|
July 27, 2000 Here’s the latest news from the best little R/C car club in Ocala! This month’s newsletter is three fold, as we have had 3 meetings since the last monthly meeting. Each of the meetings and their highlights are following, so get ready to be informed! First news of the day, though, is the results of the annual ORCCC board member vote. These positions are for the 2000-2001 timeframe, with our next election to be held in June of 2001. Thanks to all the members who participated in the voting process and to the candidates who threw their hats in the ring to lead the ORCCC into the 21st century!
President-Tom Hitchcock The first meeting was held on July 13th at the home of Tom and Melanie. Since Tom had been voted in as the President, he wanted to take a chance to meet with the board to make sure we were all on the same page as to the changes and improvements necessary to keep the ORCCC as the premier racing facility in Florida. First business of the day was to make sure that Carl Ross had a position on the board. Carl has too many years experience in the r/c community and the club in general, to just let his talents fall by the wayside. It was a unanimous decision that Carl should hold the position of track liaison. We are pleased to announce that Carl accepted the position. Lawn maintenance is part of the lease that we enjoy with A2Z Pest Control. To this end, it was decided that there should be a structured lawn maintenance schedule. Melanie Stalnaker will spearhead this operation with Christian Ginter (has anyone told him??) and myself as assistant cutters/weed eaters. The plan is to cut the grass as close to Saturday’s race day as possible to insure a well-groomed look when most of our racers join us. A reminder needs to be made to let everyone know that Danny Mayer is the track director. That means NO CHANGES WILL BE MADE TO THE TRACK WITHOUT CLEARING THEM WITH DANNY FIRST. Danny’s backup is Phillip Smith; so contact either one of these guys if you are interested in a change to the track layout. To increase excitement and attendance at the awards ceremony each Saturday, the board decided to add a special perk. Everyone who registers to race with us each Saturday has their name put in the pool of names. Each night, one name is picked. The lucky winner gets $5 in ORCCC race bucks that they can use towards race fees, membership fees, concessions and ORCCC t-shirts. You must be present to win, so stick around each Saturday for the awards ceremony and you might just go home a winner. The club needs to erect signs reminding the members and advising the newcomers of some of the rules and regulations of the new track. 3 very important points that need to be stressed are: A) the track is PRIVATE PROPERTY B) The Track Director must approve all track changes and C) VIOLATORS TO CLUB RULES will be asked to leave the premises. Tom is working on signs to cover all the important guidelines that we need to make sure that folks are aware of. The track is now unofficially known as the "A2Z Race Park". We will have a sign made to announce this and put the sign on the drivers’ stand for the best visibility. The club would like to add to our corporate sponsorship. Donations of $300 or more per year will get a company a sponsorship sign to be posted on the back of the race track and will get the company on the ORCCC website sponsorship page. It looks like Tom’s got plenty of goals for us to meet in the coming year! The next meeting was held on July 18th between Tom, Carl, Bill, Fletcher, Melanie and myself. Our host was Tom Peek, the owner of A2Z Pest Control. Now that the track is almost finished and we are back to hosting races, Tom Peek just wanted to touch base with us and firm up some guidelines. He seemed agreeable with the lease that the ORCCC board drew up, but is going to run it by his people and have his people call our people for lunch to fine tune the whole thing. Since we have a lot more interest in this track than we EVER did at the McPherson complex site, Tom Peek wanted to have a set schedule for having the track open. Remember, folks, Tom is still running a business at the site even though it LOOKS like the ORCCC has taken over! Remember that fact the next time you are at the site and don’t forget to tip your hat to the landlord in thanks for his generosity. Here’s the schedule for the summer, which is renegotiable for the winter months. Wednesday and Friday night practices start at 5:30 p.m. and run until 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday are pretty much free to use as we see fit, as long as we keep the place neat and act responsibly. We hope the ORCCC has a long and prosperous relationship with A2Z Pest Control. The regular monthly meeting was held on July 20th at the office building of A2Z Pest Control. Attendees were Matt Beavers, Phillip Smith, Christian Ginter, Danny Mayer, Carl Ross, Bonita Hansley, Josh Beavers, Tom Hitchcock, Melanie (almost Hitchcock!) Stalnaker, Bill Hamilton, Susan Danvers and yours truly. Join us at our next meeting on August 17th at 7:30 at the office of A2Z Pest Control. The new board’s first monthly meeting started with Tom Hitchcock in the "scary chair". He got treated better as a regular racer. Just to be safe, he might have to start bringing his own chair to the meetings. Apparently the "scary chair" respects his authority, as it didn’t try to dump him even once! The new hours of operation of the track were discussed at the meeting. To alert everyone of this change, the track is going to post a couple of business hours signs at the track. To enforce the hours, the club will erect a gate type setup at the ORCCC track entrance. This will consist of a 4X4 post on either side of the entrance with high visibility plastic chain hanging between the posts. The chain will also have one of the business hour signs dangling from it. NOTE TO RACERS: IF THE CHAIN IS UP, THE TRACK IS CLOSED. Bill and Tom are proud to announce the sponsorship page is up on the website. The sponsorship banner is on the top left of the home page. The banner rotates every five seconds to another sponsor and then repeats back through the list. At any time during the rotation, you can click on the banner and it will take you to the sponsorship page where each sponsor has a banner and specific information for each. The banners were Bill’s creation and everyone agrees they are awesome. Letters will be sent to each of the sponsors inviting them to see their web "ad" and offer them a chance to advise us as to changes they would like to see made to their ad. The layout is really nice and I think the club will be successful in gaining sponsorship from other companies wanting to see their name on such a hot web address! The new name of the racetrack was previously decided as the "A2Z Race Park". Their sponsorship sign will be placed on the drivers’ stand in honor of our landlord. Following this brief paragraph are some of the club rules that we need every attendee aware of. We are considering placing signs at the track with these guidelines. Learn these rules and live these rules!!
Thank you in advance for adhering to these rules and helping the ORCCC become a respected organization with an enjoyable race facility. Regulars are putting up covered pit areas faster than housing for geezers on State Road 200. It’s really great that folks are this excited about the track. We would like to keep some uniformity in these set ups to keep the place looking nice for A2Z. Ask Fletcher, the site director, if you are interested in setting up a permanent pit area. Fletcher can give you some guidelines on what we are looking for. Remember, West Building Supply is selling the gray tarp covered pit set-ups for $139 and since it’s on the approved list, it might be worth the investment. REMEMBER permanent pit guys; just ‘cause you have a pit area doesn’t mean that it can be used by you to the exclusion of all others! Be prepared to share if you aren’t at the track first. In fact, just plan on sharing any way as it promotes the track and club nicely! The club is considering purchasing a used riding lawnmower to make lawn maintenance easier. Currently, Melanie is hauling her lawnmowers to the track each week. I’m sure this is getting old! We’ll keep you posted and, please, let a board member know if you know of a good FREE riding mower! Bill is proud to announce that ORCCC race bucks are a hit! Our track builders are really getting their use of the race bucks presented to them for their hard work and dedication. They’re even being used between racers at the track as payment for parts and other transactions! Guys, if you are running low, just remember the club always has race bucks to sell. If you see me and/or Bill, we can hook you up with race bucks, as we always have them with us. Spouses, if you need a birthday, anniversary or other occasion gift, see me for ORCCC race bucks. Things are rolling along nicely at the track and the club is slapped full of members. It seems all the changes have really enhanced the club as a whole. The site is only going to get better, so plan to stay involved.
|
