Another Year of the Sunbeam has passed, as we now enter 2001. And the Club has continued to mature and develop. Looking back on the year, there are some highlights worthy of mention. Early in 2000, the membership voted to make significant changes to the governance of TE/AE by updating and changing the By-Laws. This was a massive effort by the Board and Officers to develop the proposal that you voted on and I thank everyone for their help. We now have the election of our Board of Directors (as just completed; the results will be published in the next Rootes Review) and the ability for Elected Officers to serve up to four consecutive terms.

We developed and published a superb website (www.teae.org) with the tireless contributions of Donna and Jim D' Amelio. To make the paying of our dues easier for all our members, we just recently implemented a system to allow for the payment of membership dues over the website. And there is more to come!

We had a seamless transition of Editors for the Rootes Review from John Webber to Jim Anderson, never missing an edition or even a publishing date. And we had another faultless transition of the membership duties from John Logan, Sr. to T. J. Higgins. My thanks to the outgoing and incoming folks for all their contributions.

TE/AE had absolutely the most outstanding events across the board. Topping the list has to be Tom Ehrhart's Pennsylvania Region BASH. Drive-in movie, fireworks, car show, balloon rides and chase, and on and on. Truly spectacular! The SOS in Birmingham, the Crab Feast in the Chesapeake Region and all the other Regional events provided great opportunities for our members to get together, talk, drive and live Sunbeaming.

Our Annual United was, once again, a smashing success. Robert Jaarsma and a team of dedicated members put on one heck of a show in Portland, ME. Outstanding weather added to the great events and camaraderie. A good time was had by all! For this United, we developed a more formalized Concours procedure (as adapted from the SUNI III system) for more consistent judging and better feedback to the participants that was well received.

We saw our membership stay relatively flat for the year. The club membership held steady at about 700 members. We did have to implement a dues increase during the year as newsletter publishing costs had risen over a period of years. Our treasury is now strong and the Club is solid and stable entering 2001.

Looking forward into 2001, we are already well along in the planning for the United to be held October 4-7 in St. Louis, MO. Ranney Dohogne and Byron Golfin are planning the Co-Chairmen and are planning a full spectrum of interesting activities for all of us. Mark those calendars!

This month's update on the 347-stroker motor and 5-speed project is pretty minimal. I continue to gather parts and will be starting the actual work soon. The salt and sand have already hit the highways here in New England and it will be April before the car leaves the garage again, so I have plenty of time. More next month.

May you and your families have a great 2001 !

Jim Morrison