Here we are the beginning of another year! Remember Y2K, when everything was going to CRASH and then NADA. Can you believe that was 12 years ago. 12 years is a long time, but it doesn't seem that way at all. What did you buy to prepare for Y2K? Come to the January meeting and share a story with us. Everyone who joins us at the January meeting will get a free shirt from last year's show (first come first serve of course). We have other goodies, so everyone will get something. I hope to see ya at Spring Creek on Airport Freeway in Bedford.

The "Toy Drive" was a little cold, but a lot of fun. We had a good turnout, collected a bunch of toys and some $ to pass along to The Salvation Army. The following weekend we had our annual Christmas Party and the last meeting of 2011 at Mercardo Juarez. We had some good food, a very short meeting, then recognized club members for their efforts showing their MOPARS as well as racing them and then we exchanged gifts. A lot of awards were handed out that night to very deserving members. WOW, what a night!

The January meeting means board nominations for COWTOWN MOPARS. Please show your support for the club by your attendance as we plan for 2012. It is important for you to voice your opinion on what you would like to see us do and this is the best time to do that. January also means Autorama and the deadline is the 15th of January. If you are interested contact me ASAP.

Mark Buchanan
President

Wow! It is New Year's already. I am convinced that time moves faster, as I move slower. I know that Labor Day was just last week. Guess I ought to take the Halloween decorations down fairly soon.

The Christmas party, which was held at the Mercado Juarez in Arlington, drew about 55 people, despite the inclement weather. This was our first time at the Mercado, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. The food was good, and the Chinese gift exchange provided the usual laughter and howls of outrage.

The cold and windy weather kept some folks from coming to the toy drive and show, but those that did had a good time. I was pleased to see Bob Carroll show up with his freshly restored '70 RoadRunner. It looks really good, and I especially like the fact that it took him even LONGER to restore his car than it did mine. We did have a mini-crisis when Bob attempted to start the car, and the starter hung. Smoke and flames from your engine bay is rarely a good sign. Of course, no one had a fire extinguisher, but Bob was able to disconnect the battery before things really got out of hand. Damaged appeared to be confined to the positive battery cable and the starter itself.

Looking back, 2011 was a pretty good year for the club. Of course the milestone was wining the TMCC championship for the tenth consecutive year. Way to go race team! (Suspect that we will have an "eleventhpeat" in 2012). The show team also did well, bringing in top awards in various shows, both all Mopar and open, throughout the region. Club participation at shows seems to be up over last year. We also took the major step of moving our monthly meeting place back to the mid-cities area after a number of years of meeting at Billy Bob's in Ft. Worth. It seems to have paid off, as our attendance at meetings has more than doubled. More importantly, people are staying after the meeting to visit and talk cars. We had our last meeting at the Spring Creek BBQ in Bedford, and plan on staying there for the foreseeable future. Club membership, which took a hit in '08 and '09, has stabilized, and is now beginning to come back up. Overall, 2012 looks to be a great year for the club.

Until then, I want to wish all of you a healthy and prosperous New Year.

Ken Key
Vice President