The Woodward Dream Cruise for 2020 was cancelled and we were told by the city that we could not congregate.  These were some dark times for us as a club.  This year the Cruise and our club are back, better than ever.  Unfortunately, the lot we rented the past couple years was no longer available.

Thanks to the diligence of our Board and Marty Heitkamp, we found a new lot, slightly further north.  Since we had fewer events last year, the club has been actively making most events, free or minimal cost, this year.  The event was open to all members, with a catered dinner and was free.

Our fantastic Social Director, Diane Cipponeri, had a time constraint due to the late signing of the lot contract, but that did not deter her from doing an excellent job, of having a fantastic event.

The day started out with high temps in the 80’s and muggy, but some areas had intermittent showers. By late afternoon the sky was clear and sunny, without a cloud in the sky.

We had a fantastic turnout with about 99 people and 53 Vipers.  We got to catch-up with old friends and make some new.  The club has hit an all-time high of membership at approx. 177.  Everyone had a great time while enjoying a sumptuous meal, all under the watchful eye of our “Club Mom”.

Our thanks to Diane Cipponeri for all she does for the club.  We also want to thank her husband Mike, who works as hard as Diane.  Lastly, thanks to all the volunteers that helped in advance or the day of, to make this a successful event.

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Our Cruise Maestro, Bob Swartz, found another unique place for us to visit.  RM Motorsports, in Wixom, is an automotive shop that specializes in creating, maintaining, and preparing world class automobiles.

Founded in 1991 this working car shop has built a reputation of expertise, fine work, and fast cars.  RM Motorsports is not your average car shop.  Within their doors you will find the rare, unique, and often one of a kind pieces of machinery.  They are the proud keepers of racing history, and excel at taking modern day technology and applying it to vintage automobiles.

We were very fortunate to be able to view their race shop, restoration facility, eclectic collection of vintage race cars and collectible iconic cars.  We even had a personal tour from the retired former owner, Bud Bennett, who shared some valuable tips on restoration and some truly unique stories from his past.

As a thank you to RM and Bud, Bob presented a check from MCVO to the charity of their choice.  Bud was very touched by the sentiment.

We had a good turnout with 18 people attending and 13 Vipers.  After we left RM, we took a nice hour-long cruise thru the countryside and had a delicious lunch at Kruse’s Deer Lake Inn of Clarkston. You couldn’t ask for a more perfect day with sunny skies and temps in the mid-70’s.

After our lunch, we each went our separate ways, but not before many of us cruised a lap on Woodward.

We want to thank Bob Swartz for his amazing day trips he has created for the club.  Each one is unique and well thought out and executed.  We also want to thank Bud Bennett, for allowing us to tour his amazing shop, on a Sunday.

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The weather started out a little chilly in the morning for a Saturday in July, but quickly warmed up to mid-to-high 70’s, and was perfect for cruising.

The day started where we met at a hidden gem of a classic car, bicycle, and motorcycle collection, of one of our members.  This collection is rarely seen and we were honored to be invited.  The owner asked us not to divulge his personal information or photos of the full collection and we take that promise very seriously.  Our members who toured the warehouse were blown away by the rarity and pristine condition of the collection.

The club provided coffee and donuts for the attendees.  After leaving the collection, we caravanned to Leo’s Coney Island in Rochester Hills.  We want to thank Leo’s for accommodating our large group after about 20 restaurants turned us down, due to our size.

After lunch we cruised north to Ortonville, to Cook’s Dairy Farm for their fantastic ice cream, where you could, get up close and personal with the the cows.  Our very own, Ann Rappaport, is shown here making friends with one of the “girls”.

After our ice cream fix, we did a spirited cruise for another hour thru the northern countryside, and wound our way back to Pontiac and Woodward Avenue.

We had a fantastic turnout with 56 in attendance and 31 Vipers.  Our thanks to Jon Block for coordinating the event and all the volunteers who helped along the way.

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Depending on where you lived in the Metro area, there was rain or sunny skies.  A few diehards brought their Vipers and a few of us, came in our dailies.

Our Coordinator, Bob Swartz, took us on another unique adventure.  We visited Ka-Wood Gear & Machine Company, for a tour of their truly fascinating facility, for the true “Gear Heads”.  Ka-Wood Gear manufactures precision products for a diverse range of industries including aerospace, mining, automotive, wind energy, and machine tool since 1920.

Ka-Wood, is a family shop, which can do small or large jobs; reverse engineer when no print or description is available; meet specialty requirements; and many other demanding tasks to fit the customer’s need.

The Owner, Joe Kloka, has some of the world’s most elaborate and exclusive machinery; all first class; some totally unique.

Due to the confines of the manufacturing environment, we only could have a limited number of participants.  We had 11 in attendance with 6 Vipers.

Everyone was very impressed by the wide range of equipment and the vast knowledge and expertise that goes into making many of these one-of-a kind gears.

After our tour, we took a quick drive to the Polish Century Club, for a mouth-watering selection of authentic Polish cuisine.

Our sincere thanks to Bob and Joe for a truly unforgettable experience. The pictures, below, do not do it justice.

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Our Cruise Night Director, Mike Cipponeri, couldn’t have picked a more perfect day for the Cruise Night.  The temps were in the 70’s with sunny skies.  This month we went back to the West Side to visit the Village Arts Factory in Canton.

Their Mission: “The Village Arts Factory serves as a hub for Canton and the surrounding area to come and get hands on with art in ways that inspire, excite, heal, and entertain.”

Our Vipers were the featured cars for evening’s cars and concerts series.  We were also serenaded by the band “Ragamuffin”, with Classic Rock, Blues, Country and Reggae.

Mike and Diane served pizza, salad, bottled water and delicious chocolate brownies, courtesy of MCVO.

We had a fantastic turnout with 41 in attendance and 23 Vipers.  Our thanks to Mike, Diane and the Village Arts Factory for a fun evening.

The Village Arts Factory had a 50/50 raffle to help support their facility.  Congratulations go to Anita Moseley for winning the pot.

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This was our third year for our for our return to Cohoctah.  Our club is truly honored to have members like the McClorey’s who open their home to the club.  All eyes were watching the weather, since we had a lot of rain prior and more was scheduled for the day following, but the weather gods were smiling on us for Saturday.  It was a beautiful sunny day with temps in the mid-70’s.

After our initial meet, we were led on a scenic cruise by Mike Prudhomme, thru the countryside, with a stop at Spicer’s Orchard.  Members enjoyed cider and donuts, while catching up with fellow club members.

Leaving Spicer’s we traveled a short distance to the beautiful home of the McClorey’s, where Paul has been working all morning to finalize the cooking and smoking of the meats and fish.  There were numerous mouth-watering choices, including salmon, chicken, ribs, and brisket.  We finished with this feast with brownies and cake for desert.  No one left hungry.  Afterwards everyone sat around and enjoyed the beautiful summer day and spending time with friends.

We also want to take a moment to call out Nancy and Jack Selby, for attending their very first event.  We also very recently gained 2 new members, who joined us and had a great time. They were: Fabienne and Patrick Merz; and Shandora and Andrew Danielson.  One of our great drone pictures, included below, was taken by Patrick Merz.

Last but least, a big thank you to Paul, Alison, Emma and Andy McClorey.  We can not thank you enough for putting on a fantastic event for the third year in a row.  I don’t think anyone can truly imagine the work that goes into putting on an event of this scale and at your home.  From the smiles on the faces as people were leaving, I think everyone had a great time.

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As the State and CDC are relaxing their guidelines, and our members being fully vaccinated, you can tell that there has been a pent-up demand to get out with our cars and visit with our Viper family.  We had a tremendous turnout for a mid-week cruise night, with approximately 40 in attendance and 23 Vipers.  It was great to see all our smiling mask-less faces of our friends again.  It was also nice to have the closeness and hugging of our friends, that we’ve been unable to do for over a year.

For our June Cruise Night, we traveled to see our friends on the West side, and dine at the Black Rock Bar & Grill, in Novi.  It was a perfect evening with temps in the mid-70’s and sunny skies.  Our Cruise Night Director, Mike Cipponeri, was able to arrange for the group to sit on patio and enjoy the beautiful weather, while dining.

Black Rock is famous for their unique way of serving you a gorgeous cut of steak, on your own 755 degree, black rock.  Many of our members ordered the steak and were not disappointed.

The 2021 year started out a little slowly, but we’re making up for lost time, with many great events planned for the balance of the year.

Our thanks to Mike, for another great event, and we can’t wait to see what he has planned for July.  Also, thank you to Ann Rappaport, for taking the time to capture the event in pictures.

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As the year 2021 progresses, the country is slowly getting back to normal from the pandemic.  The Board didn’t think we’d be able to have the event, but with some creativity from our Social Director, Diane Cipponeri, she was able to find us a new venue, with an outdoor tent.  In addition to the beautiful grounds, we also were able to save money and offer our members a fantastic discount.

This year, the Brunch was held at the Italian American Cultural Society on the east side.  Traditionally the Brunch is held in May, but this year, having it in June, gave us a beautiful sunny “summer” day.  Everyone was excited to reunite with old friends and make new ones.  Our President, Mike Sutton, welcomed all attendees, then introduced the Charter members, along with the new members, who joined after the 2019 Brunch.  There were approximately 87 in attendance, with 42 Vipers.  It was a spectacular site to behold in the parking lot, for the group photo.

Along with the fantastic meal, members were able to partake in a silent auction, 50/50 and prize raffle, Viper jewelry sales, and special one-of-a-kind, stained glass Lighthouse, donated by Sam Milana, which recently took top honors at an exhibit.  There was also a raffle for the very creative “tire” centerpieces, created by Diane.

Congratulations to the winners:
Viper Jewelry – Bryan & Julie Aitken
Lighthouse – Susan Andring
50/50 – 2 winners – Mariann Litznerski & Greg Farrelly
Also congratulations to all our Silent Auction winners.

We also award at the Brunch, the Joyce Allen Member of the Year award.  Due to the pandemic, and the cancellation of the 2020 Brunch, we were celebrating 2 winners.  Rather than try to determine a Member of the Year, for the past couple “crazy” years, we decided that each would receive a dual 2020/2021 Member of the Year award.

The Vice President, Gary Rappaport, was honored to give the awards to Marty Heitkamp and Rick Jakacki.  We are truly honored to have both of these members in our club and want to congratulate them on their well deserved awards.

After the meal, we were served 2 beautiful MCVO/Viper cakes for desert.

As members were saying their goodbyes, we know that there is a full schedule of events, and this year it won’t be long before we see each other again soon.

We want to thank Mike and Diane Cipponeri for all the love and hard work they put into this event.  It truly shows in every aspect.  We also want to thank all the volunteers who came early and/or stayed late, to help with this fantastic day.

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May 2021 has been a strange month for weather.  The week previous to our event, it was warm and sunny with temps around 80.  The day before, we had a lot of rain, with temps dropping to around 40’s.  Thankfully, on the day, it was dry, with sunny skies, windy and temps approaching 60.

This year for our Third Annual Snakes Invade Shelby, we were hosted by The Godfather Cigar Bar and Bistro.  I can honestly say, I’ve never been to a cigar bar, but I was visibly impressed with their facility.  Also, from our initial conversations, all the way thru to the completion, our host, co-owner, Brandon, went out of his way to make sure our group was well taken care of.  Brandon offered us discounts on our food, an abbreviated special Viper menu (as well as a full menu) with many great lunch options, and there were hourly raffle prizes.

The turnout may have been a little light due to the holiday weekend, but we still had an impressive showing of Vipers in his lot.  We had 22 in attendance with 14 Vipers, and everyone seemed to be having a great time hanging out.  We had a couple of beautiful examples: John Bieleniewicz came in his gorgeous Gen 5 green ACR, and John Wright came in his newly acquired classic Gen 2 GTSR.

Thanks again to our host, Brandon, and we look forward to our 4th Annual Snakes Invade, at The Godfather Bistro.  We also want to thank Ann Rappaport and Sam Milana for the attached photos.

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It appears we finally turned a corner weather-wise here in Michigan, in the third week of May.  We couldn’t have picked a more picture perfect day, with temperature hovering around 80 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.

Our original plan was to have our Cruise Night at a Red Ox in Utica, but at the last minute, the restaurant had closed.  Our Cruise Night Director, Mike Cipponeri, sprung into action and was able to secure us another Red Ox Tavern, but in Auburn Hills.  They were very accommodating with plenty of secure parking, and a private room for us to gather.  In addition, the restaurant was now following the latest CDC guidelines where those fully vaccinated could go mask-free.  It was quite exhilarating to be able to see all our member’s smiling faces.  You could also tell there was a lot of pent up demand to get out and socialize with our Viper family.  We had a fantastic turnout with about 21 Vipers and 43 in attendance.

Unfortunately, it was also a sad night where we had to say goodbye to Tony Smith, who will be taking a new job in Texas.  A beautiful cake was brought and shared with the club, to show Tony, we will truly miss him.

Our thanks to Mike Cipponeri for putting together a great evening along with the staff of Red Ox who made sure all 43 of us felt welcome.

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