Below is the newsletter that was sent out earlier to the supporting membership, but as I want to make sure that all of our members have a chance to review the information being shared, I've pasted the body of the email below.

NEXterra Newsletter from the office of the President:
Well, I?m now about 6 months into my tenure as the president of, in my opinion, one of the best clubs around and it?s my sincere hope that I?ve been a beneficial change in the time that I?ve been sitting in the seat. However, I know that there are still is much work to be done if we?re going to continue to grow and succeed and it?s my hope that I will be able to get many of those initiatives well underway before it?s time for me to hand over the reigns of leadership to someone else that can then, in turn, do even more to help the club grow and prosper.

State of the nation (or club) statement:
Since January, we?ve instituted a number of changes that not all of you may be aware of, such as:
New Supporting Member sticker / package: We?ve updated the look of the logo for Supporting Members stickers so that you can show, with pride, your membership on a year over year basis. We?ve also created a package deal that will get you a supporting members sticker, open up the members only section of the site, get you access to the NEA trails that we are able to reserve and use as well as other planned benefits ? such as access to the online photo albums so that you can post your pictures into a club?s space.

T-Shirts:
We?ve pre-purchased a number of club t-shirts (in grey and pink) that you can order up at any time and have shipped out to you, rather than wait until a club event for them to become available.
Annual plan of events: While this is a new process for the club and has had its share of stumbles, I believe that this is a great first step toward creating a calendar of events that we can plan out well in advance, allowing for us to do more than ad-hoc events throughout the year, with ECXC and B2S mixed in toward the middle and end of year. My hope is that, as this process matures, we?ll continue to improve on the planning and organization and will, in coming years, have at least 4 club events of note each year, with interim runs and meetings that will make it possible for our members to participate more often in club-related events than is currently the case.

Officer structure:
This was relatively minor change, but I believe will help us a great deal as we?ve streamlined the roles and responsibilities, which has allowed us to better serve the club, with each officer specifically responsible for the critical roles that must be managed if we?re going to be able to grow into a more diverse and more active organization. In fact, I?d like to take this opportunity to thank the officers as they have gone far above and beyond my original expectations and, even when they don?t have as much free time as they?d like, they still make the effort to give this club as much of a priority as they can so that nothing slips by the wayside.


Around the club:

GPAX
Not too long ago, we opened the forum doors to one of our sister clubs, providing a home to the Greater PA Xterra club, which gives us the ability to support each other in ways that are not always easily done otherwise.

Message from the GPAX President.
GPAX is in full force during its second year of inception. We currently have 48 active members and we are growing by the day. We are looking for forward to our "Ridin" Dirty Run" and competition this August 21st in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Once we wash the stink of the Pine Barrens off our trucks we'll be heading to The Back to School run in New York on September 18th. We are also planning ahead for the fall and expect to have several runs in PA as well as a trip down south to North Carolina or Kentucky. Check us out at www.gpaxterras.org for all the latest info and GPAX swag!


ECXC
This year?s ECXC (http://www.ecxc.com) was great a usual. ECXC (http://www.ecxc.com) is the largest gathering of Nissan Xterra owners in the northeast and many NEXTerra members took part in the three day wheeling event. After the three days of fantastic wheeling at Rausch Creek Off Road Park (http://www.rauschcreekoffroadpark.org/) in PA NEXTerra took part in sponsoring the dinner on Saturday night at the TwinGrove KOA (http://www.twingrove.com/) and sponsored and ran the after party/bar later that night. Our Sponsorship Coordinator, Stephen Q. Breslin oversaw the whole deal and NEXTerra members Eric (RomeoEJ ) and his buddy Nate manned the bar with some help from Erin.
For a link to ECXC pictures CLICK HERE (http://www.nexterra.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4939)

A Brief Note from MtDewMike
The summer may be coming to an end soon, but that doesn't mean that the fun activities stop! We have some events coming up within the next couple of months.

Thursday, September 9th, let's have a meet and greet up at Patriot Place in Foxboro. There is a cruise night that many people have been telling me about. I've been told it's a huge turnout up there. After checking out the cars, we can hit one of the local restaurants.

In October, I'll be up at Barrett's Haunted Mansion again, for my 13th season. It's always a fun night going through the haunted house and having a meal next door at the Abington Ale House. Keep checking the forum for updates. For more information on the haunted house, check out http://www.bhmansion.com.

We are also looking to set up a day of wheeling in a couple local locations. This will be good for beginners and slightly modified trucks. If you have never wheeled before, and would like to learn, this is a good beginner course for you. There will be other experienced drivers there to help answer any questions you may have, as well as help you learn what your truck is capable of doing.


The NEXTerra Premier Event: Back To School Run 2010
The 6th Annual ?Back to School Run? will be held Saturday, September 18th in West Oneonta, NY

This is The North East Xterra Club?s premier event.

As in years past the event begins when folks start to arrive at Scott?s house on Friday the 17th. We will be camping in Scott?s front yard where there?s plenty of room for everyone and their trucks.

A dinner of Hotdogs, Hamburgers and Italian Sausage and pepper hero?s (Sausage and bread from Brooklyn, NY) will be provided on Friday night.
Saturday morning a light breakfast of coffee, bagels and donuts will be provided before we leave to hit the trails.

On Saturday you will be given a unique opportunity to run your truck on some very challenging trails located on private land in beautiful upstate New York. The trails are not that rocky but slick with a lot of tree roots that are hard to grip. Rain makes it much worse. Good tires are the priority.

If you?ve never wheeled this might not be the best trails to start with. But we have many experienced drivers in the club who are willing to help you learn. If you feel unsure about tackling this type of terrain there will be folks willing to have you ride shotgun in their trucks so that you can get a feel of the ?off-road? experience without putting your truck in danger.

Saturday evening is the party that includes a raffle, slide show of the days wheeling and a BBQ featuring Scott?s famous chicken.

So this event will cost $25.00. Included with the registration fee is an event t-shirt, an event sticker, dinner on Friday night, a light breakfast Saturday morning, access to private land to wheel, a BBQ on Saturday night, a pancake breakfast on Sunday morning and hanging with some of the most welcoming Xterra owners in the northeast. The event is B.Y.O.B., cooler and ice but all else will be provided. You can?t beat that deal! Please join us.

Sponsors so far include;
PRG
Shrockworks
Automotive Customizers
Bandit 4x4
Drakken OffRoad
Skid Row Offroad

So far, we have 20+ trucks, so you have a chance to get together with old friends, people that you haven?t met yet and the newer members of the club. So, make sure to sign up and get ready for a great event.



Personal thoughts and mental wanderings:
It?s been a great first half of the year and I think that we?re only going to get better as we mature the new structure and our approach to building the club and benefitting our members. So, here?s to a great 2nd half of the year and I look forward to continuing to serve you as the President until my time in the position comes to an end.

Michael

This looks like a great start to me Mike!