The Greenlaner NEWSLETTER OF THE SOUTHERN LAND ROVER SOCIETY — FEB 2008

WINDROCK SCOUTING TRIP Alan Hollander

There was a nice chill in the air Friday evening as I headed home from work. The anticipation of a great weekend in the woods with my rover, my cousin Correll, and some club friends made me anxious to get packed up and on the road. I grabbed my gear, kissed the fiancé goodbye, pet the dogs and was out the door. We had our only real technical problem before we even pulled out of the driveway. As we fired up the 110 and hopped in to leave, I noticed very quickly that the heater fans wouldn’t turn on. The thought of a weekend in the mountains with no heat put a bit of a damper on our mood but after a few peeks un-der the hood and some pulling of fuses we discovered the problem was indeed a blown fuse. A quick trip to the gas station and a new fuse later and the heat was blowing hard and heavy. We pulled out of Sandy Springs around 9:00PM with my navigation system glowing “201 miles to desti-nation” and an estimated 3 hour travel time ahead of us. Luke Miles called to say he got caught up at the shop and he and his girlfriend Desiree had decided to stay home tonight and meet us the next morning at the Waffle House in Oak Ridge Tennessee, about 1 minute from our hotel. That news did nothing to

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Club business: At our January meeting we elected a new slate of officers to guide the club through 2008. We are pleased to announce the results of the election are as follows: President: Ross Davidson Vice President Jeff Newsham Treasurer Rick Ward Membership Coordinator Scott Wold Secretary Steve Herrod Technical advisor/Event Coordinator Luke Miles Webmaster/Hosting Site Chris Gray SFWDA Liaison David Russell BMCD Liaison Jack Walter Special Assistant to the Board Alan Hollander We are also still trying to update any obsolete e-mail addresses, phone numbers and home addresses for various members. Please e-mail Scott Wold with your updated e-mail address so that we can send you updates on club activities. Scott’s e-mail is : membership.coordinator@solaros.com And another reminder—if you haven’t paid your dues for 2008—please do so immediately. Dues are $40. They can be paid by check, mailed to the PO Box, paid in person at the meeting or via Paypal. Membership related mail and dues payments should be directed to our new PO Box: Solaros PO Box 1185 Roswell, GA 30077 New meeting location for March? Alan Hollander has proposed a potential new meeting spot just outside the perimeter that will be a bit more centrally located for our club members. He has suggested we try La Madeline next to REI just north of Perimeter Mall for the March Solaros meeting. We will be discussing the opportunity to move to this location during the February meeting at Artuzzi’s. La Madeleine (Perimeter) in the REI shopping center. 1165 Perimeter Center West Atlanta, GA 30346 770-392-0516 He spoke to the manager and they have a back room that seats 50 that we can have for free. The food is great (although a little more pricey than Artuzzis... ~$10 to $12 for a dinner), they have a limited beer and wine selection and they are open until 10:00PM on weekdays. No food or drink minimum. The park-ing lot is lit and there is plenty of open spaces b/c the Honey Baked Ham store next door closes early. Also (not that this is really necessary) they have a security guard that patrols the parking lot.

Solaros Spring cookout There are plans being made to have a Solaros cookout on Saturday March 29 at Phil and Gail Connell’s house in Alpharetta. This event is a family picnic in the field behind their home so watch the website for more details as we get closer to the date. This is in lieu of the traditional Solaros Christmas party as we felt that everybody’s schedule would be better suited to an early Spring cookout.

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Dear member, I want the headlines to read, “2008, A Banner Year for SOLAROS.” We hit ground running this year with a full agenda and a great team of lead-ers willing and capable of executing our plans. Our new board has been meeting to discuss how we can make a difference for both current and future members. Our first order of business was to establish a working calendar of events. Our event chair peo-ple Luke Miles (The Shop) and his significant other Desiree have an agenda filled with a variety of events that will meet the needs of those who have never experienced the Rover lifestyle to the guys and gals who want events where only the strong survive. Our first offering following the monthly meeting is an Adventure ride to the wilds of Cohutta. This ride will give the inexperienced and experienced Land Rover owner the opportu-nity to spend the day in the beautiful Cohutta na-tional forest on forest service roads. We will stop during the trip to kick tires, swap stories, and en-joy our picnic lunches. Please see the website www.solaros.com for particulars. Along with the need for a strong calendar of events, we as the board felt that our club defining event, Southern Appalachian Expedition (SAE) needed to echo our commitment to the club and its members. Jeff Newsham, our VP has formed a committee who has formulated and is execut-ing a plan for our 2008 SAE. Their immediate goal is to select the event venue by the end of March. As you likely know, Jeff has been gener-ously providing us with meeting space at Artuzzis on Windward. Jeff’s organizational skills, service industry experience, enthusiasm for Solaros, and Land Rovers have and will serve the club now and into the future. In concert our treasurer, Rick Ward and member-ship chairman, Scott Wold are working to ensure member dues are collected and recorded in a timely and accurate manner. We are also devel-oping a member registration system for our web-site. The revision to our website will support new member registration as well as electronic event registration. If you are or were a dues paying

member, you are sure to receive Scott’s email re-minder that membership dues need to be paid. If this is not enough to move you to action, it will be followed by a mailing reminding us of the same. Some of the other ideas we have for member re-tention are to provide membership packets, lami-nated membership cards, stickers, jacket patches, newsletters, vendor discounts, event registration discounts, annual participation awards, promotional give-aways, adventure and challenge rides, social and novel events, and all matter of publicity. Rick Ward is diligently working to reconcile our ac-counts and establish fiscal procedures that will carry a financially strong society into future. Our financial strength empowers and enables us to pur-sue club goals including club events, community commitments, charitable efforts, and supporting other regional and national organizations fighting for the retention and expansion of off road venues. The man of the hour is our very own Chris Gray, web master and I mean a true master of the world wide web. Chris has embraced the daunting task of redesigning the website which demonstrates his web expertise and enthusiasm for all things Land Rover and Solaros. We look forward to the final product being available in the very near future. David (Moose) Russell has accepted the role of Southern Four Wheel Drive Association (SFWDA) liaison. Moose is quite adept at making things hap-pen as we recognized a couple of years ago when with a couple of phone calls to his contacts within the forestry service, he was able to assure the timely opening of Beasley Knob OHV for use dur-ing our annual SAE. In addition to liaison responsi-bilities, Moose has volunteered to help establish and run the club store. Yes, we are investigating and will likely embark on opening a club store that will specialize in club promotional products. David is also serving on Jeff’s SAE committee. Good move… We are looking forward to year of photographic and videographic recording of club events and activities by our own videographer, Roger Hunter. His exper-tise behind the camera lens is a welcome addition to our ongoing need to collect and publicize our events both on the web, Solaros website, newslet-ter, and other media as the opportunities arise. We

Message from the new President

Ross Davidson

Date January

16 Solaros Meeting

18-19 Windrock

Date February

20 Solaros Meeting

23 Cohutta Adventure Ride

Date March

1st qtr meeting of SFWDA

8 Tellico Clean up

19 Solaros Meeting

29 Phil Connell Cook out and possible

Adventure Poker Run

Date April

5 Murphy NC support for Tellico parade

10-13 Uwharrie Safari

16 Solaros Meeting

24-26 Tellico Lifestyle Event and Rides

Date May

2- 4 Kentucky Trail Fest

17 British Motor Car Day

21 Solaros Meeting

31 2008 Tenn. OHV Conference

Date June

18 Solaros Meeting

21 Beasley Knob

TBD Wildlife Safari Adventure Ride

Date July

16 Solaros Meeting

19-21 Caney Fork (Adventure and Advanced)

Date August

20 Solaros Meeting

22-24 Tellico Lifestyle event

Date September

17 Solaros Meeting

20 Gray Rock (Adventure and Advanced)

7 Dealership show and shine

Date October

2-5 MAR

3-5 Dixie Run Tellico

15 Solaros Meeting

Date November

7-9 SAE

19 Solaros Meeting

Date December

17 Solaros Meeting

27 Talladega Adventure Ride

More to come! Shop Days, Adventure Rides, picnics,

campouts, Geo-caching, Tech Sessions, Rover inter-

ventions, Exorcisms, and Jeep bashing.

Watch the calendar for more Solaros events.

Proposed Calendar of events –Solaros 2008

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are also discussing other video projects that will promote the club and its mission. Speaking of the newsletter, our resident Series Rover guru, Jack Walter has agreed to author and publish the newsletter this year. I know how frustrating this job can be. Getting copy for news-letters can be like collecting bad debts or herding cats. You know, you hear every excuse in the world why the debt can’t be paid. Anyhow, Jack’s consistent dedication to the club is without re-proach and we look forward to newsletters that treat us Land Rover junkies to the candy that we want, news about Land Rovers and the club. Please be preparing your articles, photos, and other materials to submit to Jack so that the pub-

lication schedule can remain unbroken throughout the year. Another great Solaros and Rover enthusiast and our member-at-large on the board is Alan Hol-lander. Alan brings a fresh prospective to the club and we look forward to his input in developing new ideas for club events and venues. He has already been instrumental in finding a new meeting location that will be announced in this newsletter and at the monthly meeting. I know I haven’t mentioned this, but our secretary Steve Herrod must have the most difficult and thankless job on the board. As always, Steve can be depended on to deliver. You can imagine how difficult it is to keep up with what is going on at a

Ross—cont’d

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board meeting or a general membership meeting where everyone is discussing his or her point of view on a subject usually at the same time. Thanks Steve for volunteering to take on this re-sponsibility. He is also serving on the SAE com-mittee. You and I are really fortunate to have such a great team working for and with us. They all bring en-thusiasm for the club, a desire to accomplish the goals set before them, an ability to accomplish these goals and the esprit-de-corps to make it happen as a team. We are excited about 2008 and look forward to serving you and club. Further-more, we look forward to your active participation, your suggestions and encouragement, and to your enthusiasm for Land Rovers and Solaros. Sincerely, RD

stop our forward momentum as I knew that if I stayed home, I would stay up late anyway and the thought of waking up at the crack of dawn to drive the 3+ hours north did not sit well in my stomach. Nope, I was determined to crank out the miles that evening with the hum of my tires giving a steady cadence to our journey and the tunes from the tape deck filling our souls. The scouting trip to Windrock had begun… We arrived at the Jameson Inn around midnight and saw Dave O’Leary’s 98 Discovery and his brother Patrick’s Jeep Rubicon Unlimited in the parking lot. As we unloaded I caught two guys star-ing out of the second story window and I knew that it could only be a SOLAROS brethren who would be curious about a Defender pulling up at midnight. Dave met us in the Lobby as we stumbled in and told us to swing by his room after we got settled. We dropped off our bags and had a warm welcome in room 211 from Dave and Patrick. After a few suds in the hotel room and a lot of talk about Rov-ers and motorcycles, we decided to hit the sack. It was around 2:00AM.

Windrock—cont’d.

Cohutta Adventure Ride— Saturday February 23 Chris Gray will be leading Solaros members on a Adventure Ride (the new improved term for what were previously known as Bunny Rides) on the Forest Service roads around the Cohutta Wilder-ness Area just north west of Ellijay, GA on Satur-day, February 23rd. We will meet at the McDon-ald’s on 515 at Maddox Drive in East Ellijay at 9:00 AM. The departure time for the ride is sched-uled for 9:30 AM. Bring a picnic lunch as we will be stopping for lunch on the ride. It should take about 3-4 hours with a stop for lunch at Lake Conasauga. The ride will mostly be run on well maintained forest service roads. Also, if some of us are up for it afterward, Scott Wold and I know of a short trail near his parent's place (a few miles from where we'll finish the main ride) that might offer a little challenge. This is a particularly scenic area of Georgia that doesn’t get much exposure so it will be nice to have some local knowledge to guide us on what is sure to be fun day.

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The wake-up call came abruptly at 9:00AM the next morning and after a few minutes of rubbing my eyes and wishing for another hour of sleep, I was off to the showers to properly wake up. We were dressed and out the door at 9:45AM, on our way to the Waffle House to meet up with Dave and Patrick and wait for Luke, Desiree, Christian Legault and his co-worker Dallas Crum to arrive. After pounding a patty melt and some grits we got a call that Luke and Christian were running a little late and decided we would shoot over to the Subway next door to get some “trail food” for the afternoon. Right about the time I was throwing our sandwiches in the cooler, I see Luke’s 99 D2 and Christian’s 00 Disco pull up. We were finally on our way. Final destination,,, the Coal Creek OHV Area in Oliver Springs Tennessee. A.K.A. Windrock Coal Creek OHV Area boasts a 72,000 Acre playground that is open 365 days out of the year to any type of vehicle. A Land Use Permit is re-quired to access the area and can be picked up at the registration hut next to the “Snack Shack” where they sell burgers, drinks and trail maps. If you can’t find it, just look for a bunch of rednecks in camouflage onesies sitting on ATV’s and you’re there. Permits are $17.00 for one day, $33.00 for two, $44.00 for three and $88.00 for a yearly permit.

Once paid, we aired down and headed up the mountain to the head of Trail 15 which the map shows as “Difficult”. We all gave each other the “whaddaya think” look after watching a Jeep Cherokee with bald tires make a failed attempt at the first section of the trail. We all nodded our heads in approval and lined up at the trail head to solidify our decision and place in line. I’m not sure if everyone was fully committed but once the group of rock crawling buggy’s showed up behind us it was “go big or go home” time. The first sec-tion was a fairly technical rock shelf that hap-

pened to be wet and icy, followed by a steep hill that was covered in peanut butter mud that stuck to everything and was slicker than ice. Luke was the first one up and he had very few problems getting up and around.

Dave was next and he scraped a little bit going over the shelf but was really held up by the mud hill which took about 30 to 45 minutes to get him up and over. His A/T tires just filled up so quickly with mud that they looked like racing slicks and handled about the same. I was next and the 110 had a re-spectable run up the hill with a little tire spinning towards the top but I was able to keep enough mo-mentum to push over without stopping. The long wheelbase was a tremendous help when climbing the muddy hill. Patrick’s Rubicon Unlimited didn’t have much of a problem on the hill as his Jeep tires were about as wide as they were tall. Christian made it over the ledge without any trouble but got his differentials caught literally between a rock and a hard place about halfway up the hill. After some skillful rock placement by Luke and I, a lot of rock-ing the car, and some friendly banter, we were able to get him up the hill as well. A little over an hour later we had traveled a total of 0.25 miles and couldn’t be happier!!! The rock crawling group went past us and up the second leg of Trail 15 which we were told was even hairier. Once again, we gave each other the “whaddaya think” look and decided the only re-spectable thing to do was push on. Luke took first position with me and the rest of the gang following close behind. We turned a corner and got the first look at the second section of the trail. It was steep,

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rocky, muddy, rutted out and downright ugly. It didn’t help our confidence that one of the rock crawlers with enormous tires had busted up his differential on a rock halfway up the section and was sitting there contemplating how he would get the rest of the way up. The thick dark differential oil was running down the rocks towards us like blood. It definitely set the scene for the possible carnage to come if you weren’t careful. Luke banged his way up without blinking an eye and I followed shortly afterwards. My long wheel-base was to my detriment on this section as there was another large rock shelf you had to climb that quickly descended on the other side and my rig bottomed out before my back tires could make it onto the shelf. One tree strap and a small tug from my Warn and I was back on the trail and successfully made it up through the rock/mud garden, pass the broken buggy and onto the top of the trail. Credit needs to be given to the skillful spotting of Luke and Desiree. Dave’s truck amazingly made it all the way to the last 6 feet before a near disaster had two of us standing on his driver side slider to keep him from tipping over. He realized how much he was leaning when I hopped onto the driver side and the car came down about 4 to 6 inches.

We both looked at each other with that wide eyed expression that said “I think I just soiled my-self”… Nevertheless, after a little repositioning of the wheels and some poor-man’s locker maneu-vers, a guy on his hood, two guys pushing the passenger side, and me on the driver side slider, he was up and over without a scratch (well al-

most without a scratch) Christian, Patrick, and Dave also made it up and we celebrated our victory with an early lunch while the buggy group attempted to fix their friends busted differential. The buggy guys definitely had a new found respect for Land Rovers after seeing them follow quickly in their footsteps up one of the more difficult trails on the mountain.

With lunch behind us, we hopped onto the gravel road at the top of Trail 15 and headed to Trail 3 which on the map is rated a “Moderate” however the last 20 yards of the first hill climb I would defi-nitely consider a bit more difficult. I had a very nice slam down onto my bumper towards the top that made everyone in a 1 mile radius cringe. Luckily, there was no visible damage to the car as the frame and bumper is made for that kind of abuse (so I tell myself). At the top of the first hill there is a small playground for well articulating rigs with very sharp hills that are close together. We watched as the crawlers entertained us a bit by getting one of their rigs bottomed out on top of one of the humps.

Just as several of their clan got under-neath the bumper to push the guy off of the obsta-cle, we

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drove around them to continue on Trail 3 which was a total of 4.9 miles long. It was beautiful… it meandered through the woods and through frozen streams with huge icicles hanging from the rock walls on either side of us.

We hopped straight onto Trail 6 for the best Creek run of the day. Since the weather had dropped below freezing, there was a fairly think layer of ice on top of most of the puddles and streams we waded through. Once the lead car breaks through the ice there are still large blocks, about 2 to 3 inches thick, that float on top in a slushy pool. When you wade through to get to the other side your tires push the ice aside and it re-

minded me of my years 4-wheeling in Colorado. It was a very surreal ex-perience and one that made me glad we had traveled up there this time of year. This trail was one that eve-ryone in the club could enjoy with just enough

technical parts to make it exciting but nothing that

would cause any damage to our vehicles. Trail 6 spit us back onto a gravel road which we took the rest of the way up the mountain to the TVA Wind-mills. These things are enormous!!! It is almost hypnotic to watch these white monsters spinning against the snow sprinkled mountain. We got a few good group shots here but they don’t do the scen-ery justice.

After hanging out up there for a bit we headed back down the mountain and back to town where we said goodbye to Dave and Patrick and had a nice dinner at the local steakhouse. After dinner, Chris-tian and Dallas headed back to Atlanta as well and Luke, Desiree, Correll and I headed back to the ho-tel for a little relaxation. I was asleep for no more than 30 minutes when Luke came knocking down our door for the night ride we had talked about over dinner. At the time, I had given this about a 5% chance of actually hap-pening considering how beat everyone was from the day’s ride. That said, Luke, Correll and I rallied and hopped in our rigs and headed back over to the mountain. We headed for Trail 2 which is ranked “Moderate” and is about 3.2 miles through the woods. Our Hella’s illuminated the night and made it easy to navigate the terrain. There were a few technical areas but nothing that caught us up for too long. We then hopped onto Trail 13 which we were only able to go about halfway through as we hit a large pond that we couldn’t see how to get around. Our lights were barely penetrating through the fog rising over the half frozen pond and the abandoned

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mine on the hillside next to us made for an eerie setting which probably helped in our decision to turn around and try this section another day. I think it was Correll who commented that if he were a zombie, this would be a pretty cool place to hang out. Realistically though (and in an attempt to save face with the other guys) the thought of getting stuck in the middle of a frozen pond at night was not at the top of either of our lists of things to do.

I led the way back down the trail and I must have taken a wrong turn because I was crossing over what looked like a frozen puddle when about half-way across I heard the very distinct cracking of ice underneath us. A split second later, the passenger side of my rig slams through the ice and down about 1.5 to 2 feet. My driver side wheels were still on the ice but had zero traction and my pas-senger wheels were barely touching the bottom as my rig was balancing on the ice sheet, half in, half out. We hooked my winch to the back recovery point of Luke’s D2 and after some pulling on both of our behalf’s; we were able to yank my rig out of

the mini pond. This was not the best way to check the soundness of my door seals but fortunately they passed the test and the interior was still dry post the extraction. We continued down the moun-tain and back to the hotel as we had had enough excitement for one day. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow. It’s amazing how an afternoon and evening of banging around the trail can take so much energy out of you. We had a leisurely morning the next day and made it back to the trail head around 10:30AM. Part of our scouting trip was to see what kind of camping accommodations they have for a potential SOLA-ROS rally so we headed past the office at the trail-head and continued East on Hoskins Gap Rd for about 1.5 miles to the Windrock Campground. We met Missy, one of the campground hosts, who was extremely nice and said that they have plenty of room for us if we decide to bring a large group up. There are 50 amp and 30 amp electrical hookups along with a shower house, dump station, and sev-eral Bunk Houses with two sets of bunk beds and a loft in each one. They have a very large area in the back that is more “secluded” from the main camp-ground that would be perfect as a SOLAROS base camp. You can check out photos and rates on their website at: www.windrockcampground.com. Needless to say, we were pleasantly surprised with the accommoda-tions and are excited about a potential SOLAROS rally there in the near future. After our quick tour of the campgrounds, we headed back to the head of Trail 2. Interestingly enough, even though we had ridden this trail the night before, it seemed like a completely different trail during the day. We traveled about halfway up Trail 2 and veered onto Trail 16 which is classified as “Difficult” on the map and is about 4.8 miles long. There were a few technical spots but for the most part I would consider this trail Moderate. If it were raining, this trail would be a monster as there are several steep climbs and descents that would be a bit nerve-racking in the rain. One of the real joys of this park and what makes this trail great is that about every mile or so, you have to cross over one of the major gravel roads that snakes around the mountain before jumping back onto the trail so if something were to go wrong on the trail, you are never too far from flat road. There was one mon-ster hill climb on 16 that took me several tries to get

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over but once I kept the momentum over the rocks, I was able to get up and over the hill. Luke and I both made it through the trail without having to whip out any recovery gear. By the time we got done with Trail 16 it was about 1:30PM and we were all exhausted and ready to make the trip back. To get down the mountain from the end of Trail 16 there is a fairly long gravel road that you can actually get some decent speed on without feeling like you are out of control. It weaves around corners and up and down hills as it makes its way down the mountain. For a moment, I knew what the Camel Trophy drivers must feel like as they speed along desolate stretches of land in an

attempt to beat the clock and take home the glory. About halfway down the mountain we spotted a huge old tree that looked like it had been hit by lightening at some point in its life. It’s bare branches stretched wide from its enormous body and the contrast of the dried cracking wood against the cloudless sky made for a good photo opportunity. Seeing my 110 near the trunk of the tree reminded me of the SOLAROS sticker which portrays a 4 door rover near a leafless tree. After a few photos we headed back into town where we aired up and gave our cars a quick

spray down at the local car wash. We were on the road by 3:00PM and back in Atlanta 3+ hours later. Even with a 20 minute head start, I was not able to beat Luke and Desiree home as they went flying by me around the GA border. As scouting trips go, I would definitely deem this a success and I am hopeful that this article will entice other members to visit the site and hopefully push for a SOLAROS rally up there in the near future. I know I won’t need much convincing to head back and hopefully you

Pado’s Barn Project

A number of Solaros members and friends from Lockheed got together on January 26th to help Mike Pado with his barn project. Chilly weather did not deter the intrepid builders as we made good progress on siding the barn and started construc-tion of the end walls. The winch on the D-90 was put to good use to help straighten out a bow in the main cross beam above the garage door. A great time was had by everyone and Mike successfully bribed us with barbecue and the opportunity to work together on a neat project.

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Uwharrie Safari April 10-13, 2008

to benefit the National MS Society

It's that time once again - time to welcome the coming of spring to the forested, rolling hills of North Carolina's Pied-mont. Come join us in beautiful Uwharrie National Forest . The Uwharrie Safari is a family friendly and laid back event that combines offroad driving in the National Forest with the camaraderie that we all enjoy as we drive the worlds best 4x4xFar! Meet other Land Rover owners to meet & take part in challenging yet non-damaging fun trail rides in the forest. There will be many events planned to allow owners of showroom stock Land Rovers to find out just what their shiny machine is capable of, together with a chance for modified machines to Strut Their Stuff Things you should know:

1. Online Registration. This year you can register and pay online using pay-pal. We hope you'll pre-

register. It makes things easier for us. More importantly, it guarantees that we'll have your size and selec-

tion of shirt available. No registrations will be accepted if post marked after 3/31/2008.

2. Trail Passes. Every vehicle that goes out on the trails needs a pass. We don't include them, because

some people like to buy the annual passes instead, not go out on the last day, etc. You do need to pur-

chase trail passes if you are going out on the trails! Daily passes are $5, or get a great start on a whole

season at Uwharrie with a $30 annual pass - buy your pass where you'll be buying gas, ice, biscuits, and

everything else - the Eldorado Outpost .

3. Benefit. This year proceeds of the Safari will benefit the National MS Society. So come have a great

time and support a good cause! At CROC our philosophy has always been to break even for the Safari -

we're not in it for the money we just like to wheel and support Land Rover owners in the Carolinas having

fun with their vehicles. So after a great weekend at Uwharrie we feel doubly fortunate to be able to support

a worthy cause as well.

4. Safety Vests. This year we decided to help separate those individuals who help support and run the event

by making them wear these obnoxious bright orange safety vests. Why? So you know who to go to if you

have any problems, issues, and/or questions about anything at the Safari. We have heard that in the past it

was very hard to determine who are attendees and those involved with supporting the event. This will

hopefully make it a lot less confusing but also allow you quick access to someone in case you need a bit of

help.

5. Raffle Tickets. We will again be selling raffle tickets. All proceeds will benefit the National MS Society.

This year, the tickets will be $1 each or 15 tickets for $10. Tickets will go on sale Saturday afternoon.

Never taken your Land Rover off road? This is the ideal opportunity to build confidence and gain fa-miliarity with your vehicle. There will be plenty of guided trips marshaled by experienced off-roaders who drive the same vehicles as yourselves, and will guide you through the tricky bits.

Carolina Rovers is promoting their annual Uwharrie Safari April 10-13 on their website. This is a great event in the Uwharrie National Forest east of Charlotte, NC. For more info see: www.carolinarovers.com

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The Rover Owners Association of Virginia is hosting the 60th anniversary celebration of the Land Rover! The MAR is moving to Oak Ridge Estates. This major event is scheduled for October 2, 3, 4, 5 of 2008 and will be held at Oak Ridge Estates, Nelson Co., VA. They plan for this to be the single largest celebra-tion in North America. Definitely an event not to be missed for the Land Rover enthusiast! The 60th will feature all the regular events you've come to enjoy at the traditional Mid Atlantic Rally such as the Aluminum Man Triathlon, the RTV, Slow race, Teeter Totter and the list goes on. Of course there will be offroading - over 43 miles of trails are at our disposal at Oak Ridge - more trail system than can be navigated in 2 days of con-tinuous running with levels from scenic to ex-treme!! http://www.oakridgeestate.com/ Looks like its maybe 20 miles closer to Atlanta - straight north of Lynchburg: Camping will be available on site, vendors and sponsors literally at your doorstep. Mark your calendar now for the largest event of the decade! More details at: www.roav.org

25th Annual British Motorcar Day

At Berry College, Rome Georgia

May 17, 2008 The Atlanta area British Motorcar Club is hosting the annual British Motorcar Day for its Silver Anni-versary on May 17th, 2008 at Berry College. We would like to encourage all of the local British car owners to bring their cars to the beautiful setting provided by Berry College and enjoy a day at one of the best low key car shows in the Southeast. This annual event started back in 1984 in Grant Park with 16 cars and has grown to as many as 500 entrants. Come celebrate the Silver Anniversary of the BMCD and support the selected charities that benefit from this event. Participants will get a com-memorative embroidered patch and dash plaque with the especially designed 25th Anniversary Logo for this auspicious occasion. In honor of this Special Anniversary the featured marque this year is all silver colored cars. They will be arranged in the center of the show field. We will also repeat the “Deans List” award where the Dean of the College will make his selection from each of the major marques and will present a trophy to the winners at 3:00 PM. For details: www.atlantabritishmotorcarday.com

Tellico—April 23-27 2008 Solaros members are planning their annual Spring Rover Lifestyle event at the Tellico ORV for April 23-27, 2008. Check the website for more info.

Tellico support parade—Murphy NC April 5, 2008

The Tellico ORV area is under a serious threat of being closed due to some motions filed by environ-mental activists with the USFS. The 4WD commu-nity is organizing a 4WD parade through Murphy North Carolina on Saturday April 5, 2008 to illus-trate how much business the town of Murphy could possibly lose if Tellico is shut down. They are hop-ing for a significant presence from all of the users of this great resource to enlist the support of the local Chamber of Commerce and the Town of Mur-phy to help keep Tellico open.

GREENLANER—PAGE 13

SOLAROS

1325 NORTH POINT WAY

ROSWELL, GA 30075

Solaros club meetings are held the third Wednesday of

each month. This month we are meeting at Artuzzi’s

off Windward Parkway about 3/4 mile east of GA 400

starting around 7:00 PM

Solaros membership is open to all owners

and enthusiasts of Land Rover vehicles. Dues are $40/year payable on January 1. For membership information or dues pay-ments contact the Membership Chairman: Scott Wold C/O Solaros PO Box 1185 Roswell, GA 30077 Or by e-mail at membership.coordinator@solaros.com Send newsletter submissions to: newsletter@solaros.com

For more information see the club website at:

www.solaros.com