To: My Fellow Members
Since the beginning of the year, there has been an absence of Section information to our members through all means of communication; our Newsletter, our Website and Emails. Additionally, our Section has had only one 2018 Event which was held in January that was reported in The Star. This is changing immediately with this issue of our Newsletter and announcement of Events scheduled for the remainder of the year.
Our Section’s Newsletter should be our most important means of communication between the Board and the Section’s Membership. It is anticipated that additional Section announcements and information will soon be available on our Website and communicated to members through Email.
For this Newsletter, I want introduce the current Board.; I’m Creighton Fong and with Nancy, my wife, have been members of the Sacramento Section for the last seven years and previously members of the San Francisco Section. My past involvement with Car Clubs and Classic Cars has been as President of the Jaguar Clubs in both San Francisco and Sacramento, a docent for the Blackhawk Auto Museum and involvement in many Car related events. In past Section driving events, we have driven our ML500, SLK350 or C230. I became your President in September upon the vacancy of the President’s office.
Our Section’s Treasurer is Don Wiesner who has been a Member of our section since 2013. Previously an owner of a SL550, his wife, Bobbie, now has the only Mercedes in their family – a GLC350. Don joined the Board as our Treasurer at the beginning of the year.
Additionally, our Region has a new Regional Director, Lance Taylor-Warren. Lance has been a member of our Section since 2009 along with being a member of the Reno Section in the past. (Lance also served as Regional Director in 2011.) He currently resides in Reno with his wife, Lori, and their C300.
By now, each of you should have received in the mail an invitation from Lance regarding a Hosted Luncheon on October 20. If you have not received the invitation, please contact Lance (775-722-3274 or [email protected]). The Club Pheasant restaurant will have a no-host bar available. This hosted luncheon will be jointly funded by our Section’s Treasury, and in part subsidized with funds from MBCA.
The luncheon will begin with an introduction of Steve Ross, VP MBCA and possibly others from the MBCA National Board, Lance will continue and make a short presentation relating to MBCA, Section Clubs – their operations and the importance of being active by participating in Club events and involved in the operations of the Club. Comments and Questions/Answers will follow as time permits before lunch being served.
After lunch, our Director of Elections, Bill Brandt, will then introduce the candidates he has received nominations for our 2019 Board positions and will then accept nominations from the floor. We do need volunteers to step up and become candidates for these four positions of leadership within our Section. Any member can nominate themselves or nominate another member, however, please confirm with that person that they accept the nomination. Thanks Bill for spearheading our election process.
The following Officers are our Section’s elected Officers:
- President
- Vice President
- Secretary
- Treasurer
Following is our Election Timetable:
Up to October 19 – Nominations for our 2019 Board received by our Director of Elections
Please either email Bill ([email protected]) or by mail with all nominations
October 20 - Announcement of Candidates at the Luncheon. Nominations will then be accepted from the floor. (Note: By precedent over the years, a quorum is not required for an election, so voting will take place at this luncheon unless an objection from a member is made.)
In addition to the above elected offices, the following voluntary positions/committees are needed by our Section immediately:
- Webmaster (includes Section Emails)
- Membership (includes Welcome and Sunshine)
- Newsletter Editor (currently process of mailing done by an outside source; and can continue)
- Historian
- Social
- Others as needed
(If anyone can step up NOW and assume any of these positions for the remainder of 2018 and also 2019, please contact me as soon as possible at [email protected], you do not have to wait for the luncheon meeting!)
Our Section has accomplished and enjoyed being together as a Club since 1966 with active members sharing a common appreciation of Mercedes vehicles. Through my conversations with National, Regional and previous Board Members following are what this Section should be doing as a Club again:
- A minimum of a Quarterly Newsletter. In the interim, additional communication will be sent via email or updated on the website relative to our Section, Mercedes and/or MBCA, once a responsible person assumes this very important position in our Club.
- Lunches and dinners; one being a gala holiday get together and one or more during the year, perhaps a Chinese New Year Banquet, a Spring or Summer Solstice Picnic or barbeque, Octoberfest, or other themed holiday/seasonal social gatherings. Again, please see the announcement of our Gala Holiday Party on December 1 in this Newsletter.
- One or more scheduled driving events each calendar quarter in addition to the resumption of our First Sunday Drives. A possible driving event that may include an overnighter to a coastal location to escape the Hot August Nights in the Sacramento area. Again, please see the announcement of our next scheduled drive, The First Annual President’s Drive on Saturday, November 10.
- Possibly a joint Regional Event with San Francisco and/or Reno Sections.
Maintaining a viable volunteer based viable organization with a shared interest (Mercedes vehicles) should not have to entail the work of only ONE or A FEW, but participation of many members working together as a team. Therefore, please consider and submit your name as a candidate for one of the four Board Positions or for one of the very important voluntary positions/committees - you will enjoy the fruits of your participation and appreciation of the Club’s membership!
I would like to thank Bill Brandt for being our Guest Editor for this issue of our Newsletter and securing the venue for the October Luncheon and to our Treasurer, Don Wiesner and his wife Bobbie for arranging our Holiday Dinner. We have been working very hard over the last week to insure that there will be a Sacramento Section Event for each month remaining in 2018 for our members to participate and enjoy.
In closing, please again remember to:
- Submit your RSVP, with menu selection to Lance for the Luncheon on October 20
- Submitting your name as a candidate for our 2019 Board
- Plan on joining our Inaugural President’s Drive on November 10
- Join us for our Gala Holiday Party on December 1
Regards and hope to see you at one/two/or all of our upcoming events – I will be there!
Creighton