Dear SCNA Members,
This summer, like many recent summers for me, has
included miles of driving Saabs around different parts of the
country. In early July, I flew into Dallas to pick up a 40K 9-3
SS for a friend back home in Boston. I then drove to Denver,
where I joined members of the Rocky Mountain Saab
Club in preparing for SOC 2019 in Loveland. While some
volunteers and board members were getting ready for the
convention, I took a ride in my 9000 up to Sturgis, SD to join Tom and Patti Donney at the Saab Heritage Car Museum USA for a day of helping out followed by an evening dinner right inside the museum. There was a
great turnout, with over 100 people for dinner, including Peter Bäckström from the Saab Museum in Sweden and Tim Colbeck from Orio, who marked the occasion by matching the donations, doubling the amount Tom and Patti received to go towards the many projects at the museum.
We left Sturgis on Thursday morning on our way to Loveland, where SCNA and RMSC worked together to organize a memorable SOC at the wonderful Embassy Suites facility. Thanks to the help of Jerry Danner, we were able to negotiate use of the adjacent parking lot to allow people to drive his storied “reverse steering” 900, and to stage our group photo with the mountains and beautiful if not slightly menacing Colorado sky in the background. We had over 30 Viggens on hand, and almost 200 cars at the height of the convention, proving that Saab owners continue to travel from near and far to attend SOC. In addition to the strong vehicle turnout, this year brought an increase in sponsorship participation by independent shops and parts suppliers across the country.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the volunteers who helped out at SOC, and especially my fellow SCNA board members, who put in many hours both before and
after the convention to make sure that everything went as smoothly as possible.
Speaking of the annual Saab Owners’ Convention, I am pleased to announce that we are in final negotiations with a hotel near Albany, NY, to host our next SOC, July 16-19 2020. We have narrowed down our search, including some sites that we have held SOC at before, so check saabclub. com for our most recent updates. My hope is that, over the next year, we are able to announce the dates and locations of future SOCs, including a special Saab Owners’ Convention in Sturgis!.
