We have had a few members express interest in our Vendor Liason and Events Coordinator positions.

We will be having a general membership vote for these positions, and the poeple with the most votes will win!

Please read the Bio's below, and send in your favorite choices for the two positions to Steve Rosenblum by Sunday November 6th, 2005.

One vote for each position per active Club membership. If your membership has lapsed, you still have plenty of time to send in your Membership Renewal before voting closes.

I want to send out a big THANK YOU! to all who have expressed interest in these positions…

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This invite comes from our friends at Bill Jacobs MINI:

Please join us at Bill Jacobs MINI in Naperville for our Wicked MINI Halloween Party. Bring your MINI “in costume” and you might win a “Wicked Night on the Town.” We'll award prizes for the “Best Dressed MINI”, and the “Best Dressed MINI Owner,” two separate winners.

When: Friday October 28th 2005

Where: Bill Jacobs / 1564 W. Ogden Ave. Naperville

RSVP: 630/718.2899

You can download the entire invite here.

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UPDATE: 10/18/2005

New pictures from Taylor.

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POST RALLY WRAPUP:

Huge thanks to Pat for all the time and thought spent organizing this drive, as well as the rally questions. Huge thanks to Knauz MINI as well for supplying the award for the winner.

Here is a writeup of the Lake County Rally from Pat:

The Fall Rally for the Chicago MINI Motoring Club saw spectacular fall weather. After gathering at the Libertyville train station, 25 MINIs and one original Mini Cooper were ready to rock. We held a quick drivers? meeting while the rally directions and questions were distributed. Thanks to Knauz MINI of Lake Bluff, the Club had a terrific prize for the winner of the Rally: a radio-controlled MINI! As Gabe said, ??and it?s valued at $110!?

We headed out and towards the center of the county just before 10 am. The first navigational trick (that is, turning into the University of St. Mary?s) proved to be a bit difficult for some on this bright Sunday morning. But no matter, after a bit of quick motoring through the town of Mundelein, all MINIs were back on track.

After we drove through the seminary, we congregated in a nearby subdivision before heading out for the rural roads. Folks in the neighborhood were so amused by the site of 26 MINIs on their street that some grabbed their cameras and squeezed off a few shots before we rocketed west.

Barreling down Route 60, the caravan made a quick left at the Catholic Church in Fremont Center and then were led through some tight ?parking lot loops? looking for the times that services were held (Question 7). Just as quick, the procession left the churchyard looking for more rally roads. (Those driving solo were at a serious disadvantage as they tried to navigate and answer rally questions. I did hear from a couple of drivers who, even though they were supported by ?naviguessers,? still had their share of animated discussions.)

Our parade wound through the north edge of Wauconda and through Volo before stopping for a break at Singing Hills Forest Preserve. Not surprisingly, every car that left Libertyville was back with us! Lines quickly formed to use the ?facilities? while Rich and Steve tried to race their scale model MINIs. Too bad they shared the same radio frequency or we may have been treated to some NASCAR-style driving.

The MINI pageant was not here for long. With the road beckoning, the drivers teased their gearboxes and roared out onto Fish Lake Road. Most cars had their tops down or windows open while they ripped up the roads. Bright orange maples and golden oaks lined parts of our route and showed off their fall brilliance.

The drivers navigated south on Fairfield Road and then the last few miles through the Chevy Chase area before turning north and then sprinting east towards Austin?s Bar and Grill.The drivers navigated south on Fairfield Road and then the last few miles through the Chevy Chase area before turning north and then sprinting east towards Austin?s Bar and Grill.

Gathering inside for food and drink, we told lies about our driving skills as well as who did the best job of rallying. Those brave few who tried to keep up with the rally questions gathered together to score their answers. Out of 34 possible correct answers, Kirsten won the radio-controlled MINI with an impressive score of 26!

Thanks to all who came out on a fine autumn Sunday for a great morning of motoring! Keep watching this site for details of the Club?s next event.

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WRAPUP

What a great drive!! We had a little bit of a late start after a few of us Northsiders showed up at the wrong Menards, but we wound up with 17 MINI's, and a really cool Classic Mini taking a tour of some scenic back roads. A couple of nice twisties were thrown in as well.

After a couple of rest stops and photo-ops we headed back to Augustino's Diner for a quick bite to eat and off to the Drive-in movie.

The weather was incredible for the beginning of October and it made for a fantastic day to hang out with MINI friends. A fun time was had by all!

Huge thanks to Club member Jeff for offering to put this drive together, and running lead on the drive!!!!

Here is a link to some photo's from the event (thanks Dennis)

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UPDATE 9/28/2005

If you can't make the cruise, but would still like to do the movie, we will be eating dinner at Augustino's (awesome, family-owned deli right by where we are meeting on 64, just west of 59) at around 5:30 to 6:30 or so. Then we'll head over to the theater.

Feel free to bring camping chairs etc to the theater, as many people like to actually sit outside their cars while they watch the movie. You are also allowed to bring in water/soda/snacks (no alcohol).

The group might be interested in stopping at a pumpkin patch along the cruise (it is a FALL Cruise after all).

The movies for this weekend are: “Into the Blue” and “The Exorcism of Emily Rose.”

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What could be more fun than taking your MINI to a Drive-in Movie? How about a Drive-in Movie, a dinner, and a group drive in the Kane county area!!

Details are still in the works, but here is the plan so far..

When:Saturday October 1st. Meetup for the drive at 2:00.

Where:We will meet for a drive starting in the Menards parking lot near Route 59 and Route 64 in West Chicago. From there we will head out west for a nice drive. Dinner plans have not been set yet. The Cascade Drive-in is also located near Rt. 59 and Rt. 64.

Come on out for the whole event, or just part!!

Post below if you are interested in attending so we can get an approximate count.

Here is the post that started things out on our Club Forum.

If you're interested in getting more involved in the Chicago MINI Club here's your chance. The CMMC needs a few board members to help run the club. We need people that are enthusiastic about the MINI and have a little spare time devote to the club. The positions are as follows:

Vendor Liaison: Establish and maintain relationships with local and nationwide BMW/MINI merchants.

Events Coordinator: Lead the brainstorming process for MINI Club events both with regard to family oriented and motorsport activities.

If you're interested in either of these two positions please post to this thread (or email Steve@chicagominiclub.com by October 15th, and we'll follow up and inform you of the process by the 20th.

CarPartsCoupons.com is a company that specializes in distributing overstocked auto parts inventories.

They have offered our club a 15% discount on any purchases made through their site, using a promotional code 636555

They currently have a stock of APC taillights in titanium or carbon fiber for 2003 and 2004 MINI's.

There may be additional MINI related items from time to time on the site

Check out our club member discount section on the right hand side of this site for fantastic deals on MINI related items.