For the SDVSA, 1997 started out with a bang. Our first event of. the new year was the dinner meeting at Di Chan Thai restaurant, organized by our intrepid Chapter Coordinator Russell Orrell. We had over thirty "I Rollers" in attendance, which is a great turn-out by any measure, for a club of between 50 and 60 members. We could not have asked for a better day for February's event -- the Temecula Wine Tour. The landscape was green and beautiful after the only rains we had this spring, and the sky was crystal clear, with the Volvinos imbibing in the local nectar and feeling no pain. "A glimpse at the Monaco Vintage Grand Prix", as Scott Harrison aptly put it in his write-up, was enjoyed by all present at the visit to Symbolic Auto Restorations, our March SDVSA event. What can anyone say, except ohhh and ahhh, when confronted with one-of-a-kind and rare Ferrari autocars that were on their way to "compete" at one of the premiere races in Europe! April was a busy month for our club, with the Annual Bloomin' Desert Drive and another dinner meeting. One reason for the sparse participation by our members was the cloudy and cold weather in San Diego, but don't let that stop anybody from attending next year. The desert was gorgeous! The dinner at Sorrentino's, arranged by Jim Barnes, was equally gorgeous, and almost as popular as January's repast. The first installment of our biannual SDVSA Swap Meet was held at Ski Beach in Mission Bay in May. Our former chapter coordinator and incurable Volvo-nut, Gene Bellegarde, organized this event, and, as usual, we had a lot of folks come by -- members as well as those unbaptized. How do you do it, Gene? Another visit to two car restoration facilities was on tap for June. On this rare occasion, we gathered at Horton Plaza, Downtown San Diego, and walked to our destinations -- the San Diego Auto Museum restoration facility and Affordable VIP Classics -- and in the process, sampled San Diego's finest coffee and' 50s style hamburgers and malts. Scott Harrison co-organized this event and also the Picnic at Deer Park happening in July. He led the way on a really nice and well planned drive from our breakfast haunt at Coco's in Escondido, out to and along the coast, and ending up at Deer Park. This is a beautiful spot, with plenty of grass and shade trees, and a well stocked museum of cars and Americana, as well as a well stocked food and wine larder. Gene Bellegarde also organized a slot car race in July, and that was a riot! Too bad that more of you didn't show. July was also the month for The Volvo Discovery Tour when some of us test drove the new S70 and V70 Volvos, and that was almost as much fun as, and reminiscent of, the slot car races. In August we had our North County Wine Tour and another dinner meeting at Di Chan. This wine tour has always attracted a large number of members, but this year the turn-out was less that great. That day the hot Santa Anas blew, one of the few event planning hazards in Southern California, so the low attendance was understandable. What was really puzzling was the low participation at the dinner meeting, organized again by Jim Barnes. But we blamed it on the fact that it was still vacation time, and learned another valuable scheduling lesson. The second installment of the Swap Meet was held in September at the same place, again organized by Gene. He had to attend to some business out of town, and we sorely missed him. How did people know you weren't going to be there, Gene? Seems like you are a people magnet! The 5th Annual Menghini Wine Party took place with great fanfare (literally) in October, and, again, we were outwitted by the Santa Ana winds -- this time cold! That makes for two years in a row that we had lousy weather for this, one of the more popular events of the year, so we'll have it in May next year. But all is not lost. The East County Drive and Visit to the Railroad Museum in Campo in November attracted almost three times as many participants as when we tried it in August of 1994. And I am sure that the Christmas Party of 1997 is going to be a great success

Being the "temporary" (hint) editor of your SDVSA newsletter, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has contributed to the newsletter during the past year, thus making my job easier. Scott Harrison deserves special mention as an events reporter and organizer of several of the events. Other contributors to the newsletter and sponsors of events are Gene "Sven Olafsbrosson" Bellegarde and Jim "New Daddy" Barnes. But the literary creativity doesn't end here. Kurt Sievert is a regular contributor with his "This and That" observations on owning an 1800, and all the way from Orange, Greg Blake is not only a steadfast attender of events, but gave us an insight into the Tustin Thunder Vintage Races, as well. Bob and Del Skoog, Jeff Perry, and Ric vonNeumann always send good tidbits to make for much needed fillers. Finally, I'd like to urge everyone to make a new year's resolution to contribute something -- whether original or a published article of interest to the club -- to YOUR newsletter. And thanks to all for your support of SDVSA and 1800 NEWS.