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PostPosted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 12:03 pm 
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I am very excited to confirm that on Wednesday Sept. 11th we are going to have our next meeting at Miller Nissan in Fairfield, CT. This may be our final monthly meeting of the year so I urge you to attend!

As many of you know, Miller has been undergoing a massive expansion and renovation. Their brand new, ultra-high tech showroom is scheduled to open only days before our meeting there, so please join us on the 11th as we marvel at and inaugurate Miller's gorgeous new showroom.

Our meeting will run from 7pm to 9pm, although as always I encourage everyone to arrive at 6:30pm for even more quality bonding time with fellow members and their Z's.

Miller Nissan is located right off exit 24 of I-95 at:

930 Kings Highway
Fairfield, CT 06825

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone on the 11th!

- Jim


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PostPosted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 2:07 pm 
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Location: CT
:thumbs_up: :D Yay!

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PostPosted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 2:16 pm 
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Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2009 3:55 pm
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Location: Naugatuck CT
:D

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Mike Tubiak
1978 Datsun 280Z - HLS30-438694


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 Post subject: meeting
PostPosted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 10:55 pm 
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Joined: Fri Sep 23, 2011 2:10 pm
Posts: 380
Location: Tolland, CT
While it's nice to support dealerships that open their facilities to CTZCC, it's very difficult for those of us in the east to get to these meetings. Especially considering a Wed. night for those of us not yet in retirement.
Please understand this is not meant as a criticism. I merely raise the point that it would be nice to have some meetings further east to offer those in that area a better opportunity to participate. I have personally had to opt out of attending, not by intent, but by location and timing. I'm sure others may feel the same. I understand expanding the network is not an easy task
and would not happen over night. I'm sure some of us in the eastern sector would be happy to help in making contacts etc.
Jack

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John D .... original 240 past, 260v8Roadster current


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 12:01 am 
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Location: CT
Your argument is well taken and already agreed with! :D

When the CTZCC first formed, all the meetings were held at one place. As you describe, many of our members found it really difficult to drive clear across the state and back, on a weeknight, with school or work the next morning.

In response to several members' suggestions, we began moving the meetings around the state. That afforded members in every corner of CT (and some in NY, NJ, NH, MA, and RI) to attend at least a few meetings each Zeason.

Meetings in the center of the state seem to draw the highest numbers of attendees, but with 700 members we can't possibly hope to get everybody together at one time (nor would we probably WANT to!!! :shock: Where would we park?!) Our meetings *usually* bring together btwn 30-40 members, and some of our events have gathered more than 100. Because some members can attend only in certain areas and the meetings change location around the state, we get a constant rotation of faces at each meeting. That's pretty fun, actually. Over the course of a year, we all get to zee each other at least a few times.

This Website keeps us together. Unlike other Z websites, this one is the home of an actual, physical Club. Most of our members actually know most of our members. The meetings are great fun and give us justification for bringing the Zs out each month. But there's no realistic way of getting everybody at one meeting all at once.

We toyed with holding monthly meetings on weekends, too. But that really interfered with members' family lives and vacation and it was felt that the second Wednesday was an equal burden for each of us. :lol:

You're the past PreZident of a Z club, so I know you fully understand how hard it is to pleaZe the most members most of the time. Our officers put a BUNCH of thought and planning into every event and meeting we hold. None of it will ever be perfect, but due to their selfless dedication and enthusiasm, a whole lot of us have a great deal of fun and friendship for free.

I'll bet the CTZCC is the most-successful Z Club ever, which never asked for a penny of dues! In my (not-so-humble) opinion, there's no better bang-for-the-buck than the CTZCC.

*CAN I GET AN "AMEN"??*

Frank :wink:

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PostPosted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 12:43 am 
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Location: CT
And by the way, Jack, your point is so well taken, the Club has added three new venues this year ~ Alfano, County Line, and On-Track Karting.

I'm no longer a Club Officer, but I know our Leadership is constantly trying to improve the experience our members get by being part of the CTZCC. In SouthEast CT we added Grossman's Nissan as a very comfortable venue in Old Saybrook. They even had a fire there in the short days before they were scheduled to host us for the first time, and broke all records putting themselves back together in time for our meeting. :D

The dealerships are pretty cool about having us ~ we cause them to get a lot of attention (which equates to business), and the customers always love to see the continuity, loyalty and fun connected with the Datsun/Nissan line. Plus, it's always great for a salesman to be able to point to a row of 30 Zcars which are 40 years old, when he's singing the praises of a new Nissan. 8)

The dealerships act as witnesses for us. If you know of a Nissan dealership close to you and you'd like us to meet there, approach them with the idea. For a reference, have them call any 3 or 4 of the dealerships we have met at over the years. You can make a list of them from the UPCOMING EVENTS forum. Each dealership we have visited has enthusiastically asked us to return, and a couple of them have competed to hold our Z Car Shows.

We've never been kicked out of anyplace, never been asked not to return, never left a mess behind us, never had a fight, never had the cops get involved with us, or made a LeMans exit when we left. We don't allow drugs or alcohol or dogs or coarse language or skateboards or bicycles at our meetings or around our cars. We just keep the whole thing family-friendly, so people are comfortable bringing their wives and kids to our events. Dealerships like that a lot. Our reputation is solid and enviable.

We, as individual members, are encouraged to take part in promoting our Club and developing new venues to meet at. Each place we've met over the past 4 years has been the result of some single CTZCC member stepping into a Nissan showroom and introducing himself. Usually it's been a Nissan dealership that member has been familiar with for years, and is known there as a customer. But others, like Executive Nissan in North Haven or Middletown Nissan or Grossman's or County Line or Alfano's or several others, have been the result of some lone member just walking in with a smile and a handshake and asking if we could meet there.

We had more than 20 members in the East last time I looked, so it's got to be more by now. I'd bet you could generate a really big meeting if you found a new venue in that area. It takes a few months planning and coordination to make it work smoothly for the first meeting. Parking, seating, food, and meeting the staff all require a little attention.

But nothing draws a crowd like a crowd, and these dealers know that seeing 30 old Z cars and 45 smiling people standing in their front lot after dinnertime makes customers out of bystanders.

You know some dealerships out that way?

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1970 240Z


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PostPosted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 2:13 pm 
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Joined: Fri Sep 23, 2011 2:10 pm
Posts: 380
Location: Tolland, CT
You can certainly get a giant AMEN on all you stated regards the CTZCC.
The level of benefit offered the membership is outstanding and all those who
volunteer their time etc. to make it all work deserve big thanks and gratitude, even though they don't ask for it. I can attest to the effort required having once been in those positions.

Frank, do I take your comments as a sideways chastisement? Passing along a thought so good that it was acted upon long ago .... been there done that?
I'll go stand in the corner and take a time out.

As I stated, I would be pleased to explore 1 or 2 proper locations a bit more towards the north east and/or east. Typical of clubs and such, the majority of the work gets done by the few while the many reap the benefits. I'll try to be part of both groups.
Jack

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John D .... original 240 past, 260v8Roadster current


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PostPosted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 4:37 pm 
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Posts: 14779
Location: CT
:lol: Haha! No chastiZement intended, Jack. I salute your suggestion and wanted to make the most of the opportunity to relay to the newer members that the Club enjoys its present success because our members THINK (like you did) of ways to overcome problems and make life easier for each other.

We grow at such an amaZing rate, it's not always easy to ensure each new member has the history of the CTZCC at hand. You opened a great opportunity to express some little-known info and I wasn't gonna let it escape. :D

PleaZe get out of your corner and get back up on your soapbox! :lol: We need to encourage our members to always be on the lookout for new venues and opportunities for the Club. Your post afforded us a chance to remind them of that. :wink:

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1970 240Z


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PostPosted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 7:24 pm 
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Joined: Fri Sep 23, 2011 2:10 pm
Posts: 380
Location: Tolland, CT
how do you move the smiles over? I can't remember.
ONLY kidding about the corner ........ Frank your comments and constant
vigilance on these threads are the gel that holds everything together.
When things get off track you move them back ...... Please keep up the dialog and guidance because it acts like a kind of anchor to the forums.
Much appreciated.
Jack

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John D .... original 240 past, 260v8Roadster current


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PostPosted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 7:45 pm 
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["how do you move the smiles over?"] Whenever you reach the part of a sentence where you want an Emoticon to appear, you simply press that 'face' and it automatically pops into your sentence. A text note will appear in your message telling what face you've selected; you won't see the yellow circle until you Post the message. :wink:

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1970 240Z


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PostPosted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 7:55 pm 
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Location: Tolland, CT
Aha :wink:

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John D .... original 240 past, 260v8Roadster current


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 4:22 pm 
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Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:53 pm
Posts: 14779
Location: CT
Off to Fairfield!
Zee you all there tonight!

:D

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PostPosted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 4:25 pm 
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Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2012 2:36 pm
Posts: 180
Location: Topsfield MA - Fairfield CT
Ill be there- Just need to swing home and grab the nickle dime- was too hot to drive her today... thankfully I live just down the road :lol:

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Devon

‘71 4Dr 510 -- '73 240z

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PostPosted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 10:32 am 
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Joined: Fri Jul 22, 2005 12:59 pm
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What an enjoyable meeting this was!

On behalf of everyone at the club, I'd like to thank the great people at Miller Nissan (especially Jeff Wirth) for welcoming us and treating us so well. It was truly our pleasure to be back at Miller again. The only disappointment of the evening was that Paul, Kyle and Greg (the Millers) were all out of town on business so we couldn't thank them in person and congratulate them on the new showroom.

And thank you to everyone who attended - we had a lot of new faces, some infrequent faces, and even a surprise guest, our old friend Robert Maxwell, now living in North Carolina.

The weather was perfect, the dealership was terrific, the food awesome and plentiful and of course, the Z comraderie was outstanding!

- Jim


Last edited by jhagani on Thu Sep 12, 2013 10:34 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 10:32 am 
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Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:53 pm
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Location: CT
WOW, what a grand time we had at Miller Nissan last night! :D

We always have a good visit there, and we have often intentionally saved them for the final meeting of the year (saving the best for last?) because they treat us special and make us feel like part of the Miller family. But last night was even more special than before.

Plenty of parking space for the four rows of Zs and NickelDime cars, which is no mean feat for a car dealership to arrange. They have to move about 50 cars "somewhere" to make room for us to park up close to the building. I saw employees walking a LOOONNNNG way to their own cars last night, just so we could have the best parking spaces. They even had tire barriers placed around the light poles so we didn't bang up our precious cars.

Then, they must have turned the A/C units up full blast about an hour before we arrived, so we all had a blessed relief from the heat and humidity outside. THANK YOU for that, Miller people. Our meeting was cool and comfortable. The piZZa was really excellent (one of the best I've had in CT) and there was plenty of it ~ and ICE CREAM! :shock: About 6 flavors of ice-cream and sherbet and a ton of sodas and all the room we needed to relax in. That just made for a really comfortable meeting. There really was enough space to square-dance if we had wanted to (but they stuffed us with too much food, and there weren't enough girls to go around).

But the big surpriZe of the night was an unexpected appearance of our long-lost member Robert Maxwell! Robert was a long-time employee at Miller Nissan and he was directly responsible for helping us get into Miller as a meeting venue many years ago. He got called to the Carolinas and went south to work for Nissan down there. We miss him and talk about him behind his back a lot.

Well, his name had been bandied about many times in the first hour we arrived at Miller. Many members reminisced about how Robert had got us involved there, had worked so hard to make our every meeting perfect, how many of us he has helped over the years, and how we miss him. Just like Mike Rosann, Robert left a 'hole' in our Club when he moved out of state.

We were all standing around in the parking lot before the meeting began, when Robert just drove in and stopped in the middle of us!:shock: No announcement, no advance warning, nobody knew he was coming ~ he just jumped in his car and drove 15 hours to get here for our final meeting of the Zeason!
What a guy.

It was great to zee him again and the meeting went better for him being with us once more.

A couple more highlights of the evening:

1. One of the Miller employees (Jerra) fell instantly in love with Demo's 510 race car. When she was 16, a 510 had been her very first car and the first car she ever drove. We put her in the driver's seat and found it impossible to get her out. She had so many stories about her own "Nickel-Dime" car back in the day, they made us all laugh;

2. Bryan Little brought his 1970 240Z out of a year's worth of work, to show off his "driveway" pant job for the first time. It grew a crowd and everyone loved it. This was Bryan's first time painting any car, and he did an outstanding job. By disassembling his own car in his own garage and doing 8 months worth of his own hands-on body work and preparation, we figure Bryan probably saved himself upwards of about $6,000. We all thought it looked great ~ he still sees areas he wants to buff out again. Typical. These cars are never "done" in their owner's eyes;

3. Mike T overcame a clogged fuel tank pickup unit and got his beloved "Dangerous Z" to our final monthly meeting of the season. It was good to zee the Millennium Falcon again, even while it was drinking from a 5gal plastic fuel bottle;

4. Our new member PeeJ410 thumped in with his incredible "hand-made-Datsun", an S-30 shell over an earth-shaking GM V8 making somewhere north of 400hp. The entire undercarriage of this car is handmade or transplanted from other cars. Incredible metalsmithing to behold. My favorite part of the car was the innovative hood and intake venting; all incoming air is rammed into the (custom aluminum) radiator by side 'air shovels'. Once thru the radiator, the 'used' air is immediately forced out of the engine bay via two massive scoops which direct it upwards (akin to the Ford GT40 hood), which PJ says helps hold the nose to the ground at high speed. The car was fascinating to study, and frightening to hear when it left.

5. Irv rolled in driving his newest acquisition, a beautiful 1973 240Z with hand controls. He changes Zs like I change socks. He swears he wants the air-conditioning unit in this car hooked back up tho, and he's still searching for a useable window crank, if anyone has a spare. The tiny lockjaw pliers he's using now detract from the overall panache of the car.

Overall, an incredible final meeting of the 2013 Zeason. To those of you who couldn't make it, I got your piZZa and ice-cream. 8)

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Last edited by Frank T on Sat Sep 14, 2013 10:43 pm, edited 13 times in total.

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