It is with regret that the Volvo club marks the passing of Bill Earley. The club's sympathy and best regards rest with his family and friends. Volvo 1800 enthusiasts and their cars are becoming more rare as time goes by.

   Again, only eight members made it to the General Meeting of the SDVSA on June 12^th, just like in May. We'll see if the "Pizza 'n' Video" night on July 10th managed to swell the number of attendees.

   Kurt Sievert, our membership coordinator, reported that the SDVSA currently has 68 members.

   Not only is our website, www.sdvsa.org, very popular, but Jeff Perry, our webmaster (and historian), put last month's 1800 NEWS on sale on eBay…and actually sold two! So, read your newsletter carefully! It has proven to have some value…. monetary at least, if not intellectually.

   The ongoing saga of the long awaited SDVSA T-shirts is nearing its climax, thanks to Bruce Ritchings. He has already gathered vital data on prices for shirts of various styles and colors, and printing of multi-colored logos… and we have the feeling that he will not give up until the job is done! So, just another couple of months now...! 

   Cal Terry was the winner of $41 in Bob Skoog's 50/50 raffle. Cal lives in Reseda, located north-west of downtown L.A., so it's understandable that he wasn't at the meeting. But….how about the rest of our local members…. 

   Saturday, June 22, was the 10^th Annual Menghini Wine Party and Horseshoe Tournament! Following the success of sharing the Menghini apple orchard the last three years with other car clubs, we attempted to do so again. Although we publicized this event in a timely manner in pertinent newsletters, we had NO takers from other clubs, -- except for the 

ever loyal OCVSA! The final tally of cars at the  winery was 13, of which 10 were Volvos. After a small disaster at the start of the day, related on page 5, our small band of 16 participants managed to all come together for a good time in the scenic environs of Julian.

   The SDVSA world famous Swap Meet is happening on Sunday, July 21, at Crown Point in Mission Bay. Our usual Master of Ceremonies, Gene Bellegarde, is going to be out of town on vacation that weekend, so we've asked Bud Hartwell to take over as coordinator. Bud also has a treasure trove of new and used classic Volvo parts, which he'll bring. For more details on this traditional (22^nd ?) annual event, turn the page.

   After receiving an invitation to show 5 of our cars at the Automobile Heritage Day in National City on August 4, we were planning to make that our main event for August. However, at the meeting on June 12th, the idea was met by less than enthusiastic fervor. Instead, the SDVSA will be attending the Back to the '50s Car Show in La Mesa on Thursday, August 8^th. The plan is to meet under the Grossmont Shopping Center marquee at 4:30 p.m., and then at 4:45 head for All Things Bright & Beautiful to claim their parking spaces when it closes for business at 5:00 p.m. 

   Exciting news! The 5th Annual Chrysler Speed Festival, now known as the Dodge Holiday Bowl Speed Festival, will be held on the weekend of October 12 and 13^th at the Naval Air Station (NAS) on Coronado. As you may know, this event was cancelled last year, due to crowd security concerns at the NAS following the terrorist attacks. The SDVSA will participate as a group on Sunday, October 13, when the actual races take place. In order to ensure maximum participation of our club and all Southern California Volvo clubs, we will remind our readers of this event in this and future newsletters. This month we have paraphrased the invitation on page 9, and added our own instructions for YOU to join in the fun!