texas hill country section newsletter of the mercedes-benz ... · above: keith and kathie’s 1992...

2016 Issue Two Second Quarter

I was a little slow to come around to Mercedes ownership. It all started the day my husband, Keith, suggested we buy a Mercedes. He knew their reputation for quality and performance, but I didn’t want a foreign car that I knew nothing about. I was happy with my American car. I know what you’re thinking – why not? It’s a Mercedes after all. Keith had been talking to a neighbor – a Mercedes owner and MBCA member. Soon, I was hauled to the nearest dealership where we bought a 1992 300 CE. It pains me to say that Keith was correct. The performance and handling of the car was nothing like I had experienced before. From that point on I was hooked and wanted to drive the car all – the - time. I think I hear an “I told you so”. If you’re contemplating vacation ideas this summer, look into the national event, StarFest, held August 3-6th in Connecticut. See page 11 for additional information. During September, Texas Hill Country members will be driving to Cortez, Colorado to join our friends, the Mile High Section, at a regional event scheduled for September 9-11th. See page 9 for information on that. Our local events recently included a trip in February to visit a beer & wine production in San Antonio (photos in February’s newsletter), a trip in March to an olive orchard in Elmendorf, and an April hill country drive. During our second quarter board/leadership meeting in April, several upcoming events were proposed and approved. All event information will be passed on to you as details are finalized via our quarterly newsletter, section webpage, member email, and Facebook page. President’s message cont’d on next page…

Inside This Issue:

Message from the President…….…...1 March Event ……………………..……3 April Event………………………..……4 Thanks New & Renewing Members...7 Club Benefits Summary…………..….8 Upcoming Events ………………….....9

Starfest 2016……………………..16 Website Information…..................18

Section Leadership

President – Kathie Steele Vice President – John Volk Secretary/Webmaster – Dan Coburn Treasurer - Keith Steele Director - Joe Aaron Director – Ruben Torres Director – John Rothermel Newsletter Editor – Charles Dove Webmaster – Martin Rios

President’s Message By Kathie Steele

Texas Hill Country Section Newsletter Of the

Mercedes-Benz Club of America

Proudly Serving South and West Texas

President’s Message Cont’d

Recently, the Star Magazine stated that the website software has been updated resulting in enlarged photos, links to news, events, tech articles and forums. Updates also make it easier to join and renew memberships via tablets and phones. To view our Texas Hill County webpage, go to www.mbca.org and click on the community tab at the top of the page. Scroll down to Local Clubs/Sections. Have a great spring!

Above: Keith and Kathie’s 1992 Mercedes CE. Their first Mercedes…

The 1992 Mercedes CE Coupe was equipped with an inline 3.0L, 24 valve 6 cylinder engine. It developed 217 HP @ 6400rpm. Fuel economy was 15 mpg city and 21 highway. It had a 4-speed automatic transmission, rear wheel drive, and a top speed of 147 mph. This year and model car still gets an excellent review that is if you can find one in clean well maintained condition. From 2002 to 2012, Edmonds.com indicates that owners of this type vehicle rate it 4 and 5 stars. It is still a very stylish car that any Mercedes enthusiast would be proud to own today. The 124 chassis was also available in a 4 door sedan and a wagon shown below.

http://www.mbca.org/

Our March event took us to the Sandy Oaks Olive Orchard in Elmendorf, Texas which is one of the first commercial olive orchards in Texas. It is owned and operated by Sandy Winokur who was also

our tour guide. Aside from the 11,000 olive trees in the orchard, there is an olive tree nursery where you can purchase an assortment of olive trees. Sandy imports olive trees from Spain, Greece, Italy and France. In addition to the nursery, you can shop in the store pantry where you can purchase various soap products, olives, olive oil, several varieties of vinegar, olive jelly, olive leaf tea, olive almond brittle, spa and skin care products and more. After our tour, we had a delicious lunch at their kitchen. All lunch items are prepared onsite.

Our March Club Event – Sandy Oaks Olive Orchard

Above: The pantry. Below: The Kitchen

Below: Sandy Winokur and our group.

The group met up in Kerrville at ‘The Coming King Sculpture Prayer Garden’ which is located high on a hilltop overlooking Kerrville. The morning was cloudy and unseasonably cool for south Texas in April. The view from the top of the Prayer Garden was absolutely beautiful. We were given a tour of

the Garden sculptures and plaques along with the history of how the Prayer Garden was started. One of our tour guides even saranaded us with a rendition of Janis Joplin’s Mercedes-Benz song.

The April Meet – Kerrville, Texas

Above: A nice view… also of the horizon.

Above: Most of our group listening to our tour guide while he explains the history of the Prayer Garden. Right: Both of our tour guides. The guy on the left was the vocalist for the Mercedes-Benz song. Hopefully he will keep his day job.

After the Prayer Garden tour, we departed the hilltop and drove into Kerrville where we stopped for lunch at Bella Sera. A family owned and operated Italian restaurant offering authentic northern and southern Italian cuisine.

Above left: Our group having lunch at Bela Sera. Above: Some cool cars. And Yaeko Coburn standing next to her and husband Dan’s S350 Blue TEC; 258 HP V-6 diesel with great

handling and surprisingly quick response.

Next up on our itenerary was a scenic hill country drive along the winding roads of central Texas to the community of Medina where we visited the Apple Store and Bakery. The store began as a little rock house where Baxter and Carol Adams sold sweet Texas apples. After successfully selling their sweet apples, they expanded their business to include local arts and crafts. From there, they added apple butters, jams and jellys made from their own sweet apples. As their business grew, they added bakery items to include apple pies, apple turnovers, apple strudel and other baked goods.They now offer apple ice-cream too. Last year, they opened the Apple Store Patio Café which was named one of the Best 40 small town café’s in Texas. It was featured in Texas Monthly magazine.

Above: Helen, Ruben, Martin and Paulette in the Apple Store and Bakery enjoying some apple ice-cream.

Section Officers

President Robert (Bob) Holbrook 210-630-7495(c)/[email protected] Vice President Tom Jones 210-787-9108(c) [email protected] Secretary Kathie Steele 512-497-9012(c)/[email protected] Treasurer Keith Steele 512-558-1834(c)/[email protected] Newsletter Editor Kathie Steele [email protected]

Regional Director

Charles Boyd 580-255-4040(c)/[email protected]

New Members Pamela Gilbert William Goodman Roy Huckaby Ken Kahlich Marissa Lansford Fred Loeffler Susan Paloczy Myra Smith Ken Wilson

Loyal Member Renewals Brigitte Booker John Davidson Rojelio Garcia David Giese Rod Goodale Tim Hargrave Tim Howard David Lewandos Ken Lucius Kenneth Marshall Charles Pearson Carolyn Ruble Michael Smith

Thank you for your support in helping make the Texas Hill Country Section one of the best in MBCA!

We thank you for being a member of this Club. Because of your loyalty and support, your yearly membership dues help to support our section financially and we are able to produce and deliver a Section Newsletter; host fun and unique Section Events like car shows and Oktoberfest; and bring you the latest technical, maintenance and general driving information about your Mercedes-Benz vehicle(s).

REMINDER: If we do not have your email address, you are missing out on the majority of the communications from the Club. Please go to www.mbca.org, log in and update your info to stay updated on all we have going on.


Dealer Discounts on Parts, Service & Accessories at Participating Mercedes-Benz Dealers - The presentation of your membership card may entitle you to 5%, 10% or (up to) 20% off parts, service and accessories from the U.S. and Canadian Mercedes-Benz dealers. Even if your vehicle is under warranty, not all service is covered. Call any of our local Mercedes-Benz dealers in advance to confirm their participation in the MBCA dealer discount program. You must present your MBCA membership card before having service performed or paying for parts.

Renew Your Membership – You do NOT need to wait until your renewal date before extending your club membership. Renew for 3 years, get 3 months FREE. Renew for 2 years, get 2 months FREE! These renewal offers are good indefinitely, and members may renew at any time to receive the free months. There is no extra benefit for renewing for just one year. Mercedes-Benz Models & Chassis Forums - Mercedes forums include every model made by Mercedes from A class to GLK, the Sprinter, Smart Car, Adenauer, Gullwing, vintage and collectibles. Go to www.mbca.org and sign in using your membership card to participate. See all the benefits available to you as a club member at www.mbca.org/membership.

View all benefits - login in to www.mbca.org,

click on the tab “Membership”.

Benefit with your Membership!


http://www.mbca.org/membership


Upcoming Events: June 11th – Join Dan Coburn and all the gang for an upscale lunch at the Alpine Haus Restaurant in New Braunfels, Texas.

MBCA Texas Hill Country Section A summer afternoon in an old Texas town

June 11th

, 2016, 11:00 AM until ???

Join us for lunch, music, dancing, shopping, and sightseeing in old Gruene Texas

Itinerary

We will meet for lunch at 11:00 AM on June 11th

at the exclusive Alpine Haus Restaurant located at 251

South Seguin Avenue in downtown New Braunfels. The Alpine Haus Restaurant features authentic German

food served up in a 164 year old historic building. We have arranged a fixed price three course menu with a

choice of entrees. The menu is attached. If you would like to join us for lunch please RSVP to John Volk, with

the number planning to attend, your preferred choice of entrees, and a contact number or email, by June 1st so

that we can notify the restaurant. We will be able to accommodate about 40 people and we will take standbys.

For those who cannot make it at 11:00 AM or would prefer other food, there are many other choices of

restaurants in both New Braunfels near the Alpine Haus and in Gruene near Gruene Hall including BBQ,

Mexican, Asian, Pizza, burgers, and more. Some names are The Oyster Bar, Taqueria El Tapitio, Pat’s Place,

the Buttermilk Café, Rudy’s, Mozies, Cantina del Rio, Gruene River Grill, and the Gristmill River Restaurant.

Or just meet us at Gruene Hall about 1:00 PM.

After lunch we will take a short drive across the Comal and Guadalupe rivers to Gruene where we will meet at

Gruene Hall, our base of operations for the afternoon. From 1 PM until 5 PM, Don Leady’s Rockin’ Revue

will be providing a free live vintage rock concert. Sit and enjoy the music with a cold beverage, dance on the

dance floor where John Travolta cut a rug in the movie Michael, or if the mood suits you, take a walk through

old Gruene to do some shopping or sightseeing at the many unique shops lining the streets. Enjoy a hand

dipped ice cream cone at the old country store across from Gruene Hall and bring your stories back to share at our table.

Directions to the Alpine Haus Restaurant. Take the Seguin Avenue exit off of I-35 and drive toward

downtown New Braunfels. The Alpine Haus Restaurant is located at 251 South Seguin Avenue in downtown

New Braunfels, across from the First Protestant Church and the historic haunted Faust Hotel and Brewing

Company.

Directions to Gruene Hall. From the Alpine Haus Restaurant take S Seguin north west to the traffic circle.

Leave the circle at the first exit onto E San Antonio Street. Cross the Comal River. Turn left on S Union and

right on Common Street. Follow Common Street across the Guadalupe River and across Loop 337. Turn left

on Gruene Road. Gruene Hall is located at 1281 Gruene Road at the intersection of Gruene Road and Hunter

Road in downtown Gruene. There is plenty of parking in the huge parking lot across the street from Gruene

Hall.

ALPINE HAUS MERCEDES-BENZ MENU

STARTER FRESH GARDEN SALAD

mixed green, tomato, cucumber

house herbed vinaigrette

MAIN (choice of one)

HUHNERBRUST GESCHNETZELTES

sautéed chicken breast in a spinach cream sauce

with spätzle and red cabbage

WEINER SCHNITZEL

breaded pork cutlet,

German potato salad,

and red cabbage

SAUERBRATEN

roast beef marinated in red wine

served with spaetzle

and red cabbage

` SCHWEINEBRATEN

roast loin of pork

served with spaetzle

and red cabbage

SWEETS APFELSTRUDEL MIT SAHNE

apple compote, puff pastry

whipped cream

$27.50

Save the date – September 9th, 10th, and 11th for a multi-regional event to visit the Mesa Verde National Park and the Four Corners Monument. Contact John Volk for more information: [email protected] Check our website at www.texashillcountry.mbca.org for the latest event information, event reports and photos.

MBCA ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGIONAL EVENT to MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK

and FOUR CORNERS MONUMENT Cortez, Colorado

September 9, 10, 11, 2016

ITINERARY

FRIDAY, September 9

A block of rooms has been reserved for the Mercedes-Benz Club for Friday and Saturday nights at the Holiday Inn

Express Hotel, 2121 East Main Street, Cortez 81321, located at Far East end of town. Main Street is the principal east-

west thoroughfare through town and is the same as US Highway 160.

Make your own reservations by telephone as soon as possible, but not later than August 9, to secure the group

rate of $100 a night, plus 9.3% in various taxes. Phone 1-970-565-6000, or toll free 1-800-315-2621. Tell the

reservation person that you are part of the Mercedes-Benz Club. Breakfast is included in your room fee.

If you plan to take a ranger-guided tour on Saturday (details below), be sure to arrive in town before 5:00 pm

Friday and drive to the Colorado Welcome Center, 928 East Main Street, to buy tickets for Saturday’s tour. You

may also buy any tour ticket on Saturday at the welcome center in Mesa Verde NP, but buying on Friday will

assure you get a place on the tour that you want.

Friday dinner will be on your own. There are several good restaurants in Cortez to tempt you. Type “restaurants

in Cortez Co” in the Google search box to see a list.

Friday evening at 7:30 will be our first of two hospitality social gatherings at the “Breakfast Room” (also called

“The Great Room”) inside the Holiday Inn. Finger food and beverages, alcohol and otherwise, will be served as

part of your already paid event fee.

SATURDAY, September 10

Expect to pay $10 per vehicle for the park entrance fee. If one person in the vehicle presents a senior America The

Beautiful parks pass, entrance into the park is free for up to four adults in the same vehicle.

The park ranger has recommended the Cliff Palace Tour as the easiest and most popular. The cost is $4 per

person. Cliff Palace is Mesa Verde's Largest Cliff Dwelling.

This one-hour, ranger-guided tour involves climbing five, 8-10 foot ladders, on a 100-foot vertical climb. Total

walking distance is about 1/4-mile round-trip. The tour begins at Cliff Palace Overlook, a 23-mile, one-hour drive

from the Visitor and Research Center. Tours leave every half hour between 9:00 and 6:00.

For those who decline to take a guided tour, the ranger recommended the Mesa Top Loop drive and/or the

museum at the south end of the park. Many sites can be seen after short walks from your car. The entire park

can also be explored from your car with brief photo walks here and there.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.texashillcountry.mbca.org/

More information can be found on the park website. http://www.nps.gov/meve/ index.htm

Saturday evening at 6:00 we will meet for dinner at Stonefish Sushi & More at 16 West Main Street, a mile west

of our hotel, phone 970-565-9244. Despite the name, the restaurant serves a variety of excellent food in addition

to sushi. Dinner will be at your own cost. Street parking will be available on Main, Market or Chestnut Streets,

the latter two on either side of the restaurant. An outdoor patio has been reserved for us.

Saturday evening at 7:30 will be our second hospitality social gatherings in the same room inside our hotel

where we met for Friday’s gathering. As before, finger food and beverages, alcohol and otherwise, will be

served as part of your already paid event fee.

SUNDAY, September 11

A bonus trip is in store for those who want to drive to the only point in the United States common to four states,

appropriately named Four Corners Monument. After Sunday’s breakfast we check out of the hotel and say goodbye to

friends old and new or join a caravan to Four Corners. See details below.

http://www.nps.gov/meve/

http://www.navajonationparks.org/htm/fourcornershours.htm

FOUR CORNERS MONUMENT

General Admission - $5.00 per person (Cash Only Please)

Ages 6 or younger – Free

40 miles southeast of Cortez, Colorado

Station Hours, Peak Season (Friday of Memorial Weekend to Sept. 15) 8:00am - 8:00pm, 7 Days a week

Four Corners Monument Park Office

P.O. Box 861

Teec Nos Pos, AZ 86514

CONTACT INFORMATION: KAREN YAZZIE, PARK MANAGER (928) 206-2540

http://www.navajonationparks.org/htm/fourcornershours.htm

MESA VERDE & 4 CORNERS REGIONAL EVENT September 9, 10, 11, 2016

Please reserve your place. Make your $35 per person event fee check payable to MBCA, Mile-High Section and mail it along with this form to: Michael Davison, 7324 East Fremont Drive, Centennial, CO 80112 For more information email Michael at [email protected] Names ____________________________________________________________ Phone ____________________________ Email ___________________________ Mailing address ______________________________________________________ MBCA Section____________________________________ Number attending _____________ x $35 = _____________ (Due by August 5, 2016) Please note if you want the detailed instructions sent as a PDF, MS-Word file or via U.S. Mail. This promises to be an interesting and fun event. Please joint us. Thank you.

www.facebook.com/texashillcountry

Mercedes-Benz Club of America National Information

MBCA National Business Office 1907 Lelaray Street Colorado Springs, CO 80909-2872 800-637-2360

www.mbca.org

South Central Regional Director

Gene Jurick - [email protected]

In 1978, Mesa Verde National Park was named a World Heritage Site in recognition of its exceptional archaeological relevance. Located in Montezuma County, Colorado, the park protects thousands of archaeological sites including hundreds of cliff dwellings.

The Four Corners Monument marks the point in the Southwestern United States where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet. It is the only point in the U.S. shared by four states.



MBCA Texas Hill Country Section Newsletter - published four times a year is the official newsletter of the Texas Hill Country Section of the Mercedes-Benz Club of America. Opinions - Opinions expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of either MBCA or the Texas Hill Country Section. Neither MBCA nor the Texas Hill Country Section endorses products or services but may, as part of our informational activities, allow them to be cited in articles and notices. Trademarks - The trade names and trademarks "Mercedes-Benz", "Mercedes", and the three-pointed star in a circle are owned by DBAG and are authorized for use by its licenses which include MBCA, exclusively. Reprints - Reprinting original material herein is permitted if a proper attribution (source, including date of issue) is shown. Advertising - We welcome advertisers whose subject matter is relevant to MBCA or of interest to members of the Section. Advertising runs for one year (four issues) starting with the first issue. MBCA members may place a classified ad for free providing that ad is Mercedes specific. No inference should be made that products or services advertised herein have been approved by the MCBA/Texas Hill Country Section board of directors or this newsletter editor. Articles and Submissions - Copy should be e-mailed to the editor ([email protected]) by the 10th of the month prior to the next issue. For example, submissions for the August issue should be received by the editor by July10th.

Texas Hill Country Section|MBCA Is On The Web! National website – www.mbca.org

Section website - http://texashillcountry.mbca.org

http://www.facebook.com/pages/ Texas Hill Country Section| Mercedes-Benz-Club-of-America

Section Newsletters

Can’t find your Membership Card? No worries! Just call the national business office at 800-637-2360 or go online at www.mbca.org to request another card. Keep the card with you to enjoy dealership and other member discounts.



http://texashillcountry.mbca.org/


texas hill country section newsletter of the mercedes-benz ... · above: keith and kathie’s 1992...

Documents