President’s Message – March 2023

Not yet!  March is here and with it, St. Patrick’s Day and the much awaited coming of spring.  We’ve been teased lately with spring-like weather, but the 70- and 80-degree temperatures that have blessed our area for the past couple of weeks are premature  As any native North Carolinian knows, when March comes in like a lamb it often exits like a lion  But there is eager anticipation of Spring which officially arrives on March 20, and with it, the rebirth and awakening that make this time of year my favorite season.  It’s time to defrost our Miatas and get them ready for the fantastic weather that is certain to follow.

For the CFMC, March means the continuation of a great year of club events and activities. Our second 2023 calendar year event, a visit on February 11 to a local car museum in Wilmington, was hosted by Tom and Nancy Pane.  Read about this local, unique gem in this month’s Ragtop Tales. March will be highlighted by the exciting outing that our host, Catherine Fort has planned for us to Georgia. Our trip on March 23-27 will highlight historic and cultural venues in the Peach State. At last count, we had 15 members planning to participate.  Please see the latest trip details in this month’s Ragtop Tales.

While we have a number of exciting activities planned for 2023, there are several months which are open for events.  I very much appreciate those members who have stepped forward to be CFMC event hosts. But we have some open dates, so please consider hosting an event for one of the remaining months. I think everyone is eager to renew and reunite with our club member friends. Please contact our Activities coordinators, John and Peggy Harris at mx5miata16@gmail.com if you have ideas about a possible CFMC activity.

As a reminder, March 29 is National Vietnam War Veterans Day. We have several Vietnam veterans in our CFMC.  Please make sure to remember and recognize them for all they did for us. They did their duty and unfortunately were not given the honor and recognition that they so richly deserved when they returned. On March 29, we have an opportunity to correct that wrong. Make sure you convey thanks to our Vietnam veterans for their service, sacrifice and the price they paid to protect us, preserve our freedom, our American ideals and way of life. The things we are blessed to enjoy as Americans are not free; they came with a price. The price was paid by those whose sacrifice and service we often take for granted. Let’s make sure that all of our veterans, past and present, know that the price of freedom, that they paid for us, will never be forgotten and will always be appreciated. It’s the very least we owe them. Thanks.

I hope to see you all soon.  Zoom-Zoom!

Ron Carmichael

President’s Message – February 2026

From the Driver’s Seat: A Call for Co-Pilots Hello everyone! I hope you’ve all been enjoying the clear roads and the sound of your engines lately. As we look ahead to our upcoming year, I’m incredibly proud of how our club continues to grow and thankful for the jobs our current board members are doing.…

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President’s Message – January 2026

Hi CFMC Members – Happy New Year to all. Let’s hope that 2026 is filled with more fun club activities. Looking in the rearview mirror at 2025, we had several fun activities.  Following our annual holiday party at Circa in January, we had a chili cook-off that was well attended with all enjoying a taste…

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President’s Message – December 2025

Hi CFMC Members – Happy Thanksgiving to all!  I hope you were able to share the holiday with friends and family.  Judy and I made the trek to Maryland to spend some time with family. We did not take the Miata since it would have been a very uncomfortable eight hours of driving in heavy…

Read More about President’s Message – December 2025