Category: Club news

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GGLC Holiday Dinner (13-Dec-14) registration is now open

Sign up and reserve your place at the gala GGLC Holiday Celebration at the Faz Restaurant in Danville. Don’t miss out on the wine, food, door prizes and the Annual GGLC White Elephant Gift Exchange.

SPACE IS LIMITED TO 60 DINERS!!
Make your reservation early and don’t miss out!

Faz Danville offers celebrated Mediterranean cuisine with an emphasis on fresh Mesquite Grilled Kabobs, House-made Pastas & fresh flat bread prepared in a wood-burning oven.

The GGLC will provide wine for your enjoyment at dinner. Cocktails will start at 6:00 with a no-host bar and a Persian Platter of Lemon Basil, Green Onion, Feta Cheese, Cucumber, Tomatos, Radishes and Roasted Walnuts served house-made Flat Bread. Dinner will follow at 7:00.

The dinner buffet will feature a Organic Baby Greens salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette and Roasted Walnuts. Entree selections will feature Kubideh Kabob (deliccately ground beef) and a mix of Chicken Breast and Thigh marinated in Lemon Juice and Olive Oil. A Vegetarian entree will also be available.

Following dinner we’ll introduce the 2015 President and officers and present awards to the GGLC’s 2014 Autocross champions. Plus there will be door prizes and of course the infamous GGLC Gift Exchange.

GGLC Gift Exchange
Everyone attending is encouraged to participate in the Annual GGLC White Elephant Gift Exchange. To participate bring a wrapped, unwanted “gift” item from your garage. Please make sure your gift is EPA-friendly, non-toxic and clean, (the “Barry Spencer” Rule). You’ll have the opportunity to exchange it for another “gift”.

Click here to sign up

When:
Saturday Dec 13th, 2014
Cocktails at 6:00pm, dinner at 7:00pm
Where:
Faz Danvile
600 Hartz Avenue, Danville, Ca

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Last minute WCLM updates including registration and trailer parking

The 2014 WCLM starts in less than 48 hours and we are all set to have a fantastic event. The following are some last minute updates that should come in handy.

Spectacular Weather
The weather gods have cooperated and we will have fantastic weather at the 2014 WCLM. Highs are forecast to be in the mid-70s with lows in the low 40s. This means that while the daytime events will have great driving weather it will be on the chilly side at night. Folks should bring sufficient layers especially on the way back from the main banquet on Saturday.

Registration
Registration will start at 5pm on Thursday in the Ridge Tahoe reception building. This is also the location for the opening reception and dinner which starts at 6pm. If you arrive late and miss the reception, you will be able to pick up your registration packets at the drive start location on Friday morning. You can see more details of the full event schedule at http://westcoastlotusmeet.com/2014/#events.

Trailer Parking
Folks who are bringing trailers should note that trailer parking is not at the main hotel parking lot. It is instead at the Galaxy lot (218 Galaxy Ln, Stateline, NV 89449) which is one block from the hotel and has ample space to maneuver trailers. You can also find it on Google Maps (https://goo.gl/maps/mx95Z). The area around the hotel is quite steep and not the easiest to walk – we recommend that you unload the trailer at the lot and then drive your Lotus to the hotel.

Car Wash Hose
We have arranged for a car wash hose to be available on-site at the HQ hotel. The exact location will be given to you at the time of registration.

Volunteers
We are still looking for a few volunteers to help with the concours and the autocross – if you’d like to help please let us know when you sign in at registration.

Caravans to WCLM
Caravans to WCLM are being organized from both the SF Bay Area and Sacramento. Head over to BritishSpeed (http://www.britishspeed.com/forum/showthread.php?7940) or LotusTalk (http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f203/caravan-2014-wclm-east-bay-october-2-a-257850/) to coordinate with other folks in your area. You can also post your caravan plans at the WCLM Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/WestCoastLotusMeet).

Mario Andretti
Mario Andretti signing Andretti Winery bottles for WCLM
Winners prizes for the WCLM will include autographed bottles on Andretti winery wine (https://www.flickr.com/photos/rnair/15222122478/), this should help ratchet up the competition level.

King Fire
With rain and light snow over the weekend the King Fire is now at 94% containment and intensity is much lower. The air quality in Tahoe has already improved and we do not expect it to have any effect on the WCLM.

Those are all the updates we have for the moment. Have a safe journey to WCLM and I look forward to meeting you all in person.

Regards
Rahul Nair
Chair, 2014 West Coast Lotus Meet

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WCLM Update #3 and Call for Volunteers

We are very close to start of the 2014 West Coast Lotus Meet and I hope you are all as excited as I am to hang out with over a hundred other Lotus fans. The following are some quick updates:

New Funkhana Event
I am happy to announce that we have added a new Funkhana event at 3pm on Friday at the Heavenly Parking Lot in front of the HQ hotel. Funkhanas are low-speed, light-hearted competitions that are a test of dexterity and patience. Each team, composed of a driver and passenger, must complete tasks — often centered around a theme — that involve car handling, teamwork and especially a sense of humor. You might be parking blindfolded, playing ring toss with a fan belt, or trying a soccer penalty kick. Teams are graded by a combination of time, accuracy, and points. By including an element of luck, everyone has a good chance of winning. . . or screwing up.

Event Prizes and Raffles
We can now confirm that we will be giving away Mario Andretti autographed wine bottles as our official prizes for the WCLM competitions. In addition our sponsors have generously contributed several choice items to be raffled off during the event.

Autocross Moved to Minden Tahoe Airport
The WCLM Autocross has now been moved to the Minden Tahoe Airport where the sheriffs department is closing down 1 mile of road for us to conduct our event. Its a pretty good bet that we’ll have a few high speed straights at the event.

Call for Volunteers
As you may know the West Coast Lotus Meet is run entirely by volunteers. We are looking for a few more volunteers to help during the event itself. We are specifically looking for folks to help out during the registration, Funkhana, Autocross and Concours. We are also looking for a few folks to help with official event photography. If you’d like to volunteer to help during the WCLM please contact me at rahulnair”at”gglotus.org.

Caravans to WCLM
Caravans to WCLM are being organized from both the SF Bay Area and Sacramento. Head over toBritishSpeed or LotusTalk to coordinate with other folks in your area. You can also post your caravan plans at the WCLM Facebook Page.

Stop by Dave Bean Engineering
WCLM sponsor Dave Bean Engineering invites WCLM attendees to visit on their way to, from or during WCLM. They will be maintaining normal weekday hours in San Andreas, CA and are about a 2 1/2 hour drive from the WCLM headquarters, on some nice Lotus driving roads.

Construction on SR 207
SR-207 from Carson Valley to South Lake Tahoe is going to be under construction for the duration of the West Coast Lotus Meet. Cars traveling from Carson Valley to the hotel will need to use US 50 as a detour. Cars coming to the hotel from South Lake Tahoe will negotiate a single lane closure so be prepared for delays of up to 30 minutes. Once you arrive at registration we will give you a pass that will allow you to use SR-207 into Carson Valley.

King Fire
The Placerville area near Lake Tahoe has been fighting the King Fire for about a week. While this should not directly affect WCLM activities, please check for road closures along US-50 while making your travel plans. If there are any changes to the event we will send out email updates to all registered attendees.

Discounted Room Available (update – room is taken)
One of our registered attendees is unable to attend at this time and was wondering if anyone else would like to take over her registration ($69/night) at this time. If you would like to do take it over please contact me at rahulnair”at”gglotus.org.

Those are all the updates we have at this point, click here for the full event schedule. If you havent signed up yet head on over to WestCoastLotusMeet.com to sign up today. I look forward to meeting you all in two weeks.

Rahul Nair
Chair
2014 West Coast Lotus Meet

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Laguna Seca Track Day (6-Nov-14) Registration is now open

Registration is now open for the Golden Gate Lotus Club’s last track day of the year at Laguna Seca Raceway in Moneterey, California on Thursday, November 6th. We will be running (3) run groups with approximately 20 minute sessions each. Your options will be Advanced Group, Intermediate Not-So-Fast Group, and Intermediate Fast Group. There are a limited number of Beginner slots available and those entrants will run in the Not-So-Fast Intermediate group. Beginners will be required to have a coach assigned to them to ride in the passenger seat in order to enter the track.

Price is $170 for members and $190 for non-members.

Click here to sign up via MotorsportsReg.

This event will fill up fast so be sure to sign-up early to ensure you get a spot. Due to the restrictions imposed by Laguna Seca on the number of cars allowed on the track at one time, there will be no bridging of run groups as we normally do at other venues. Also, be aware that there will be absolutely no refunds. If you cancel before October 23rd and we can fill your spot, we will give you a rain check for a future event. Only sign up if you know you can attend. We will run this event rain or shine.

Also, THIS WILL BE A 90dB EVENT! DO NOT RELY ON LIFTING AT THE SOUND CHECK – if your exhaust or intake is loud, take measures to reduce your levels before the event.

Please read your confirmation email as it has been expanded to include the general schedule.

See you at the track,

John & Scott

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AutoX #8 Registration is now open

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 2014 Golden Gate Lotus Club Autocross season.

The 8th event and final event of the season is now open for registration for both GGLC members and non-members at MotorsportsReg

Note: the registration will ask you to choose a sandwich. You can choose anything you want, but the answer will be ignored because we will be holding our annual BBQ (with meat and veggie options).

The entry fee is $65 for GGLC members and $75 for non-members. First time autox’ers (first time at a GGLC event) are eligible for a discount, so invite your friends along too.

This season we have 8 classes that you can participate in. Please read over the details on the club page at http://www.gglotus.org/ggautox/ggautox.htm.

For Lotus Elise/Exige/Evora drivers, please choose your class that you want to participate in and also use the classification tool at http://www.gglotus.org/ggautox/classify.html to calculate your index points. For non-Lotus cars, please use the appropriate SCCA class.

Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about this year’s events or any other autox topic.

And like us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/GoldenGateLotusClub
And check out our event videos (you might see yourself) at: http://www.youtube.com/goldengatelotusclub

See you all soon,
Colm & Kiyoshi
autox@gglotus.org

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West Coast Lotus Meet Update #2

I’d like to start with giving another thank you to the Lotus community for their enthusiastic response to WCLM 2014. We have had tremendous response from Lotus fans and since our last update we have even gotten some international participants from Canada and Germany. The WCLM is your chance to meet a large number of fellow Lotus fans from all over the Western US and the world. If you havent signed up already head over to http://westcoastlotusmeet.com/ and sign up today!

Sierra Boat Restoration Tour
I am happy to announce that we are having a new event on friday afternoon. Those folks who wish to have a shorter drive than the High Sierra Tour can now opt to go for a shorter drive around the lake along with a stop at the 60,000 square foot facilities of Sierra Boat in Carnelian Bay. We are still finalizing the exact details about this event and will post the final details on the WCLM website in due course.
Sierra Boat overhead

Established in 1952, Sierra Boat is one of the oldest and largest antique and classic boat restorers in the country. The quality restoration of wooden boats includes the fine craftsmanship and finishes, but it is much more than that. In order to restore a boat properly; you must research the boat as to correctness of wood, finish, upholstery and mechanical details. With a process that has many similarities to car restoration, the hour long tour of their facilities will be a revelation to any fan of mechanical restoration.

WCLM T-Shirts
We have also been hard at work on the official T-shirt of the WCLM which will be given to all WCLM attendees. Kiyoshi has done an outstanding job on the graphic design and we can now give you a sneak peek at design. Done in a JPS-styled color scheme, the t-shirt shows correctly scaled silhouettes of important Lotus passenger cars starting from the Seven and continuing down to the Evora. We will have a limited number of extra t-shirts at the event for folks who would like to buy some extras for friends and family.
WCLM T-shirt

Sponsorship
I would like to welcome two new associate sponsors – Sports Car World and Sector 111. Both have a long history of supporting Lotus and we are delighted to have them on-board as sponsors of the 2014 West Coast Lotus Meet. The 2014 WCLM would not be possible without the generous support of all our sponsors and I’d like to personally thank them all for extending their support to the event.

The WCLM is a great way to promote products and services to the Lotus enthusiast community. Along with display advertisement on the web, sponsors will be listed in event banners and can distribute promotional materials during the event. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor please visit the WCLM sponsor page.

Those are all the WCLM updates we have for the moment. As more things happen we will continue to post them on the GGLC blog as well as on the WCLM Facebook page. If you have not registered for the 2014 WCLM yet, head over to http://westcoastlotusmeet.com/ and sign up today for the best Lotus event of the year. I look forward to meeting everyone in person on October 2nd.

Rahul Nair
Chair
2014 WCLM

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GGLC Thunderhill 5 mile event (11-Sept-14)

The Golden Gate Lotus Club will be hosting an Open Track Day on Thursday, September 11th, 2014 at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Willows, California. We will run the new 5-mile long, 27-turn track configuration in the standard counter-clockwise direction but this time it will be WITH THE BYPASS.

Due to the length of the track, we will have only two run groups – Group A and Group B, with sessions lasting approximately 25 minutes. This should give each driver approximately 3.5 hours of track time. Group A will have open passing for experienced drivers with 20+ track days/race experience or equivalent. Group B will have restricted passing rules for Novice/intermediate and less aggressive drivers. Price will be $175 for members and $195 for non-members. You can become a GGLC member for $25. Additional drivers sharing a car in a single run group are $60. Two drivers sharing a car and driving in both groups will each have to pay full price.

All types of cars are welcome to attend. Formula cars will be allowed in the open passing group only. Convertibles must have roll-over protection. Factory installed roll hoops are acceptable.

Click here to sign up using MotorsportReg.

We are accepting a limited number of beginners at this event who will be assigned a coach. These individuals will run in Group B with the Novice/Intermediate drivers. Price for Beginners is $155. Thunderhill is a good track to learn on, if you know anyone who might be interested in attending this event, you can direct them to the Motorsportreg.com website where they can sign-up.

Thunderhill Raceway’s 104dB sound limit will be strictly enforced.

Please read your confirmation email as it includes the general schedule and other important information.

See you at the track.

John & Scott
GGLC Track Day Chairs

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GGLC Autocross – Round #6, Sunday August 10, 2014

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 2014 Golden Gate Lotus Club Autocross season.

The 6th event of the season is now open for registration for GGLC members at: http://www.motorsportreg.com/events/2014-gglc-autocross-points-event-6-marina-airport-golden-gate-lotus-club-autox-393768

Please note that this is registration for the August event, not for next weekend’s event.

Non-members will be able to register next week. The entry fee is $65 for GGLC members and $75 for non-members. First time autox’ers (first time at a GGLC event) are eligible for a discount, so invite your friends along too.

This season we have 8 classes that you can participate in. Please read over the details on the club page at http://www.gglotus.org/ggautox/ggautox.htm.

For Lotus Elise/Exige/Evora drivers, please choose your class that you want to participate in and also use the classification tool at http://www.gglotus.org/ggautox/classify.html to calculate your index points. For non-Lotus cars, please use the appropriate SCCA class.

Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about this year’s events or any other autox topic.

And like us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/GoldenGateLotusClub
And check out our event videos (you might see yourself) at: http://www.youtube.com/goldengatelotusclub

See you all soon,
Colm & Kiyoshi
autox@gglotus.org

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Roberta Bean Finds Some Time to Volunteer

When Dave and I were starting Dave Bean Engineering back in the 70s and growing it in the 80s, our workweeks were seven days, 10-14 hours a day. (Yes, we both were younger back then, but still ….) Sourcing Lotus parts in the UK and elsewhere for our customers simply took a lot of time. Communication with suppliers was by phone (time differences), telex (remember those?), and trans-Atlantic trips. Invoicing and accounting were done by hand.

By the time we were fully relocated in Calaveras County, things had loosened up a bit. We were now computerized and communicated mostly by fax, although UK trips were still on the menu. In 1992, I was invited to join the Calaveras County club of Soroptimist International, a worldwide service organization for business and professional women. If you’re not familiar with Soroptimist, please visit www.soroptimist.org and www.sicalaverascounty.org. There is a link to our Facebook page on our website. We are a 501(c)3 organization.

Our service projects to support the Soroptimist mission to improve the lives of women and girls through programs leading to social and economic empowerment are funded by fund raising efforts throughout the year. One of our major fund raisers is Chairs for Charity—a collaboration with the Calaveras County Arts Council. It’s a fun event. Local artists decorate (or make) chairs, which are auctioned off (both live and silent). A couple of examples appear at the end of this article. One of the things we incorporated into our last event was a “big ticket”, non-chair live auction item. One of our club members donated two weeks at her vacation home in New Mexico, and it did go for a nice amount.

We’re now looking for a similar item for the event on January 31, 2015, but we’re thinking—with the price of gas these days—of perhaps something a little closer: Monterey, Carmel, maybe, or the beach above San Francisco (Bodega Bay, for instance) or perhaps Lake Tahoe.

I’m hoping one of the GGLC members might have a vacation home or timeshare they’d be willing to donate some time at. It needn’t be two weeks (in fact, two people split that up). Even a weekend would be wonderful.

If this is something you would be interested in, please let me know and thank you. Soroptimist International of Calaveras County will provide you a receipt for your donation. I can be reached at Dave Bean Engineering, (209 754-5802. at home, (209) 754-1256, or by email to roberta@goldrush.com.

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Registration open for all – GGLC autox, round #5, Saturday July 26th

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 2014 Golden Gate Lotus Club Autocross season.

The 5th event of the season is now open for registration for both GGLC members and non-members at: http://www.motorsportreg.com/events/2014-gglc-autocross-points-event-5-marina-airport-golden-gate-lotus-club-autox-678015

The entry fee is $65 for GGLC members and $75 for non-members. First time autox’ers (first time at a GGLC event) are eligible for a discount, so invite your friends along too.
This season we have 8 classes that you can participate in. Please read over the details on the club page at http://www.gglotus.org/ggautox/ggautox.htm.

For Lotus Elise/Exige/Evora drivers, please choose your class that you want to participate in and also use the classification tool to calculate your index points. For non-Lotus cars, please use the appropriate SCCA class.

Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about this year’s events or any other autox topic.

And like us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/GoldenGateLotusClub
And check out our event videos (you might see yourself) at: http://www.youtube.com/goldengatelotusclub

See you all soon,
Colm & Kiyoshi
autox@gglotus.org