Director's Corner

Your Director hopes to write a monthly column - this is two in a row.

When I was in Monterey I invited a friend of mine to our next monthly meeting since it is near his house in Woodland Hills. He asked me, "Why come to meetings?" That started me to thinking.

What is the purpose of the club? Why have meetings? My answers are below:

A club is for friendship, to share social events, to share war stories, to learn from others, and to take trips with people who we enjoy and with whom we share common interests. I have learned from fellow members about my car, where to obtain parts, where to get good service, and have even received help diagnosing problems. Is it about Ferraris? Yes, but much more. We have met a number of people through our interest in Ferraris who have become good friends. This happened because we went to meetings and participated in events.

I am put off my the term "Board Meetings." Unless I have been elected to "The Board" I do not feel I should go to meetings even though a monthly newsletter may say "all are welcome." So, our monthly meetings are for all members. They are for us to get to know each other, to plan events in which we want to participate and most of all to be sure that this club is what the members want it to be.

The Southwest Region covers a large territory. Not everyone wants to travel a long distance to a meeting. So, we will have our Southern California meetings rotate around the area. Last month?s was in Orange County, on September 27th we are meeting at Ogner Motorcars Ferrari dealership in Woodland Hills, next month?s will again be in Orange County, November?s will be near Universal City, and so forth. We will have a meeting in the San Diego area in November which I will arrange. I hope someone in the Las Vegas and Phoenix-Tucson areas will call me and volunteer to organize meetings there.

I believe that one of the primary functions of a club is to sponsor events for the membership. We hope to have at least one event each month for the general membership. In addition, let?s have regional events. The dealers are going to sponsor tech meetings on Saturdays or on evenings. There will be several of these so if you are interested you can go to one in your area. I hope some of you will step forward, either at a meeting or with a call to me, to suggest and organize an event which could be put on in your area. Let?s do things in the Valley, Orange County, Las Vegas, etc. so it?s easy for everyone to participate.

We need articles for our newsletter. Do you have a story about anything? Write it and we?ll print it. Does it have to about Ferraris? Not necessarily. Just write about something which you think would interest some of us. In this issue we have a new feature which I hope will become a monthly - "Special Roads."

Lastly we do have committees: membership, events, competition, etc. The newsletter gives the names and telephone numbers of the chairpersons. Please help us by participating. Call the chair of one of the committees and offer to help.

Remember, it?s your club.

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