First before anything else is said, I want to wish each and every one of you a joyous Thanksgiving day spent with both family and friends. I hope you had a house full of people and enough food prepared for the next week or two. As it turns out, though I like to consider myself a meat and potatoes type of an old fashioned American guy, my very most favorite food for at least 3 months every year is some kind of left-over turkey. Unfortunately since we have a very small kitchen with a very small refrigerator-freezer (even with storing an extra turkey or two in my office refrigerator), I never have the quantity of turkey leftovers desired and routinely feel somehow left out of the festivities each year.

Norm did an excellent job in compiling a list for our upcoming Christmas Runs and dinner party on Saturday, December 6 and our 2009 Planning meeting to be held on Sunday, December 7th. Howard and I both worked very hard in compiling the Christmas runs for 2008 and we hope that you will all enjoy the definitely different route from past years. There is very little for me to add to Norm’s letter below except a couple of more hyper links to maps and business, and my insistence of how important it is for you all to attend the upcoming events; not only because it is routinely one of our very most fun activity each year, but primarily because of how important it is for “us”, (the guys who run the show and makes the decisions), actually plan what the vast majority of the membership actually wants to participate in. If you have not yet made reservations for the Christmas runs, dinner, and 2009 Planning meeting, please plan on doing just that today and make all necessary RSVPs and hotel reservations if required.

Please open this attachment. This is an excellent opportunity to support a non-profit school association, Dobbs Ferry School Foundation, we sponsor in Dobbs Ferry New York. Additional information is available on our forums on the REME MegaBBS. Review the information and if indeed you are feeling charitable this holiday season or just lucky, take your chance at winning an new MINI convertible, Smart Car, Vespa, or one of many large cash prizes.

If I don’t see you or talk to you sooner, please have a merry Christmas and an exciting new year.


Now a word from Norm:

Please join us for our yearly Christmas Run and fun. Please RSVP on the REME Calendar so we have a good headcount for dinner.

Here is the important run information. We will have two runs, one starting in Cotati (RSVP) and one starting in Napa (RSVP), both converging in Saint Helena for a beautiful run to Occidental for our early dinner at 3:30 pm.

The Cotati run participants will meet at 8:30am, coffee already in hand at the Veterans Memorial Park just south of downtown Cotati. Departure time will be promptly at 9:00 am. Because this is a time sensitive run where groups will be converging at 10:30am in Saint Helena, the group will not be able to wait for those running behind. If you are running late, drive faster or take a few short cuts to catch up. Total miles driven from Cotati to Occidental will be 141 miles.

The Napa Group will be leaving Starbucks at 663 Trancas Street in Napa at 10am sharp and will meet up with the rest of the members at the Saint Helena Safeway at 1026 Hunt Avenue at 10:25am, where there will be 20 minute coffee and kidney break. Total miles driven from Napa to Occidental will be 123 miles, but most participants will be starting further from the starting point, so total driving may be pretty similar.

Although bothh runs will terminate in Occidental by 2 PM, Dinner reservations at the Union Hotel are not until 3:30 PM so there will be plenty of time to check into a hotel or roam about the village.

Make sure you RSVP for the run you intend to take. Also RSVP separately for our Occidental Union Hotel Christmas Dinner and the 2009 Planning meeting following at TJ Marrone's home in Sebastopol on Sunday.

We will have a voluntary Christmas Gift exchange. The limit of the value to be $20, bring a wrapped gift with your name on it. The gifts should be MINI/Mini related.

"Father Christmas" will be there to hand out the gifts.

This will be a "gift exchange", thus if you bring a gift, you will receive a gift. This will allow those that do not wish to exchange, not to have to. We will make a list of names beforehand, Father Christmas will know who gets a gift and make sure not to give a gift to the one that brought it.

 

Preliminary weather forecast for next weekend's Run & Party (according to the weather channel):

Napa
Sat: H64F, L45F, Partly Cloudy, Chance of precip: 10%
Sun: H63F, L43F, Partly Cloudy, Chance of precip: 10%

Cotati
Sat: H64F, L43F, Partly Cloudy, Chance of precip: 0%
Sun: H64F, L42F, Partly Cloudy, Chance of precip: 10%

Occidental
Sat: H64F, L45F, Partly Cloudy, Chance of precip: 10%
Sun: H64F, L44F, Partly Cloudy, Chance of precip: 10%

Sebastopol
Sun: H64F, L41F, Partly Cloudy, Chance of precip: 10%

Looks like mostly sunny, dry, mild temperatures.