divisional Road Rally to be headquartered out of Dalton, GA on September 18, 2004. We have a RallySprint on the SCCA national schedule. Do we have enough local interest to have one? Do we have anyone willing to work or enter such an event? Bill Perry says he has looked at some roads that might be usable. He plans to contact officials in that area to determine if we could have a rally there. If they are agreeable, he will ask for a Board Vote before proceeding. Bill reports that there will be a new official SEDIV Performance Rally and RallyCross website. Carl Blevins is working on it and it will be: www.dixierally.org The SEDIV Annual Meeting is this Saturday in Atlanta and we will have four members from our region attending. Bill Perry, Mike Strawbridge, Steve Tompkins and Dave Brooks. Our next meeting will be August 3, 2004. Location to be announced later. After the business portion of the meeting we watched a race video and told racing tales. Dave and Linda Hester told us a hilarious story about Formula One race groupies. I won’t repeat it here, but get one of them to tell you about it. -- Gail Perry |
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June Meeting Minutes June 8, 2004 -- Komatsu Plant BUSINESS MEETING: We had a pretty good turn out for this meeting and it was the most fun I have ever had at one of our meetings. Lots of people telling funny stories and tall tales. Gerald Street gave the treasurer’s report and we are maintaining a good balance and even made a little money since the last report. Brian Flanagan is looking for a decent van and thinks it will take about $2,000 - $3,000 to get an early ‘90s model 3/4-ton van. We discussed the $20 member entry fee and $25 non-member entry fee at our Solo II events. After the June event, we will ask Carl to clearly post on the entry form that our entry fees will be: $20.00 with presentation of a current SCCA membership card and $25.00 for all others. This should cut down the confusion and its pretty easy to take your membership card to the events. We have a Volunteer for the Solo II Chair – Heyward Wagner. He is a new local member and Billy Miller is going to give him lots of good pointers at the June event. We are still looking for an Activities Director. Anyone want to volunteer? Heyward is planning to expand the search for a new Solo II site – going to check out places in a 50 mile radius of Chattanooga. One possibility that was discussed is a former K-Mart site in Ft. Oglethorpe. Stuart Wood has a possible RallyCross site located. He and Dave Brooks plan to go take a look at the site and give us a report at the next meeting. The owners want to go spectate at a RallyCross before giving permission. There is also a possible site in Soddy Daisy and Dave is checking into that site as well. Mike Strawbridge is going to go to retrieve our barrels from Resaca and hold them until we do get another site lined up. Mike, Bill Perry and Carl Blevins plan to make a trip this weekend and look at some roads for a possible Performance Rally. Our next meeting will be July 13th – location to be announced later. SPORTING MEETING: Solo I Report: Dave Hester reported that the recent hill climb in Sparta, NC was a success again this year. There were 65 entries and a lot of spectators. The next Solo I will be June 19 & 20 at the Little Talladega Track. Steve Tompkins went to Topeka to a Solo meeting and he is now the Chairman of he Solo Advisory Board. Congratulations Steve! RallyCross Report: Half the field at the Huntsville event this past weekend were Chattanooga Region members. Dave Brooks finished first and got FTD in Super Stinky. Mike Strawbridge finished 2nd and Randy Brooks finished third Road Rally: Mike is planning the Divisional Road Rally to be held in September again this year. Performance Rally: Chuck Fullgraf worked STPR last weekend. He says it was well organized, no cancelled stages even though it was cool and rainy. See the Road Race Report on the website – its great. We had 6 different members write reports on their recent events. We have another Road Racer in the region now – Handly Templeton (Harvey Templeton’s son). Handly will be racing the HR7260 Formula Ford that Harvey built himself.
-- Gail Perry |
No May Minutes
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April Meeting Minutes April 6, 2004 -- Komatsu Plant The April meeting of the Chattanooga Region SCCA was called to order at the Komatsu plant.
-- Gail Perry |
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March Meeting Minutes March 13, 2004 -- Rivergate's New Shop The meeting was called to order at the new Rivergate Shop with 20 members present. This was a work-day on the van and trailer as well as a Grand Opening for Rivergate’s new building. The van got new brake lines, oil change and checked over. The brakes were tested and will readily lock up all 4 wheels. The inside of the trailer got a good clean-up. The minutes of the previous meeting were approved as posted on the website. The treasurer’s report indicated our income and expenses are remaining about as usual and the cash balance remains about constant. Bill Perry read the presentation that was given at the Kansas City Convention awarding the First Place Region Achievement Award for Medium size regions to the Chattanooga Region. We discussed Organizer Points for Solo II and RallyCross comparable to ClubRally Organizer Points. Bill is going to work on a draft to present at the next meeting to award these points. We received new material from Topeka on “Site Acquisition”. This information will be very helpful in our efforts to acquire sites for Solo II and RallyCross. There is now a National Manager for RallyCross – Tom Nelson. Dave Brooks has been nominated for SEDIV RallyCross Steward. We discussed trophies and the need to make affordable trophies for our local events. Bill, Dave Brooks and Josh Aslinger will see what they can come up with. In addition to Newsletter Editor, Ruthie Cartlidge has agreed to be Public Relations Liaison for our Region. Dave McDaniel presented a plan for a Time Trials event at the Little Talladega track. Dave said he doesn’t have time to organize one, and until somebody volunteers, it is unlikely to go further than the discussion stage at this time. Road Race Report – Art Thompson (and Ruthie Cartlidge) reported on the recent Driving School and the first road race of the year. Reports are on the website. RallyCross Report – Dave Brooks reported that the first two scheduled events have been cancelled or postponed due to site problems. RoadRally Report – Jamie Hamilton will try to get assistance from Alan Syler to organize a RoadRally for sometime this summer. The meeting was adjourned. Jamie Hamilton cooked hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch. Very Good! Thanks Jamie. -- Gail Perry |
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February Meeting
Minutes February 3, 2004 -- Komatsu The meeting was called to order with 18 members present. Minutes from the previous meeting were approved as posted on the website. Treasurer, Gerald Street, gave a report – we had some expenses in January related to events late last year and no events to generate income, so we had a small loss for the month. We need some volunteers to help out on the Solo II Committee. Several members who have worked on the committee in the past are not expecting to be available this year. If you can help please contact Billy Miller. We have scheduled (tentatively) 20 events – 8 RallyCross, 10 AutoCross, 1 RallySprint and 1 Divisional Road Rally. At the recent SEDIV convention, Chattanooga Region with only 156 members won 15 Divisional trophies – 10%. We had 10 people at the Banquet, which is also a record for our Region. Newsletter Editor, Ruthie Cartlidge, has a deadline of April 1st for articles for the next edition. Please write and e-mail her articles – almost anything, funny or serious articles will be much appreciated. Sporting Reports: Road Rally – Art Thompson and Ruthie Cartlidge won the Woman’s Way Rally again this year. Performance Rally – The ClubRally National Championship event is coming up later this month and we will have 5 participants – Randy Bailey with co-driver Will Perry; Mike Strawbridge with co-driver Stuart Wood; and Ken Blain is co-driving with Scott Justus. RallyCross – There was a lot of interest in RallyCross at the SEDIV convention – enough interest that there may be a RallyCross Steward appointed. Dave Brooks is attempting to start a Divisional RallyCross Series for 2005. He is working on adapting rules and regulations and plans to run our events this year as practice for a Divisional Series in 2005. Solo II – We have applied for use of a facility at Brainerd High School, but it may not be as suitable as hoped. We will be contacting Chattanooga Auto Auction for permission to use their lot again this year. Solo I – Steve Tompkins says they have a very strong schedule for 2004. The name “Solo I” will probably be changed soon to “Time Trials”. Road Race Report: The next activity is Saturday’s Tech Day at the new Rivergate Shop. Then next weekend is the Double Driving School at Roebling Road. We will have 3 members attending: Ruthie Cartlidge, Dave Hester and Michael Hartberger. Dave Hester worked the Daytona 24 Hour race last weekend and gave a very interesting account of the event. There were fewer corner workers than in years past, but enough to get the job done. Dr. Jim Osborn sent word that he might need someone to drive his transporter to events this year. Any volunteers? The time and date of the next meeting was not set, but will be posted on the website soon. -- Gail Perry |
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SEDiv Convention January 23-25, 2004 -- Jekyll Island, Georgia Several members of the Chattanooga Region attended the Southeastern Division convention and awards ceremony, January 23-25, in Jekyll Island, Georgia. We brought home several awards, participated in elections, and helped shape SEDiv policy for the next year. Meetings, Meetings, and more Meetings… Bill Perry attended meetings for Club Race Stewards and Rally. Gail Perry learned about registration, SoloII/SoloI and Web sites. Steve Tompkins (SEDiv Solo I Steward) lead activities on the Solo I program, Mike Strawbridge (SEDiv Performance Rally Steward) participated in Road and Performance Rally programs, and both presented brief reports on their areas of responsibility. Janice Strawbridge attended meetings on Rally and Registration. At the RE’s Sunday breakfast meeting, both Mike and Steve gave in depth reports on Rally and Solo I. Mike brought our desire to advance the RallyCross Program in SEDiv to the attention of all RE’s, who responded with interest. Issues and Actions The most significant and contentious action of the RE’s Meeting (RE’s serve as Directors of SEDiv, Inc.) related to setting rules for Spec Miata. SEDiv’s Spec Miata Rules for 2004 will be identical to the SCCA GCR specifications except that we will not follow the national rule of using any DOT tire. Instead SEDiv will still restrict the tires to Toyo RA1 and Kumho V700. Several RE’s, including Bill, Bob McIsaac of Atlanta, Wayne Henry of ETR and Richard Crowell of TN Valley voted for the open tire rule, but they were outgunned 8 to 7. Perhaps significantly, it appeared that the RE’s with road racing experience were the ones in favor of the open tire rule, while those with less hands on race car work were opposed. Other actions included in the RE’s meeting were:
Beef, Beer, and Bringing Home the Bacon Six of our region’s 15 SEDiv winners were able to attend the awards banquet Saturday night and brought home plenty of trophies: Steve Tompkins, Dave Hester, and Ruthie Cartlidge for Solo I; Art Thompson for Road Racing; and Mike Strawbridge and Ken Blain for Performance Rally. Will Perry’s SARRC championship award was graciously retrieved by “Mom.” Between presenters and winners, we were back and forth to the podium numerous times, causing one conventioneer to quip, “Looks like Chattanooga is under-represented this year.” With over 300 people in attendance, many of whom were trophy winners, the presentations took a while, but SEDiv Chairman Jim Creighton kept things moving along. By far, the largest group of award-winners were the SARRC champions, with 30-some racers present. Everyone attending the banquet received a coupon for free Krispy Kreme donuts (thanks to the Anderson family of the Central Florida region) and several SEDiv regions and private donors contributed significant door prizes for the evening’s raffle. Among the several dozen prizes given out were free test ‘n tune days, several regional road race entry fees, and free driver’s schools (including the Buccaneer Region double school in February). The final raffle prize given out was a Krispy Kreme license plate, which prompted a remark from the next table: “That’s a ‘get out of jail free’ card if you ever get pulled over, man!” It may have been the most coveted prize of the evening. -- Reported by Bill Perry and Ruthie Cartlidge
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January Meeting
Minutes January 10, 2004 -- Southern Belle Riverboat The Chattanooga Region held its annual Awards Banquet on January 10, 2004 on the Southern Belle Riverboat. We enjoyed a delicious meal and a short business meeting. Awards were presented to the following members:
Before the banquet, we had the Woman's Way Road Rally, with repeat winners, Art Thompson and Ruthie Cartlidge. Our next SCCA meeting will be on February 3 at 7 PM at the Komatsu plant on Signal Mountain Road. -- Gail Perry
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“I think this is our best donation yet, girls!” That’s
what T.C. Thompson’s Lois Simpson said when we delivered the Chattanooga
Region’s Christmas carload of toys to the children’s hospital December
21st. 
For the Region members who kept the Ho Ho Solo
donations coming, even without an autocross, THANK YOU hugs across the
board! More Christmas hugs go to Renegade Trucking, of Soddy-Daisy,
Fastech, and Dr. Don Flanagan, for pitching in extra funds to help fill
the back of Jamie’s Mazda with goodies. 