OFFICER MEETING OF SPECIAL IMPORTANCE
Tonight’s meeting took place at the Same Bat Time and same Bat Place, Carl’s Shop (Laurel Auto Clinic) in Laurel, Montana at 7pm. Officers in attendance included:
El Jefe (Carl-President), El Jefito (Matt-Vice President), Treasurer (Lane), and Secretary (Kindra).
Club members in attendance were Bill, Christy, Bryant, Darrin, Jerrod, Micah, Luke, and Jessica. Trinity arrived just in time to help end the meeting by passing out very soft, chocolatey, delicious Brownie Cookies. Bill helped bring the meeting to order with the soothing sounds of a 10mm ratcheting box-end wrench softly ‘tink-tink-tinking’ on a random rotor found lying on a work bench. Silence quickly fell to its gentle, calming rhythm.
Treasurer’s Report:
Bank – $18,000 ish
Bag – $700 ish
Discussion about paying CW for use of YDS will bring us current on our bills for the year. Lane will get a check out to finish squaring that up. Amount unknown, but waaaay more affordable than other venues.
1st Order of Business: Officer Discount. Officer discount was discussed to help determine how much of a discount to give officers. The discount is an incentive to have officers, and to reward them for their strenuous efforts for the club. The previous discount included any participating officer paying $20 per event, regardless of 1 or 2 days of petrol fueled fun. Voting tonight has raised that amount. Every officer in Yellowstone Region 108 can now expect to pay $25 for any event they attend. Flat Rate. The extra $5 will be used to hedge the Yellowstone Region 108 checking account and help fund and sanction future events. One member opposed the fee increase.
2nd Order of Business: Officer Nomination, Voting, and Duty Description. There was a discussion about splitting up the officer duties, but it was decided that most officers were very good at their job duties, and logically it makes sense that the duties are grouped as they are. Regional Executive, Assistant to the Regional Executive, and Treasurer persons will stay the same for another year. The only splitting of title and duties was taking away the Secretarial title and duties from Lane. Kindra threw her name in the hat for Secretary and was voted in by majority. One member opposed this change. What a jerk.
Next Order of Business: Fire Extinguishers. After much storytelling and reminiscing back to RallyCross on Sunday, December 3, and the event that led to 3 fire extinguishers being let loose on Matt’s FAF (Fast AF) Fiero, the FAF Fiero was determined to be the cause of depletion for 3 Flame Smothering Units. Discussion tonight included bigger vs smaller units and price. Would the buckets benefit from a larger unit? Can someone safely run a marathon with a larger unit? If a unit is being properly used and aimed at the important things, do we even need a larger unit? Discussion also circled the topic of ‘was extinguishing the grass before extinguishing the FAF Fiero pertinent? Matt reports he can use his employee discount to get us some new units to replace those used. Bill spoke up about his fears of possibly pausing events due to not having enough extinguishers to go around. It was decided that the fun can continue with a few less units until replacements arrive. It shouldn’t take too long to get those. Fully stocked numbers are 6+1+1. (Buckets, trailer, backup)
Most Important Order Of Business: Summer Schedule. Carl has started planning 3 months ahead of his usual time frame (per Carl himself), so we can expect AutoCross to include numerous fast, exciting, and great events. Carl reports that Jamie at the Metra is no longer there, and the replacement has been contacted. It will be followed up on in the next couple of weeks/months. YDS *almost* has their schedule out, so YR108 can begin planning with CW about when to use the Drag Strip Location for events. Jessica mentioned she hopes Carl can find a date for Rally in 2024 that is nearer to Thanksgiving this next fall. It has been determined that the Bridger (Season Opener) date is set for May 18-19, so the topic of Tech Day was discussed. Banter back and forth weighed which day would be best to help us get the most cars teched in: Star Wars Day or Revenge of the Sith. It was voted on and decided for Saturday, May 4th. Majority took favor for Saturday. One member opposed, even though this member said Saturday was best because people are out on Saturday whereas Sunday was the least likely day to have people out because people want to be home vegetating on Sunday. It may be believed that “Opposition Voting” is a trend here…. Carl will also get new Tech stickers ordered… Color was not discussed, but the author believes hot pink would be cool as well as yellow. She also believes that if they were the color “Burnt Up Black” they might blend in too much on the FAF Fiero.
Club Dates Set as of December 3rd, 2023:
Build Wars – January 21st at 8400 Story Road/More Offraod Racing
Tech Day – May 4th at RDO
Bridger – May 18-19
Helena – June 29-30
Helena – September 7-8 (This event will be a pairing with Bozeman club. Pairing like cheeze and whine. We will bring the Cheeze, they have all the Whine. We will contact them for further details, but it might include leaving our trailer behind, with the exception of timing equipment. More details to come)
Dates set for other Clubs:*
Top Gun (Great Falls) – August 24-25
ConeHeads (Helena) September 21-22
*Even though these events are not put on by YR, please try to make it. It is fun and let’s be honest….. no one ever said “I don’t want to have fun this weekend….. and I don’t want to play”
Next Order Of Business: Sponsorship. Jason Davis of Archie Cochrane Ford will sponsor 2 events. (YAY!!) Fine details are still being discussed, ideas include having them pay for the venue while we rake in the entry fees. In the works still.
Next Important Order Of Business: Poster Photo. It was discussed that the poster photo last year left a few members discouraged. Discussion included and topic was decided on having any member submit ONE (1) photo of an Autocross vehicle and ONE (1) of a Rallycross vehicle. Submissions will be accepted for ONE (1) week. Then of those photos submitted, voting will happen on social media and be open for ONE (1) week. We will see how it goes. Bryant is doing this via Facebook so please keep an eye out for the post, especially if this topic is of special importance to you. Please keep submissions related to autocross or rallycross, preferably at one of our events. Action shots are encouraged, the more cones or dirt the better. No matter, but only one submission per member.
Next Order Of Business: Apparel. It appears that there are less shirts, hats and hoodies than last year at this time. Good for the club, and tonight we talked about reordering and possibly changing the logo. Matt talked about keeping the logo the same for brand recognition. Bill brought up the topic of multiple colors associated with increased cost of production. Carl mentioned that certain designs are not reproduceable on hats when embroidered. Design ideas can be brought to the club, but the artist should keep these suggestions in mind or risk not having your idea chosen. Any idea should be brought to Bill. Pepe is included on this, so keep him in mind. He is a good boy.
Another Order Of Business: Square, hidden fees, and Bluetooth card readers. Accepting cards for late signups can help bring in extra money from participants who don’t register online beforehand. Paying at the table the day-of is somewhat cumbersome and Jessica says that manually entering a card number has increased fees associated with it. It was brought to the group for voting to purchase a new card reader and open a Venmo account for the club. Majority voted to spend the $60-70 and acquire a new card reader that can do all the things. Lane The Treasurer was charged with the task of building a Venmo account. It was also brought to the club members’ attention during this discussion that Carl must file with the State of Montana and the IRS, and that we are a non-profit entity. Majority voted on this topic, with, you guessed it, 1 member in opposition. (We’re pretty sure this guy is just being obstinate and probably drives a cAmARo)
Rally and Build Wars: Lane reports that we are good to go, and that this event is no charge to the club. We have set the date for January 21, 2024. Discussion about using their sanctions and paying a % to them for events in the future came up. We will see where that goes. Cost for their sanctions was slipped and Darrin was beside himself because he pays more for car insurance than they do for sanctions over the course of one year. Bill pointed out that it was because they have not had/reported any accidents. Darrin should look into GEICO and see if he can save.
Matt will be out at YDS this weekend at some point (December 9-10) to move some dirt that needs moving. He hopes to have some skid steers out there as well to help level out the track before it dumps that white, cold AF, wet stuff on us for the next 4 months.
Last Item for Discussion: Denver. It was discussed to try and get more club members down south to Denver for a YR 108 Club inspired Track Day. The general consensus is that it would be ideal to have enough interested drivers to rent the entire track to ourselves for the whole day. There may or may not have been some chubbies hiding during the discussion of not sharing the track. Only one “member” let slip the possibility of his condition… We will wait to see the finalized AutoCross schedule and then check the Denver schedule to see if we can accommodate a large portion of members for a Track Day. Matt will take into consideration everyone’s work schedule to make it as possible for as many people as he can. Much discussion on ideas for Track Day involved making sure to bring a car that will make it back home after a day of pounding or trailering it. Suggestions also involve bringing multiple pairs of brake pads to avoid trying to find replacements in a metropolis, and upgrading the brake fluid in whichever vehicle is making the passes. (I have not gone, but I am assuming experience is making these wise suggestions). Punch Cards are a thing at the Denver Track, so discounts would be in multiples. Should a member take their sweet time deciding whether or not to go play in Denver and himhaw around too much, just realize that it could be a bit more spendy. Planning is cheap, folks.
Again, please come to the meetings. They’re pretty fun. Lots of stories and trash talking, sometimes some really good snacks. There were also 4 extra Junior Frosties up for grabs as well. Can’t be upset at the governing body if you don’t come and discuss your ideas and concerns.
“Do or do not. There is no try.” -Yoda