SoCal Challengers Support for Officer Keith Boyer

officerIt is said, it's always better to give than to receive, and today was a true testament of that.

As many of you know, with the passing of Officer Boyer of the Whittier Police Department.  SoCal Challengers (SCC) felt the need to help in any way possible.  SCC Members got together and purchased a batch of tickets for a final concert where Officer Keith Boyer was to play with his band Mrs. Jones Revenge.  After his tragic death, it has since turned into a farewell memorial concert to remember him in his honor.

Today, I had the esteemed privileged to meet with the Chief of Police and other members of his LEO Family. I handed over the tickets on behalf of SoCal Challengers for the concert. The amount of gratitude they had for the club cannot simply me measured.

Being able to be a part of something with a greater cause is reason enough for me.

Efrain Gastelum
President SoCal Challengers

SoCal Challengers at Warfighter Made Dodge Challenger Reveal

group 30b5cWarfighter Made is an awe-inspiring organization that gives back to our vets who have fought for our Country. One of the great things they do is customize a combat wounded veteran’s vehicle.  The Vet can continue doing the things they enjoy, while their vehicle is being customized to reflect their individual needs and personality.

Gabriel Martinez is a double amputee war veteran who lives in Colorado with his wife, who is expecting their 2nd child. Gabe's 2012 Dodge Challenger RT came to Warfighter Made running on 5 of 8 cylinders, had broken headlights, and a large dent in the quarter panel.

Modifications that were made to the Challenger:
Repaired back to full 8 cylinders
Repaired headlights
Installed long tube headers and full dual exhaust
Installed a Whipple super charger from superchargersonline.com
K&N filter
Cunningham Motorsports completed a full dyno tune
Eibach provided pro-system plus suspension with springs, sway bars, struts
Power Stop brakes provided four powder coated quarter brakes with rotors
Kicker L7 10 inch sub
Dyno Dynamics halos provided & installed by SRT Creations
Lukas oil provided all new fluids for the vehicle
Front-end Alignment (done in house)
New wheels and tires

SoCal Challengers was inspired by this event and our family came together and made him an honorary member of our club, providing him a certificate, applying our SoCal Challengers logo on his fresh ride, and giving him swag he can take back home. This event was truly inspiring.

Want to learn more about us or contact us?

SoCal Challengers Members Meeting

meeting 2016 sm 7f1dfGreetings SCC Family,
Here's a summary of the items discussed during the Members Meeting this Sunday as well as the results of the survey. Note that the survey results are posted in the "Files" tab (see below) in pdf form so you'll need Acrobat Reader to open them and they may not open on some devices.

Thank you to the almost thirty people (including family) that came to breakfast and the 20 that came out to the park for the meeting itself.

We started the meeting out with our Vice President Eli leading us in a moment of silence to acknowledge and remember of our military, first responders civilians killed on 9/11.

We stepped through the survey results and discussed the main items contained in them starting with an interest in possibly having regional chapters or regional representatives. The consensus was that having formal chapters wouldn't benefit the club and may encourage division. The result was an agreement that we should continue to encourage posting of "meet-ups" (e.g., "A few of us are heading out to the track. Who wants to come?") and local hang-outs by individual members and to continue to make the point clear that there are no boundaries on events, either in time or geography. If you have an event that you want to promote to the club broadly we ask that you contact Alexis to help get it on our calendar but that shouldn't been seen as a restriction on suggesting a local event that you're interest in to the club.

Comments were shared that the officers (and in particular I) need to be seen as more approachable. I asked for how we could encourage that and the feedback I got is that I in particular should make more of an effort to get out and meet each member, especially new members to make sure they feel welcome and are comfortable sharing ideas or concerns. Excellent point and I know that I can definitely do better in that regard and I'll definitely try to do so. If you do have anything that you'd like to share please do discuss it with whomever of the leadership (me, Eli, Alexis, Greg, Rose or Israel) or any of the long-term members (e.g., Jim "Diceman" Deiss, Phil Bowdoin, Danny, etc.) that you're comfortable with approaching. We need your input!

There is an interest in working with local Dodge dealerships to set up events and a couple of members volunteered to help set up some events (sorry we didn't get the names).

We discussed at length the subject of being a member of multiple car clubs (including other local Challenger clubs such as Challengers Unlimited) and the consensus was that this is fine: other club's members are welcome to be members of our club (following our normal prospecting period and dues payment policies) and vice versa. If there is potential for or is actual conflict generated we would need to address it as it comes up of course but broadly speaking we don't want our members to feel that there are implied restrictions on who they can spend time with.

There was discussion on changing our chosen charity due to a lack of interest by Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund in either acknowledging our contributions or really interacting with us at all sadly. I'll post a separate item on this suggestion after this one so we can discuss it as a separate item. There is another charity that we are considering and I'll post information on them once we get a chance to talk with them in more detail. We'll be open to suggestions here and will vote for the final choice.

There is interest in setting up an SCC-hosted fundraiser. Efrain agreed to lead this effort supported by a number of other members who agreed to help. These events take a great deal of effort to organize so please offer to help if you're interested in doing so. Rosie is organizing a holiday party/fundraiser as well and I'm sure she'd value your support on that effort as well.

The SoCal Challengers (SCC) name is in the process of being trademarked and the SCC brand images are going to be copyrighted. This effort should be complete in the next few weeks or so. This effort was undertaken to protect the club in a case where some malicious party attempts to use our name for some negative purpose (such as the blogger we had issues with 8 months ago). To be absolutely clear, this is an effort to protect the club from harm and not an attempt to keep individual members from showing SCC love by generating their own images for their personal use such as stickers for their cars or hats. We only ask that you don't use our images or name for anything commercial (obviously because that would hurt our fundraising efforts), political, negative, etc. If you're considering developing something please discuss it with an officer so we can ensure that the right image is used if required and that it conforms with our club standards (see above and the Membership Agreement policies) but showing SCC love is always encouraged :-)

The process for prospecting new members was discussed and the current policy will remain in place. Some history behind why the changes were made was presented and discussed and there was a consensus that the current policy should remain in place (i.e., 4 events and a vote by the officers).

There was a comment that for those members who get email notifications when there is a post to the club page that they are getting overwhelmed by the number of emails, especially those related to posts of a more personal nature than strictly club business. We discussed why that could be in terms of content of discussion in the forum and how Facebook is set up. It seemed that the right solution was to encourage those members who are set up this way to modify their Facebook settings to remove the email forwarding setting if they feel that this is an issue. If you'd like to do this, please contact Alexis and she can help you get those changes made. In regards to the content of discussion on our page, there was agreement that no policy should be set other than those already in place to restrict any specific type of post.

If I've missed anything or if you have any questions or comments please let us know and have a great rest of your week!

Doug Bennett
President

SoCal Challengers Big Bear Cruise 2016

I had a fantastic day leading my "extended family" of SoCalChallengers through the mountains of Big Bear.  20+ late model Dodge Challengers owned the winding roads. Many had fun exploring, and getting lost, in the wilderness.  Some of our associate members from Central California Challengers came down and rented a beautiful cabin for the weekend. Living right! Looking forward to our next group adventure. Diceman.

SoCal Challengers Membership Agreement

SoCal Challengers Membership Agreement

Mission Statement, Code of Conduct and General Expectations

SoCal Challengers (“the club”) membership is conditional. Please read this entire document before signing. The contents of this document are subject to change. It is the responsibility of the members to be aware of any changes as they become available. Changes to this document can occur by a majority vote of the club body or by the board of directors. A date of the effectiveness will accompany any changes, and a revised document will be placed on the club web site. A revised version can also be emailed upon request.

By signing this document, all persons agree to the terms stated within and agree to meet the standards set forth. Failure to comply with this agreement could result in membership suspension and/or termination. Any dues paid or donations given prior to membership termination will be forfeited.

SoCal Challengers is a Non-Profit Organization and all donations of any type become the property of the organization. In the event that SCC should be dissolved, all assets, property, and remaining funds
will be liquidated/distributed according to the laws applicable to non-profit organizations in the state of California.

Mission Statement: The mission of SoCal Challengers is to promote excitement for the Dodge Challenger vehicle with a friendly family environment, while supporting local charities through car shows, cruises, and special events. SoCal Challengers is dedicated to family, charity, and our love of the Dodge Challenger.

Code of Conduct:  SoCal Challengers is a family-oriented club and has a zero tolerance policy for any and all illegal activities (e.g., street racing, drug use, other crimes etc.) that may directly or by inference subject the club to civil or criminal liability or otherwise bring discredit to SoCal Challengers. This policy includes but is not limited to non-club activities where your behavior could be interpreted as being representative of the club. For example if you are wearing club-branded apparel and engage in street racing.

All members will be expected to follow simple guidelines of conduct. Listed below are additional examples of behavior that will not be tolerated:

  1. Events
    1. Excessive alcohol use
    2. Illegal drug use or use of any substance that makes operation of a motor vehicle unsafe (e.g., abuse of prescription medication)
    3. Profane or abusive language
    4. Fighting (includes all persons involved in the perpetuation of violence)
    5. Unsportsmanlike conduct
  1. Events and Elsewhere
    1. Vandalism or willful destruction of club or club members property
    2. Theft (includes club trademarked property)
    3. Negative social media use (e.g., on the SoCal Challengers Facebook members site,tagging SoCal Challengers in negative statements on Instagram, etc.) including but not limited to:
      1. Profanity
      2. Messages defaming a specific race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, or political affiliation
      3. Sexually explicit pictures
      4. Discussions of illegal activities including street racing (see below)
      5. Copyrighted material
      6. Slandering or libeling of club members, other clubs and organizations

Street racing will not be tolerated. Members convicted of or openly admitting to street racing shall be immediately placed on suspension pending a club investigation by the officers and may result in the member being permanently expelled from the club.

As described above, any action whether illegal, unsafe or which may bring discredit to the club in any way may be cause for immediate suspension of club member privileges to include but not limited to participation in club events, access to the club's closed forums (e.g., the private, member’s Facebook group), and association with the club at public events.

SoCal Challengers applies a “three strike rule” and reserves the right of conditional application. This consists of two (2) warnings issued by a club officer. The third “strike” or violation of this conduct code will result in membership suspension or termination, which will be determined by a committee of officers of the club. If extreme circumstances exist, such as fighting or theft, the three strikes rule may be waived in favor of immediate action. If you are asked by an officer of the club to leave the premises of a club event, you must do so immediately. Do not return without permission of the committee. Time passing between departure and committee decision may be credited to the decision of the committee at their discretion. You may submit your input in writing for review by the committee that will meet to settle your issue at a more convenient time.

General Expectations: As a member of SoCal Challengers, there are general expectations surrounding member behavior, appearance, and participation at events.

Attending an Event

  • Wear SCC club shirt when entering the show – afterward, feel free to wear other SCC apparel
  • Wear SCC club shirt when attending the awards presentation
  • Follow all guidelines of conduct as stipulated in the Code of Conduct
  • Represent SCC in a professional manner, while always having fun

Guidelines for Organizing an Event

  • Events should have some connection with our core principles as a Dodge Challenger car club and as a non-profit organization that raises funds for IFHF and other charities in that the event should support some charitable organization, vet organization, muscle car culture, etc.
  • Conduct research on the event – date, location, time, registration fee, etc.
  • Events should be submitted to the club Secretary around two weeks prior to the event date to provide sufficient time to promote the event and get any questions answered.
  • Create a thread to post all event details on the forum pages at socalchallengers.com or our Facebook Page and initiate member sign-up
  • Pre-run the event prior to the show to ensure there are no traffic issues – speed bumps, traffic lights, construction, etc.
  • Select and post meeting spot for the event at least 5 days prior to the show; this will ensure all cars can drive in and park together
  • Soon after the event you should provide a club picture and a brief write-up (a couple of paragraphs – see the section “Writing an Article on an Event” below) including  a list of attendees and awards won

Writing an Article on an Event

  • Let one of the club officers know you are writing the event story
  • Include event details – date, location, time, charity details, etc.
  • Write about the event from the SCC perspective and specifics to our members
  • The article length should be at least a couple of paragraphs but should not exceed 2 pages
  • Submit final article to the SCC email address (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
  • Do not insert pictures directly within the body of the story. Formatting of any pictures will be performed separately.

Club Participation Awards

  • Club Participation Awards are property of SoCal Challengers and should be passed around to each member for an equal opportunity to share in these awards.
  • Club Participation Awards should be brought to each event for display.

Member Shirts and Club Branded Apparel: An American flag approximately sized 2”X3” (standard military uniform size) may be placed on the right shoulder. No other adornment, patches, writing, etc. may be placed on the club shirt. For all other club branded attire (e.g., the club branded jacket, tee shirts, etc.) adornment may be placed only by prior approval of a club officer.

Guests and Prospect Participation on Cruises: A hardcopy cruise waiver must be signed by any guest or prospect and presented to a club officer or officer designate prior to participation in any club event that includes operation of a motor vehicle.

As a member of SoCal Challengers, I, ___________________________________, understand and agree to meet the standards set forth above. I understand that failure to comply with the terms indicated in this agreement could result in the suspension and/or termination of my membership and that any dues paid or donations given will be forfeited.

Please Read and Sign this Addendum for Minor if Participant is Under 18 as of the Date this Document is Signed:

The undersigned, as parent(s), guardian(s) and/or legal custodian of the minor child named below, in exchange for issuance of rider registration materials and for other good and valuable consideration, the adequacy and receipt of which are acknowledged, represent, covenant and agree:

1. I/we have read the attached SoCal Challengers Member Agreement, Car Cruise Insurance Waiver and Release of Liability, have fully assessed the risks of the SoCal Challengers Car Club and related events and warrant and represent that I/we have determined that my/our minor child named below is qualified and capable of participating on the conditions disclosed in the SoCal Challengers Member Agreement, Waiver and Release of Liability without risk of injury or loss to others, to the minor child or to me or us.

2. I/we agree that during the entire period of my/our minor child’s participation in SoCal Challengers and/or any of its related events, I/we will provide direct supervision for my/our minor child and will be solely responsible for such supervision.

3. In executing the SoCal Challengers Member Agreement, Waiver and Release of Liability on behalf of the child named below, we agree to release all claims we may have personally by or through our minor child on the terms specified in the SoCal Challengers Member Agreement, Waiver and Release of Liability and otherwise accept all of its obligations, terms, covenants and agreements insofar as they relate to rights we hold directly and derivatively through the minor child named below and as to any rights we may exercise, release or waive on behalf of my/our minor child as permitted by applicable law.

4. Additionally, I/we agree jointly and severally to indemnify and hold harmless:

SoCal Challengers sponsors and participating clubs, communities and organizations; SoCal Challengers officials, emergency and support personnel, volunteers and their representatives; Friends of SoCal Challengers; persons and entities that provide event recommendations, advice or services relating to matters such as, but not limited to, route selection, design or maintenance, risk management, safety and first aid; all property owners, law enforcement agencies and governmental or public entities, including without limitation the State of California, its counties, cities and special districts; and the officers, directors, employees, representatives, agents, assigns, and successors of all of the above, from and against any and all losses, damages, costs or expenses arising from any and all claims, demands and actions of any and every kind, including claims of negligence, that my/our minor child may have against the above-named parties to the extent proximately caused by my/our minor child’s participation in SoCal Challengers and/or any of its related events. These include, without limitation, physical injury, mental injury, emotional distress, trauma, sickness, illness, death, contact with others, equipment failure, inadequate safety equipment, the effects of weather including extreme temperature or conditions, traffic, contact with motor vehicles of all types and descriptions, collision with other persons, or fixed objects, the conditions of and/or design and other defects in the road and facilities, including campgrounds, all risks along the route, and the negligence of others, including, without limitation, those persons organizing, sponsoring, or participating in SoCal Challengers and/or events occurring in connection with it. This indemnity includes my/our agreement to reimburse the released parties for all payments they may make and liabilities they may incur to or for the benefit of my/our minor child, including but not limited to judgments for personal injury, wrongful death or other claims resulting from their actions or failure to act, even if the same includes their negligence.

5. I/we agree that should my/our minor child have the right to bring any claim, demand, action, of any and every kind, against the above-named parties, I/we, on behalf of my minor child, agree to pursue and/or settle any and all such claims or controversies exclusively by final and binding arbitration before a neutral arbitrator in the County of Los Angeles, California.

6. The terms of this addendum shall be governed by the laws of the State of California and shall be interpreted liberally to give maximum force and effect to my/our intent to be fully and solely responsible for the welfare of my/our minor child named below and for any and all liability, loss or injury that may arise from his/her participation in SoCal Challengers and its related events even if the same involves the negligence of others. If any term of this addendum is determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or incapable of being enforced, then all other terms of this addendum will nevertheless remain in full force and effect, and such term automatically will be amended so that it is valid, legal and enforceable to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, but as close to the parties’ original intent as is permissible.

__________________________________________                                    ________________
Printed Name of Minor Child                                                           Date Signed

_________________                                                                          ________________
Child’s Age (as of date signed)                                                         Child’s Birthday

_________________________________________
Signature of Participant’s Parent or Guardian

_________________________________________
Signature of Participant’s Parent or Guardian

Attachments:
SoCal Challengers Membership Agreement[SoCal Challengers Membership Agreement 2016]298 kB