During our general meeting on January 14, our esteemed chapter coordinator Russell Orrell asked for volunteers to relieve him of that office. If any of you out there in our vast membership feel inclined to take on this prestigious position within the SDVSA, please call Russ at 565-8034 for a report on the associated duties. Your editor, having been our club's representative on the San Diego Auto Museum's Car Club Council since Apri11994, took this opportunity to ask for a substitution, and Jim Barnes rose to the occasion. Thanks, Jim! Bob Skoog's 50/50 raffle was won by Tim Lazarek, who, unfortunately, was not in attendance to gather up his colossal winnings of $34.50, so that money goes back in the pot for YOU to win -- if you attend the meetings, that is.

Our first event of 1998 was the dinner meeting at the New Kim Tar Oriental Restaurant on January 2lst. Great food for not very much money, but our participation hit a new low for a dinner meeting. (Blame it on El Nino, perhaps?). Kudos go to Ed and Betty Houston who came all the way down from Vista to attend! Jim Barnes composed an entertaining story about this event, starting on page 7. We really do need some more input from our general membership as to where and when to hold events like this, to ensure maximum participation. Let us know your preferences, or if you in fact have no interest in dinner meetings. Don't be shy - let your desires be known! It's YOUR club, after all.

Remember our outing to the Railway Museum in Campo on November 22 last year? Well, Randy Blum opted for the second choice; the train trip to Tecate.

His observations are noted on page 8. And, at the last minute, Kurt Sievert came through with yet another installment in the ongoing story of living with an 1800. This tale of perseverance can be found on page 9. Thanks to all the contributors, and keep up the good work! But we still need some new ads, and, remember, they are free to paid-up members.

February's event is the Temecula Wine Tour coming up on Saturday 21 (raindate Saturday 28). Last year this was a great get-together with eight cars (see Scott's article on page 5 in the March 1997 1800 NEWS) and we are hoping to get even more participation this time. Del Skoog did a lot of planning for this, so let's not disappoint her by poor attendance. Besides, you'll have a good time. We'll visit three different wineries this year, and Del found one with a nice picnic area for our lunch. Just turn the page for the details and make your plans to attend.

Also included on page 4 is a write-up of the planned event for Sunday, March 22 , put together by Greg Blake and Dave Hunt. This is just a preview to peak your interest, with further details and directions to appear in next month's 1800 NEWS. Again, they have put a lot of effort into this, and let's plan to support them and our club with a great turn-out!

The credit for the picture on top of this page, and on pages 10 and 11, goes to Libby von Neuman, taken at the SDVSA Christmas party, so excellently hosted by her and Ric. We have to apologize to Libby for the somewhat poor reproduction quality.