Hello Everyone,
We ended May with a new record-setting event turnout…52 Vipers and over 80 members at our Cars & Coffee, Viper Show, and Lunch Meeting at Hagerty Garage + Social on Sunday May 29th! We look forward to seeing all of you at our up-coming summer events, and this month’s newsletter will help you get the most out of all the club has to offer!
May 29th Event A Huge Success!
The day started with a 9-11 am Cars & Coffee with 52 Vipers, and our invited guests, the Ferrari Club of Ontario, Ford GT and Cobra Owners. We had a large reserved area to display our Vipers, and to hold our first ever VCO Viper Show! Members all had ballots to record their top picks for each of the 5 Generations. We then held our annual membership meeting over lunch. We discussed the significance of our club’s 25th Anniversary, introduced our current club leadership team, recognized the efforts of our past club executive and directors, and introduced many new members from over the past year or so who were present. Our Treasurer and Membership Director presented their reports, our 2022 Sponsors were recognized for their commitment and club support, and we discussed the involvement of many members in creating our Event Calendar.
We presented the VCO Viper Show 2022 Member’s Choice Award Certificates and 25th Anniversary Travel Bag prizes to:
Gen 1 – Walter & Chantal Baker Gen IV – Rocco Di Paola (tie)
Gen II – Jason Leslie (blue & white in pic below) Gen IV - Eric McAdam (tie)
Gen III – Michael Goddard Gen V – Greg Oldham (blue in pic below)
We presented 2021 Event Participation Awards to those who attended the most events in the different regions in 2021, which were Jamie Herrington, Marko Makela, Marvin Godelewicz, and Jason Leslie, and there were others for those who could not attend… Isif Ibrahima, Des Demaniuk, Kim Blake, Stan Bigford, and Randy Swain. Congrats to all.
We also presented our 2021 Outstanding Contribution Awards to two members who went above and beyond in helping our club implement a staggering 20 new club initiatives last year! Those winners are Julie Brocca and Deb Hadfield. Their efforts can be seen in just about every aspect of our club today.
We held a silent auction for a jacket from the Conner Avenue Assembly Plant store just prior to closing, won by Ian McAdam, and held numerous draws for club apparel!
Thank you all for attending, and special
thanks to Jay Tanti, our Event Organizer,
and our directors and their partners who
helped execute such a great day!
Our very busy event registration and apparel team, including Lorraine Harding, Jackie Simpson and Cathy Mclelland, pictured left to right....
...with Christine Balfour and Deb Hadfield, pictured left to right..
Our other directors assisted Jay in
getting all the Vipers checked in at the gate and parked, along with the Ford GT and Ferrari owners.
The Cobra owners had their own parking lot next door. Thank you one and all!
We're already planning how to make the 2023 Viper Show and Lunch Meeting even bigger and better next year!
This Month’s New Member Introductions
More members, more fun! We’re very pleased to welcome…
· Shane & Charlotte Bennett (Ottawa) Jeremy Geurtes (Russell, S of Ottawa)
· Darren & Lianne Ezer (Toronto) Yossi Lallouz (Toronto)
· Ben Melenhorst (Wasaga Beach) Conrad Falkenberg (Kitchener)
· Eric Smith (Stoney Creek) Erik & Ian McAdam
· Chris Cowie (Brantford) Frank Caputo (Kleinburg, returning ‘14 member)
The VCO Member’s Challenge
We’re all enjoying the many benefits of our expanding membership, and we hope you’ll help in that effort! We challenge each member to help introduce one new member to our club. We’ll be asking new members how they came to join, and please let Bruce know if you’ve referred someone and he’ll help close the sale! We’re going to recognize those who do each month in this newsletter…and rumour has it there might be some prizes involved! Make sure you’ve got some of our Windshield Club Promotion Cards in each of your car’s gloveboxes, and be sure to plant one on every Viper you see! We have a real shot at growing our club to #1 this year…so let’s go for it!!!
New London Area Director
We’re please to announce the appointment of Jamie Herrington as Area Director for London & surrounding areas. Jamie lives in Strathroy and has been active in organizing and attending events, and we know he’ll do a great job for his London area members. Thank you for taking on this role, Jamie!
Area Director Vacancy
We have an opening on our Board for an Area Director for Mississauga, Oakville & Burlington. If you live in the area and think you’d like to join our club’s leadership please contact Bruce to discuss at vcotracks@gmail.com.
Event Calendar Updates & Date Changes
Event listing details are often added or changed closer to an event’s date, but despite our best efforts, there are also event date changes and possible cancellations. Always consult the current Event Calendar as it is immediately updated for all changes.
Once you’ve RSVP’d to an event’s organizer, if there are any changes you will be notified. An event may be cancelled due to weather or if a required minimum participation has not been received by the RSVP deadline date, so please RSVP early.
Notable changes:
MCVO won't be available for the planned joint Sunset Dinner Cruise on Aug 19th. This event is cancelled, but a sunset boat cruise has been rescheduled, see below.
Woodward Dream Cruise on Aug 20th is no longer a VCO event, but is still offered by MCVO. Contact Bruce for info at vcotracks@gmail.com.
Amherstburg Winery Cruise is moved from June 26 to Sat. July 9th, and is now combined with a Windsor dinner and 8-11 pm Sunset Boat Cruise with DJ and 90's music! Photo below from our Sunset Cruise on the Detroit River last September.
June 23rd Pizza Night in Vaughan is now Mexican Cuisine, check it out!
Port Dover Cruise had to be cancelled.
Up-coming Events to RSVP to now...to the event organizer on the Events page listings
Sat. June 18th, East - Trenton Area Scenic Cruise & Lunch
Sat. June 18th, West – Port Lambton Car Show, Waterviews Cruise, Lunch & Dinner
Thurs. June 23rd, Mexican Fiesta Night, Woodbridge
Sat. June 25th, Hamilton-Beamsville Cruise & Redstone Winery Vineyard Lunch
Sun. July 3rd Morning Golf & Lunch events
Sat. July 9th, Amherstburg Winery Cruise, Dinner & Sunset Detroit River Cruise, with overnight accommodations available. Boat tickets will need to be purchased in advance so please, please, RSVP right away.
Recent Events Enjoyed by all!
In addition to our big event on May 29th discussed above, we thank Randy Swain who held a fun meal event in Napanee, Jackie Simpson holding a dinner at the Cat's Caboose in St. Catharines, Nick Sawrantschuk an enjoyable dinner at the Villa Caledon Inn (photo below), and Charlie Winter an excellent Chatham area cruise and lunch! We hope to add lots of event photos to this website’s Gallery page before too long.
Club Sponsors
And we can't end a newsletter without thanking our generous club sponsors who continue to help make this Viper club the great success that it is. Take a moment to review our sponsor listing, and do support these sponsors whenever you can.
https://www.viperclubofontario.com/sponsors.
Thank you to all who plan and participate in our events and make them such a success!
On behalf of your Board of Directors,
Bruce Hadfield
VCO President
vcotracks@gmail.com