December 2003 1800 News

Volume 12

December 2003

Number 12

GOD HELG och GOTT NYTT ÅR !

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

We hope that every member received his/her November’s 1800 NEWS in one piece and in a reasonably timely fashion. More reports than usual of late or destroyed newsletters have reached us.

A new member, Kurt Stoney, joined the SDVSA, and the twelve members who attended the General Meeting on November 12. Kurt is a real Volvo fanatic, registered to about a half dozen various models -- a 242, ’67 123GT, and ’69 1800S among them! Our Membership Coordinator, Kurt Sievert, counted 64 current paid-up members in the SDVSA. Since Bob Skoog’s 50/50 raffle is an income producer for the club, and Bob has been unable to attend the meetings recently, he asked that someone else take over this operation. Bob Brassard stepped up to the plate and volunteered. Thank you, Bob B! We haven’t had a winner present for some time, so the portion of the jackpot, which goes to the winner, now stands at $53.50!

On November 15, Bozzani Volvo joined the ranks of dealerships, which support our cause by hosting an all Volvo car show! Unfortunately, no SDVSA members from the San Diego area participated. OCVC members, who also belong to the SDVSA, however, were amply represented. The So Cal VCOA chapter, under the direction of Dave Barton, sponsored the event, and Dave has provided an article on the proceedings, which appears on page 5.

This year, Mark and Diane Jankowski graciously agreed to be the hosts once again for our traditional Holiday Party. It was held at the Jankowskis’ first home in Spring Valley, in a great Sweetwater Lake “waterfront” location. The members filled a big table by the entrance with stuffed animals in our traditional SDVSA toy drive for less fortunate children. The members also kept the SDVSA tradition alive by bringing scrumptious side dishes and desserts! If someone left hungry, it was by choice! Everything was plentiful and delicious. After the meal, we all settled down in front of the beautiful Christmas tree for the traditional club awards, the White Elephant Gift Exchange,

and the drawing for door prices. The SDVSA yearly award this year went to our host, Mark Jankowski, for not only providing his home for the Holiday Party on more that one occasion, but also for planning and leading the Annual San Diego East County Tour for the past five years. Mark is also an enthusiastic supporter of the club and provides technical knowledge and assistance to anyone who asks for it. The gift exchange was as hilarious as always. There are quite a few comedians in the club’s roster! The door prices for the most part were nothing to sneeze at, either, and everyone seem to leave content. Due to the time constraint between the party and the publishing deadline of this newsletter, a full account of the wonderful time we had will have to wait for January’s 1800 NEWS!

The SDVSA’s quest for the perfect venue for the 2004 VSA West Coast Convention continues, but the light at the end of the tunnel is coming into view. On November 22, Russ Orrell, our Chapter Coordinator, Kurt Sievert, our Membership Coordinator, Bob Brassard, and Gene Bellegarde, had a meeting with Dee Queen of the Four Points Hotel Sheraton here in San Diego. Gene, who is our West Coast Meet Coordinator, is going to crunch some numbers and look at a couple of other variables, but they were pretty impressed with the hotel and its facilities, so chances are it has a good chance of being the site for the '04 VSA meet. We should have a decision pretty quickly, probably by the second week of December. Since Randy Blum did such an outstanding job, against all odds (inside joke there), in providing a T-shirt for the SDVSA, he was put in charge at November’s General Meeting of coordinating the T-shirts for the 2004 VSA West Coast Convention in San Diego. A very important and necessary job! How about YOU? If you want to become part of the effort to keep the high standards we set at the San Diego VSA West Coast Meets in 1984 and 1994, please contact Gene or Russ, or any of the characters in “The Box” on page 3.

Keeping to our policy of having events every other month, the first SDVSA event of 2004 is the Temecula Wine Tour, which takes place on Sunday, February 22. A general description of out planned activities is presented on page 2. You will be reminded again and furnished with more details in future SDVSA Newsletters.