January 2011 Newsletter

Visit DtRC on the web at: www.downtheroadcorvettes.org
Visit the Rocky Mountain Region NCCC at www.rmrnccc.org
Visit NCCC on the web at: www.corvettesnccc.org

Next Meeting: 4th Thursday of the month.  January 27th, 7 PM Go Chevrolet - 7320 North Broadway near I-25 and the Boulder Turnpike.
Guest Presenters - Limit of 2 presentations per meeting, please make arrangements with the President at least a day in advance to be placed on the agenda and to see if the limit has been reached for this month.

President	Richard Loch 303-808-1479 farawayfarms@yahoo.com	Vice President	Tim Barnes 303-469-1521 grandsport5@comcast.net
Treasurer	Gail Krusen	Secretary	Jani Shoemaker
Governor	Nancy Burritt and Phil Olbert 303-465-4664 and 303-929-3960 nancy@dburritt.com pdolbert@msn.com	Board Members	Mike Perito Mike Shoemaker Joe Breher

 

Newsletter Info (Deadline the 15th) grandsport5@comcast.net 303 469-1521

Official Club Address Down the Road Corvettes 13902 Detroit St. Thornton, CO 80602

From the Prez....

Happy New Year Everyone!

It sure seems like its been a very long time since October. After a long wait January is here and we need to start planning this years events right away. April Fool's Rally will be here before we know it. I am looking forward to seeing everyone at the January meeting and together we can make 2011 a fantastic year for all at DTRC.

Richard
President, DtRC

Miscellaneous ramblings from the Editor:

Good grief, where did 2010 go to?!?!?! I can't believe it's 2011 already and time to start spooling up for the April Fool's Rally!

2011 is already forming up to be a banner year with a club event being organized to the Black Hills event in July and other road trips in discussion. At the same time, it will also be a challenging year as we look for new leadership for auto crosses, the rally, the car show and other events that we may not even have on our radar yet.

I know I'm ready for it though, so bring it on! Let's do up 2011 in style, shall we.

By the way, if Richard hits you up a little harder than normal on raffle tickets or the museum, there might be a reason why. You see, if you haven't heard already, he won the raffle for the 2011 Z06 Carbon edition, vin #003! Congratulations Richard!

I hope to see everyone's smiling faces at the meeting Thursday night!

Remember - SAVE THE WAVE!

Tim

Minutes of the October 2010 Meeting

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS

QUORUM

APPROVAL OF PUBLISHED MINUTES

TREASURERS REPORT

GOVERNORS REPORT

MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE REPORT

MERCHANDISE COMMITTEE REPORT

NATIONAL CORVETTE MUSEUM AMBASSADOR REPORT

AUTOCROSS COMPETITION DIRECTOR REPORT

DRAG RACE DIRECTOR REPORT

SOCIAL COMMITTEE REPORT

OLD BUSINESS

NEW BUSINESS

Meeting was adjourned.

Submitted by Joan B.

Club News:

February Birthdays:

Mike Davis	February 12th
Mike Palomar	February 12th
Mike Perito	February 15th
Richard Loch	February 19th

Upcoming Events

Rather than try to put the entire schedule in here, I've opted to include items both NCCC and otherwise into a close up schedule. If you want to see the entire NCCC schedule, please go to the Rocky Mountain NCCC regional site at http://www.rmrnccc.org/

March 5th	RMRNCCC Awards Banquet	RMRNCCC
March 27th	Triple Auto-X Fruita	CWCC
April 2nd	Circle Drags - at CNS	DCA
April 3rd	April Fool's Rally/Show	DtRC

In the news section

Tim's Challenge - wrap up

By Tim Barnes

Wow, what a year we had! I'd like to thank everyone who worked so hard to make this years effort such a success!

Thanks to all of your hard work, we had $1959 going into the holiday. $900 was raised at the Sno' Big Deal rally/car show! To say that Sno' Big Deal was a huge success would be an understatement.

We spent a total of $1632 on our family. To say they were grateful would be another understatement. Our food, supplies and gifts filled every nook and cranny of their small trailer. I can't begin to even describe how touched they were by your generosity! In addition, several members took the girls for rides in their Corvettes and have probably converted Mustang lovers into Corvetters.

At this point, we have $327 left to seed this year's efforts. We are going to have to make some decisions about what to do with Tim's Challenge for next year - especially about the bank accounts. Depending on how I read some of the bank statements, it appears that Chase will begin charging $15 per month on business accounts like we have set up for Tim's Challenge. I think it must be time to rethink what we are up to and how we have it structured before bank charges eat the process out of house and home. Any thoughts you have on a restructuring will be welcomed.

Again, great job everyone and thanks for your support!

Wax on - Wax off - the subject arises again!

By Bill Schultz

Hi all,

Let me set the stage for this article. As with most car owners, specifically Corvette owners, I am in constant search for the perfect polish or wax. I have been inflicted with a curse not unlike many of you. Nothing is good enough! Just when I think I have found the perfect solution to a problem, I find a flaw. Mike Davis is responsible for my latest quest (problem). I knew I had found the answer to the polish/wax question. Bullet has performed pretty much flawless for the past couple of years, then Mike had to make the comment that Bullet seemed to attract dust. Although I had noticed the dust problem, I was able to put it in the back of my mind until Mike made this comment! Thanks Mike!

THE JOURNEY BEGINS

Over the years I have tried and collected just about every wax or polish known to man. Zaino, Adams, Bullet, Rejects, Mothers etc. I have them all! I went to the Corvette forum to find the answer to the best of the best question. I did find that answer, in fact I found about 100 answers, everyone has "the best". I knew the only way to be sure was to run my own experiment.

My goal was to find the product that would give the best shine, repel dust and cover minor swirls or scratches. I don't care that much about durability because my car never goes more than a few weeks without a treatment. Besides I would not know how to test for durability in the short amount of time I had available.

I carefully washed the car with Dawn dishwashing liquid, rubbed the entire car with Mothers pre wax liquid then applied a different product to it's own specified area exactly following the instructions on each product. All products were applied to either the hood or trunk lid so that all were subject to the same dust conditions and light reflection. To be perfectly honest, none of them wax or polish, one coat or multiple coats provided for more shine than any of the others. None covered swirls more than any others. Despite the pain, I did not wipe or dust the car for the next three weeks. My findings were amazing! They all collected the same amount of dust and held that dust against my leaf blower equally. I will say that Pledge furniture polish did repel dust better than everything else but I wont recommend using furniture polish all the time.

I do believe that any polish or wax will build up over time. In my case, I have used the same polish for a couple of years and thought the car looked good. When I completed my experiment with no product standing out above the others, I washed the car again with Dawn then used a surface prep that Cathy bought for me. I used my Porter Cable with a foam buffer pad and the surface prep. I am convinced that the color looked brighter and reflected much better just with the prep. I can only assume I had a build up of polish. I applied Zaino per instructions (three) coats. One week later I wiped the entire car with Bullet. The swirls and minor scratches all but completely disappeared.

BOTTOM LINE

Use the product that works for you. I do recommend a good surface prep once a year or so just to remove any buildup. In so far as dust-----get a good California duster!

A blast back in time?

What follows below is a reprint of an article from long, long ago about an event that a normal person would just as soon forget. However, the person who not only suggested that the article be rerun and even supplied the article is cleary not normal and probably in need of some serious mental help. Enjoy. (Ed.)

From Bill Schultz - (don't say I didn't warn you.... Ed).
While going through my old papers, I found the following article from Sept. 2005. Many of the members we now have, have heard rumors about the "Red Feather Mystery meal". The following article is from the newsletter of 2005. This article gives an actual account as to what really happened. You should know that the article by me Bill, is in fact the most accurate. ENJOY if you will, this return to our past.

August Mystery meal, one to remember.

Very few people are familiar with the Native American tradition called "Red Feather". Many moons ago, the native Americans had a yearly tradition in which one adventurous young brave would volunteer to go out into the wilderness in search of the true meaning of life. Several braves and squaws would follow him on this enormous quest for the truth. To keep track of this "exceptional" brave, the tribe would have him wear a "Red Feather". They would follow him loyally through the mountains and valleys until he found the elusive prize. The one and only "True meaning of life".

I decided to explore this tradition for our August mystery meal. Evidentially, everyone misunderstood my intentions. They all thought we were going to "Red Feather Lakes" for lunch. I guess I wasn’t too clear. But follow they did!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our tribe consisted of twelve cars. We had my wife and I also known as "The great green leader and his squaw", (note that at the time Bill and Cathy had a polo green C4 - Ed.) led the tribe. Some where deep inside I could sense that the goal we were seeking was up Hwy 14. We went North of Ft. Collins to Ted's place and headed for the hills. The further we went the stronger my feeling got, I knew we were getting close! Imagine, finding the meaning of life in the mountains driving a Corvette!!! After a few miles, 80 or so, Dave and Nancy must have got the very same feelings. I pulled over with the intent of putting my ear to the ground to listen for the obvious vibration that only the meaning of life can produce. Being the great hunter that I am, my natural instincts (and the sign across the road) told me exactly where we were.

Suddenly, Dave and Nancy took the lead, proof that the drive to find the meaning of life exists!!!!! Dave took my Red Feather away from me and crowned himself "The great red leader and his squaw". The only thing I can figure is that Dave and Nancy felt the draw to our quest much stronger than Cathy and I because our pace quickened considerably! We were going so fast that no longer could I feel the vibrations that the meaning of life produced. I did however, feel the slight but prominent vibrations of the telephone poles whizzing by. Just when I thought we had caught the truth, at 100+ mph it doesn't take long to catch the truth, Dave pulled into Walden, yes I said Walden, Colorado for lunch. Cathy saw the sign that said "Steamboat Springs" 50 some miles and ask me if there was more than one Steamboat. I said no that's it!! (Once again, my superior instincts took over).

I'm sure the entire tribe will agree that just after we ate, Dave got the scent again because away we went!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We made it from Waldon to Grandby in 48 minutes. For those of you that don't share my natural abilities that is approximately 58 miles in 48 minutes!!!
We drove some of the most beautiful roads in Colorado, what a great group of people (Indians). I can't remember having a better Mystery meal or maybe I should say a more interesting one. Oh, we did find the true meaning of life. "Never ever ever get on East bound I-70 at 4:00 pm".
Respectfully submitted Bill Schultz

And now for the rest of the story:

by "The Editor" (who by the way was Nancy Burritt at the time - Ed.)

Well - how do I start to describe the latest DtRC mystery meal. How about:

When Bill Schultz announced at the club meeting that he would lead a mystery meal to Red Feather Lakes, I thought - that's wonderful, I've never been to Red Feather Lakes. And 300 miles later - I can still say - I've never been to Red Feather Lakes. But I have now been to Walden, CO for the first time.

Or maybe - Next time Bill Schultz leads a mystery meal - pack a picnic lunch, as there are lots of gorgeous places on his drive to have a picnic - but the restaurant at which we have reservations will be nowhere in sight.

Or maybe - So near, and yet so far. We were in a parallel universe in our quest of following Bill Schultz to Red Feather Lakes - with only 15 miles of dirt road separating us from the road we should have been on. Suggestion to the membership committee, include a Colorado Map with the membership packet in case the new members decide to go on a Bill mystery meal.

Or maybe - When Bill Schultz leads a mystery meal, the destination is as much or more of a mystery to him as it is to the 11 cars following him.

But I think I will start with - Thanks Bill, for the wonderful adventure. The road may not always lead where you expect it to - but when you are with friends there is no such thing as a wrong turn.

It was a wonderful day for a drive. We drove along the Poudre River up a very pretty canyon (did I mention that the destination was not along the Poudre River?). With the exception of an RV that passed about 100 slow vehicle turnouts without ever pulling off the road, it was a very nice drive. When I thought we should be getting close, I pulled out the atlas to see how much further we had to go. Well - I found Red Feather Lakes on the map - and we weren't headed towards it. We stopped in Rustic (a very apropro name, although they did have the required flush toilets) and the locals said, 15 minutes right up that dirt road. Well, if we went back the way we came, and then got on the right road - it was going to be about 2 hours before we got there. And we'd already seen that road. When asked about taking the dirt road - there was a unanimous thumbs down - so we went forward, hoping to find a paved road that would head north (and the atlas was better than nothing - but not real accurate on marking if roads were paved). Well, it turns out there aren't a lot of paved roads in northern Colorado. So - we followed the one paved road in search of food. We climbed out of the canyon to the gorgeous scenery of northern Rocky Mountain National Park. Nice valleys, steep crags, absolutely gorgeous. Still no paved roads other than the one we were on. So westward ho it was. As Bill mentioned in his inventive - but slightly delusional version of the story - after yet one more pit stop (this was pit stop # 3.5), they decided the one with the map should lead. Of course at this point - the map is superfluous as there is only ONE paved road to be found. We climbed past the gorgeous scenery and the road opened into a lovely open area (I believe it was North Park). At that point the speed limit actually went up to 65, and the red leaders squaw was getting hungry. The road was flat and straight as far as you could see, and there was no traffic, and Walden awaited - so away we went. We never went much above 90, but the slackers in the back kept falling behind and had to kick it up a notch to get back up to us. Not Mike M. though - he was with us all the way. Finally civilization. We could see the water tower and the grain elevator from a few miles away. Prairie skyscrapers as Cathy calls them. I don't know when I last heard as relieved of a voice as when the green squaw got on the radio after spotting civilization.

After checking out the crowds at the 2 restaurants in town and picking the least crowded of the two, we all managed to find a table. Patty C. lent them a hand by bringing us our drink cups and ordering 21 cheeseburgers. Which were actually pretty decent, and I'm sure came much more promptly than if we had all ordered something different. Then a stop at the local gas station for those who hadn't left Denver with their tank on FULL. A state patrol was pulling into town just as we were getting ready to leave. Mike M. told him we were headed west to Steamboat (did I mention that it wasn't very far to Steamboat?). He went north, and we promptly headed south. The drivers on the road out of Walden were much better than the ones up Poudre Canyon as several of them pulled over when they saw 12 Corvettes in their rear-view mirror. It was all downhill through very pretty country. A tree-lined river, a mix of Aspens and evergreens and willows. And every five miles, a sign that said - open range - next five miles. A good rule of thumb seems to be that the car goes very nicely (no squealing tires - but the passenger does need to hang on to the grab bar on the door) around the corners at about double the posted suggestions (some of that scenery was a little blurry sometimes). It did seem to be a good training ground for the upcoming race at CDR.

Then on into Granby, and over Berthoud Pass, passing most of the cars on the way up. I thought about what a good excuse would be if we got pulled over at that point. And the best one I could think of is - "Because we can". That is actually a very steep pass with a lot of switchbacks. No problem for the Vette. Slow down, turn 180 degrees, and lots of power to climb the next incline.

Well - I-70 isn't on the way home from Red Feather Lakes - but it is on the way home from Walden, so on to I-70 we get. A little slow and go for a while, but I've been in much worse. We'd all said good-bye in Granby as we knew it would be tough to stay together through Winter Park and on I-70. We still got to wave several people good-bye as they split off at various points along they way.

It was a very nice day, full of surprises, great weather, wonderful scenery, good friends and fun driving. Our thanks to Bill for leading us on this grand adventure and for being the kind of guy that we can seriously razz about it.

A few other did have some comments on the day:
From Mike M.
Thank God Nancy B had a map we would still be lost or on the worlds longest mystery run led by Wrong-Way Bill S. Tell me how many mystery runs go 327 miles. This is truly a record. THE Best time I ever had with the club

From Deana D.
About the mystery meal~~we also told "Cookie" that it would be a short ride. For a 2-month-old puppy to travel for 9 hours in the fast car was probably a first!
Ed. Note - we are glad that Cookie is getting car-trained at an early age and has proved herself as having the stuff to be a DtRC dog. We look forward to relatively new members Roger, Deana and Cookie being able to join us on many more adventures.

Committee Updates

Social Committee

From the Social Committee

No report.

Governor's Report

By Nancy B.

Lots to report this time.

- A reminder to the racers to check their helmet dates. Ours are now expired. They need to be no older than 10 years (the date of manufacture tag is inside the helmet). This would be from the date you are racing – so make sure they are good for the entire season.

The regional calendar is now on the website - www.rmrnccc.org. It has been converted to using Google calendar, so if anyone wants to merge it on to their calendar they can. There are some tips on the calendar page of the website - should you have your own google calendar and want to do this and don't know how - let me know - I can help (maybe ☺ ). Also on the regional website: the Race # request form is active to get your race number for the year if you intend to race, and the standings from 2010 are posted. First place club was TORCA. First place ladies was Kitty D. (Torca) and mens was Rik N. (CSCC).

Several items to pass along from the last governors meeting:

- They wanted us to remind the club and webmasters about not posting items that are copyrighted. K&K has paid an insurance claim where a club posted a poem in memory of one of their members, and permission hadn't been received by the author. So please be careful of what is posted on websites, in newsletters, etc.

FCOA dues are being raised to $10 (from $5). This is the first time in years, and is a one time fee. So just a heads up to those that may have new grandkids, etc. that they are enrolling in FCOA.

Blue Bars' editor Sylvia Hoaldridge needs articles for the summer issue. Do not send pictures embedded in your document but rather as attachments. There will be a new spotlight for members' Corvettes. Take a picture of your car with a cool backdrop and send it to Sylvia. She will not use articles that were not written by a member. Note from Nancy - this request was made in November - but I am sure if it is too late for the summer issue - she will then be looking for items for the fall issue. They want to really make this a magazine for members, about members, including more technical articles, member experience articles, etc.

Revamp of Regional Sanction Program:

There has been a revamp of the region sanction program. It will now follow the National Rulebook in all regards except for the following:
1) A club may only host 14 sanctioned (points) events.
2) There will still be such a thing as a regional sanction in case a club is not able to or willing to borrow a sanction from another club. However, all points events will follow the National NCCC rulebook as far as flyer lead times, types of events, scoring, safety, etc. This was voted in for a lot of reasons, too numerous to go into here - but what facilitated it was the fact that the national program is going to a 45 day lead time on flyers (instead of the 70 days it was). So the governors were ok with this. We had thought the 70 days was excessive. The formal plan is out for review and will be posted on the regional website in early February.

What this does mean is that if we are sanctioning any of the events at our April Fools Rallye (which if it is the normal date of April 3rd), that the sanction requests and flyer need to be done by mid-February. That means a starting place and time, cost and contact info (chairperson). Basically, whatever would go on a flyer needs to be settled on. So come to the meeting prepared to discuss.

Brown & Brown Insurance Company is the new insurance company for NCCC, replacing K&K. I haven't looked but am assuming official information is or soon will be on the National NCCC website. A few of the highlights as sent to the governors in mid-December by NCCCs business manager.

1.Rally waivers are no longer needed, use the general waiver.
2.The general liability policy is now raised to $5,000,000 - so no extra fees for higher than $1 million. 3.No more deductible if an official track vehicle is involved in a track incident.
4.Accident Medical coverage has increased - details to come later.
5.Every NCCC club is covered by Directors and Officers Insurance at no additional cost to the clubs.
This coverage also includes the National Officers, elected and appointed, and all Regional Officers.

Whew - that was a lot. And there are once again a lot of events planned for this year - starting in March. Whether you are out to compete for points, or just out to have fun at the events that you really enjoy - it is good opportunity to get out, enjoy the usually lovely Colorado weather, your Corvette, fellow club members and the friends we have all made over the years.

Save the wave!!

Drag Racing Report

By Joan B.

The season is done.

AutoCross Committee

Position open

Looking for a new auto-x chair!

Merchandise Report

By Mike and Martha P.

No report

NCM Ambassador's Report

By Richard Loch

Not much from the Museum right not. Just, THANKS FOR THE CAR! And, BUY raffle tickets!
For the latest news and events at the museum go to http://www.corvettemuseum.com/.

Want to Advertise?

If you are a member of Down the Road Corvettes, you may place a For Sale or Wanted Ad for any Corvette related items in our newsletter for free. Submissions must be received via  E-mail to the editor no later than the 15^th of each month.

Disclaimer: All prices listed here are not guaranteed. You will need to confirm any and all prices with the selling party.

Advertising
*************************************************************************************

*** Member Ad ***

For Sale:

 

2010 Committees:

Dealer Rep	Mike K.
Membership & Directory	Cathy S. / Nancy B.
Social Committee	Mary Kay
Merchandise Committee	Mike and Martha
Rally Committee	open
Show Committee	open
Corvette Museum Ambassador	Richard L.
Webmaster	Mike P.
Newsletter	Tim B.
Drag Racing Competition Director	Joan B.
Autocross Competition Director	open
Caravan Coordinator and Bones carrier	Bill S.
Sno'Big Deal Extravaganza	open
Tim's Challenge Committee	MaryKay, Pat, Martha and Fancy
Roving Reporter/Photographer	Bill S.