Written by Rich Currey

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August is upon us. Half of our season is done. By all accounts, it’s been a great year so far. Participation is up, membership is up, and lots of smiles from all involved. Events have been very successful, but we need to stay the course. Reach out to friends that you haven’t seen at an event in a while. Let them know how much fun you’re having, and ask them to join you at the next event that you’re going to. Thank people for stepping up and helping out. Tell them how much you appreciate their support of the club. Remember, it’s not my club, it’s not your club, it’s OUR club, and everything that ANYONE does to help out benefits all of us. So let them know that their efforts are recognized and appreciated.

Speaking of which, this past weekend marked the 39th year of Racing Against Leukemia, and it was an extremely successful event as far as I’m concerned. This was the first year in several that we were able to bring our disciplines together at a single venue. Thanks to the efforts of Bryan Rogers, Donna Stephens, and JB Swan, the Road Racing event went off without a hitch. Alex Jackson put together a great Solo event partnering with NHSCC. And Chris Regan and Jon Lamkins put together an awesome Road Rally. If you missed attending this great weekend, make sure to mark your calendars for next years event. It’s a great cause and an even better time.

Though the numbers aren’t even close to in yet, I can confidently say that we are going to beat last year’s donation. Serge Lentz graciously volunteered (maybe volunteered isn’t exactly the right word …) to have his head shaved if pledges and donations exceeded $5000. Now if you know Serge, you know that his hair was pretty well coiffed and that it was a significant event to shave it. Well, donations for the shaving were $5250, and Serge followed through to the delight of many. Thanks, Serge, for being such a good sport about the whole thing. Along with the $5250 came the donation from the Northeast Formula Vee group, who have been great supporters of this event through the years. They continued that support with a donation of $1485 to RAL. And finally, the auction Saturday night sold over 4000 tickets, and there were over 100 t-shirts sold along with it. If you didn’t get a t-shirt and would like one, there are still some available through Donna Stephens. Our thanks go out to everyone involved, and there were many, for all of the effort put in to the weekend.

Finally, I know it’s early, but we need to start thinking about our Annual Meeting in January. This is when we elect our next slate of Director’s for the Board of Directors. Every year, we can have up to 5 director’s retiring from the Board. We are always looking for members that are willing to help out and would love to hear from anyone who has interest. Reach out to me at regionalexec@ner.org if you have any interest or would like to run for election.

NER is in a great place right now, thanks to the tireless efforts of many of you. Let’s keep it going, and make NER the best region in all of SCCA !!!