J A N U A RY • F E B R U A RY 2 0 1 5 Chapter Reports Olde North State Cruisers We can’t stop buying Cruisers here in North Carolina! The autumn months have seen some awesome vehicles enter our driveways. No offense to the proud new owners of 40s, 80s, 100s and 200s (and one built 200 at that!) but a couple of recent purchases just kind of stand out. One of us finally secured his unicorn, a 1966 FJ45 LV that needs, and is getting, ahem… some love. Another member now keeps his 200 company with a Spanish 1986 BJ73. It seems that the days of impressing people with new tires or a good wash and wax are over around these parts. Well played, gentlemen. Well played, indeed. A Raleigh member is in the final stretch of his recent 40 overhaul. It was recently a propane powered 2F rock crawler beast sprung over on 37’s and, on unveiling, will be a MegaSquirted 2FE, H55F’d daily driver that can still handle the rocks when needed. The body and frame both also finally got the attention they’ve needed for a while. We’re all dying to see this thing’s debut; the owner doesn’t mess around. Adventure-wise, we’re still at it while heading into winter. We sent some ONSC folks to meet up with Upstate Cruisers for a windswept, mountain top weekend in October near Asheville, North Carolina. One nameless soul would like to point out that while the pin striping was under emphasized in the planning stage, there were zero frostbite incidents this year. Some folks would call that a win. Our third unofficial Veteran’s Day run at Uwharrie (URE) National Forest had perfect weather and a stellar turnout. 40s, 80s, 100s, a 200 and an FJ Cruiser traveled up to 4 hours to wheel for a day and each returned safely home after pounding the rocks. We might have to finally add this to the official club calendar in 2015. Still to come by the time you read this is a weekend trip to an isolated North Carolina barrier island via ferry and our famous ONSC Christmas party/last run of the year/ trail workday at URE. The latter is the last time our statewide collective will be in the same place until the weather warms and the trails open, and we hope to set a club record for workday attendance, too. We’re happy to report that 2014 has presented no major carnage to any of our members. There are plenty of projects going on, and many more will happen through the winter months but they’ve all been elective this year. Please visit us at www.onsc4x4.com or find our clubhouse at www.ih8mud.com to see what kind of fun we’re having in North Carolina. John Vargosko in Toyota Trails magazine in 2013. Look for the third event to be featured in 2015. This event takes us through the area that was devastated by the Hayman Fire in 2002. After all these years, the area is still struggling to regenerate and portions of these once heavily wooded trails are still closed. On the contrary, hard work and effort by local 4x4 clubs like Rising Sun have reopened portions of the area and it’s fantastic to see life return to what was a barren wasteland of fire and ash. Important club business is priority one at club meetings and we’ve been working hard on that front as well. Our club’s annual Phil Simmons Award was given to longtime TLCA and Rising Sun member, Marco Capote. Marco is well deserving and you can read about the Phil Simmons Award and what Phil meant not only to Rising Sun but to the entire off-road community by visiting www.risingsun4x4club.org and following the link. Stay the trail, keep it clean and do your part. Stan Wright Rising Sun Four Wheel Drive Club of Colorado Winter has taken a firm grasp on us here in Colorado. Below-zero temperatures and powdery white snow now blanket the mighty Rocky Mountains. That doesn’t stop Rising Sun from enjoying the freedom of public access though; we’ll be out and about all winter long. Our monthly meetings continue to bring in new members and new ideas. Our annual winter club runs are in their planning stages and we expect another great turnout for the Annual Snow Run and the 3rd Annual Run the Gulches. The first Run the Gulches event was featured right here 41