Eleven members attended our general meeting on February 9. Gabor Varadi brought two new applications and membership fee checks, and we got to meet Michael Ross for the first time. Michael just returned to the San Diego area from assignment in Colorado. We are getting a number of calls from non-SDVSA members to advertise their cars for sale. Ads of any kind are free to paid-up members, as you should know by now, but there is always a question what we should charge non-members. We agreed at the meeting on a payment of $20 (the membership fee) to run that ad for as long as it takes to sell the car, but no more than 12 months. So, if you know a non-member who has a Volvo for sale, you can tell him/her about those terms. Gene Bellegarde, our illustrious club historian, won $31.50 in Bob Skoog's 50/50 raffle, but was not there to collect, so the scratch goes back into the pot for someone present at the next meeting to get a chance to win. It could be you!

   Our Temecula Winery Tour, which happened on Saturday, February 19, hit an all time attendance record for this yearly event, with ten cars meeting at the Mobil gas station on Hwy 79. In spite of this success, only the rather disappointing number of four cars from the San Diego area managed to show up! The rest of you missed a beautiful day, with warm easterly winds blowing - almost like summer, except the mountaintops were covered with snow. And Del Skoog's choice of wineries was equally excellent, offering vitis vinifera to please everyone's pallet! Thank you for a great outing, Del! Russ Orrell, our eminent chapter coordinator, took the weekend off from his scouting activities, and joined us. He even composed an entertaining synopsis of the day's activities, which starts on page 9. Thank you, Russ!

   The next couple of month will be busy for Volvo fans, starting with the West Side Volvo's Southern California Swap Meet in Culver City on Saturday, March 11 (see page 2).

   For our March event, David Hunt's Orange County Volvo Club - Volvo Sports America (OCVC-VSA) has invited the SDVSA and other Southern California Volvo clubs to a visit to Swedish Speed on Sunday, March 19. Details of this get together are found on page 3. Call Bob Skoog at (760)728-5328 if you are not sure how to get there, and maybe he can organize a caravan of interested San Diego area members. Mark Yarbrough, co-proprietor of Swedish Speed, and an active member of SDVSA and OCVC, has really shown himself to be a staunch supporter of Southern California Volvo club activities. Not only with this event (and past activities), but he also volunteered to take on the cancelled Dr Volvo Car Show, now scheduled for Sunday, May 7, again at Swedish Speed. See page 6 for information on that and an application to enter the car show. So let's all support Mark, Dave and Swedish Speed by participating!

   It's no April Fool's joke - The Cactus Chapter of VCOA is putting on the "2000 Arizona Volvo Day" on Saturday, April 1, in Tempe, AZ (see page 4 for info and an application). If you are interested in going, call Bob and Del Skoog at (760)728-5328. They are organizing a caravan, which will leave San Diego on Friday morning, and meet up with the Los Angeles area contingent along the way. For our L.A. area members, call Dave Hunt at (714)630-2207 for information on joining that convoy. Also, call Randy or Carol Pace at (602)953-0650 for discount group hotel rates as soon as possible.

   On Saturday, April 29, the SDVSA goes on another East County (San Diego) Drive, again organized by Mark Jankowski (details in April's 1800 NEWS. There is no more room in this one!). If last year's tour was any indication, we have another treat in store for us! Mark has a knack for finding interesting places to go, and adventuresome ways to get there. So, don't you dare miss what is rapidly becoming one of, SDVSA's highlight driving events of the year!