May Day, May Day....... We need help with the Andrews 30th Annual Open house June 14th! Several of you have offered up your services, however, more assistance is required! Remember, the entire fairground complex has been rented for the day, and the club is sponsoring the concours and the track event, so jump on the good 'ol bandwagon with your SAAB buddies! Also, don't forget the fact that you still have six weeks to get your vintage SAAB prepared for this great event!

The April meeting was an enjoyable one with the usually delightful conversation, and the fun to watch video of Tom Donney's old two-stroke Sonett collection. We also discussed the upcoming events including Andrews open house, the Intermarque car show, and the second annual Mississippi SAAB Tour. Several of us also enjoyed a hearty breakfast the morning of April 12th before we embarked upon an adventure in cleaning up some of the most interestingly littered ditches in Goodhue county! Go, team!

For the May meeting, club member Hunt Russell will be sharing a powerpoint presentation with us on the fun-filled three year journey in restoring a lovely, yellow, '72 Sonett. This will be quite a treat, as there are lots of pics, and stories to tell! Maybe this will inspire some of you to begin your own SAAB projects........

Breaking news........ SAAB reports the best sales month ever! Sales of 4,967 new vehicles topped SAAB's previous US sales record , sending year-to-date sales in SAAB's largest market up 26%. Arrival of the new 210 hp variant of the all-new 9-3 sport sedan drove hardtop sales up 174% over last April. Read more about this and the current SAAB/Subaru joint sports car project at http://www.saab.com.

Gibson Motors is now officially gone...... But, what an exciting Saturday! For those of us who couldn't attend (that's most of us) here's a quick recap. Can anyone say $2 soccerball alloys? $1 for a N.O.S. two-stroke 96 fender? A V4 transmission jig for only $20? Wow! Out of the one hundred or so who attended, about half were locals, and the other half comprised of SAAB faithful from around the country. Prices were beyond reasonable, except when Lester Ewing was bidding on an item for some reason?? There were some free sheet metal pieces, a nice 900 dash, electrical goodies for your 9000, and dealer signs and tools among so many countless other goodies. Many items went cheap, especially by the box, or by the dozen! Reminds me of the Larry Williams auction in the summer of '98........... God bless him.

Many of you stepped up to the plate last month to renew your membership dues. Thanks! For those of you who were absent or forgot, it's not too late! Remember, membership has its privileges...........

May 17th will be the day of the second annual Mississippi SAAB Tour! Last year we had rain and snow, eight inches of it in Minneapolis, so in order to avoid any inclement weather this year, the date has been pushed back to Saturday, May 17th. Of course, April 27th this year was 75 degrees and sunny...... The tour will originate with a barbeque lunch at Pikes Peak State Park in northeastern Iowa, atop a bluff overlooking the convergence of the Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers. This year we will spend the majority of the tour on the Wisconsin side climbing and rounding the bluffs all the way north to Grandad bluff in LaCrosse, WI. This tour will consist of 130 miles of the most marvelously twisty driving roads not often found in the topographically challenged upper midwest. If you have an interest in precipitating, err, participating, then shoot an email to MRTour@mail.saabnet.com, and specifics will be sent your way. Much thanks to Chad Payne and Paul Ellis for putting on this event!