This page contains posts and pictures from Tours and Events completed so far this year. Additional details are available in the newsletters.
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Fall Foliage and Boo Tour 10/19
On Saturday morning, October 19th a group of Miatas met at the Cuyahoga Valley Visitor Center parking lot to begin the Fall Foliage/Boo Tour. We started the day off with some fresh hot coffee and fresh donuts for our group before embarking on the tour. The weather was picture perfect with plenty of sunshine and clear skies. We headed out on our drive and the foliage was very impressive with bright orange, yellows and reds as our group took to the backroads. We stopped at the Everett Covered Bridge, where I shared stories about the history of the bridge as well as some alleged paranormal happenings such as ghost sightings. We then headed to Ira Cemetery, which is one of the earlier cemeteries in Bath Township. Many of the earlier settlers in the western reserve are buried in that cemetery. We briefly visited Hale Farm & Village, I shared with the group that there are several historical buildings on the site of which three of them have manifested ghostly phenomena according to former employees who worked at the site. We continued our drive to Medina traveling though the backroads while admiring the foliage during our drive. We ended up at the Corkscrew Saloon where our group enjoyed a delicious meal. Once we finished our meal it was time to head for home. It was the end to a fantastic drive. I want to thank the club members who participated on the tour. I also want to give a big thank you to Mike & Lois Kerklo who provided valuable assistance in helping me put this tour together as well as providing the fresh donuts and acting as the sweep for our drive.
John James
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Bourbon Tour 9/ 8-12
Tour leaders: Beckman, Embree & Velardo
Due to scheduling conflicts and a case or two of covid we were down to just 8 members on this tour. We were disappointed that
many of our original sign-ups dropped out, but those of us remaining pushed on to tour distilleries, sample bourbon, watch the
barrel making process and eat good food. All in the company of great friends from our club. There are pictures in the October newsletter.
Rich Velardo
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September Mystery Tour 9/14
On Saturday, September 14 th ten Miatas met in the Target Parking lot off of North Aurora Road to begin our driving tour through Chagrin Falls and some of the backroads in Lake and Geauga Counties. Our drive took us on some nice windy roads through Chagrin Falls as well as Harris Farm Drive a classy residential townhome and condominium development. Driving along Geauga Lake Road also was a real treat for our group as we saw beautiful scenery and nice old country homes. Our drive took us through Chagrin River Road where we drove past the old polo grounds. We finally ended up at the Red Hawk Grille for a late lunch where the food was pretty good. After lunch all of us headed for home. I also want to give a big thank you to Greg Shelby who did this a drive using this same route two years ago. I was so impressed that I had to drive this route again.
John James
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Metro Parks Tour 9/4
Tour Leaders: Bill & Deb Heffern
We had 13 cars show up for our MetroParks tour on Wed. Sept 4. The weather was chilly in the morning, but turned into a beautiful day later on. As we all know, in Ohio, orange signs pop up like mushrooms, seemingly overnight. They did not disappoint us, as we had to make a detour around Gates Mills.
Lunch was held at Mary Yoder’s in Middlefield and then we drove up the road to Corner Field Model Railroad Museum. If you have any interest in model railroads, you should make the trip. It truly is an incredible set-up.
Thank you to Chuck Wolf, Tom and Barb Chew, Bob Haseley and Sandi Stowers for acting as group leaders and sweeps.
Bill & Deb Heffern __________________________________________________________________
Where’s Waldo 8/14
Tour Leader: Bill Titley
How far would you drive for a fried bologna sandwich? Bill Titley lead a tour of Mid Ohio’s back country roads to one of his favorite restaurants in Waldo, Ohio, G& R Tavern, (click for their website) featuring Bologna sandwiches & wonderful pies. For 16 members of the club, it was 99.5 miles from Wadsworth to the G & R Tavern in Waldo Ohio with wonderful weather, scenic roads, good company and a great mid afternoon “Linner”. at the G&R Tavern . After “Linner” participants headed home on their preferred routes. Plus now we know where Waldo is.
Bob Haseley & Chuck Wolf
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Hall of Fame Parades 7/21 & 8/3
Leader: Charles Jeff Swallow
7/21- Pro Football Hall of Fame Community Parade
8/3 – Pro Football Hall of Fame Grand Parade
To anyone who has interest in driving in Parades, I would like to pass on a few lessons learned. First, Sports cars with clutches are not fun to drive at slow speeds with many starts and stops along the way. Second, there is a lot of down time before the parade starts so bring your trusty fold up chair and water while they get you all lined up. And finally, the weather can be unpredictable, be prepared for harsh weather.
The journey to be accepted in the both parades was an arduous process. We dealt with both submission deadlines and a group of well-meaning volunteers who really didn’t know what our Miata’s role in the parades was going to be. I was called multiple times to confirm that people could or could not ride on my folded down convertible top. I confirmed they could not and was originally offered a place in the Community Parade on July 21st. Our two polished up Miata’s fell in line for the mile long trek along Market Street in Canton for what proved to be a perfect fit for us. I wrote a short script for our Club and Cascade Mazda and to my surprise they read it as we rolled by the cameras near downtown Canton.
Mission accomplished! We proceeded to Milk and Honey in Canton for lunch which we found very enjoyable along with sundaes.
I was told that since we couldn’t handle a passenger on our roofs we would not be invited to the Grand Parade. I was actually fine with that but to my surprise we were sent invitations to the Grand Parade along with passes to gain entrance. Upon arrival at 6:30 AM the morning of the Grand Parade we knew something was off. They didn’t have our names on the list, Uh-Oh! Well, they guided us in next to the fence where we enjoyed egg McMuffins and hash browns for breakfast until the parade kicked off at 8:00 AM. One by one the convertibles consisting mainly of Corvettes rode off with Hall of Famers and other Parade dignitaries. We did get close up and personal views of all the Hall of Famers and their families which we enjoyed. Finally, our names were called and we drove out the gate and got in line followed by cars who were not awarded passengers. The very nice woman who was the Parade Committee Chairperson told me we were in fact invited by mistake but would be permitted to drive the route at the end of the parade. Fair enough! As we dropped in line, we found the crowd more than fond of our rides. We actually heard many compliments and cheers from the crowd as we proceeded on the 2.5-mile trek Cleveland Avenue. Soon though we noticed some dark clouds to our west approaching rapidly. We had made it halfway through the route when a fireman approached and told us the lightning was detected and the HOF Parade was officially over. We drove the route for a bit until a police officer was kind enough to move a barricade so we could find our way to our lunch spot (Nathon’s Patio Grill) as the storm began dumping rain on the City of Canton.
I think I can speak for Joyce and I as well as Scott and Stephanie Boli in saying we enjoyed ourselves, but maybe this event isn’t something we’d like to try once again. We did get our club and Cascade Mazda some exposure in the in the Community Parade which made it all worthwhile.
Charles Jeff Swallow
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Mystery Tour 7/27
Tour Leader John James
Ten Miatas took an afternoon drive through some nice backroads that began in Cuyahoga Valley Park and ended up in Barberton, Ohio. The weather was great as we began our drive, and the traffic was very lite as we drove on curvy scenic roads on our way to Barberton. We ended up at the Belgrade Gardens for lunch, which is known as serving the best chicken in Barberton, Ohio. This restaurant known for its famous chicken dinners has been in operation since 1933. The Belgrade Gardens was initially started by Mike and Smilka Topalsky, who opened their farmhouse dining rooms to families who enjoyed old world cooking. Our group dined on some fantastic chicken, and the chicken paprikash and fried chicken was delicious. After lunch our group headed for home. I want to thank Mike and Lois Kerklo who acted as the sweep for the drive and the other members who participated on the tour. For those who interested, the Belgrade Gardens is located at 401 E. State St. Barberton, Ohio 44203.
John James
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Windy Road Tour 7/26
Tour Leaders: Chuck & Judy Wolf
We could not have asked for a more beautiful day to tour some of the country roads of Central Ohio. We met at Ernie’s Bike Shop in Massillon to start the drive. We drove some windy roads for about 2 hours, including a rest stop. The first part of the drive ended at lunch. The food was excellent at Mr Lee’s Family Restaurant in Cambridge, family owned for 65 years. After lunch most took the optional drive back, while a few opted to take a direct route home. We meet the nicest people in Miatas.
Chuck & Judy Wolf
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Club Picnic 7/20
On behalf of Deb & myself, we would like to thank Terry & Roseann Walls, Norm & Donna Anderson, Dave Antes, Bob Haseley and Sandi Stowers, for helping us with all of the peripherals that go along with putting on our annual picnic. Without volunteers jumping in to assist, it would be much more difficult to host a successful event!
We also want to thank all of our members for supplying various salads, appetizers and desserts that made the day successful! We hope everyone enjoyed their day at the park. There were 68 members in attendance and while no one took up the challenge to “De-throne” Doug Leavens as the club Horseshoe Champ, we did have some fun with “Trivial Pursuit”.
Thanks again for your participation. Until our next event!
Bill Heffern
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Grand Tour of Europe 6/29
Tour Leader Jeremy Cronin
On Saturday we did our “5 To Drive” Grand Tour of Europe (without ever leaving Ohio). Six participants in 4 cars met up at the Walkie Talkie coffee bar in Canton for the start of what was meant to be a 365 mile smorgasbord of twisty roads.
We started with visits to Paris and Lisbon along OH-172, took the OH-164 down to Amsterdam, then zigzagged our way down to Cadiz from where we detoured West in order to swoop back East to (new) Athens along OH-519. Next it was OH-149 and OH-800 down to Malaga, and then we followed OH-145, OH-26, and OH-78 (where a planning oversight of mine took us through some gravel roads) and finally the brilliant OH-536 down towards the Ohio River, where we had a planned lunch break at Marv’s Place in Sardis.
Unfortunately my Mazdaspeed decided to overheat 4 miles before we got down to the valley. We had to abandon it there to get cell signal to call the AAA while we ate lunch. After a lot of time on the phone and a lot of waiting for callbacks, AAA finally admitted that they had no solution to get me towed from where I was. At this point 2 cars continued on their own to enjoy the local roads while Dick Pahls kindly accompanied me to my car, which by now started up and ran normally. With the cabin heater on full and keeping it below 3000 rpm with very light throttle I managed to drive it all the way home to be checked out..
Although we didn’t get to complete the full route, we still did about 190 miles of twisties before lunch!
Keep your eyes open for another “5 to Drive” that I plan to do later this summer. There are more great roads down there that need to be driven!
Jeremy Cronin
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Covered Bridge Tour I & II 6/27 & 7/11
Tour Leaders: Bob and Ruth Noland
We couldn’t have asked for more beautiful weather for the 6/27 tour. The 7/11 tour day was cloudy and breezy to start, but got nicer as the day went on. Both tours were full, and followed the same route. We took some Miata friendly roads, drove past several wineries and distilleries (no we did not stop), and on to six bridges and one pedestrian bridge. We viewed the oldest, to the longest in the USA, and the most recently renovated. We drove thru as many as we could, and stopped when possible to take a closer look and of course take some pictures. The 60 mile tours both ended at Becker’s Restaurant in Ashtabula, which everyone seemed to enjoy. Thanks to everyone who joined us, especially our sweeps, Mike and Lo Kerklo and Bob and Diane Wido.
Bob and Ruth Noland
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Snyder’s Antique Autos Tour 6/8
Tour Leader Ron Otte
The day started off from the Get Go in Ravenna under sunny skies and warm temperatures. There were 7 Miatas and Greg was the sweep. The group arrived on time at the Snyder Museum in New Springfield, Ohio and was greeted by Doug Dienkel. With a lot of ooh’s and ahh’s the group meandered through 2 separate buildings of about 100 antique cars on display. Many were from the drag racings’ golden years era of the 60’s and 70’s. Greg was one of those reliving his years of drag and street racing of his youth.
We regrouped and took a leisurely drive to Beaver Creek Park for a brief time to enjoy some shade before taking a short drive to lunch at Shale Grill in Lisbon, OH.
Looking Down the Road
Ron Otte
Greg & Judy Selby
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Ice cream Tour 6/12
Tour Leaders: Doug 7 Carol Leavens and Bill Titley
We had 13 cars arrive for a 1-1/2 hour drive through Medina back roads to Mt Eaton. Then we headed east on Hwy 250 and then Hwy 212 to Bolivar for a “gourmet lunch” at Big Mac. Bill Titley joined us for lunch and lead us on some great back roads east of Bolivar arriving at Deersville about an hour later for the best ice cream in the state. Two cars had minor mechanical problems but got home safely (but did miss ice cream). Things got a little more exciting after we departed for home, One car was almost T-boned on Hwy 212 by a truck that must have mistakenly thought that bulk equaled right of way, but the evasive Miata escaped, and I just missed a deer by a few yards. A couple other cars also saw an overturned car, but most had an uneventful drive home.
Overall, we all had a great time
Doug and Carol Leavens
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Meet up with West Penn Miata Club 6/1
Our first meet up with the West Penn Miata Club went very well. There were 8 cars from our club that left Hinckley and drove to Dalton as a group and 1 car that met us there. West Penn pulled in about five minutes after we arrived, with 10 cars.
To promote interaction between both clubs, couples from each club were paired together for lunch at the Dutch Kitchen in Dalton. This worked out great as we found we had more in common than anyone would have thought.
After lunch, we made a stop at the Smucker’s store to look at the many food products and wares that they had on display for purchase. We then drove east on Rt. 30 for Ice Cream in Dalton. Of the 19 cars we started with, there were still about 16 left at the Ice Cream shop. After getting our fill of the sweet stuff. Everyone began to depart for home, with good memories. Hopefully this can become an annual event between our clubs.
Bill Heffern
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Picnic in the Park, 5/30
Tour leaders: Bill & Deb Heffern
What a beautiful day for a picnic! Full sun and blue sky, however the North wind kept temps in the mid 60’s, or colder if you sat in the shade.
We had 16 cars show up for our drive through the Metroparks, eventually leading us to “The Meadows” in the Brecksville Reservation for a picnic. As everyone brought their own lunch, there were no complaints about the food or the service.
Our trip through the Metroparks was not without it’s construction detours. The first was a moving target as one section was closed going into the meeting area, but open when we left, 30 minutes later, to be relocated a mile down the road. However, the highlight of the day was construction area #2 in Berea where the detour took us through a corner gas station parking lot. Never a dull moment on our tours. Next time we’ll try to find a bank or drug store to “Cruise”
After finishing lunch, we proceeded onto the second half of our day, ending up at Country Maid Ice Cream, in Richfield.
Thank you members who came along for the ride and thanks to my co-leaders and sweeps for your help! Doug & Carol Leavens, Mike & Lo Kerklo and Chuck Wolf.
Bill Heffern
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Deals Gap 5/12 -5/18
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Freeze Your Butt Off Tour 4/27/24
Tour Leaders: Mike & Lo Kerklo
The Miata ” weather gods ” blessed us with lovely weather for the start of this year’s FYBO Tour- our 26 th year ! It was so awesome to watch Miata after Miata cruise into the parking lot to line up for the start of the drive. Directions were handed out, driver’s meeting was held and the first group of four headed out for Amish country.
Spring’s arrival was very apparent, with the farmland freshly plowed and red bud and daffodils showing their beautiful new colors for us to enjoy. All the groups arrived at Der Dutchman Restaurant as planned – thankfully, no issues came up. Lunch was ordered and we all settled down to enjoy a wonderful meal and visit with fellow Miata members.
Thank you to our trusty leaders – John & Jeanne Embree , Doug & Carol Leavens , Chuck & Judy Wolf and us. Sweeps Bill & Deb Hefferon, Tony Oriti & Jackie Molina , John James , Bob Haseley & Sandi Stowers – we could not have done it without you all !
Thank you, Mike & Lo
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Think Spring Party 4/6/24
Hosts: Doug & Carol Leavens
Spring party at our home. We had a great turn out. 44 close Miata friends turn out to celebrate the start of Miata drives. All the food was great and very few leftovers. We are all looking forward to a great driving season
Doug and Carol Leavens
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Leroy Engineering 3/2/24
Tour Leader: Tom Walden
We met at Leroy Engineering for a tour of the facility, the cars, and a presentation by Jonathan Staggs, VP of Leroy Engineering. During the tour, we saw several of the Miata’s prepared for the upcoming autocross season as well as Miatas undergoing various modifications.
Following the tour, Jonathan gave a presentation about modifying your Miata and a general overview of suspension systems and how they relate to your car’s handling. Following is a brief summary of his presentation, and a more detailed summary is available on the In The Garage page on our website.
Most important before starting to modify your Miata is to decide what you want: a street car, a car for sporty driving on twisty back roads, an occasional autocross car or a full race car. But those are not progressive steps in modifying your car, but each is an appropriate target for your car based on what you want and where and how you will drive it. Then plan out the modifications so nothing has to be redone – have each step build on the previous steps.
Alignment, suspension, and tires are factors that determine how your car reacts with the road and responds to your driving style. As a general rule the first modification should probably be a good alignment. Next step can be tires appropriate for your desired driving experience. From there you can look at suspension upgrades such as sway bars, and shocks / springs, or coil overs. The objective is improving the efficiency of the contact between the tires and the road so the car is predictable and responds how you want.
Maybe somewhat surprising, probably the last thing that is needed is engine power upgrades, the stock Miata engine has enough power for most applications.
The most important objective is for any modifications to improve the fun factor when driving your car regardless of the level of modifications.
We enjoyed pizza and soft drinks during the presentation, and Jonathan answered many questions.
Tom Walden
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AWD Matteo’s 2/29
Hosts: Doug & Carol Leavens and Lo & Mike Kerklo
We had the AWD at Matteo’s restaurant in Olmsted Falls on Feb 29th. There were 28 in attendance in the upstairs private room. Friends started to arrive around 6.15 and chatted with everyone till about 7pm when we ordered dinner. Dinner came out hot and delicious. It was a great time enjoyed by all. Thanks to all who attended’
Mike and Lois Kerklo
Doug and Carol Leavens
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AWD Danny Boy’s 2/8
Hosts: Bill & Deb Heffern
On Thursday, Feb. 8th, Deb and I sponsored an AWD at Danny Boys, in Broadview Heights. We had 27 attendees and some wonderful comments on the food and service. Danny Boys set us up in our own section of the restaurant with an additional table to accommodate our Birthday Cake! John Volchko graciously provided us with a cake from Michaelangelo’s Bakery to surprise his wife Donna, on her Birthday. It was a great ending to a nice evening with club members! Thank you to all who attended and to the Volchko’s for dessert!
Bill & Deb Heffern