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Fasten your Seat Belts: I’m Driving, going from Park to Drive

I hope every-one had a good Christmas and a safe and happy New Year. Maybe, your Christmas list included a new or used Saturn or even possibly one of the many gifts that are available from one of the Saturn Retailers. Once the frenzy of the holiday is over and we want to get back to our routine, I’m hoping that will include your PARTICIPATION in the CAR CLUB.

My name is Arthur "Pete" Peterson, and I am your new President for the year 2002. Perhaps at the January meeting Al will give me the keys to the Presidential house and car. I have been a member of the club since it started. Over the past six years, I’ve held many different officer posts including: events, historian, safety, vice-president, and on going a non officer position as the Adopt-A-Highway Coordinator. Now I come to possibly my greatest challenge, being your President. This may seem that cleaning the highway is just a walk in the park.

I am originally from Ithaca, New York in the finger lake region. I have been employed the last 37 years with the US Forest Service and located at the Delaware Research Station since 1973. I live in Marion with my wife and two Saturn’s; a 2000 SL1 and a 2001 SC2. My first Saturn was a 1995 SL1.

This coming year I would like to have ALL members be more INVOLVED with the CLUB. We will be planning more things to do at our regular monthly meetings. This will include more FUN stuff at the start of the meeting and more mini-events. Also, food and drinks will be available. We also will have MORE EVENTS and MORE SATURDAY MEETINGS. I’m planning on having five Saturday meetings, up from three from last year. Please check the schedule in this newsletter so that you don’t miss anything. The first three months as of now we have these EVENTS which include BINGO, SATURN NATIONAL DONOR DAY, and the COLUMBUS AUTO SHOW.

I look forward to working with the new board of officer’s to bring MORE FUN, MORE COMMUNITY EVENTS, and of course MORE things for our SATURN facilities, which our club would not be possible with-out their generous support.

The bottom line is though WE NEED YOU AND YOUR IDEAS. PLEASE HELP US.

Thank-you

Pete

Greetings and Salutations, my name is Alan P. Clapsaddle and I will be the new Editor, over the course of the next 12 months.

I d like to take a few minutes of your time to explain a little about myself. I am 23 yrs old, currently attending Devry Institute in the field of Electronics and Computer Technology. I go there full-time and work 28 hrs at Gap Inc Direct. I am also in the process of learning how to produce and mix-down my songs, that I have been currently working on as well. I am quite busy and it seems I never have enough time for much of anything else.

Anyways, I am rambling on about information that really has nothing to do with this letter. I first got into Saturn when I was 16. A friend informed me of Saturn and they had an unique shape to them and the polymer panels were intriguing to me. At the time I was working at a grocery store and I always would see cars getting banged up because of the carts. I told my dad about them and he said he would never pay sticker price for a car, but I convinced him to go check them out. He spent all his time trying to prove Saturn was just like every other car, but no matter how hard he tried he could not do it.

He bought his first Saturn a week later. I have had quite a few Saturns (two of them sat in the driveway and collected dust) [LONG STORY]. My third Saturn I owned for 2 years. In the fall of 1998, I was in a car crash where I learned how well Saturn’s really held up. I flipped my car over 3 times at 70 miles an hour, spinning out of control into oncoming traffic. By some miracle, I survived and only had a small scratch on my arm and a sore back.

Since then, I have sworn by Saturn and have been very happy with each purchase.

I want this Newsletter to grow and I have a few ideas in mind. More about them next month.

All members can join a Credit Union. That’s right, you can now be a member of Telhio Credit Union. All you have to do is show your CarClub Membership card at any of the three locations, in Columbus.

This benefit also includes members of your family. To find out more call the Credit Union at (614) 221-3233 or visit them on the WEB at:

Don’t forget Bingo, January 17th at 7:00 p.m., at St. Angela Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, located at 5700 Karl Road.

(South of Rt. 161 on the East Side of Karl Rd)

CarClub members have a lot of fun and the residents of St. Angela really look forward to the Bingo games!

The bingo in January is the start of our second year. It is a fun, fast paced event. The total time is only 1 and ½ hours.

Again this year, Saturn of Columbus is participating in Saturn’s National Donor Day. This year the date for this event will be February 16^th. Because of limited resources, the event will be at Saturn/West.

Volunteers will be needed to help with registration and passing out information and refreshments. We also would like to see volunteers donate blood. We all know how important donating blood is after the tragedy, last September.

More details at the CarClub meeting in January and in our February Newsletter.

Because of a conflict with our February meeting date, it will be changed to February 7^th. Please note that this is the FIRST Thursday of February. The meeting will be at Saturn/SouthEast.

Again this year Saturn of Columbus has asked our CarClub to help with the Autoshow and we have responded with a BIG YES. This now yearly event is a great time to see the new offerings and to talk to others from an owner standpoint. This year’s show will start on March 2^nd and run through March 10^th.

We need 50 volunteers and will select them on a first come basis. We will give the telephone number and when you can call, in our next Newsletter. To be fair to ALL members, we ask that you wait until the time announced.

More information will be available at our January meeting. Last year we had a 99% attendance by the members who signed up. We want to see if we can top that this year.

Saturn’s NEW SUV has arrived. The VUE will be participating in our January meeting. Saturn has agreed to give us a personal hands-on tour of the VUE and if time permits, personal test drives.

Come see and hear about the vehicle that has a long waiting list and has put a big smile on some Saturn Owners.

Please contact your nearest Retailer for details.