In the last two weeks I have been inundated with emails and calls from numerous local event organizers and club members! The show season is getting closer and the cooperation and response from all over the area has been getting bigger and bigger. Judging by the correspondance and the phone conversations this season promises to be the biggest yet for Area Rides. It looks like it wont stop getting better either!

The interest is not only limited to the St. Louis region. There are some potentially good contacts I have been making with other clubs around the nation. Area Rides may end up ahead of schedule with its expansion into other cities. Nothing is definite, but it can be said that the prospects are, at the very least, promising. 

There have been some changes and additions to the site as of late. Some have been very minor like some cosmetic tweaks and the new placement of the Announcements section. The larger improvements have been more of "behind the curtain" and the operation of the site. The biggest addition are the Photo Discs that Area Rides will be offering. It has yet to be determined if this will be available for all events or just a choice few. As it is still a new feature, there are a few issues to contend with dealing with copyrights and intelectual properties.

A clever and observant fellow St. Louisan has pointed out that no where on the front page does the site mention St. Louis. Stu Langer, member of the St. Louis Coachmen, only found out by reading it in the Mission Statement. Rest assured that Area Rides is a St. Louis-centric site. For now at least. With perseverance and a little bit of luck we can expand to include other cities. 

Area Rides may have its first project vehicle! It will be my old 1984 Chevy Blazer Silverado. At the moment it is sitting in the lawn of a family friend in Union, Missouri. It has been there since 2005. I am not sure what kind of condition it is in, but it has been donated to the cause.

The reason this is now a project car is there is an interested party. He has a plan and a couple other contingency plans if the first does not work. He may have an interested party in some parts or it may just become a fun farm truck. Either way it will have new home and a new life and not a lawn ornament.

To garner and maintain a decent internet presence webmasters must have accounts with as many social networks as possible. In doing that, Area Rides has accounts with the all the usual sites- among these the more popular ones like Facebook and Twitter. AR also has accounts with Technorati, Behance, StreetFire, StumbleUpon, Digg, Reddit and more!

I've been working on a couple new sections for Area Rides. There will soon be an Editorial section. This will be broken down into a couple categories depending on what content is developed. For now there is only a few articles and I am writing everyday to create more before I make it public.

We are nearly through the first official month and there has been a lot of positive response! I have spoken with many car enthusiasts lately and I have come to the conclusion that Saint Louis has the coolest group of car freaks! I knew this from the inception of Area Rides. I've been trying to show this for years. 

Area Rides is Officially Open!

I would like to take this opportunity, on the first official post, to offer you, dear reader, a happy and prosperous new year. May your check engine light never turn on. I hope to see you all at all the show, cruises and special events in St Louis.

Now some business...

With less than four days to the projected completion of the site this will serve as the last unofficial post. You will note some changes already and these are in preparation for the big switch. Until then you may also notice that some things will disappear. These sections served only as a preliminary testing ground and will be subsequently dropped or they were just moved to a different location. The "Announcements" section- this section- will be found under the Community menu item. Who wants to see me ramble on about a new feature when they first visit the site? I wouldn't. I say: "Bring on the Cars!"