November 6, 2006
Fellow Starlite Contestants,
As this time of year rolls around I can’t help but think about all the years of
running Starlite. A 30 year tradition put on by the Santa Barbara Sports Car
Club.
You remember the thrills, trials and tribulations of the glory days of Starlite
don’t you? The back roads and high speeds through wide open spaces that made
memories that will be with you forever. It was just not a rally,… it was a state
of mind.
Do you remember the excitement of the gathering of cars in scenic Santa Barbara?
The camaraderie of the teams working out the routes? The hyper-alertness on the
road and the relief when the checkpoint comes into view?
The challenging twisting roads out of Santa Barbara? The long stretches of wide
open pavement lit by Megawatts of rally lights? Rolling over the hose and up to
the timing car to get another zero? The grand vistas of the desert at Sunrise?
The glitz and excitement of Las Vegas? Eating prime rib in a grand ballroom and
laughing your butt off at Mike’s, “A funny thing happened on the way to Starlite”?
With each year that has gone by since 2001 the hope of it coming back dimmed
more and more.
With the encouragement from my longtime co-rallymaster, Sean Stern, I came to
realize that the only way it was going to happen was to step up to the plate and
get a team together to organize it.
Last year I got in touch with SBSCC and asked for their approval to continue the
Starlite tradition….. and you know what they say…careful for what you wish
for….I got it. Now the work begins.
Dig out your rally clocks and tune up your cars because it’s coming back.
We are planning a Starlite event that will uphold all the traditions of the
original spectacular event. A true tribute to Starlite.
Staying with the Starlite tradition it will start in Santa Barbara on a Friday
night and finish in Las Vegas.
To accomplish putting on this event I need your help. We need to know if there
is still an interest in this kind of event. We need to know what changes, if
any, you would like to see. Enclosed is a survey to help us shape this event to
fill the needs of the participants.
Please take a moment to answer the survey and input your ideas so we can
continue the state of mind known as Starlite.
The Name of the Game is FUN!
Let’s do it again!
Our team’s plan is to create a tribute to the traditions of Starlite. It will
carry on the things that we love about Starlite and allow room for improvements
that will make the rally more fun and affordable. We believe in tailoring the
rally to suit the contestants and to meet that end would like to ask a few
questions:
We are working from the SBSCC mailing list from 2001. If you know of former
contestants whose address have changed since 2001 please pass this information
on to them and if possible send us their new information so we can update the
mailing list.
Please respond to this survey and let’s start making some new memories!