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 – November 2024

This month, I am stepping in to fill the two pairs of shoes of Karen and Norm Abbot.  As Vice President, I am wishing them well in their decision to move back north to be near family, especially grandchildren.  I know it was a tough decision for them since they enjoyed the Cape Fear region…

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President’s Message – October 2024

As we head into fall, it is so nice to look forward to some cooler weather, with our tops down and a comfortable breeze in the air. With that breeze comes a change for Norm and me.  We have had to make the difficult decision of staying here in NC or going back to our…

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President’s Message – September 2024

As I have my morning cup of coffee, I usually hop on the internet to see the latest in news, sports, etc.  I recently came across an article ranking the best Miata MX5’s.  As we all have different editions of our cars and they are chosen based on our individual tastes, I thought the following…

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