A Look Back and Ahead
If you were out and about late last week and over the weekend, you had a good feel for the record-breaking temperatures. As I’m typing, the wind chimes that are about 10 feet behind me are working overtime. The winds of change are here. We can now put aside the 50°F mornings and the 70°F afternoons for a while. Fortunately, the last 3 winters have proven that we adapt well…at least on Saturday mornings.
After the first road salt application in our respective counties, maybe the convertible sports car begins its trickle-charge hibernation and the winter vehicle is deployed. The fine racing stripe down the side of the Porsche is kept in the garage and is exchanged for a stripe of road remnants on the SUV. *News Alert* I did see that the cherry blossom trees in DC re-bloomed due to our warm streak…but ‘winter’ has to happen right? As a person that was a meteorology major for a few days, I can say that winter will in fact happen.
For Hunt Valley Horsepower, 2015 has been a year of tremendous growth. On the weather front, we started with a cold winter but April opened the door to 9 months of generally-pleasant weather. With Mother Nature on our side this year, we have seen just over 12,000 automobiles participating in our gatherings. To date, that includes 50 gatherings in Hunt Valley and 1 at the Winery at Elk Manor. The massive 3rd Anniversary gave the total a big boost but I’d never imagine that we’d see over 300 automobiles on any standard Saturday morning in the summer. One even reached 500. That’s some serious automotive enthusiasm. [For perspective, 3000 automobiles participated in the inaugural year of 2012.]
This year, the Facebook Fan Page has grown from 3650 fans to over 14000. Photos of our gatherings are shared all over the world and we have fans in Great Britain, Germany, Italy and Canada. Please allow me to say hello to our 3 fans in Poland. :) The love for all-things automotive is truly a worldwide affair.
Our esteemed team of sponsors has been headed by keystone sponsor NAPA Auto Parts for the third straight year. Brett Dolinger and the team at Hunt Valley NAPA have become an extended part of my family. Brett took the leap of faith on what was only potential at the time for Hunt Valley Horsepower. Three years later, there are over 20 sponsors of our community. Each add vitality to our community and I encourage you to visit their locations and websites over the holiday season. You can learn more starting on page 4.
As with every year since the community was born, 2016 will be transformative for Hunt Valley Horsepower. There will be some exciting stuff on the way. Of course, your best sources for all of this exciting stuff are the weekly newsletter, horsepowering.com and, if you’re into all of that technology, Facebook. You can also go more ‘old school’ by attending our Saturday morning gatherings and asking me about the latest.
In the near term, this Saturday morning looks more like an introduction to winter. We know all too well that our enthusiasm doesn’t cool off. It takes different forms. Happy holidays to you and your family. See you all down the road!