President's Corner

By Marvin Landon

Due to several inquiries, I thought it would be interesting to all of you if I explain the history of the Southwest Region.

Originally, our club was part of the FCA Pacific Region, but it encompassed so much territory, that events could not be scheduled at locations easily accessible to everyone, which brought event planning to a minimum.

After purchasing my first Ferrari, I called Marshall Leib, who invited me to come to a FCA meeting held at Cy Yedor's house. To my surprise, only ten people were at that meeting, but we all shared one thing in common, we all shared a deep appreciation for our cars.

Not long after, the Pacific Region gave our small group some seed money, and soon the Southwest Region was born. Our officers consisted of Cy Yedor as Treasurer, Judd Goldfeder as President, myself as track planner and Jeff Littrell, who promised and delivered the best newsletter in the FCA.

We quickly adopted a philosophy that we felt would attract enthusiasts, who shared the same passion for their cars we did. We agreed to plan "Ride and Drives" and general outings to different locations such as restoration garages, racing facilities, concours, auto museums, as well as pristine body shops and paint specialists. We felt we needed to differentiate ourselves as the Kick Tire Guys! We also agreed to hold down our club expenses so our events would be enjoyed without taxing our members to offset expenses.

To date, the cost of our newsletter is almost completely covered by our paid advertisers (bless you Rose). Thanks to Demetri Zafiris, who charges a fraction of actual costs, our office expenses are extremely low.

How do you measure success? I say by one member at a time. We've come a long way from a ten person BBQ only six years earlier. Club members, I am excited to report that we are presently 539 members' strong and adding new members every month. I am very proud of our accomplishment, which is backed by member satisfaction and continued sponsorship support.

I hope my story has given you a better insight as to the founding of our club. I would like to encourage every member to continue his or her support.

See you at our next event.

Cordially yours,

Marv Landon
FCA Southwest Regional President

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