Great Scott—The President Writes

by Scott Hutchings, President

June … the beginning of another summer.

And an event packed summer this one shall be.

As I am typing this, the International Saab Owner’s Convention and Saab Festival in Sweden is wrapping up.

The SOC 07 is coming up at the end of August just outside of Detroit … close enough for a lot of us to get to. Make sure to get your hotel room and event registration done sooner than later. You don’t want to miss out on the premiere Saab Owners event in North America.

Saturday July 7 will bring us the 3rd Annual SOCCI Niagara Region Winery Tour (see insert for more details). This event grows with each passing year and 2007 looks to be no different. Please either send me an e-mail directly at president [at] saabclub [dot] ca or post your plans to go on the forum. I need to make arrangements with the some of the wineries and they are going to be very interested in how large a group we are going to have.

The weekend of July 14/15 will be the 3rd Ohio get together of Saab owners. Most of these people know each other through sites like www.SaabCentral.com and www.SaabLink.com. I have been to both of the previous events and it is a lot f fun – a little camping, a lot of talking, some things cooking over an open fire … lots of fun had by all. It is held at Findley State Park and you can contact me if you have any questions.

On top of these events, there will also be many days at the track for the JL Racing – Saab team and I’m sure that we will have plenty of support, both as official SOCCI events and as individuals (don’t forget to cheer for John Burnet and Ken Pavri while you are there).

Now, with all of these things going on, I am happy to say that we have managed to fill one of the vacancies within the club operations.
Paul Stephenson will be taking on the role of Social Committee Chair with Guido Riccioni acting as Vice-Chair.
Together they will pick up the task of arranging our social get-togethers and ensuring that the club members know what is going on. They will also be keeping the calendar on the web site up to date with not just our own activities, but will add in whatever they may run across in their travels that may be of interest to our members.
Welcome aboard Paul and thank you both for helping out.

We are still looking for a Discounts Chair.
Without having someone step forward to take on this role, we will no longer be able to arrange discounts at dealerships, tire shops, etc for our members.
Since this always ranks as one of the main reasons to join the club, I have to assume that everyone feels this is an important part of SOCCI.
I am going to make the appeal one last time (and not nearly as eloquently as Fred has done it) … if there is anyone out there who has a couple of hours per month that they would like to put to good use, please contact Fred Hopper right away. This is an area of the club that could be quite exciting and will only demand of you what you are will to put forth in effort.
As Fred has said in the past, working with discounts has allowed him to become known to a lot of the shops we deal with and in doing so, ensures that he gets great service whenever he deals with them (it is the key position into the club from their perspective after all).

We are also still looking for a club Secretary.
This is not a position that we can just dissolve. Our club must have a Secretary per our by-laws.
As we have discussed, this person is accountable for any minutes that are taken at regular club meetings – that does not mean that person is required to take the minutes themselves. They are however, required to attend any and all Board of Directors meetings and record the minutes of those meetings themselves. At most, the Board meets once per month for a maximum of 2 hours.
If you are interested or if you know someone who might be interested, please contact either Fred or myself immediately and we will be happy to speak to those people.

Onto a topic closer to everyone’s hearts … Saabs!
I’m sure everyone is following the information flowing out of Sweden almost on a daily basis. The new 9-3 is ready to hit the streets this fall with an upgraded, well, just about everything. The Aero will be putting out an additional 5hp, the front and rear ends of the car have gone under the knife and have developed quite an aggressive look, and of course, the XWD will be available on the 9-3 platform in the new year (it will not be available when the 2008 models debut). And we are all waiting for official details on the "Black Turbo". Of course, no one is talking about that car except Saab owners and enthusiasts … and Saab employees are deflecting questions about that product like the wax on our cars deflects water!

Until we meet again, Happy Saabing!

Scott