Minuteman

With the weather finally drying out, I hope everyone is taking their cars out of storage and driving. Our 560 SEC and SL have both been on the road, it sure beats looking at them in the garage all winter. It's also a great time to check over your daily driver for damage from the winter.

We had two great Tech Sessions this spring, one at Viti Mercedes-Benz in Tiverton, RI. And one at European Auto Solutions in Waltham, MA. They are both great supporters of The Minuteman Section and offer great service to our members.

Our Annual Dinner was a fantastic event as it has been for the last 23 years, hosted by Event Chairman Rich Garick, it was great to see a lot of new faces and familiar ones as well. At the dinner we held elections of Officers for 2010, with the incumbents returned for another year. I want to thank the Officers for their service and look forward to working with them for another year. I want to thank you all for allowing me to return as President, I truly enjoy being part of a great group of Mercedes-Benz enthusiasts.

We honored Ron Beaton as Member of The Year for his outstanding work on the Newsletter. Ron works hard on what is one of the most time consuming jobs in the Section. We also honored Dave Bryant for 28 plus years of dedication to the Section, with an award and a gift. Rich, Ron and Dave thank you!

Our next event is Summerfest Presented by Wagner Mercedes-Benz on June 12 th at Indian Ranch in Webster, details and registration form are on the Website. Two new events are in the planning stage for Rhode Island and Western Mass, stay tuned to the Website and Email Blasts for details.

I would like to welcome the following new members for January, February and March; Peter Hayden, Joe Previtera, Howe Allan, David Braga, David Wright, Travis Tucker, Robert Walton, David Uva, Robert McKinney, Robert Conolly, Keith Bellucci, Peter Nee, Ron Isaccs, John Licciardello, Steven Carlino, Robert Luich, Luke Zbylut, David Borkosky, Robert Bennett, Keith Fecteau, Herman Morrill, Randy Wheeler, Bob Price, David Newsom, David Westerling, Alexander Spare, Ronald Champoux, Arthur Aucoin, Scott penny, Patrick Ahern, Donna Digivovanni, Matt Marano and Joseph Marocco. Thank you all for joining the Minuteman Section.

Happy New Year and welcome to the second decade of the new Millennium. There is a lot of new happening with the Club. An extensive study was taken last year to point the Club in a new direction, including how to recruit and retain new members, new branding to focus on the direction of the Club, and of course a new website to tie it all together. You can read the results of the study in the Jan/Feb issue of The Star.

One thing that is clear from the study is that we need to increase our membership. The only way the Club can survive is by having a larger membership base. We have roughly 21,000 members, yet Mercedes-Benz sells over 200,000 cars a year in the US! Why is this? One, we the members need to recruit new members on a regular basis. Vice President Mark Fancy has come up with a new program for members, other than the board, to score points and win a cash award for attending events, and bring prospective new members to an event. Details of the Minuteman Most Active Member Contest are on the website. I want to challenge ever member to sign up one new member in 2010, this would be an increase of 600 members. The Section is paid by National $11.00 for every member this increase would add to our bottom line and enable us to have better events. We have been fortunate to have great Sponsors, but with the economy the way it is, it's harder to maintain. Two, we need our events to reflect the wishes of our members. We need your ideas on new and different types of events; you can contact me at [email protected] I look forward to your suggestions.

The National Business Office is offering discounts to The Club Store for members who update their email address; there are a lot erroneous emails in the data base. We need your email so we can keep you informed of important Club news. Contact Geni [email protected] to update you National information. To get Minuteman Section updates and the Newsletter go to the Minuteman site www.mbca.org/minuteman and click Get Email Updates . These lists are Not Shared and your information is secure.

I'd like to welcome Rich Doucette and Ric Fair to the Board of Directors. I look forward to their input.

I want to welcome our newest Sponsor, Trans-Atlantic Mercedes-Bens in Hyannis . They offer a 20% discount on parts to Club members. Click their banner on the website. Thank You!

I would like to welcome the following new members for October, November and December; Robert Killion, Stanley Remiszewski,Ellen Casey, Alan Soucy, Gary Cohello, Anthony Arcari, Robert Glotzer, Bill Stephens, Jason Algress, Alfred Algress, Robert Bruno, Eric Kristenson, Anthony Miele, Edward Ryan, Robert Voelk, Donald Kiernan, Susan Butterworth, Robert Miskinis, Christopher Dykeman, Todd Day, James Arnone, Richard Airhart, Edward Chiu and James Hargreaves. Thank you for joining the Minuteman Section of the Mercedes Benz Club of America and I look forward to meeting you at our upcoming events.