Atlanta Car ClubAtlanta Car Club

Annual Christmas Dinner

Aspens's Signature Steakhouse, Jan 17 2015

It was a windy winter evening by Atlanta standards, yet we were blessed with only wickedly chilly winds and not being hammered with the Snow and Ice that has most of the Midwest and North East still shut down and reeling from this crazy Winter of 2015.

As always, I look forward to our Annual Winter Dinner. The location is alway's top notch with a menu to match and it's an opportunity for members to put on their finest dinner jacket or dress and celebrate what we've accomplished over the year past. It's also time that we introduce our plans and events for the new year.

At this years' dinner we were treated to a private room with an expansive wooden ceiling and Faux brick walls in a quiet setting. A great location for our members to share stories just off the main dining room of a beautiful and comfortable steakhouse with signature steaks! And an immense fireplace that was both warm and inviting. In addition, Paula Vopelak AKA Trip Queen, master coordinator extraordinaire for all of our events, arranged for an equisite hors-d'oeuvre table with numerous deligacies to boot.

As members began to arrive I couldn't help but notice that almost everyone had their Allante's in tip-top shape, clean and shiny and parked out front for all to see and enjoy. We in the south are lucky that regardless of the time of year; there's a high probability the weather will be suitable enough to take our classic cars from the garage to the road. You may not want to put the top down, but still very driveable weather.

2014 was an especially exciting year for the club and we had several events in 2014 that pushed those boundaries beyond the norm. Some of my favorite events are the overnight trips that we take as a club and I especially look forward to our annual Fall and Christmas Cruise. This year they were over-the-top special. I'm particularly fond of them for several reasons, first and foremost because they are an opportunity to caravan with a great group of people and 7-15 Allante's always generates buzz as we stop for gas, are driving the blue-ridge parkway and are just generally out and about as a group. For me, more importantly is that when we do these overnight trips; there's just a little more time to socialize and get to know members and their families at a much deeper and personal level.

What made 2014 especially exciting was the fact that our club had asked several other chapters of Allante Clubs to join in on the fun. And Fun we did have! If your a part of our club or a member of another chapter you know what an exciting year this was. Were especially proud of the fact that our club is not-for-profit. Annual membership dues and fee's collected for these events are done so for the pure enjoyment of our members and guests. So know that each year when you make that small membership payment, your money is being used wisely and for the benefit of all members in the club.

As we joined together in celebration at our annual winter dinner; conversations quickly turned to the excitement these events provided and a common theme was "let's do that again!" The fact of the matter is, there is a tremendous amount of work that goes into pulling these things off and after everyone of our outings I can't be more impressed by the combined efforts that our officers go through to pull these events off with such finesse.

The annual winter dinner is an opportunity for club members to share their gratitude with the team that manages to pull this off year after year and this year was no different. I am so greateful to be a part of a community of Allante' enthusiasts who not only appreciate their fine automobiles, but also have a great deal of respect for the effort that's put forward by our officers and all club members to make the Allante' Atlanta Car Club a model for how a car club should be.

I'd like to extend my personal gratitute to Norman and Linda Penfield our club President and his better/best half. You two are an amazing couple and it's a priviledge to know each of you. To Paula and Russ Vopelak you never cease to amaze me! The amount of time and effort this team put's into planning and executing club events is beyond imaginable! It's a testiment to the vision and dreams of our orginal founder Ken Kogge who started this club in 1993. And to James Sebastian, our treasurer- Thank you. We treasure you! I think I speak for everyone in saying, we are all forever grateful for your dedication and committment to this club.

And lastly, to all of our members, “Thank you”. It is through your ongoing support and sponsorship that we can continue to grow and expand our club to the enjoyment of yourself and new members alike.

See you soon!

Thomas B - Webmaster