Dixie Car Club

Benton, Arkansas car club

September 2024 – Newsletter

Summer is ending and the car show season is wrapping up!
This year has flown by so fast. Fall is quickly approaching and soon it will be time to celebrate the holidays. However, it’s not time to be sad yet! With our big annual car show this month, all of our members are filled with excitement and trying to get so much done! We hope you have started seeing our show signs around town and our flyers in store windows. Please feel free to share all of our posts on social media. We hope to see you at the show!
September Meeting Minutes
The Dixie Car Club met on Thursday, September 4th at Wood Grill in Benton. There were 41 members present. President Jennifer Lytchfield led the meeting with the pledge of allegiance. Treasurer Lisa Ramsey read the treasurer’s report. Secretary Tosha Thibeau read the August meeting minutes.
Benton Cars & Coffee asked if our car club would consider joining them at their location for our monthly meet & greet. If agreed, the club would no longer meet at Big Lots. A vote to stay at Big Lots was take and 31 members voted to stay with no one opposed.
Our current storage unit at Lance’s storage is due for the yearly renewal in November. However, a larger size which has been needed by the club has been made available. These units go fast so the club needed to decide whether or not we would renew the current rental agreement for the size we have in November or rent the larger size (10×10) for $60. Member Wanda Price made a motion to approve the rental of the larger unit and ember Johnny Ramsey made the second. 33 members voted to approve the rental with 0 members opposed.
The museum tour planned for Saturday, September 14th has been mapped out by Special Events chairman Thomas Gage and Membership Chairman Bill Gray. The route and map will be shared via Facebook.
Officer nominations will be during next month’s meeting (October). Officer positions are open to anyone that has been a club member for a year. All nominees will have two weeks to decide if they would like to continue to run or if they would like to decline the position. To decline the position, you will email the Dixie Car Club. The first Monday in November, an email will go out to let all members know who the final nominations are. Voting will take place at the November meeting. Ballots will be counted that night and new officers will be announced. Existing officers will work with new officers in the upcoming months and new officers will begin their positions on January 1st.
Car Show Committee chairman TJ Thibeau ran through the events for the day set for our upcoming annual car show as well as set up on the night before.
President Jennifer Lytchfield had new members stand to introduce themselves and share the vehicle they own. We welcomed an amazing amount of new members this month! Welcome, everyone!
Committee Updates
Membership Committee
The Membership Committee met on August 22nd at Rib Crib. There were 5 members present: Kelly Hori, Bill Gray, Wanda Price, Henry Jazerski, and Lisa Ramsey. 9 new members joined this month: Loren Dang, George Morgan, Sean Duchesneau, Rober Perez, Wendy Parent, Rodney Kooiman, Tyler Platt, Ricky Dunning, and David New. We currently have 111 members.
The committee discussed having addresses on the directory.  It was brought to our attention that not all members want their address on the directory and should have that choice.  It was decided to bring it to the meeting for discussion and to send out on text message to see who wants their address left off.  The website directory copy will not have addresses. 
The idea of gift bags for new members was talked about – the difficulty of delivering them, someone having to keep up with them and keep up with who had received them and who hasn’t, and what value are the gift bags are adding.  Everyone agreed to discontinue new member gift bags, and the remainder gift bags will be given out as door prizes.
The membership form was updated with the addition of birthdates and spouse’s name and an official use section added at the bottom. We discussed and approved purchasing some cards similar to the cards the club has already purchased to be used as name tags. A meeting date for September was not set.
Special Events Committee
The Special Events Committee met at Hideaway Pizza at 6:30 p.m. There were 5 members present: Thomas Gage, Bill Gray, Tina Collins, Jennifer Lynchfield, and Mike Lynchfield.
Discussion Topics: Museum Cruise Which locations we will attend that day Timeline of route Map and timeline available Drive-in Movie Night Looking at items to bring to club purchase Screen PA system/FM transmitter The equipment would be used for the club for future events Donations for viewing movie Possibly Partnering with the Corvette Club for a joint meeting at Blue Haven Other events/shows9/1        
Bryant Cars and Coffee @ AutoZone 12 pm -2 pm9/3        
Saline County Fair Parade 6 pm (meet at CW Lewis on Market St @ 5:30 for placement)9/5         Monthly Car Club Meeting @ Wood Fire Grill in Benton 7 pm – 8 pm (Grub at 6 pm)9/7        
Benton Cars and Coffee @ Blue Haven 9 am – 11 am9/10      
Big Lots 5 pm – 8 pm9/12      
Monthly Event Committee Meeting @ Dairy Queen on Hwy 5 6:30 pm9/14      
Museum Cruise 10 am – 4 pm9/19      
Benton Third Thursday 5 pm-9 pm?9/21      
David’s Burgers (Bass Pro Shop Area) 4 pm – 8 pm9/28      
Car Show 7 am – 2 pm10/10    
Monthly Event Committee Meeting @ Starbucks by Tinseltown 6:30 pm

Car Show Committee Pre-registration:
It is live and is posted on our Facebook page and the Car Show event page. This is only going to be for non-club members because we could only set one registration price which is $20. All the registration websites charge processing fees. We used Eventbrite which charges 3%+$1.75 which equals out to $2.35 per person. The other websites cost $3-$4 per person. It was agreed by the car show committee to not charge the registrar the fee. It would defeat the whole purpose of registering early for a $5 discount. Instead, the fees will be taken out from the overall amount before we are sent the money.
Day of Registration:
Prices for the day of the show are $25. Dixie Car Club Members will still only be $10 but will have to register the day of the show. All member vehicles are display only. Once you register, you will a sign to put on your vehicle stating you are a club member and will not be judged. Member vehicles will be in with non-member vehicles. Gift bags will be given to everyone who pays to participate in the car show. We have several things in the bag from bank items to discounts for oil changes.
New Forms:
A new registration form was created with the major change being the new liability waiver at the bottom of the page. The club has never had a waiver before. This will be a new requirement. Anyone who signed up online will sign a waiver when they check in. You cannot participate without signing this waiver. A new judging sheet was created with the major change being a bonus point section. This is only used in the case of a tie. Bonus points can be earned by having a vehicle display.
Volunteers Needed:
We need someone for pre-registration. You will be checking off names that will be printed from a list of our online registration, having them sign a liability waiver, and giving them a gift bag. We need someone to manage the silent auction table. Lisa still needs help in the kitchen.  Open the floor to Lisa.
The club is now on the approval list at Bryant High School for their needed volunteer hours. If anyone knows any students there, they are welcome to come out and earn some hours. We have 3 students volunteering so far.
We need members to bring tables for the DJ area, People’s Choice voting table, silent auction area, etc. We also need canopies for the DJ area, parking tent/water station, etc.
Advertisement:
Yard signs will be going out next week. We have a team going out to put them up in different locations. My Saline will share our show information again. Secretary Tosha has posted our show info on multiple Arkansas Car Show Facebook pages and groups and will begin posting them in local business windows. Please share the Event Page!
Show set up days/times:Friday night (Sept. 27) – Kitchen volunteers are meeting at 4 p.m. and show parking volunteers will meet at 6 p.m.  Saturday morning (Sept. 28) – 7 a.m. will begin time for show set up.
Publications Committee
Publications had a form submitted by the Membership Committee to approve their new membership flyer. The committee did not meet in person. However, a vote to approve was held virtually via text and the flyer was approved.
We recently lost a long-time club member and very dear friend, Porfirio Gutierrez. To honor him and his family, his beautiful Mercedes Benz 280 SL is our vehicle of the month.
Upcoming Events
Monthly Meeting: EVERY 1ST THURSDAY OF THE MONTH – Wood Grill in Benton 6 pm to dine & 7 pm meeting begins.
Benton Cars & Coffee: EVERY 1ST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH – Blue Heaven Restaurant in Benton 9 am – 11 am
Bryant Cars & Coffee: EVERY 1ST SUNDAY OF THE MONTH – AutoZone in Bryant 12 pm – 2 pm
Meet & Greet: EVERY 2ND TUESDAY OF THE MONTH – Big Lots in Benton 5 pm – 8 pm
Cruise In:  EVERY 3RD SATURDAY OF THE MONTH – David’s Burgers of Mabelvale 4 pm – 8 pm
Third Thursday: EVERY 3RD THURSDAY OF THE MONTH (Until October) – Downtown Benton 5 pm – 8 pm
Dixie Car Club Charity Car Show: Saturday, September 28th – Saline County Fair Grounds Registration 8:30 am – 11:30 am

September Birthdays: Member Marcia Wist
Club Classifieds
For Sale
If you would like to purchase a window decal, please contact Bill Gray. Phone: (501) 425-8975
Email: bill57g@gmail.com
If you have anything you would like to sale or something you are searching for, please contact the Dixie Car Club to be added to next month’s classified section. Email: dixiecarclub@gmail.com

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