President’s Message – January 2025
Hi CFMC Members –
Happy New Year to all,
At this time of year, we tend to look back fondly at the previous year while we look forward with anticipation to the upcoming year. In 2024, CFMC had several planned activities such as the Moores Creek Bridge Battlefield trip, the Ides of March Road Trip, The Veterans Day Fly-In and Car Show, the Ride to the Rodeo and the Cape Fear Vineyard and Winery trip. We greatly appreciate the effort the activity sponsors put into event planning and, while we were unable to do the Ride to the Rodeo trip due to the devastation of hurricane Helene, we appreciate the effort that Ron and Judy Carmichael put into planning that trip and we hope that a similar trip can be planned for the future.
We also look at the changes in the membership. The club lost some members such as Karen and Norm Abbot, Kevin and Deb Perham (we will never forget the Belmont Stakes Steaks), Catherine Fort, and Jo Ann Craig and others that have moved out of the area or sold their Miata. At the same time, we welcomed new members and friends and hope they enjoy the camaraderie of the club.
Looking forward to upcoming activities, we currently have the Holiday Party scheduled for January 12th with 32 club members signed up, the Chili Cook-Off Competition scheduled for January 31st, and the May Miataland trip, in addition to the monthly coffee socials. So, 2025 has plenty of opportunities for anyone interested in sponsoring an activity. Some activities we are currently considering are a rally, a club sponsored picnic, and if we do well with the chili cook-off, possibly a soup competition since we know we have many good cooks in the club. And, to encourage sponsorship, the CFMC has a new incentive – more about that at the Holiday Party. Let us all include in our New Year resolutions the promise to become more active in the club whether it is as an activity sponsor, or as a participant in an activity, or as an officer in the club. The true fun of the club comes from its members and new members can bring new ideas and life to our club.
Finally, I would like to thank the leadership team of the club for their hard work over the past year. Karen and Norm Abbott, our co-presidents in 2024, brought many new suggestions to us from their participation in another Miata club up north; Ron Carmichael provided his wise guidance as the recent president; Fred Heaton, as club secretary, performed yeoman duty even while away during his recent vacation getting information out to club members; Ken Schiess helped increase the club numbers by signing up new members; Mary Sue Wahl, our long term treasurer, kept a tight hold on the purse strings; Gina Schiess edited and helped publish the monthly Rag Top Tales; and, John and Peggy Harris our Activities Coordinators who also happen to be two of the longest participating club members.
As we wave the checkered flag in 2024 and drop the green flag on 2025, I hope everyone has a happy, healthy, safe, and fun new year. See you at a future club event.
Rick Judson