Car Enthusiasts
The Car Enthusiast group meets to discuss past and present changes to automotive styles, features, and advancements. We also take Rally Drives, have Poker Runs, and just enjoy each other’s love for automotive history. Our events also include local trips to car shows and other automotive related venues.
We meet in at Round Table Clubhouse Pizza, 2960 Treat Blvd. Concord, CA (corner of Treat and Oak Grove) @ 12:30. Arrive a little early to get your food and drink ordered prior to the meeting. Meetings last about an hour. Come join us and see what Car Enthusiasts is all about.
Round Table Pizza Meeting Room
2960 Treat Blvd.
Concord, CA
Chairman: Chick Lowry
Clowry2845@gmail.com
925-932-4886
Asst. Chairman: Tom Hodgson
tomehodgson1945@gmail.com
925-818-1533
Scroll down to see event schedules, reports and photo:
April 2025
Car Enthusiasts are ramping up the fun as our event schedule delivery improves. The group participated in the Sonoma Speed Tour on Saturday, April 26th and went even with threatening showers. The Car Show, Racing events and specialty vendor displays promised an excellent opportunity to enjoy “all things Car.” Special thanks go to Sir Ray Pixton for taking the leadership role for the event as I was unable to attend this one.
Our planned Driving Simulation event scheduled for May 6th will be rescheduled as CE member schedules changed enough to prevent us from reserving a private party session with unlimited access to the simulator machines. An alternate date in May will be selected and we will go have some fun.
We have 12 members and partners signed up for the May 24th “Rail Explorer” event in Amador County where we will travel the countryside in an electrically powered rail cart (you need to pedal to activate the battery powered motor) on rails used during the gold rush era. We will stay overnight in accommodations available in the Jackson, Sutter Creek, Ione Triangle, and Angels Camp. Lodging was a bit difficult to acquire as the holiday weekend was highly booked. The 2 hour ride should be an exciting adventure. A group dinner will be scheduled as part of the event. My hope is we will see a few more members join the event.
June was going to Include participation in the LDL festivities but, it has been modified to be only a December Holiday activity. We do however; have a CE Rally Drive Event scheduled for Saturday, June 21st. A drive though the Livermore Valley on Mines Road which will include a luncheon stop at the drive’s completion. These events have proven to be a truly enjoyable adventure for CE members and guests. Come join us for the fun. Contact Tom Hodgson or myself to be included.
The next CE meeting will be Tuesday, May 6th, at 1 PM. We will meet in at Round Table Clubhouse Pizza, 2960 Treat Blvd. Concord, CA (corner of Treat and Oak Grove). Arrive a little early to get your food and drink ordered prior to the meeting. Meetings last about an hour. Come join us and see what Car Enthusiasts is all about.
If interested in joining the Car Enthusiasts Activity, please contact Chick or Tom as noted below.
Activity Chair – Chick Lowry – Clowry2845@gmail.com
Assistant Chair -Tom Hodgson – tomehodgson1945@gmail.com
March 2025
Car Enthusiasts visited the Blackhawk Museum’s Auto collection on Saturday, March
15th and enjoyed the best auto show event we have experienced in some time. We
started out with the expectation we would be in a tour-it-yourself mode as the early tour
start excluded us from having a scheduled docent guide through the collection. By a
stroke of fate, we met a gentleman named Tim passing through the auditorium
preparing himself for a tour he would deliver the next day. He was off the clock, but he
spent almost 2 hours sharing back stories and details of the many cars on display. It
was outstanding. We spent so much time in the auto collection venue that we will need
to return to the museum at a future time to view the additional collection exhibits.
Many of our members had additional schedule commitments and could not continue on
to lunch so my two newest CE members joined me for a BBQ lunch at Hazy BBQ in
Alamo and we got an opportunity to get to know each other better. Overall the outing
was a great success.
The next CE adventure is Saturday, April 26th – Sonoma Speed Tour at Sonoma
Raceway. Admission cost is $35 per person, We could car pool to save on parking ($30
per car) fees and the number of vehicles required to make the trip. If tickets are
purchased in advance we save $10 per entry ticket. More details will be provided to you
if you have an interest in joining us. Contact Tom or myself for info.
Our plan to visit the Driving Simulator venue has been changed to Tuesday, May 6th
as the venue location has moved from Concord to San Ramon. Estimated cost per
driver is $45 in addition to No host lunch costs. Event details are yet to be completed so
if you are interested, please contact Tom or myself to be included.
The next CE meeting will be Tuesday, April 1st, at 1 PM. We will meet in at Round
Table Clubhouse Pizza, 2960 Treat Blvd. Concord, CA (corner of Treat and Oak
Grove). Arrive a little early to get your food and drink ordered prior to the meeting.
Meetings last about an hour. Come join us and see what Car Enthusiasts is all about.
If interested in joining the Car Enthusiasts Activity, please contact Chick or Tom as
noted below.
Activity Chair – Chick Lowry – Clowry2845@gmail.com
Assistant Chair -Tom Hodgson – tomehodgson1945@gmail.com
February 2025
Car Enthusiasts have had a slow start this year due to problems with setting event dates and venues to visit. We now have an agreed upon schedule that has target dates following member survey submission. Our program for the year will be posted on our web page. Have a look and see if there is an event you are interested in participating. Better yet, come to a monthly meeting and see what we are all about.
The next CE event will be a visit to The Blackhawk Automotive Museum in Danville. We have been there once before but the venue has changed significantly.
When: Saturday, March 15th (Meet at on the entry plaza at 10:30 AM)
Duration: We will require at least 2 Hours to view the various exhibits. (efforts to obtain a docent to guide us will be made but not guaranteed)
Cost: $15 per person (Seniors) Pay at the door.
Free parking
We will visit a local restaurant for a NO Host lunch following the museum tour. (restaurant choice is yet to be determined at the time this article was written)
Please contact either Tom or I if you wish to attend so we can plan for group size.
Our annual year long schedule will be posted on the CE webpage. Days listed and venues are always subject to change due to weather, member schedules, and just changes in general, as it is a dynamic document. Give us a call if you find an opportunity to join us.
There is an event each month during the year and we have a couple of overnight travel type events planned. Have a look and see if there is one you like.
The next CE meeting will be Tuesday, March 4th, at 1 PM. We will meet in at Round Table Clubhouse Pizza, 2960 Treat Blvd. Concord, CA (corner of Treat and Oak Grove). Arrive a little early to get your food and drink ordered prior to the meeting. Meetings last about an hour. Come join us and see what Car Enthusiasts is all about.
If interested in joining the Car Enthusiasts Activity, please contact Chick or Tom as noted below.
Activity Chair – Chick Lowry – Clowry2845@gmail.com
Assistant Chair -Tom Hodgson – tomehodgson1945@gmail.com
January 2025
Car Enthusiasts met in January to attempt a completion of the 2025 event schedule. Unfortunately, we were missing some key players of the activity so the attempt did not result with an approved schedule. I am preparing a survey of possible events that can be used to complete the schedule at the February meeting.
Some of the suggestions discussed in January include:
- Overnight travel trip to Amador County (Ione/Jackson area) to tour the countryside via self powered (pedal) rail car with an electric motor assist. I’m looking into how much actual human power is required to propel the vehicle. Rail Explorers might be an outstanding adventure.
- Another trip to consider is to Redding, CA to attend the Kool April Nights Car Show. A truly overwhelming event that spans 10 days (we would pick a one day, two night) period for the visit.
- Another suggestion was the 29th Toyotafest in Long Beach with a combined Rally Drive to get there and back. More effort will be required to make this idea work.
Local possibilities:
- Classic Car Racing at Sonoma Raceway is coming in April. Ray Pixton is looking into how we might make this event happen.
- The Silicon Valley Auto Show in San Jose is a possibility for February on Feb 21st.
- The Fuelfest Car Show at the Alameda County Fairgrounds is an event we haven’t visited in the past. It occurs in May on Saturday, the 31st.
- Two Rally drives are proposed for 2025 one in April another in October before the rains. Locations TBD as the year progresses.
- Our Annual Poker Run will be staged again in June. We will make it a little less difficult to find the check points this year.
- I am looking into a driving simulator activity that allows members to virtually drive various Race Facilities. The event location is in the same shopping center where we meet monthly.
- Monster Jam (monster truck show) will get a repeat visit if we can find an outside location as the indoor event is kinda Ho-Hum. More review for this event will be required.
- The Blackhawk Museum in Danville and the Stock Car Races in Antioch are also possibilities.
- We will also attend various local car shows over the summertime months giving members an opportunity to fit them into busy schedules.
We hope to attend all the various Branch 8 events like Ladies Day Luncheons, Oktoberfest, and our own CE Holiday Luncheon/Dinner event in December. We have an abundance of suggestions and will determine which ones the group wants to pursue. We kind of missed our January event opportunity due to my delay in getting the line up ready before our 2025 start.
The next CE meeting will be Tuesday, February 4th, 2025 at 1 PM. We will meet in at Round Table Clubhouse Pizza, 2960 Treat Blvd. Concord, CA (corner of Treat and Oak Grove). Arrive a little early to get your food and drink ordered prior to the meeting. Meetings last about an hour. Come join us and see what Car Enthusiasts is all about.
If interested in joining the Car Enthusiasts Activity, please contact Chick or Tom as noted below.
Activity Chair – Chick Lowry – Clowry2845@gmail.com
Assistant Chair -Tom Hodgson – tomehodgson1945@gmail.com
Click on the link below to view the 2024 schedule of events:
https://www.sirbr8.com/wp-content/uploads/activities/Car-enthusiasts-event-schedule-2024.xlsx
November 2024
The SF international Car Show outing planned for the end of November looked like a slam dunk for our Car Enthusiasts. However, as luck would have it the annual SF event was cancelled by its sponsors. Our planned event went into the tank in similar fashion to multiple others this year. The few we did successfully deliver were excellent so, looking back, it was still a good year for CE members.
We will have a full table for the Branch LDL event AND our annual end of year Holiday Celebration is reserved and ready for some group enjoyment.
We have 30 members and partners signed up for the celebration event. This year’s event is a little different as we will be attending a catered, “buffet style,” celebration in a clubhouse, where two CE members reside, to enjoy a quiet evening meal. The noise in a restaurant that makes hearing each other in normal conversation will not be a factor. The change in formatting has a few additional items that a restaurant would provide, and we will need to perform ourselves, however, performing them will not discourage us as the cost difference between the quiet venue and the restaurant is significant. If it all goes well, we might repeat it next year.
Our November planning meeting was a little light on attendance and we didn’t get an event schedule put together for 2025. We need some special events for 2025 as it is our 10th anniversary as a Branch 8 Activity. The effort to get things planned and scheduled will have to be completed in January as we do not meet in December. Too many schedule distractions to meet all CE members’ needs.
Our CE members plan to enjoy the coming Happy-Merry-Holidays and send the same wishes to all our Branch8 members. Enjoy your Holiday time with family and friends, and Happy Motoring…
The next CE meeting will be Tuesday, January 7th, 2025 at 1 PM. We will meet in at Round Table Clubhouse Pizza, 2960 Treat Blvd. Concord, CA (corner of Treat and Oak Grove). Arrive a little early to get your food and drink ordered prior to the meeting. Meetings last about an hour. Come join us and see what Car Enthusiasts is all about.
October 2024
Car Enthusiasts took a minor break during October enjoying only a couple of events. The monthly meeting was focused on planning for our end of year holiday celebration. The costs for a return to previous celebrations came in with some new criteria making a return to previous locations not possible. The group re-thought the plan and elected to go with a new location for a quiet, buffet rather than the typical cut-in-paste restaurant experience. The decision to do this type event was made via a survey and the “majority rules” process took place. We currently have 29 CE members committing to attending.
The planning for the event is a little more complicated and requires a bit more time.
A couple of CE members attended a car show in Vallejo at the Waterfront Green Festival and reported a nice display of vehicles. I was not available for the event, but feedback from others confirmed a nice show. Eight CE members also enjoyed the Sir Branch 8 Oktoberfest. Great weather this year, another successful Branch event.
We also set the details for the Friday, November 29th outing to SF to attend the San Francisco International Auto Show at Moscone Center. We will BART to SF about 9:15 AM, take in the show and find a lunch either in SF or return to WC for a late lunch near home. Cost for the show, a BART Senior fare and a $10 entry to the show. No host Lunch.
Our November monthly CE meeting will be a planning session for next year’s activities and events. If you thinking about joining, come to the meeting and make some suggestions on where you might want to go in 2025.
The next CE meeting will be Tuesday, November 5th, at 1 PM. We will meet in at Round Table Clubhouse Pizza, 2960 Treat Blvd. Concord, CA (corner of Treat and Oak Grove). Arrive a little early to get your food and drink ordered prior to the meeting. Meetings last about an hour. Come join us and see what Car Enthusiasts is all about.
If interested in joining the Car Enthusiasts Activity, please contact Chick or Tom as noted below.
Happy Motoring…
Activity Chair – Chick Lowry – Clowry2845@gmail.com
Assistant Chair -Tom Hodgson – tomehodgson1945@gmail.com
September 2024
September was an exceptional month for Car Enthusiasts. We had not attended an actual car show for some time and we ended up attempting three in a week’s time.
The first was a late August (8/31) trip to Woodlands, CA for the first ever Northern California Toyotafest where Bob Weiss was showing his 1993 Toyota MR2. Seven CE members made the trip and were treated to a little different type of show. The typical mix of vehicles was small compared to the large number of off road trucks and SUV’s. Some very focused specialty vehicles were on display, some 4 wheelers outfitted with two transfer cases could travel at ½ MPH allowing them to travel over some very rough, steep terrain. Other vehicles were set up to “Glamper Camp” with full kitchen components and sleeping facilities that would also allow off road travel. Wheels and tires that were hard to believe were even available for such travel. A quick “gut bomb” at Jack-in-the-Box on the trip home finished the day early.
The second outing was a evening adventure where we started with dinner at Maguey’s Mexican Restaurant in Alamo followed by a really good car show right across the street. A very diverse display of vehicles from the usual classics to new specialty vehicles like C8 Corvettes, Bentleys, Lamborghinis and a Rolls Royce that costs more than the average person can afford. There was also a 1916 motorcycle (motorbike) that had a great history story and the guy who owned it rode it to the show. We had a turnout of 14 for this one.
The third show was the Orinda Classic Car Show at Orinda Village. The CE attendance for this one was minimal as the guys were pretty scheduled out by this time. Not all CE members attended every show so there was still something for everyone. I’m not certain who actually attended as I was among the missing for this one. Family stuff had to happen instead.
The valuable lesson learned: ”DON’T ATTEMPT THREE EVENTS” in the first week of a month. The actual CE schedule only had one event planned. The other two were spur-of-the-moment happenings and we got through it pretty well. However, we will return to the normal planning thru the end of the year.
The next scheduled event is “Oktoberfest” on Oct. 17th, Noon to 4:00 PM at Cowell Park in Concord. We also may try to get yet another car show in the month if the members want to go for it. We’ll decide at our next monthly meeting.
The next CE meeting will be Tuesday, October 1st, at 1 PM. We will meet in at Round Table Clubhouse Pizza, 2960 Treat Blvd. Concord, CA (corner of Treat and Oak Grove). Arrive a little early to get your food and drink ordered prior to the meeting. Meetings last about an hour. Come join us and see what Car Enthusiasts is all about.
If interested in joining the Car Enthusiasts Activity, please contact Chick or Tom as noted below.
Happy Motoring…
September Event and Meeting Schedule
Our next adventure will occur on Saturday, September 7th visiting the Orinda Classic Car Show in downtown Orinda. A breakfast will precede the show and we will observe the vehicles starting around 10:00 AM. If you would like to join us, call me (932-4886) and let me now so I can include you in the list of participants and provide additional details.
The next CE meeting will be Tuesday, September 3rd, at 1 PM. We will meet in at Round Table Clubhouse Pizza, 2960 Treat Blvd. Concord, CA (corner of Treat and Oak Grove). Arrive a little early to get your food and drink ordered prior to the meeting. Meetings last about an hour. Come join us and see what Car Enthusiasts is all about.
If interested in joining the Car Enthusiasts Activity, please contact Chick or Tom.
Happy Motoring…
August 2024 Event Report
Car Enthusiasts made the trip to Angels Camp on August 15th as planned, arriving at the Angels Camp WorldMark Resort about 4;30 PM. We gathered in the resort Rec Room to discuss all that would take place over the weekend. We agreed to a Mexican dinner at a local restaurant for the 1st night’s meal.
On Friday, seven couples enjoyed a docent lead tour of the Angels Camp Museum covering 1800’s Medical History of the California gold rush era (a new exhibit), the Carriage House (with many gold rush period vehicles), and the industrial exhibit that showed what difficult times the miners, farmers and family members dealt with during that period. Many tools and tasks required a wide variety of tools and appliances on display. The Carriage exhibit was the favorite with an extremely knowledgeable guide that had us all listening closely. He had an amusing way in delivering the history lesson for the materials displayed.
Friday evening we enjoyed a hospitality hour prior to our planned dinner. The group had time to visit and catch up on what everyone was doing outside of the CE adventures. Many thanks to Gay Laaback for organizing the appetizers brought by CE members, they truly looked inviting. Following that gathering we headed to the Murphy’s Hotel Restaurant, in Murphy’s and had a great dining experience. The food was excellent and our server was both attentive, prompt, and had a great sense of humor and helped make it a wonderful evening.
Some of our CE members only stayed two nights, but managed to stay long enough to participate in the Saturday, Calaveras Big Trees State Park visit. We walked the 1.5 mile loop through the heart of the North Grove and looked in awe at the biggest, tallest, most beautiful trees on earth. They can live for more than 3,000 years and have survived multiple fire experiences, a nice extra for the event.
Sunday, the remaining CE members headed home at check-out time. The overall event was exceptional.
August Meeting Report
The next CE meeting will be Tuesday, August 6th at 1 PM. We will meet in at Round Table Clubhouse Pizza, 2960 Treat Blvd. Concord, CA (corner of Treat and Oak Grove). Arrive a little early to get your food and drink ordered prior to the meeting. Meetings last about an hour. Come join us and see what Car Enthusiasts is all about.
If interested in joining the Car Enthusiasts Activity, please contact any of the folks listed below.
Happy Motoring…
Activity Chair – Chick Lowry – Clowry2845@gmail.com
Assistant Chairs:
Tom Mohrman – mustangtpm@gmail.com
Bill Koski – billkos36@comcast.net
Tom Hodgson – tomehodgson1945@gmail.com
July Event and Meeting Report-
Car Enthusiasts had such a great turnout for the May Rally Drive we plan to do another again on Friday, July 26th. We will travel the back roads to Calistoga for a leisurely drive to a BBQ lunch at Buster’s BBQ, a local restaurant in town.
At this writing there are 7 CE members plus their diving companions signed up to go. I’m certain there will be more as the date gets closer. The weather forecast is projected to be cooler by Friday, so a good day for a drive.
We have added two new members to the CE family. Gary Palhegi and Cobb Bennett will be having fun soon as they join in the various events we have planned. Nice to have you both in our group.
The event schedule for the remainder of the year is now official and is posted on the CW webpage, so have a look and see if there is something scheduled that you would like to join us.
The next CE meeting will be Tuesday, July 2nd at 1 PM. We will meet in at Round Table Clubhouse Pizza, 2960 Treat Blvd. Concord, CA (corner of Treat and Oak Grove). Arrive a little early to get your food and drink ordered prior to the meeting. Meetings last about an hour. The next event in July is another Rally Drive. Come join us and see what Car Enthusiasts is all about.
June 2024 Event and Meeting Report
Car enthusiasts held this year’s Annual Poker Run on Friday, June 21st. There were 8 drivers and navigators participating. Nineteen CE members, spouses and friends gathered for lunch and awards at a secret restaurant where participants discover the location only after deciphering the location clue obtained at the last Checkpoint.
There were 8 checkpoints to visit in the Lafayette/Walnut Creek area. At the checkpoints, participants had to answer an automotive themed question and with a correct answer then draw a card for their 5 best of 8 card poker hand. An automotive knowledge quiz was given at the Sun Valley Mall starting point and there were cash awards for both the quiz and the best poker hand delivered at the end of the event.
Ray Pixton was the winner of the Quiz with a perfect score of 8 out of 8 possible answers, taking a 25% share of the pot. Jim Sowell found himself holding a King High Full House at the end of the event to win the remaining jackpot amount. A fun event was enjoyed and winners had a good return on the $10 entry fee. Some of the drivers/navigators had a little trouble with the location clues and were helped along with phone contact instructions. At the finish, we dined at Rocco’s Restaurant in Walnut Creek and wrapped up at about 3 PM.
Recent event photos:
Calaveras Trip – August 2024
June 19, 2024
L to R, myself, Elaine Lowry, Jim Sowell, Dave Sutton and Andree (hidden), Ray Pixton, Dick Wade (Br 146) Susan and Bob Weiss
Dennis Meirzwa, Chris Wehling, Peter Shapiro, Bob McMains and Ish, Connie hodgson, and Rob Laaback
L to R. Dave Sutton and Andree, Jim Sowell, myself, Ray Pixton, Chris Wehling (hidden) Dennis Mirezwa
Too many to ID, folks getting instructions and discussing their quiz answers. event about to begin
Last updated 02/22/2025 by MLF
