The Official Newsletter of the Indy Miata Club Volume 18 Issue 7 July 2008 What s Inside Page 2 Club Events. MiataWorld II. Page 3 Pot Luck Run. Page 4 Summer Solstice Tour. Back Roads... by Roger Burrill, President Due to technical difficulties, you will not be able to enjoy our President's wise and witty words this month. Don't worry, the real Back Roads will return next month for your reading enjoyment. Logo for MMG 2008 Unveiled On June 14th, at the monthly planning meeting for the Midwest Miata Gathering 2008, attendees were treated to the unveiling of the MMG 2008 logo. Many thanks to Lisa Hurley, for all of her work on this important detail. The logo will appear on the web site, event lapel pins, shirts, programs, etc. There are two versions of the logo with the color logo shown below left with the black and white version on the right. To view the color version in all its glorious color, go to the club web site (http://indymiata.org). Page 5 Doin The Charleston. Page 6 100K Miatas, Highways, and Photos Page 7 Club Sponsors. The IMC Garage Sale is still going on. Show your friends that you belong to the best car club in the world by wearing a IMC t-shirt or hat! Start your morning right by drinking your favorite brew in a club logo cup! The club web site has more information on the sale and other club news!
2 Open Road July 2008 Indy Miata Club Officers 2008 President Roger Burrill president@indymiata.org Vice-President Jim Quearry vicepresident@indymiata.org Treasurer Steve Crouse treasurer@indymiata.org Membership Director Mike Selvy membership@indymiata.org Events Coordinator Tom Lewis events@indymiata.org Secretary Nancy Burrill secretary@indymiata.org Publications Sara J mcbride 4249 Springwood Ct. Indpls., IN 46228 317-291-8993 editor@indymiata.org The Open Road is published monthly for the members of the Indy Miata Club Inc. The Indy Miata Club assumes no liability for any information contained herein, or injury or damage resulting from use of this information. The ideas, opinions, maintenance or modification tips expressed are to be used at the reader s discretion. Individual contributors and/or the editors express no approval, authentication, or endorsement. Thank you for reading this. Warm July Days Are Here! And what better way to cool down by taking a drive your MX-5? Steve and Cathy Crouse have organized the "Drive Around / Drive-In Drive" on July 12th. Like to drive? Like drive-ins? This is your event! The event starts with dinner at Indy's Family Restaurant in Martinsville. The restaurant is at 2210 Burton Lane, the intersection of State Road 37 and Burton Lane. Please gather for dinner at approximately 6:00 PM, Check the IMC web site event page (http://indymiata.org) to see if this time is adjusted as the date approaches. Following dinner, at approximately 7:00 PM, you will take a drive on some new roads, and previously used ones, in Morgan County. The drive will take approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours. The rally will end at the Cinema 67 Drive-In theater, near the intersection of State Road 67 and SR-231, a short distance west of Gosport. They will be showing a double feature, if you want to stay that late. Your expenses for the evening will be your dinner cost and admission to the theater, to be posted later. If you would like menu information for the restaurant, check their web site, http://www.indysrestaurant.com. In addition, there will be a reserved parking area at the theater for our group. Plan on bringing folding chairs so you can be more comfortable, and FM radios, since the theater sound is broadcast over FM. Don t forget to register on the event page of the club web site! Indy Miata Club members Ken Rabbers and Joan Kuhlthau are planning to marry in October of this year and have invited the entire Indy Miata Club to join them on Saturday, July 19, 2008 as they enjoy their Last Days of Freedom. Although the wedding will still be over three months away at the time of the tour, the days will be flying by, just like we'll be doing in our roadsters on Miata friendly roads. The route will be west of Indy, north and south of I-70. Come out and enjoy some nice country roads and camaraderie with your fellow club members and Miata enthusiasts. We'll meet at 9:15 AM in the rear parking lot of Arby's, 6007 Gateway Drive, Plainfield, IN (I-70 to Exit 66 [Route 267], north to E. Hadley Road, turn left, then left again onto Gateway Drive.) Driver's meeting starts at 9:45, with the first car off at 10:00AM Lunch will be at the Putnam Inn in Greencastle at the end of the tour. Register on the club web site and come out to wish Ken and Joan the very best and drive some great top down roads! MiataWorld II Registration Is Open As of June 28th, several members of the Indy Miata Club have registered for the Miata World II event being held in Grapevine, TX May 22-25, 2009 which is the Memorial Day weekend. (Grapevine is located just 10 minutes north of the Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport.) Registration is $300.00 per person for registrations received by the last day of August. This registration covers all planned meals, banquets, and the vendor's alley and also includes access to all events at Texas Motor Speedway, all rallies, all drives, and all tours. And all attendees have a chance of winning a unique one of a kind version of the 20th Anniversary Edition. It will be unveiled at the event. Hotel costs are not covered, the event hotel is the Gaylord Texan. The Miata- World organizers have secured a limited number of rooms at a reduced rate. There's more information and a direct link to the MiataWorld web site on the News page of the IMC club site. Don't miss the 20th anniversary celebration of our beloved Miata!
July 2008 Open Road 3 Pot Luck Run To The Falls Was A Gas! by Kathy Collings On Friday evening, May 30th, thunder storms raced across Indiana, leaving over 26,000 people without power. On Saturday morning, May 31st, the skies looked as if we were in for more stormy weather. We questioned ourselves on the way to Martinsville to meet with other Miata rally hopefuls, regarding the possibility that more storms might rain out the planned activities. IH8RAIN is the vanity plate of one of our newer members and how appropriate for the day! There were 26 Miatas ready to take on the drive and possibly the weather. But, with Bob Wiley s luck, he said let it be tops down weather and it was! The day could not have been more perfect, with ideal temperatures and sunny skies. Bob had the route well planned with great driving opportunities, on roads with sweeping cures, S-curves and straight aways. Quite different than his usual Fussin and Cussin rallies of the past with hard to solve riddles, clues and answers written on bridges and high towers. So thanks, Bob, for a very pleasant change. He did throw in some trivia questions and provided us with the answers (yea!). No, we did not know the A-B-C song was the same melody as Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star or that the highest point in Pennsylvania is lower than the lowest point in Colorado. I m sure we can all put that information to good use at another time (???). Bob threatened us with sirens and blaring horns if we dared to open our sealed envelope before entering the Cataract Falls Park gate. Upon arrival we could do so, and many went to work cleaning out their Miata in order to find the items Bob so cleverly thought some of us might have hiding in our beloved car. An old French fry in our Miata? Surely not! Gas card winners for the in-car scavenger hunt were: 1st Place with 10 items Jay Quinn and Jeanne Spellman; 2nd Place - Larry and Sabrina Smith; and 3rd Place Ann Cole/ Eric Drumright; Good effort gas can of beans to Roger and Nancy Burrill. The true highlight of the day was what awaited us once we arrived at the Park. The Upper and Lower Falls! Trivia: Did you know this is the largest waterfall in Indiana? (Higher falls can be found in other Indiana State Parks) but this was the largest by Volume! We were surrounded by beautiful scenery and an opportunity to walk the path through the woods along the creek. The most unique part of the day was having our own exclusive dining room in the Covered Bridge, located high above Mill Creek. There were picnic tables spread from one end of the covered bridge to the other in order for us to have a unique Miata Buffet. It s amazing what kind of food we can come up with when there is no electricity available. We also had plenty of time to meet and greet new members and mingle with current members. Photos courtesy Bob Wiley Before heading home we had a group picture taken with the Covered Bridge in the back ground. Roger Burrill, Club President, brought the new club banner so we could identify our club actually being at the historic bridge. Thanks again to Bob Wiley and P.K. Rajic for their time in putting together this enjoyable route, which included the Cataract Falls and Covered Bridge location. Now, we really want to know do turtles really breathe that way?
4 Open Road July 2008 Summer Solstice Tailgate Tour A Success by Tom Lewis I ve known for a long time that I wanted to put together a rally that ended at Bonge s Tavern in the blink-of-an-eye-small town of Perkinsville. The place is just so unique and the food so good that it just had to be shared. So when I made the suggestion to Laura, she was all for it. Initially, I d thought about some of the unique things in Hamilton County that we could incorporate into a route, and the first thing that came to mind was all the Roundabouts or Circles as they call them in New Jersey (I lived there in the early 90 s). So, I thought about routing us through every roundabout in the county that I could find. but, then I came to my senses. Then I started to think about what Miata-friendly roads I could possibly incorporate into the route. I ve lived in northern Hamilton County since 1983 and know the roads pretty well, and knew that the Miata Road choices were few and far between; but there were some that were worthwhile. There were a few stretches that could be used I d just have to link them together. So, on a warm mid April Sunday, Laura and I grabbed the DeLorme Indiana Map, the Universal Map Company s version of Indiana and the clipboard and hit the road. As we progressed, Laura became a little confused about some of my choices of roads Why are you going down this road? and weren t we just on this road going the other way? All I could say was trust me, it ll all work out. And, I suppose that it did. The weather forecast for Saturday, June 21st was pretty iffy. And as Laura and I headed to the starting point at 146th and Hazel Dell Parkway the dark clouds could be seen moving in from the west. As the 23 + cars gathered the rain drops began to fall, slowly at first, but then it picked up enough that most everyone began to put the tops up. But by the time the Driver s Meeting began, miraculously the rain ceased. We lined up with our more spirited drivers heading out first at about 1:30 PM, with Larry Sargent leading the pack in his screaming yellow 2002 and never looking back. The seventy five mile route took us through Carmel, Noblesville, Deming, Cicero, Arcadia, Strawtown, past the Potter s Covered Bridge over White River, and through the Strawtown Koteewi Prairie Park, one of the largest active archeological sites in the country towards our destination in beautiful Perkinsville, Indiana. In addition to the scenery, every one kept their eyes towards the sky as it continued to threaten, but through Laura s divine connections, we managed to completely avoid moisture during the drive. Cars began arriving at Bonge s Tavern around 3:45 PM and managed to fill up Bonge s small gravel parking lot with all our Miatas and MX-5 s. Almost immediately, tables and chairs, snacks and libations began emerging from the trunks of everyone s cars and the ritual of tailgating at Bonge s began. After about an hour, we began to move inside to enjoy some truly unique gourmet food selections, which included unique preparations of Elk, Duck, Escolar, Swordfish and the world famous Perkinsville Pork. A little pricey, yes, but man was it good! Good enough that I ve already had several requests to make this an annual event. So, Stay tuned for the 2nd Annual Bonge s Summer Solstice Tailgate Tour in June 2009! Photos by Tom Lewis and Roger Burrill
5 Open Road July 2008 "Doin' The Charleston" Was A Fun Thing by Norm Arbuckle It is great fun attending other Miata club events. Gary and Kathy Collings and Susie and I represented the Indy Miata Club at Low Country's "Miatas Doin the Charleston" event on May 1st, 2008. We felt with all the charm that Charleston, South Carolina offered, it had to be a winner of an event. It was a bit pricey with a fee of $125 per person and staying at the Embassy Suites in North Charleston, but it was just another clue that it was to be a first class event. And it was. We left on a Sunday afternoon and drove 1/2 way of a 13 hour destination trip. We then visited Hilton Head Island, Sun City in Bluffton, SC. and Beaufort, SC for three days before we drove the two hour trip north to arrive in North Charleston on Thursday morning to begin the event. We met 148 other Miatas there for a great time of socializing and touring the Charleston area. That night we chartered an entire ship for a wonderful dinner cruise of the harbor. On Friday, we did tours of the city. The Low Country Miata club had 13 other guided and self guided tours of the area for us to do at our convenience while we were there. Friday night's dinner entertainment was an indoor beach party at a Lion's club with a great southern DJ and beach music. Everyone was dancing! Saturday night they closed with a wonderful dinner at an adjacent convention center. Charleston has a population of just 85,000, but they have over six million visitors every year. What a place and what history! Some interesting notes about the event: Twenty two states were represented with 38 clubs. The furthest attendee was from Rockdale, Texas. Every single Miata year was represented, with almost as many 2006's and 2007's as all the 90-99's together. (Looks like everyone is slowly upgrading?) The year with the most cars was 2006 with 25 and second was 2007 with 18, followed by 2003 with 13. M2's have 58, M3's have 51, M1's with 44. Car colors had reds leading with 50, then 30 blues, silver followed with 29 and a mix of the others. The event was open for registration 9/1/07 and closed 20 days later after filling all 150 spots. We met old friends and made new friends and many of us are looking forward to the Miata National next year in Dallas, Texas. I'd suggest giving one of these events a try. They are the reason we own a Miata. We travel to scenic sights, eat at unique places and meet new friends to share experiences. Photo courtesy of the low Country Miata Club Group photo taken at "Miatas Doin' the Charleston". Not all 138 attendees are pictured as the drive to the photo location started much earlier (6:00AM!) than some participants wanted to arise! The view shows two of the highlights of the Charleston Bay, the USS Yorktown on the left and the Arthur J. Ravenel Bridge on the right.
July 2008 Highways And Americas Byways Open Road 6 If you would like a free book of great roads to drive in your Miata across the United States, point your browser to www.byways.org. The book is by National Geographic and is offered free by the National Scenic Byways Program. If you were to buy it in a store, it would cost $25.00. It lists 275 of the best drives in the U.S. Remember, most of these are scenic roads, not necessarily the "twisties" we like. The emphasis is on the views and scenery, but each of these 275 roads is a great drive. Of course, some do have a high scenic and "twisty" value, such as the Beartooth Highway. The entire http://www.byways.org/ web site is full of information and includes pictures and even podcasts. Don t want to wait for the post office to deliver your copy of this book? You can download a PDF version here: http://www.fws.gov/refuges/roads/nshtconference2007.html. In Search Of Elusive 100,000 Mile Miatas Norm Arbuckle recently pointed out that several Miata Clubs across the United States have an exclusive honored 100,000 mile club for members that have driven their particular Miata 100,000 miles or more. Not that you've driven 2 or more Miata's 100,000 miles, but one Miata for 100,000 miles. If you have driven your present Miata over 100K, let us know and we'll establish a 100K club on our web site to honor your accomplishment. Tell your story and include a picture of you and your "Miata honey" to our web master at webmaster@indymiata.org.and we will start a 100K club with you as our first honorary inductee(s). Photos From Jack Cruse's June Mid-Week "Cruse"
July 2008 Hubler Mazda South Open Road 7 Official Sponsor of the Indy Miata Club The 2008 Miata is here! Stop by and see the all new roadster! More zoom-zoom than ever... "We have the full line of Mazda Miata accessories!" Looking for MazdaSpeed Parts? They're exclusively at Hubler Mazda South! Hubler Mazda South Hubler is Indy's only MazdaSpeed dealership. 1274 US 31 South, Greenwood, IN 46134 Located 3 miles south of the Greenwood Park Mall (317) 885-7379 Cleaning Indiana, one car at a time! You are proud of your car. Let us help you to keep your Miata looking great. We offer services ranging from a "Wash and Vac" to a "Full Service Detail". Most importantly, we'll also give you guidance on how easy it is to keep your Miata looking great after it leaves our shop. We invite you to stop by, take a tour of our new shop, and let s just talk about your car. Indy Miata Club members receive a 10% discount. Stop by and say Hi! Jim Schliebner 4265 West 96th Street 317-514-2659 http://www.jimmybuffit.com Don't forget to visit the club web site for up to date information and more! http://indymiata.org
July 12 - A Drive Around / Drive-In Drive July 19 - Last Days of Freedom 2008 Scheduled Events September 13 - Moto GP Mingle Sold Out! September 26 & 27 - Midwest Miata Gathering July 26 - Brickyard 400 Mingle December 7 - Holiday Party Notice there s no August events? Correct this error by hosting a mingle or rally! Contact our Event Chairperson, Tom Lewis, to schedule your event! E-mail Tom today at: events@indymiata.org! Indy Miata Club members show off the new club banner at in front of the covered bridge at Cataract Falls. Bob Wiley organized the 'Run to The Falls' event.