Second QTR Update:

Hello again,  we have been a busy club so far this year.  We have had a number of activities in the cold months and now we are getting into the Spring and Summer season of driving, fun with MINIs, and planning for our vacations.  I do hope all of you have had some fun with MINI5280 on drives and our club events.  We have had a good turnout on the rides, usually 15 or 20 MINIs.

I know Jamie (lil’valentino) has been having fun setting up the drives and the club officers have had fun setting (mini) meetings on drive days, the upcoming Sonic gathering and of course the Denver Auto Show. It was all for fun.

If you have a drive or event you feel the members would like, please post it up on NAM or on the FB page, if  it takes off, we can put it on the calendar for sign up.  Go to google maps, map it out, share with your MINI5280 club members.  If you want to get together in your area of town, post on the FB page the time and place, see who shows up.  I know a lot of members are always up for a soda, burger, dog or beer.

Want to do a mid-week MINI drive, post it, call your friends who have MINIs, again we are an informal group of folks.

Planning is going well for Minis_in_the_Mountains (MITM 2012),  we need more help, volunteers and activity leads,  ride leaders,  send a note to info@minisinthemountains.com — offer up your time and have a lot of fun while you do it.

Our two MINI dealers in Colorado are doing well,  support them with your business.  Ralph Schomp MINI and MINI of Loveland both have great people working in sales, service and parts.  MINI of Loveland is adding technical staff in the service area,  Ralph Schomp MINI has instituted a 2 shift service schedule  to enhance your MINI’s service needs.

W e have a few  independent MINI shops along the Front Range,  in Denver West  PES Peak Eurosport has been a avid supporter of the MINI5280 club,  good service, fair prices and quality workmanship.

One thing you may notice, I have been trying to keep activities posted up on our MINI5280 Facebook page as well as on North American Motoring (NAM),  I try to cross-post to Motoring Alliance (M/A) as I can but at this time most of our membership uses NAM and FB.

On FB you may see cross posting from SOCOM,  the Colorado Springs group of MINI owners,  I am a quest member and I support their function as I can, you should give them a look up if you live in the South,  fun stuff and events.  I consider them part of MINI5280 although they are their own group of enthusiasts.

Busy Spring and Summer ahead.

MOTD in May (Minis on the Dragon)  10th Annual Event

MOB  in May (Minis occupy Branson)  High Plains Motoring Society Event -  contact Rick G or Jonathan S.  see NAM

MTTS in July – MINI takes the States (MINI USA event) every 2 years,  see our NAM and FB areas for what we are trying to get done.  Rally stops in Boulder, CO on July 11, 2012 then on to Albuquerque, NM, then points WEST.

Lots of non-MINI events are being posted  but MINIs are welcome to these events.  They are coming up in May, June and July, keep watching the forums, we will post events of interest so come out and play.

Don S – President MINI5280

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Hello to  the MINI5280 members and guests.  We are excited to announce our new website built by Rick Gonzales, webmaster for MINI5280. It was build on WP 3.3 and will be used in conjunction with NAM (North American Motoring), MA (Motoring Alliance) and FB (Facebook) to keep you all informed of upcoming events and fun things to do with your MINI.

Hopefully, you all have seen the newsletter produced by our secretary, Kristan, please contribute pictures and articles to secretary@min5280.org or directly in email.

If you have questions of the club officers, send them via the contacts list:  it will get to the appropriate person, if I cannot answer a question, I will try to find an answer.

We have a monthly club meeting coming up on January 14, Saturday. It will be a Coffee to Coffee Drive with a short run into the mountains. I would suggest you don’t run on summer tires.
Please see the posting on the MIN5280 area on NAM, MA and FB.  Sign up on the NAM Calendar or just show up and enjoy the MINIs.

Rides are being planned along with  monthly meetings and our annual events (MITM, YALLA YALLA), if you want to volunteer, send an email to me or the MINI5280 VP, we would love to have your help.

This my first posting on the new website, so I will have to work on a stock images for fun to post along with my words, should be interesting to see what I can come up with over time.

Don Suiter
President MINI5280.org

MINIs On The Dragon, the 10 annual event, will be held May 2-6, 2012 in Fontana Village, North Carolina. The following description was borrowed from the MOTD website.

What is The Dragon?

The Dragon started out as an 11-mile stretch of road with 318 curves. That in itself is more than enough reason to travel to the breath taking mountains of North Carolina. But in the first weekend of May each year, it has evolved into much more than that. Just like our beloved MINI’s have evolved into more than just a car to us. So you take the 11-mile stretch of road, then you toss in the mountains, country roads and waterfalls. Now add over 600 fellow MINIacs and it takes on a whole new meaning. Wake up each morning and see hundreds of Mini’s each day, attend dinners and events, go on group drives, or just gather and drool over each other’s mods. Get a chance to put a face to a screen name, see some old friends and make some new ones.

MINI USA announced that MINI Takes The States (MTTS) will be back again in 2012. The dates are July 4th to 15th. MINI USA says the cross-country rally will be from east to west, “stopping only to eat, sleep and have a blast along the way.”  See  MINIUSA.com for further details!

Sin City MINI Club announced the dates for their ninth annual AMVIV (A MINI Vacation In Vegas): June 14 — June 17, 2012. See www.AMVIV.com for details.