Happy New Year one and all! For those that kindly asked, no Santa did not leave the keys to my new Golf GTi under the Christmas tree...surely an oversight which I hope he will rectify next year! Hope you had a good Christmas and are now raring to go on car prep for the forthcoming Speed Season.

Our own Speed League kicks off in April and the time will pass quickly, (especially when you have some particularly tricky preparation to get on with). So we can at least help you a little this month, because you will find the 7Oaks Speed League 2005 regulations and calendar printed within these pages. A loose Registration Form is included for you to complete and return to Karen Webber.

We would like to once again thank Jon Miles of Verdant and Ric Lee of Storguard for agreeing to sponsor the Speed League again in 2005.

That leads me nicely onto the 2004 Awards Dinner, Saturday February 5th at Hadlow Manor. Hopefully you will have already sent your application form into Viv Elcomb and tickets should be winging their way to you along with a form to return regarding meal preferences. If you haven’t booked yet, then look out that form in last month’s Acorn or download it off the cub’s website (it is there now, Ian Crocker told me so).

All the award winners should have by now received a letter from Chin congratulating them on their achievements and informing them which award will be theirs to pick up. In Acorn this month, Chin has given me all the points tables for publication and your perusal.

Lots of bits and pieces to look at this month including adverts for marshalling opportunities, forthcoming events of all kinds (please put these dates in your diaries). The Competition Calendar has been brought forward to page 6 this time, as there are lots of event dates for you to choose from over the coming months.

You will also find regs for our forthcoming PCT on 13th March and a loose entry form is also included in Acorn for that. Ian Crocker will also be putting these up on the website shortly.

Our sprint at North Weald on 10th April is beginning to take shape with the various organisational jobs being shared out at last month’s committee meeting. I decided to make my first foray into the organisational side of our sport by volunteering to be the Entry Secretary for this. This is something I have wanted to do for a long time but have not been able to set aside the time. As I am shortly stepping down from my PTA commitments, the time is right(ish) to have a go at a new challenge. It seemed like a good idea at committee with everyone smiling encouragingly, but I am breaking out into a mild panic at the thought of it. So I will be re-reading Mark Dawson’s Compost article on behind the scenes organisation, (you may remember I reproduced this article in one of last year’s Acorns as part of the tributes to Mark). I also know that I will have back up from the other members of the team if I get stuck. That is one of the wonderful things about this club, you know that any one of a number of experienced members will have an answer and offer advice and support when needed.

This leads me on beautifully to a mention of our February social night. Back by popular demand, we will be holding a New Competitors’ and Championships’ night. We are hoping that lots of you will come along to The Bell at Kemsing, to share info and offer advice of every aspect of our sport. We would like both experienced members and the newbies to join us from about 8.30pm. From feedback we had after last year, many of the newer members gained much from the evening, as it was well attended last year and we would like to repeat this support again.

Looking forward to seeing you at Hadlow Manor.