Great Scott - The President Writes

by Scott Hutchings, President

Another year gone.

Or looked at another way, another year is here.

Surprisingly enough, for a country known for having just about every climate imaginable, our winter this year has been a lot less than we would have imagined. Having said that, as I sit here typing this, parts of Southern Ontario from Newmarket to Barrie are being hammered by the worst storm of the year.

2007 looks to be a busy year for the club.

We kick off February with the Canadian International Auto Show. My thanks to the volunteers from the club. I'm quite certain it will be as much fun as it was last year. Of course this year we have more people and better coverage - plus with another year of Magnus influencing the dealers, it should result in a few more satisfied Saab owners on the road.

April is the AGM - if you've ever thought about getting more involved, that is the time. Want to become a Director? President? Give it some thought - if you do, make sure to be in attendance.

June will bring our first Enhanced Driving School in 2 years. We are looking for help with those - we can use a couple of good people to help with the planning and execution of the schools plus we will also need volunteers the day of the schools. If you are planning on attending, I recommend that you get your applications in early as we are going to be doing a fair amount of marketing and hope to sell out quickly.

July should see us holding the 3rd Annual Niagara Region Winery Tour. If you know of a good winery that you think we should visit, please get word to either myself or our Social Committee Chair.

August brings us the Saab Owner's Convention just outside of Detroit. A number of us will be heading down on the Thursday - just let myself or Guido know if you are interested in going along with the convoy.

October brings about our 2nd driving school. Historically, this school is usually full and fills up very quickly. If you are planning on attending both schools, I recommend submitting your application and payment for this school when you apply for the May one.

In addition to the above, there will also be a number of races that JL Racing will be participating in with their race prepared 9-3. Providing everything goes as planned, this year should also see a 2nd 9-3 ready for the track. I will be talking to our Social Chair to see if we can't organize a trip or 2 as a club out to support the Saab Racing team.

2007 is also another opportunity to

for us to continue building our relationships, not just with Saab and the dealer network, but with other businesses that can help us.

If you have a good relationship with your dealer and would feel comfortable talking to them about getting them on the list of dealers supporting the club and offering discounts, please contact our Discounts Chair and he will be happy to provide you with all of the information you will need. If you don't feel you are the right person to talk to them, but you have the contact info and would like to get your dealer added, please let the Discounts Chair know and he will contact them on our behalf. Of particular interest is the dealers outside of the GTA - I would take great pride in being able to add all of the dealers in Canada to the club listing. Saab Canada sold over 2600 new cars last year. If we were able to offer a discount at every dealership for parts and service, our opportunity to grow this club would be huge.

On the flipside of that would be other business - do you know of a great body shop, window tinter or glass place - it doesn't really matter. If it is car related and you have personal experience or know someone that has had a good experience with a business, then talk to our Discounts Chair and let's get them added to our list.

The discounts we are able to offer to our club members are one of the perks of membership. And the more dealers and businesses we deal with, the more attractive our club becomes - regardless of where our members live.

I would also like to suggest that our discounts list does not have to be all about cars - it is surprising, but there is life outside of our Saabs after all. If you know of a business that you feel our members could benefit from, talk to them and see if they would be interested in offering our members an incentive to buy from them.

And one last reminder - the April meeting is the AGM. If you have given any thought to becoming a Director or there is a Chair position that you thought would be fun, this is the time to make it happen.

Until we meet again, Happy Saabing!

Scott