Presidents Message  - December 24

Hello club members and friends,

On behalf of our officers, we hope all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and that the time was filled with family, friends, and good cheer. 

Club Business:

Dues are due.  As Dave Chapman has so eloquently said, your dues support a number of our efforts.  We pick up partial or full tabs for club events as well as fund portions of the Italian Car Fest.  Occasional donations are made to worthy causes.  The yearly dues are $35 and there are several ways to pay. 

  1. Renew at Venmo to @Chapdog or ptbyb@tx.rr.com and 3725 are the last 4 phone digits.
  2. Renew with Zelle to “The Italian Car Cub of North Texas”
  3. On line eStore at iccntx.org. 

More important than your dues is your active participation.  We need you to get involved in the board and to take on ongoing tasks.  The website, treasury, event planning, etc. all are currently taken care of by a couple of members and they're getting old like their cars.  Please step up and take on a task.  Reach out to me or Dave Chapman at alfadave@tx.rr.com.  It should not involve too much effort and many hands make for easier work.

Events:

Saturday, December 14th: Charity Toy Run

The DFW chapter of the Ferrari Owners of American has organized a charity toy run.  They have been doing this for over 10 years and our club has been involved from the beginning.  Meet at 9:00 am at Boardwalk Ferrari in Plano.  Their address is 6300 International Parkway, Plano, TX.

The event is free but they ask that you bring an unwrapped toy.  The toys are going to be donated to the Collin County Children’s Advocacy Center.  They will have a staging area for our cars, along with coffee and breakfast pastries.  They have put together a route for us to follow, and we usually end up at a restaurant for lunch.  The route will follow a Poker Run format and there will be several stops along the way to collect a card.  It’s always fun to hang out with the Ferrari owners.  Hopefully you can make it.  I will be there with my blue Alfa Romeo Giulia.  If you cannot make it but would like to donate a toy, you can always drop it off at the Ferrari dealership, probably the week before.  The club will also be donating a few toys to show our appreciation for what they do for ItalianCarFest.

January 11th: Let’s join the Fiat Club at Hard Eight BBQ for a monthly meet up. 

Address: 688 Freeport Parkway, Coppell,

Time: meet at 11:00 am in the parking lot, 12:00 pm move in for lunch. 

February: Annual Club Dinner.  We had a blast last year at the restaurant Texas and I would like to have another dinner if there is interest.  I will see if we can get Saturday, February 22nd confirmed with the restaurant.  So, hold that date for now.

March: we will try and meet at an Irish pub somewhere to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. 

April: Bluebonnet Cruise down in Ennis, Tx. 

May 11, 2025 (Sunday): All British & European Car Day, Bath House Cultural Center, White Rock Lake Park, Dallas, Texas... a Mother's Day Celebration!

President’s Closing Comments:

I am planning events for 2025 but it’s your club so let me know if you can think of a place to drive to, a restaurant you would think would be a good fit for us, or where we can meet for a Saturday morning coffee.  I would also like to plan a road trip to Madill, Oklahoma to visit Southern Coach Works, who is opening up a car museum and restaurant. The owner brought his restored vintage 1958 Fiat 1200TV Spider to this year’s ItalianCarFest and went home with many awards.  They are still developing the space so it may be a late Spring event. 

We had many fun events in 2024 including visiting the vintage racers at Eagles Canyon, taking a few parade laps on track, hanging out at the All British & European Car Day in the late spring, several wonderful lunches, and even a few drives.  Thank you for all who helped out with this year’s ItalianCarFest.  It was a new event for many as the city had a new events director (she is now gone) and we had to scramble to try and fill in for our dear friend Michael Keane.  I would like to welcome our many new members who signed up this year and thanks to the 11 who have already renewed their memberships.  Please take a few minutes during your day and renew so we can keep the club going.  

Thanks and take care. 

Jeff Briggs, Club President
214-499-0695

jbriggs@bdo.com

ItalianCarFest

Our club produces ItalianCarFest™, an all-Italian car show held every September in Grapevine, Texas. For more information on ItalianCarFest™, please go to www.ItalianCarFest.org.

Other Events

Besides ItalianCarFest™, the club participates in several other annual events and shows.  Details will be posted on the Home page. Other club activities include an annual holiday party, Saturday breakfast gatherings, BBQ drives, winery tours and more.

The club has displayed cars at Italian festivals, Italian restaurant 'customer appreciation' events and charity/fundraising events.

Club members also enjoy attending other more frequent, informal get-togethers such as Cars and Coffee (Plano) and Cowtown Cars and Coffee (Fort Worth).