We had 8 members attend the SDVSA General Meeting on December 8, not a great turnout, but considering it was getting close to the Holidays…

     The first order of business was finding some new way to get 1800 NEWS printed cheaply. As you may know, Jeff Perry, who has had the newsletter printed at his place of employment for less than half the price of commercial printers, decided to sever his ties with that company for better opportunities. Now we are looking to our members to come to our aid in finding a reasonably priced way to continue printing 12 pages each month without driving the SDVSA into bankruptcy! If any of you work for a company, which lets its employees obtain copies for a reasonable price, please, let Jeff Perry, jp@sdvsa.org, or Peter Webb, peterjwebb@yahoo.com, know. It would be very much appreciated by all SDVSA members, who would probably not appreciate an increase in club dues, or a reduction of newsletter pages! 

     The SDVSA Holiday Party on Sunday, December 12, was a smashing success! As you know, Bud and Christine Hartwell were again perfect hosts for the festivities. Pictures and words from this event appear on page 7. Doug Gagliardi is in the headlines of 1800 NEWS yet again this month! His ’66 1800S suffered a major rear tire blowout coming down I-15 to attend the party. Luckily, nobody was hurt in the incident, and Doug arrived safely. We might persuade Doug to write a story for this newsletter to share his experience – and give everyone a valuable lesson in tire safety in the process. We started out with snacks and beverages in the Car Barn, ogling Bud’s impressive collection of automobiles, and comparing notes with our fellow Volvo maniacs. Before the sun set, it was time for our obligatory group photograph, and then it was up to the main house for a scrumptious Holiday dinner. Everyone should be complimented on the quality, and quantity, on their contributions to the table with side dishes! The main meal, a crock pot full of carnitas  and a big ham, 

    
     Our main topic was the ongoing discussion of the future direction of the SDVSA. The members who were at the meeting agreed that the leadership of the club, and anyone else of our members who is interested in participating, should make up a list of pros and cons of affiliation with other clubs or being independent.   The list would then be submitted to the general membership for their scrutiny and final vote.

so excellently prepared by our hosts, made no one leave hungry. After we all had our fill of wonderful desserts, we settled down for the White Elephant gift exchange, which is always entertaining, to say the least. It’s amazing how the spirit of giving turns into ”greed” in a wink of an eye – but all in good fun! Our SDVSA most valued member award this year, traditionally presented at the  Holiday Party, went to Russell Orrell, our tireless Chapter Coordinator (President) for the last 10 years!

 Again, we encourage more of our members to attend the monthly, second Wednesday, meetings to participate in this very important discussion! 

   We have lots of things left over from the 2004 VSA West Coast Meet, held in San Diego on September 10 through 12. Besides T-shirts and two varieties of hats, we have really beautiful grill badges, which were used as prizes, and a miniature quarter panel P1800 ”Volvo” emblem in the form of tie or lapel pins! The club, of course, had to pay for all these items, and now we offer them to you to raise some much needed money for our treasury. A list of items and prices appear in ”Annonser” on page 11, as well as on page 8, accompanied with pictures.

 Thank you, Russ, and to all the people who attended, or intended to come, but couldn’t.  You ARE the club!       

    At the next General Meeting, on Wednesday, February 9, we intend to have another Pizza ’n’ Video evening.  We’d like to start the meeting at 6:30 p.m., to take care of the club’s business and prepare the newsletter for mailing before the pizza arrives. If anyone has videos of recent events, such as the West Coast Meet and the Holiday Party, by all means bring them.

      The first SDVSA event of 2005 is our Temecula Wine Country Tour, on Saturday, February 19, hosted by Del Skoog.  Turn the page for more info!