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Fall Foliage/Boo Tour 10/18
Tour Leader John James
A group of Miatas met at the Cuyahoga Valley Visitor Center parking lot to begin the Fall Foliage/Boo Tour Drive. We began the morning dining on freshly glazed Miami donuts courtesy of Michael’s Bakery, along with some freshly brewed coffee. The weather was fantastic with sunny skies and warm temperatures as we began our drive. Our group of nine Miatas headed out to the Portage County area and enjoyed some
nice backroads. We went through the small town of Hudson, Ohio, which is a quaint little community. We headed towards Kent, Ohio and took some scenic backroads that provided us with spectacular views of some of the small lakes that are located through the various parks that are in the area. We finally drove into Kent, Ohio and stopped at the Kent Masonic Hall, which is the former home of historical figure Marvin Kent and family. Today, the building is the current home of many ghosts (according to local legends), a local freemason chapter and many community events. Our tour guide Mr. Dana Frazier greeted and took us on a tour of the house, which was built between 1880 and 1882. There have been some reports of ghostly apparitions in the building, however our tour guide quickly dismissed any paranormal happenings. The Kent Masonic Hall is impressive and is worth a visit. It was finally time for our group to depart and head out for dinner at the Black Iron Grille, which serves a variety of food from steak, fish, chicken, and other dishes, and the prices are very reasonable. After we finished dining, it was time to head for home. It was a great driving
day, and the weather was perfect, and we did manage to see some fall colors during our drive. I want to thank Mike and Lois Kerklo for helping me put this drive together and acting as sweep during the tour. I also want to thank those club members who participated in the drive.
John James
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Drive to Baci Winery 10/9
Tour Leaders: John & Jeanne Embree
Twelve Miatas and 21 Members met at Whole Foods in Orange. We departed with a blue sky, puffy white clouds and a temperature around 56 degrees. We enjoyed winding roads and colorful fall foliage as we drove by picturesque horse farms along the Chagrin River, quaint Amish communities in Geauga County, and a rest stop at Observatory Park at the Robert McCullough Science Center. Then we drove alongside vineyards in Lake County to our destination, Baci Winery. Two additional members joined us for lunch. We were able to enjoy a glass of wine, conversation with old and new friends, and a delicious lunch, Some members enjoyed the gelato for dessert. It was a great drive! Many people said they would like to do it again. Thanks to John & Jeanne Embree for leading this drive. Bill & Ruth Drew were the sweep car.
Ruth Drew
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Cars and Coffee & Lunch 10/12
(Click for additional pictures in Flickr, then close Flickr to return here))
Tour Leader Matt LoPiccolo
We attended our second Cars & Coffee in Medina. It was a bit chilly to start the day, but the cars kept coming and we had another great day. Medina Square was full again with a wide variety of cars and Trick or Treaters too. Rich and Nancy had their Autocross numbers on their cars to show that aspect of the club. We used a new drive route south to Wooster and had lunch at The Barn once again. The event organizers stopped by and thanked us for our support.
Matt
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Where’s Dinner Drive 9/30
Leaders Mike & Lo Kerklo
Our ” Where’s Dinner Drive ” was thankfully blessed with great weather as ten Miatas left the Seville area and headed out for a casual drive over various roadways. We traveled through the little villages of Smithville, West Salem, Congress and Red Haw ( my favorite ) . Approximately two hours later found our group back in Seville at the Tilted Farmer Restaurant on rt three. Here we enjoyed our dinner and lots of conversation ! This drive gave us a bit of trouble – we had to reroute it three times to avoid typical Ohio road construction. Thanks to all who attended and a big thanks to our sweeps, Matt & Diane.
Thanks so much,
Mike & Lo
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Mystery Tour 9/13
Tour Leader: John James
Eeight Miatas met in the Target Store parking lot in Bainbridge, Ohio for a Mystery Tour for a drive through some of the backroads in Northeast, Ohio.
Our drive took us through Chagrin Falls as we drove along backroads and through some high-class residential neighborhoods. We then traveled on Chagrin River Road through Moreland Hills and Gates Mills. We then headed farther east through Concord township and finally ended up in the Painesville area. During our drive we could see hints of Fall as some of the trees were beginning to show a change in color. The weather was excellent for our drive and the temperature was just right. We finally ended up at Grand River where our group had lunch at Pickle Bill’s Restaurant whose specialty is seafood and prime rib. Our group dined on the seafood, which was very good. The perch was delicious, and I highly recommend it for anyone with an appetite for good seafood. After we finished lunch, it was time to head home. It was a fantastic drive and a thank you for those members who participated. I also want to give a big thank you to Myron Otte, who assisted me during the tour as the sweep.
Happy motoring.
John James
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Tour Leaders: Bill & Deb Heffern
We had a beautiful sunny day for a drive and lunch at The Vineyards at Pine Lake, in Columbiana, OH. 9 cars left Streetsboro for an hour and a half tour down some smooth Eastern Ohio roads. (I kid you not, smooth I tell you). 2 other members from NCMC met us there, since they lived in the area.
Twenty minutes after our arrival, 10 cars from the West Penn Miata Club arrived. We sat under cover or umbrellas with a gentle breeze blowing through the dining area. The elevated view of the lake was icing on the cake. (No rhyme intended). Everyone was paired up to another couple from the opposite club, which brought out some great conversation. Take heart Browns fans. Steelers fans don’t hold much hope for this season either. After lunch, we both headed back in our respective directions, with 7 NCMC cars stopping for ice cream at Handel’s in Columbiana.
We have already started conversation on a meeting destination for next year.
Hope you will join us!
Bill & Deb Heffern
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Medina Car Show 8/31
Tour Leader: Matt LoPiccolo
A group of 12 members with 8 cars met in the Medina square just before 8am. It was a beautiful morning to grab a coffee, and enjoy over 150 cars of all makes, ages, and customizations. After a few walks around the square, we drove south to take in the views on the way to the Granary restaurant at the Pine Tree Barn in Wooster for lunch
The Medina Cars & Coffee sponsors were very welcoming and even noted our club on their web-page.
Matt
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Club Picnic 7/19
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Noshing at the Nook , Tour and Lunch 6/26
Tour Leaders: Rich Velardo & Nancy Esway
We had 25 hungry club members in 13 cars heading to The Nook for lunch. We broke up into 2 groups lead by Rich V & Matt L and thanks to our fearless sweeps, the Kerklos & Chuck Wolf, we all arrived on time & ready to eat at the Nook. Yes it was HOT again but tops were down & the A/C cranked up as high as it wold go. Lunch was very good (as usual) and the service was also good, everyone enjoyed their lunches in the air conditioning. After lunch about ½ of the group headed over to Lehmann’s in Kidron for some shopping & ice cream. All in all it was a good day with some interesting roads, good food & shopping at Lehmann’s.
Rich Velardo
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Covered Bridge Tour 6/24
Tour Leaders Bob and Ruth Noland
It was a fun, sunshine filled covered bridge tour. 9 cars toured some Miata friendly roads and then thru the Grand River wine county on our way to our first covered bridge. We saw 8 bridges in total, including the most recently renovated in Ohio and the longest in the U.S. We were able to get out and walk thru some of the bridges and appreciate the workmanship, others we drove thru. As the day got later and the temperature soared, we all agreed that it can get too hot in a convertible! The tops went up, the A/C blasting, and we finished the day with lunch at Becker’s restaurant where we renamed the tour to the “Sweat Your Butt Off Tour”.
Bob & Ruth
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Ruple Ford Museum Tour 6/18
Tour Leaders: Ron Otte & Greg Selby
20 Miata members met at the Ruple Museum in Willoughby for the 2nd time. Mr. Ruple and his nephew shared interesting highlights of the collection since our last visit. A few additional vehicles and more neon were mentioned. It is an overwhelming, awesome display. After meandering thru 3 buildings we gathered to make our way to the Red Hawk Grill about 10 miles down I-90 in Concord. We ran into a downpour that followed all the way to the restaurant. After sitting it out hoping for a break, out came the umbrellas and a dash for the front door. (still getting wet). Once inside and seated, food was ordered and it was a great time to visit with each other and enjoy great food. Thanks to everyone for their participation.
Looking down the road,
Greg & Ron
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Afternoon Delight Drive 6/10
We started our drive with an early lunch at Chloe’s Diner in Massillon. Many enjoyed the $5 lunch special. After a brief drivers’ meeting, we headed south to Midvale, Ohio with sunny skies and not a single road apple. We then headed North back to Massillon for ice cream at Blue Heron Cafe. The whole trip was 78 miles.
Chuck Wolf
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Picnic in the Park 5/30
It was a perfect day for top down driving, at least the first half of our day. We had 15 cars line up in two groups for our drive through the Metroparks. Most of us had our tops down as we left the Emerald Necklace Marina. Lunch was held at “The Meadows” picnic area, in the Brecksville reservation.
After lunch, it was tops up, as the very wet spring continued in NE Ohio. We had a post lunch tour through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, eventually meandering our way to Country Maid Ice Cream, in Richfield.
Thanks to my co-leaders and sweeps, for your help! Matt & Diane LoPiccolo, Chuck & Judy Wolf and Terry & Roseann Walls.
Hope to see you on our next adventure!
Bill & Deb Heffern
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Freeze Your Butt Off Tour 4/26
Grey angry skies greeted the lineup of Miatas for our annual FYBO tour. The wind was relentless as we tried to hand out maps and direct cars to their groupings to start the drive. Nonetheless, everyone was in good spirits and glad that the NMC driving season was starting.
Attendance was down a bit this year and we were reduced to three groups totaling 28 cars and 53 members. As we pulled out of the parking lot, most folks had tops up, but a few brave ? souls went tops down with winter coats, hats and heated seats. It really wasn’t that bad!
This year we altered the first half of our route, which took us over rural roads blanketed with new blossom petals, fresh spring foliage and beautiful pastoral vistas. Plowing was a popular activity!
The rain held off long enough for us to arrive at the Der- Dutchman in Walnut creek for lunch. Dave Baker graciously gave a toast for member John Garsteck who sadly passed away late last year. John and his wife Donna successfully put on the FYBO drives for many years.
Despite the cold weather, we hope all of our NMC members enjoyed the day out in their sweet little cars. Lastly, a big thank you to our group leaders – Rich Velardo & Nancy Esway, Chuck & Judy Wolf and sweeps Len Kozak, John James and Bill & Deb Heffern. Great Job!
Thanks All!
Mike & Lo
P.S. – check out the photo of Al Butler and Collin Libby, our longest standing member and one of our youngsters!
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Spring Party 4/5
Hosts: Doug & Carol Leavens
We had a great party with all our 37 Miata friends. Everyone brought a super dish to share and no one went home hungry. Many different types of wine were available for tasting. I also noticed some reviewing the different flavors of coffee available. The last group left just before midnight. We had very little food left, so everyone planed their dish with great care.
Doug & Carol
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Chole’s Diner 4/8
Hosts: Bill & Deb Heffern
Sixteen members met up at Chloe’s Diner, in Massillon, for lunch. As always, the company and food was outstanding.
Chloe’s is a converted gas station/garage that holds many historical items, from cars and motorbikes, to signs, gas pumps, children’s toys and vintage 50’s dining. The exhibits on display change periodically, so there is always something new and interesting to view.
After lunch, we walked a block to the Massillon Art Museum. There was much on display in the form of paintings and photographs, along with a history of Paul Brown and his rise through the H.S. football coaching ranks all the way to Cincinnati Bengals ownership. Did you know that the Massillon H.S. football team has won 25 state championships? The most recent in 2023.
Thank you to those who signed up and joined us for the day!
Bill & Deb Heffern
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MAPS Museum 3/25
Tour Leaders: Rich Velardo & Nancy Esway
MAPS; the “Military Aircraft Preservation Society” has a wonderful museum at the Akron / Canton Airport in Green. The exhibits range from WWII to present times with aircraft inside & out of the main hangar display area, many displays focused on the people who were caught up in conflict and the expected military paraphernalia.
Outdoor exhibits, many were open to get into, in the hangar were more aircraft, and again many were open to enter. This is a hands-on museum that encourages us to explore the displays. One of the aircraft in the restoration building, also there was a WII Corsair and a Piper Cub. To remember the fallen, “KIA” with the name and rank is stenciled on the side of aircraft that had battle fatalities onboard.
It wouldn’t be a Miata tour without food being involved. Lunch at Pancho’s.
Rich Velardo
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Lunch & A Museum 2/15
Hosts: Rich Velardo & Nancy Esway
This tour started at Bender’s Tavern for lunch and then at the
Canton Classic Car Museum. Lunch was excellent and the tour at the museum was even better, the Canton Classic Car museum
has so much more than expected, really amazing cars, thousands of pieces of memorabilia all in an easy to access building. Our
large group broke up into three smaller groups for our guided tours and we spent a couple of hours drooling over some fantastic
cars & displays.