Past Events

February 5, 2005:::Drive South for the Winter Social - It was a beautiful day for driving, and drive we did.  The three of us who came from "upstate" Vermont enjoyed a couple hours above 3000 rpm.  Turnout was excellent, with 22 of us gathered at the Sirloin Saloon in Manchester, VT.  We welcomed several familiar faces, as well as some new ones.  I tell you it is always nice to see new faces and put a handshake and hello to someone formerly known only through email or because their name is on a list I see.  Reid Douglas, our North Atlantic Regional VP, and his wife Liz drove up from Andover, MA to join us.  We were fortunate also to be joined by a foursome of our neighboring Patroon Chapter officers, Scott and Beverly Stowell, and Tony and Gwen Verrengia.  Scott walked away with a nice MPower tie that I expect him to wear out of respect when he comes to another Green Mountain Chapter event.  Ray Bates left his 2000 M5 at home and let Peter Warren do the driving in his 2000 M5.  The only difference being Peter's recent upgrade to a 2004 motor - finally!  There was still too much salt in the air for several of the other BMWs to come out and play, but that's to be understood.  Brent Rabideau brought along his business partner Jeremy Flood, who brought along his better half, girlfriend Katie.  Jeremy is in the midst of a complete E30 restoration which we hope to highlight one day in our newsletter and on our website.  And Katie was a door prize winner of an E60 5 series paperweight that she can use to hold down all Jeremy's restoration receipts.  Nobody expected Sharon Slattery or Sloan McBurney to drive their original owner 2002s, that's for sure no matter how nice the Vermont February day was.  But it sure was nice to see Sharon again and finally meet Sloan in person.  Sloan was in the driving spirit, wearing a jacket the same color as his '02.  I'm sure BMW doesn't call this color McBurnt orange, but if the driving shoe fits...   Marc Miller and his dad Tom joined us from Bellows Falls via Skidmore College.  Tom made note of his son's generosity in allowing him to occasionally drive Marc's 1992 525i, and when Marc won a bottle of zymol wax, Marc made note of his dad's generosity on occasionally waxing the car.  And last but certainly not least, F1 fanatics Jim and Kier DeVries came from Windsor.  Kier and Jim drive her 3 series, and I hope their enthusiasm for the club is half as great as their enthusiasm for Formula 1.  They never miss a race on TV, and this summer hope to join us in Montreal.  So to wrap it up, thanks again for coming, the officers enjoyed the outing and appreciate the participation.  It was the first event we've had down south, but certainly not the last.  Drive fast but drive safe and start psyching up for the summer.  Spring is not too far around the corner, I don't care what Punxsutawney Phil says.

Summer 2004 - Our First Event! An update and thank you is in order following Sunday’s BBQ Fun Drive.  Better late than never, I hope you’ll agree.  First, thank you very much to Aran Walker and his wife Amanda for hosting all of us.  They have a beautiful house nestled into the hillside with a fantastic view of the ridgeline across the valley.  And once it gets paved, their driveway will be on par with one of the gaps we drove through!  A sincere thanks again to them both.  We had a decent turn out, with nine cars, and 15 people.  As you can see from the pic, we had a variety of cars.  Ray Bates drove up from Newfane with Peter Warren in Ray’s M5.  Pat and Tom Clark drove their M3.  Sharon Slattery and her nephew Jeff drove in Sharon’s 1976 2002tii that she bought brand new!  Inge Schaefer and her friend were in Inge’s 330xi.  Ron and Louise drove Chloe, their 328Ci, or is it Daphne?  I can’t keep them straight.  Russ Hopke, aka “the drifter,” drove his modified 1987 325is, which unfortunately needs another modification after it wouldn’t start and had to be abandoned at the top of the gap.  I just talked to him, and the car is at the Automaster awaiting diagnostics.  The thought is that it was an electrical problem, maybe a sensor of some sort.  But Russ got his new nickname, not because he almost needed to spend the night somewhere other than home, but because of how he took the corners going up the gap – rear end drifting out ever so nicely around each one.  Aran and I had our 540s, and Reid Douglas, our BMWCCA North Atlantic Region Vice President made a surprise entrance in his Bavaria.  The drive up and down the gap, which was not Lincoln Gap, but another one near Mad River Glen, was lively to say the least.  Or maybe spirited is a better word, exhilarating – you get the idea.  Just driving in a convoy of 9 BMWs is fun to do, but then hanging them out in a convoy is that much better, especially with the scenery of VT as the backdrop, if you can afford a glance away from the road, that is.  A couple folks had to head in their own direction after the drive, so we had an intimate group of eight for the BBQ while we coordinated Russ’s day without a car.  Russ lives in Sheffield, and in case you didn’t know it, you can’t get there from here.  Anyway, even he’ll agree that it was a good time, and definitely something to keep on the agenda every so often.