President's Page

Greetings and salutations! As I sit here writing this in early March the temperature has hit the high 50's and my thoughts are turning toward to track season ahead. I became a driving school instructor last year and had a great time on October 11 at NHIS, with 4 students on my first day of instructing. I am looking forward to instructing and driving this year, and would like to thank Steve Fitzgerald and the Boston Chapter Driving Event Committee for creating and supporting our instructor development program.

Fred Beck

If you haven't already read about it, the National Election results are in. I am pleased to report that our very own Michel Potheau won the election for Executive Vice President. As one of the core founders of the BMW CCA in 1969, it is great to have Michel back and active in the National office.

Our new North Atlantic Regional Vice President is none other than Dan Guliano, President of the White Mountain Chapter. Dan is a great guy and has been a very good friend of the Boston Chapter for some time. With two members of the National Board so close to home, we can be confident the Boston Chapter will have very good representation on the National scene.

In local news, the Boston Chapter Board continues its efforts to improve the Chapter to better serve its members. After a marathon Special Board Meeting in February, the Chapter Bylaws have finally been revised for the first time in about 10-15 years. This is a project we started in September 1998, so it is great to finally have it done. The first task was to refine the language to reflect the current state of the Chapter, including adding the fact that we have a Vice President and Membership Chair. The second task was to take into account the fact that the Boston Chapter has grown considerably over the past decade, and we now have many more activities and issues to manage.

Because driving events and published communication are so integral to the Chapter, both in terms of time and resources involved and services provided to the membership, the Board amended the Bylaws to create two new board-level positions, Director of Driving Events and Director of Communications. The Director of Driving events will have oversight over all driving events, including Driving Schools, Club Racing, Autocross, and Ice Racing. The Director of Communications will have oversight over all Chapter media and communications, including the Bimmer and web site.

Candidates for these positions will be nominated and approved by the Voting Board, and will be full voting members of the Board. Having this board representation should help increase communication and make things run even smoother than they do now.

Many of you are probably wondering what the status of the 2000 Autocross Series is. While I have been deeply involved in running the autocross series over the past three years, my duties as President, along with the career search that I have been working on for some time now, necessitate that I step down as Autocross Chair and let a new group of people take over. To this end, a group of about 10 volunteers has stepped forward to run the series. Each person will have a specific job to do, so it should be much less stressful than one person running the whole show.

Due to construction, we have lost the traditional Rockingham Park venue in Salem, NH. By the time you read this I hope we have found a new venue. We are planning to start running autocross events in mid-May. Stay tuned to the Bimmer, the website, and the Chapter e-mail list for details. [See the 2000 Autocross Series for the good news -Webmaster]

What's that you say, a Chapter Activity Email List? Yes, that's correct. We have had an informal e-mail list for the past few years for Ice Racing and Autocross participants, and have now expanded it to be a regular feature of the Chapter.

The purpose of this list is to inform Boston Chapter members and other interested parties of special events, late breaking event information, and, during the Winter, Ice Racing event status. With over 300 names so far, the list is growing rapidly. If you would like your name added to the distribution list, see the Boston Chapter Bulletin. As always, if you ever have any questions or suggestions about the Chapter, feel free to call me at home.

April 2000 Bimmer

February 2000 Boston Chapter Special Board Meeting Minutes by Will Farnsworth

President's Page by Fred Beck

The Editor's Red Pen by Justin Hughes

Got Mail by Justin Hughes

Bimmerscopes by Lady Dixi Isetta

April 2000 New Members by Barry Tarr

Ice Racing 2000: True Dedication by Justin Hughes

First Quarter General Meeting: Karting Comes To Town by Justin Hughes

Sneak Preview of F1 Boston by Justin Hughes

Rich's Car Tunes and a/d/s/ Audio Tech Session: The Ultimate Listening Machine by Victor Cruz

Chairitable Donations: In Memory of Ernie Goddu by John Sullivan

More Boston Bimmer articles by Fred Beck

President's Page: Mr. Beck Goes To Washington November/December 2000 Bimmer

President's Page: Calling All Members October 2000 Bimmer

President's Page: Bonjour, Chapitre de Boston! September 2000 Bimmer

President's Page July/August 2000 Bimmer

President's Page June 2000 Bimmer

There are 51 more Boston Bimmer articles by Fred Beck