After 2 meetings and almost 3 months, it’s more than time for another ORCCC Newsletter. The club "family" has experienced about one of everything in the last three months except a plague of locust!! With a sponsor like A2Z Pest Control, though, we feel comfortable that we will be spared. Now, on with the news!

There was a club meeting on April 19, 2001 attended by Mason McCombs, "his sister" McCombs, Carl Ross, Matt Mosieur, Melanie and Tom Hitchcock, Fletcher Grosz, Charles Hansley and Bonita Hamilton. The next meeting was scheduled for May 17^th at 7:30 PM at the track.

There have been many track improvements implemented with great success. The practice of obtaining 2 trash volunteers during the driver’s meeting to handle the trash for the night, is working splendidly. The labor is spread evenly and the job gets done! Tom’s band of workman have put a "septic" system in for the sink and this has eliminated the weekly swamp in front of the sink. The gang also set up a "mini" hot water heater and "maxi" sink for the concession crews clean up operation. (The women folk are mighty grateful, boys). And lastly, the backfield of the track can finally hear what’s going on with the installation of their very own speaker. Thanks to all the hard work that made these things happen.

Reminders were given to prompt folks to turn in their new track layouts (no jumps on the outside lanes is permitted and each lane is to be 10 feet wide) and to be thinking about upcoming vote for the new board. Prior to the voting, the club is going to provide job descriptions of each of the board positions to clarify what each of the jobs entail.

Melanie Hitchcock has a very promising lead on a tractor with a box-blade and bucket. She is going to keep the heat on and make sure we are first in line for purchase. Go Melanie, go Melanie.

The next few items on the work detail include the flooring for the computer room, painting the computer room and getting the lawn mowed and weeded. We also discussed getting the portajohn moved to where the power pole is located and privacy fencing them both.

Reminders to permanent pit folks on the back of the track to adhere to the site plan. We need to keep the pits neat in appearance and if you have a cover, make it the industrial gray kind for aesthetics.

Due to the influx of 1/8-scale vehicles, the club has to get serious about implementing safety features not currently used. We need a catch fence around the entire track, with entrances for turn marshals. We might need to start using special rules and regulations governing these races, because they are big and powerful and dangerous. The how, when and where of these changes will be announced at a later date.

The club enjoys a large number of spectators each Saturday night, but we feel that a few site changes need to be made to make the cohabitation of racers and spectators an enjoyable one. One idea was to keep spectator parking outside of the tree line and to have a special place for them to enjoy the races. Bleachers would certainly make this a lot easier, so we are going to be on the lookout for available, cost-effective spectator seating. The incorporation of signs directing racers to one area and spectators to another was also discussed.

We had the next meeting on May 17^th that was attended by Susan Danvers, Bonita and Bill Hamilton, Danny, Tom and Melanie Hitchcock, Joel Martin, Fletcher Grosz, Larry Genova, Christian Ginter, Mason McCombs, Carl Ross, Vernon Cook, Jr. and Mike Gitchell. The next meeting is scheduled for June 21^st at 7:30 PM at the track.

Thanks to Melanie Hitchcock and Susan Danvers, the cutting and weeding of the track is done! From what I understand, both gals were covered with black dust from head to toe. I don’t think it’s ever going to rain again! Soon, we’ll call it "Dustbowl Raceway"!

The portajohn company has been contacted and they’ve agreed to let us move the portajohn ourselves. The plan still holds to move them by the power pole and privacy fence it all. (Can you say, "smell containment"? Yipee!)

We received 14 new track layouts and right on schedule the board narrowed the choices to three for presentation and voting at the May 19^th race day. After the voting on Saturday, the #5 track submitted by Scott Monroe was the winner! Thanks to all the folks that submitted layouts. Everyone did a very nice job! The plan is to rent a Bobcat type tractor and buy more clay to make the drawing a reality. Sunday, May 27^th is the workday to make the changes. Everyone is urged to come and help, so that the new layout will be ready to run on June 2^nd. Tom Hitchcock is the contact if you would like to offer your assistance. ALL RACERS ARE URGED TO ASSIST!!!

NEWSFLASH! Melanie Hitchcock has graciously agreed to take over the concession duties (like she hadn’t already taken over all the labor!). Melanie will be outfitted with a petty cash fund for buying supplies weekly and has set us up with a Sam’s account. Anyone needing a Sam’s card can now be added to the ORCCC account. Let me know if you are interested and I’ll give you the necessary paperwork that you can take to Sam’s, along with your $15 fee, to have your very own membership through the club. Melanie has already added to the menu with fresh, hot French-fries that everyone is enjoying, not to mention the combo meal that includes a burger or hotdog, with fries and a drink! Let Melanie know if there is something you would like added to the concession area and she’ll handle it! Thanks a million to Mel and the other concessionaires Susan Danvers and Marija Tanevska for all their diligent work.

Turn marshalling needs to be enforced more diligently. The deal, dudes, is to finish your race, put your vehicle down, return your transponder and immediately take your position by the cone that corresponds with your number in the previous race. Bill will call the names of the mandatory turn marshals for each race and the turn marshals need to raise their hand when their name is called. If a turn marshal is not present when called, Bill will notate this and dock that racer one lap in the main. Feel free to volunteer if the mandatory crowd looks too sparse to handle the action or let Bill or Tom know if you think additions to the crowd needs to be made. It is the job of the entire racing community to make sure turn marshalling is covered adequately; it is not the sole responsibility of Bill and Tom. Help us out, folks!

The purchase of a new transponder system was opted for in lieu of the purchase of a tractor at this time. The system under consideration allows for racers to own the transponder, which would eliminate the need to return it to the charger and replace it before and after each race. The system runs in the $3500 range and the program is in the $700 range. We’ll keep doing the research before the final decision is made. After running with the new system for a month or so, the club could sell the current system to recoup some of the expense.

Tom would like to start up a duty roster to keep a running flow of rested and able-bodied workers to keep the site in tip-top shape. Since we cannot race on Monday, Tuesday or Thursday, we would like to make these our scheduled duty days. If you have a few minutes (okay, an hour or two) to spare on one of these days, let Tom know and he will advise you of some of the little jobs that need to be handled from time to time. There’s always painting, mowing and general cleanup that needs to be done. Everyone can help a little, so the chore is not so daunting to any one person. (Hint, hint, Fletcher is really tired and needs a break from the constant chore list!)

The on-road racing at Easy Street will discontinue during the summer months. Easy Street has plenty of traffic while school is out, so we’ll talk to them after the summer to see if it is feasible to start things back up again.

The club wants to express a big "howdy ho" get well to the wife of Larry Genova. Larry’s wife was in a car accident a few weeks back that totaled her car and just about totaled her! Larry has his hands full with a full time job, two children, laundry, housecleaning and everything else that comes with running a household. The club really needs to pull together to offer Larry and his family support (and cooked meals!) while his wife is on the long road to recovery. Anyone interested in helping out should contact Melanie, Susan or myself and we’ll steer you in the right direction. Also, Larry needs to let these same three folks know what he needs!!! (By the way, Lar, your wife said she wants a Hummer as a replacement vehicle, so this never happens again!)

We ended the meeting on a fun note. We would like to make the Appreciation BBQ that we all enjoyed last August an annual event! Let us know if you think you would be interested in what we have in store this year…a Rainbow River Tubing Excursion! The plan is to have the club provide the food and everyone else provides a tube and their bathing suit! After lounging down the river for a few hours, we would all enjoy a picnic and brag about how awesome our club is! The date we are looking at is either Sunday July 1^st or Wednesday July 4^th. Let us know what you think.

We have a superb facility and a great gaggle of people here at the Ocala R/C Car Club. Let’s keep the track ready for racing and let’s keep the contact friendly. We can continue to enjoy the best little R/C car club in Ocala if we all work together!