Dedicated to the enjoyment, restoration, and preservation of the Pontiac GTO

Valley of the Goats eNews

Convention Report

Volume 1, No. 2,  07.13.09

Save the Date!

At the Meeting on Sept. 30th, We'll have our annual Calendar of Events, a guest speaker or two, and some nice giveaways.

Wednesday—September 30th

Our first Cactus GTO Club meeting for the Fall.

7:00pm—Denny’s Restaurant, Hwy 143 &

University, Tempe, AZ—Don’t Miss It! More Details

News from

Dayton, Ohio

We had a great day on July 5 hanging out by the pool and eating some cool salads and munchies at our Cactus GTO Splashdown '09. Thanks to Bill Evans, Howard Thorpe, Bill McCoy, Charlie and Alice Miller, Dan and LouAnn Huskinsson, Murray Nevin, the Overby family, and my own -- Pam, Heidi, and Alex -- for making it a great day.  The desserts were great as well. We missed you if you didn't make it.

Some important news to note:

· Visit our club Web site weekly at cactusgto.com for new information for members, upcoming car shows, and details of our upcoming meetings. Let Scott and your Club leaders know what you think.

· We hope Club members Jim and Karen Zeivel, Mike and Dee Baumgardner, and Dan Huskinsson, and our fellow Pontiac fans in the Desert Renegades all had a safe trip home from GTOAA/POCI Nationals in Dayton, Ohio.

Mark Neumann, President, Cactus GTOs Inc.

Click here to find the link to this story on our Club Web site.

July’s Calendar Car

Questions or Comments? Email Us At eNews@cactusgto.com

www.CactusGTO.com

Who Killed Pontiac?

Those who misunderstood the image!

By Jim Wangers

Club News

GTOAA/POCI collaborate on national convention

The GTO Association of America and the Pontiac-Oakland Club International joined forces this past weekend on an annual convention that featured over 1,000 Pontiacs. Meeting at the Nutter Convention Center in Dayton, Ohio, the event included numerous seminars, special events, and beautiful Pontiacs, both in popular and concourse class.

Cactus GTO Club members Dan Huskinsson, Jim and Karen Zeivel, and Mike and Dee Baumgardner were at the show. We’ll hear a full report at our Sept. 30 meeting, but we particularly asked Jim, Karen, and Dan to report on the results of the President’s Meeting with GTOAA. This meeting asked clubs to talk about ways that the GTOAA could improve membership services. Here are some highlights:

• GTOAA Membership renewal: should be able to do this online at www.gtoaa.com as part of a Web site upgrade in the near future.

• GTOAA is providing a product to all the chapters to help them generate new membership.  Should be given out in a few weeks, by the end of the year for sure. Wasn’t clear how it would be distributed.

• No dues increase for either local or international chapters.  GTOAA has leveled off at about 3,500 members. Recent declines in membership have ended, and the Association feels that the membership should grow.

• They have increased the insurance liability for chapter car shows from $1 million to $3 million.

• Next year the convention will be held in Wichita, Kansas, where everything will be held inside – concourse, popular vote and even the swap meet.

• At this year’s event, there were 1,340 cars, 500 of which were GTOAA registrants.  The organization is looking for more technical advisors.  This year the best of show will be given the John Sawruk Award.

• 50% of chapter membership is still going to be required for 2010 in order for a club to remain sanctioned by the GTOAA.  The majority of the clubs present objected to the 50% participation. The biggest club – The Cruisin’ Tigers – objected the most. The Association acknowledged that eight chapters might leave the GTOAA in 2010.  According to the 2009 survey, there are 45 – 47 chapters, totaling 2,419 members. Of these car club members, 1,282 are GTOAA members, giving an average of 60.9% participation; 82% of the Chapters exceed 50%. The Cactus GTO Club needs to sign up one new GTOAA member to make 50%, according to their data.

• Club representatives posed the question, “What does the GTOAA do for the Chapters?”  The biggest benefit is the liability insurance benefit, followed by the publishing and mailing of the Association magazine, “The Legend.”  Little was said about the fact that members now need to pay for a roster.

• Another question asked was, “What has the GTOAA done to promote GTOAA to people at the event?” 

It was recommended that new chapters require 100% participation in GTOAA and the old chapters should be grandfathered in. They had no immediate answer on that question.

Special thanks to Karen Zeivel for sending us notes from the meeting.