Happy Summer Everybody,

             Let me start off by thanking Ron & Joanne Miller for planning and leading the trip to Kansas City on June 30th to visit the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, the American Jazz Museum, and to revisit the Steamboat Arabia Museum.  In spite of the weather, everybody who attended had a wonderful and educational time!

             The club would like to send Happy Birthday wishes to Mike Bolline (July 2), Amy Mitts (July 11), Ed Campbell (July 14), Chris Wagner (July 26), and Pat Torrez (July 28).  Whew, looks like some supporting evidence for a statistic about October being a “busy” month there!  We’d also like to extend a greeting to Jack and Mary Belland of Topeka who attended the club meeting on July 1 to test the waters.  We welcome you back anytime!

             Now, on with the news.  With regards to the Support The Troops campaign, the Dillon’s store at 29th and Urish in Topeka has agreed to help us in our collection efforts.  On July 21st, 2007 they will allow us to park all of our Cruisers together in their lot to attract attention to our cause so that their customers can then go into the store, purchase the items on the list to be sent to the troops, and drop them off to us on their way out of the store.  Dillon’s representatives stated that the last time that an activity such as this took place the donated items nearly filled a bus!  We will be meeting for lunch at the Subway on 29th and Wanamaker at 11:00 a.m. and then setting up in the Dillon’s parking lot to accept donations from Noon to 4:00 p.m.  We hope that everybody can make it for this day because, as we all know, the more Cruisers you have, the more attention you draw!

             For the July 29th Summer Heat car show in Burlington, in memory of Marilyn, members from the Topeka area will be meeting in the Walgreen’s parking lot at White Lakes Mall at 7:00 a.m.  Upon arrival at the Pitt household between 8:00 and 8:30 a.m. everybody will head to the cemetery for a brief ceremony before proceeding to the show.  The show is scheduled to last from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. with awards being awarded at 3:00 p.m.  The Coffey County Fair will also be taking place nearby so there should be plenty of activities to pass the day away.

             Other activities and events for your consideration include:

Ø      Cruise The Rockies in Steamboat Springs, CO on August 10-12, 2007.

Ø      Midwest USA Regionals in Bartlesville, OK on September 7-9, 2007.

Ø      Meet Me In St. Louis On Rt. 66 in St. Louis, MO on September 21 & 22, 2007.

Ø      Hartford Harvest Days car show starting at 9:00 a.m. on September 29th.

Ø      Topeka Zoo “Boo At The Zoo” Halloween celebration on October 27th.

Concerning the annual club picnic mentioned in the newsletter last month, the date has been confirmed as August 18th at Soden’s Grove Park in Emporia.  Frank Harbaugh is investigating options for having the main course catered from one of the great barbeque restaurants in Emporia and will report his findings at the August meeting.  This will mean that anybody who attends will only have to bring a side-dish/dessert and nobody will have to wait on or mess with a grill!  The picnic will start at 2:00 p.m. with the day beginning, for anybody interested, with a golf outing starting at 8:00 a.m. or “antiquing” starting at 10:00 a.m. before the picnic.

           As a reminder, annual membership dues of $12/family were payable as of June so, if you wish to renew your membership and have not yet already done so, get your payment to Club Treasurer Joanne Miller.