The Sun Coast Cruisers began to take shape on November 12, 2000. It was a Sunday evening and approximately 25 people gathered at Perkins around 7:30 to discuss their displeasure with the leadership and poor management of the car club they were all members of. The meeting provided everyone an opportunity to express their feelings and ideas regarding how a club should function. The meeting ended on a very positive note and everyone agreed to meet again on Thursday evening to see if there was enough interest to continue to develop a new car club.
On Thursday evening, so many people arrived at Perkins that wanted to form a new club that the group took over most of the restaurant. At this meeting an organizational plan was presented to the group by Chip Krieger to help create a new club. Everyone agreed with the concept and the plan was implemented. First a name was chosen from about 25 offered from the floor. After the show of hands the group decided to use the name “ Sun Coast Cruisers”.
Once the name was chosen a simple set of by-laws was agreed on to serve until more detailed by-laws could be developed. Next order of business was to elect officers as allowed by our new by-laws. Hal Davis was elected President, Donald Chestnut was elected Vice President, Linda Eubanks was elected Sectary, and Christy Cumber was elected the clubs treasurer. At this time Chip Krieger introduced the New President to the membership and turned the meeting over to Hal Davis, Hal made his first presentation to the club.
During the next couple of weeks several committees were formed and progress within the club came quickly. Once the word was shared around the Wilmington area that a new car club was being formed people began to look for more information. Within the first two weeks the membership grew to 27, two weeks later the membership stood at 61. The overwhelming growth of the membership was a strong indication that the Sun Coast Cruisers was heading in the correct direction. It seemed that people wanted to be aligned with a club that could state its values:
- Strong & Equitable Leadership
- Growth of it’s Membership
- Create & Maintain a Harmonious Environment
- Return Value to the Community We Live In.
The Sun Coast Cruisers actually began to deliver on these values in early December when several members under the direction of Allen Garner, took apart Greg’s 53 Chevy and refinished the car for him, and then returned it to him and his family with the help of WWAY Channel 3 News one rainy Saturday evening.
This is only the beginning of the story, history is being written as you read this. Someday in the future we will look back on these early days and remember the fun and excitement we shared. Remember, we can all say we were a part of the Sun Coast Cruisers history in the making.