In The Breeze - Bluebonnet Miata Club

In The
Breeze
Newsletter of the Bluebonnet Miata Club
SEPTEMBER 2005
2005 Club Officers
President
Pat O’Docharty:
Vice President
Dave Hamilton
Secretary
Neil Winslow
Treasurer
Walley Peters:
Membership
Rohm Thompson:
KERVILLE IS STILL ON!!
GOOD NEWS! We were able to schedule the Statewide
Miata Roundup in Kerrville to the weekend of November 11-13.
The registration form will be updated. If you are all ready registered with the Bluebonnet Miata Club and are planning to attend
the Roundup, please send an e-mail to [email protected] or call
Pat Franklin at 210-313-4220. All you have do is call the YO Resort and make hotel reservations. The cost remains $79.00 per
night. For those of you, who were previously registered and can’t
make the weekend in November, call Pat Franklin or e-mail her
and you will get a refund. Paypal charges a small fee to process a
credit card, so the refund will be minus the charge. And lastly,
those we need to register, print the registration form, fill it out and
send it to the address listed. You have to make your own hotel registrations and mention the Statewide Miata Roundup rate.
The Blue bonnet Miata Club is very excited about the rescheduled weekend. Spread the word to your club members that
the Statewide Miata Roundup is a happening event. Pat Franklin
Newsletter
Tim McCurdy
Webmasters
Luther Ward
To all the victims of Hurricane’s Katrina and Rita. We extend our hopes to you for recovery of all that you have lost,
and that there be quieter months to give you the chance to
rebuild, to start anew, if need be, and a place to heal from
this terrible tragedy.
Especially to our Miata family along the
Gulf coast.
Welcome New Members
Joe Bailey and Debbie Robertson
00 Burgundy, San Antonio
John and Sue Rayls (‘93 Red)
San Antonio
We looked at the storm with concern. After Katrina lay
waste from Louisiana to Alabama, then comes Rita. We in
San Antonio dodged that bullet. We wondered, what to do
about the roundup? That was answered quickly as we found
the YO Ranch needed rooms for evacuees. We know that
rebuilding and repairing can be costly and time consuming.
We hope to see you in Kerrville, but know that we will be
with you in spirit as you begin to put the pieces back together. Our hopes and best wished…
.– Bluebonnet Miata Club —
PAGE 2
SEPTEMBER 2005
Hamburger Run — 20 Aug 2006
The Hamburger run got off to a rocky start but
ended up with satisfied Miataphiles. The run,
led by Steve and Karen Stiles, departed from
Rolling Oaks Mall at 6:30pm. The restaurant
was the Ranch House Restaurant in St. Helwig.
The run was going well until Steve did a Pat
and got a flat tire. Jim Treat came to the rescue, did most of the hard work. Temp tire on
and on to the restaurant. 28 people made the
run and from all reports the food was good and
everybody made it back in good shape.
Is Larry is looking for a bird that deposited a
present on his arm? (just kidding)
MEMBER TIDBITS
Isaac Meek sold his Silver 2000 LS and bought a 1992
White, which he calls a real Miata (a real old one too)
Charles Mims got a 1990 hardtop for his 2003 White.
He got it to fit by adding side latches and rear bolts.
Always a nice site on the highway
John Faulkner graduated from TRC, US Navy, Great
Lakes, Illinois. He is on his way to sub school at
Groton, CT. Congratulations sailor!
Neil Winslow has ridden, owned and raced motorcycles
since he was a child. He worked his way up to the top
amateur class in racing.
A photograph taken by Dave Hamilton was published
on the front page of the Port Aransas newspaper. It
was a picture of a ―star wars‖ radar tower being towed
into the Gulf of Mexico on the way to Alaska.
Leon Franklin wants to buy a motorcycle.
North Park Mazda has a beautiful new special edition
2006 MX-5 in stock. As a female club member pointed
out it is number 69 of 3500.
DECISIONS, DECISIONS!
Larry and Carol Vervack plan to retire to Florida in
1,000 days.
Paul Faulkner is the proud owner of a new 600cc
Honda motor scooter.
Bill Frost once sang and played guitar in a rock & roll
band.
John Rayls buys and sells motorcycles throughout the
country. He also was a former chaplain for the NFL
Indianapolis Colts
Ennie McCurdy makes a great brisket and egg rolls.
Steve, putting good supervisor skills to work!
The Hungry Farmer, our old meeting place, has closed
and the building is for sale.
———Submitted by Dave Hamilton———
PAGE 3
SEPTEMBER 2005
Don't forget that our multi-purpose club stickers are for sale at all club meetings
and runs. The cost is only $5.00 for two stickers. It's a great way to support the club
and have fun.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
The famous TURKEYFEST is the second Saturday in October, 10-8-05. The Cuero Turkeyfest Parade is a yearly event that runs down
main street featuring floats, bands, and as always the turkey race. Run leaders are Judy &
Paul Faulkner. The Bluebonnet Miata Club
will be led from S.A. to Cuero by Tim & Ennie
McCurdy. Meet at Rolling Oaks Mall 8:00
a.m., depart at 8:15 a.m. Paul and Judy will
meet us in Cuero and lead us to a site to decorate our cars. Usually most decorations are
patriotic/USA flags and themes, but turkeys
and thanksgiving decorations are good too…
just be gaudy is the best rule, the more the
merrier. In Cuero we will have 45 minutes to
one hour to decorate cars.
Junior Varsity
Cheerleaders will be riding with us on first
three cars. After the parade we will proceed to
the Fair Grounds and have cars on static display. Then all may partake of the local fare for
an hour or so and afterward we will have a
short run ending at the Faulkner’s J4 Ranch
for dessert before returning to S.A.
Automobile Magazine Article
(Dave Hamilton)
The October 2005 issue of Automobile magazine lists
the Mazda Miata as one of the 10 Greatest Sports
Cars ever produced. The others are the Alfa Romeo 6C
-1750GS, BMW 328, Chevrolet Corvette, Shelby 289
Cobra, Ferrari 250GT California Spider, Jaguar
XK120, Lotus Elan, Lotus Elise and the Porsche 911.
The article describes the Miata as the perfect English
sports car—the one that England never built. It also
points out that more than 720,000 have been sold and
that the Miata is listed in the Guinness Book of World
Records as the world’s best-selling two-seat open sports car.
In another section of this issue they do a head-to-head comparison of the 2006 MX-5 and the new Pontiac Solstice.
This is a very interesting issue of Automobile magazine.
Check it out the next time you are in Border’s or Barnes
WINE RUN
On 10 September a total of 15 cars assembled
for the Wine Run led by Dave & Marilyn Hamilton. Jose & Irma Mante came from Laredo and
Paul & Judy Faulkner drove in from Yorktown.
During the run briefing participants received a
packet of information including a pamphlet on
the Texas Hill Country Wine Trail, wine tasting
instructions, data on the wineries to be visited, a
restaurant lunch menu and a ―not to scale‖ run
map drawn by Dave. Early in the run the group
passed by Sisters Creek Vineyards. Our rest stop
was in Luckenbach, Texas where the group posed
for pictures in front of the old General Store. Our
next stop was the Becker Vineyards. Dave and
Marilyn had arranged for Becker’s to open early
just for the Bluebonnet Miata Club so we had the
place all to ourselves and were treated like VIP
guests. After tasting numerous wines we received
a super tour of the winery. Mike, our tour guide,
explained the wine making process to us and patiently answered all our questions. We were even
able to sample grapes right off the vine. Following the tour we did some additional tasting and
Marilyn set up a cheese and crackers table on the
patio to hold us over until lunch. Our next stop
was the Grape Creek Vineyards where we tasted
more wine and enjoyed their comfortable patio.
Our last visit was to the Torre di Pietra vineyards
which only opened last November. They had a
PAGE 4
SEPTEMBER 2005
large gift area and Paula purchased a very large
ceramic lobster for her daughter. Our lunch stop
was at the Silver K Cafe which is located at 209
E. Main in Johnson City. They were ready and
waiting for us and gave us a large private room.
The service was fast and excellent. The food was
outstanding. The bathrooms even had cloth hand
towels instead of paper towels. This was truly
Hill Country elegance in a rustic setting. The Silver K Café is definitely a fantastic place to eat if
you are ever in the area. Following lunch the participants went off in various directions. Some returned to the vineyards, some went to Fredericksburg and others set off for home. All in all it was
a great day.
———Dave Hamilton———
We missed the music, but there
is always time for a Photo-op.
Our first
host at
Becker
Vine-
Miata Wino’s
Waylon, Willie
and the boys!
(actually Jose
and Tim)
Paul is Wishing!!
SEPTEMBER 2005
PAGE 5
Easy, easy..Everyone will get a glass
Irma is ready for the next Laredo party
Wine and Cheese Gals!
Getting the facts
No
Sad
Faces
A little chillin’ after imbibing is a
good thing….
Here!
PAGE 6
S EP T EMB E R 20 0 5
HAMBURGER RUN # 2
On Wednesday, Sept 14, Glen and Liz Coker led
a group on a hamburger run to TJ’s in New
Braunfels. One of the highlights of the run was
the chance look over the 2006 MX-5. North Park
was kind enough to let Tim Kelley bring one out
for the run, and allow the Bluebonnet
Miataphiles to inspect it close up. Following a
short run, dinner was had at TJ’s.
Just a little interest……..?
JIM SHEA
On 24 August, we lost a new and good
friend. Unexpected, Jim died of a heart
attack. Jim and Vickie had attended the
hamburger run the night before, and Jim
seemed to be in good health. Vickie had
already left for work that morning and
Jim’s attempt to call 911 was too late to
save him. After joining the Bluebonnet
Miata Club they attended most of the
meetings, volunteered to lead runs and
supported members by attending many of
the scheduled runs. Jim and Vickie were
and are good, nice people, the love they
had for each other was always visible. We
shall sorely miss the fellowship we had
with Jim for the time that was cut short,
but blessed to get to know him before his
passing.. As always, our prayers go out
for Vickie and Jim’s family.
Glen, Pat and Larry checking
this new fangled thing out
Run Leaders
And
And Charter members
Glen and Liz Coker
Renaissance Festival - March 2005
PAGE 7
S E P T E MB E R 2 0 0 5
James E. ‘Jim’ Shea
December 31, 1942
August 24, 2005
S E P T E MB E R 2 0 0 5
Meeting Minutes - August 2005
1. Opened: At 7:30 P.M. by Pat O'Docharty,
President, at Mama's Cafe, 14424 San Pedro
Ave.,San Antonio, Texas
2. Welcome:
New Members:
Joe Bailey & Debbie Robertson
('00 Burgundy) San Antonio
PAGE 8
ported that research and meetings are continuing.
5. Reports of Past Runs:
a. Bat Cave Run, Aug 7th: Twenty
cars made the run.
b. Splash & Dash Run, Aug 14th:
Postponed. No new date yet.
nio
c. Hamburger Run, Aug 20th: Twentyeight people and one flat tire participated.
3. Reports:
6. Reports of Future Runs:
a. Secretary, Neil Winslow: Neil reminded run leaders to please mail their
signed Liability Waivers to him for permanent filing. The mailing address is at the bottom of the Waiver form.
a. Texas Wine Run, Sep 10th: Dave &
Marilyn Hamilton will lead the run, starting at 8:15 A.M. from Loop 1604 and Blanco
Road (behind Luby's).
John & Sue Rayls ('93 Red) San Anto-
b. Webmaster, Luther Ward: Luther
added new sponsors to the Miata Roundup
website and made an address correction for
the YO Ranch, updated the Events Gallery
from February, and added a new slide show.
He also reported that the Roundup hits are
up 100 from last month, and the Bluebonnet
Club site received over 800 hits.
c. Newsletter, Tim McCurdy: Tim reported that there will be a party for club
members at his house on Sep 3rd. No Run.
Please call to let him know you're coming.
4. Old Business:
a. Miata Roundup:
b. Hamburger Run, Sep 14th: Details
to be announced.
c. Nite in Ol' Converse, Oct 8th: Members agreed to participate in the parade.
7. New Business: (Reported by Pat O'Docharty)
a. RPH Imprints sent the club a rebate
check for $40.00.
b. NAPA Auto Parts has agreed to provide a discount to Bluebonnet Club members. Show your card and tell them to reference Account No. #### until new cards are
preprinted with the account number. Stickers are being made for current cards, and
will be available at the monthly meetings.
(1) Pat O'Docharty reported that we
need member's to register for the event, and
to volunteer for various committees (See August Newsletter, Page 9, for names and phone
numbers of committee chairs.
c. Moss Motors has withdrawn their
discount offer for club members.
(2) Jim Treat reported that he obtained
copies of Texas Driver magazine for the registration bags.
—-submitted by Neil Winslow, Secretary—
b. Insurance Program: Wally Peters re-
8. Closed: At 8:30 P.M., after awarding
door prizes (Obtained by Pat O'Docharty)
PAGE 9
S EP T EMB E R 20 0 5
Remember Special Pricing for all
Current Club Members
Membership has its privileges
SEPTEMBER 2005
PAGE 10
In The Breeze
Bluebonnet Miata Club
Sponsored By:
9026 Richmond Hill
San Antonio, TX 78148
PRINTED BY POSTNET
Check Your Mailing Label for Your Renewal Date! Please Renew Your Monthly Membership Promptly!
Bluebonnet Miata Club Upcoming Events
September 2005
As most of you know, the Texas Miata Round-up was postponed due to Hurricane Rita. YO Ranch
agreed to cancel our reservations to make room for evacuees from the gulf coast. Please refer to Pat
Franklin’s e-mail on page 1 concerning the rescheduled date and pertinent info. More info to come as it
becomes available.
October 2005
Sun—2 Oct— Poker Run. Cancelled.
Sat—8 Oct—Cuero Parade and Run. Run leaders Paul & Judy Falkner. Details in this
newsletter..
Tues 25 Oct— Monthly meeting at Mama’s Café at 14424 San Pedro Ave. Eat: 6:30,
Meeting: 7:30pm.