Opening the 2022 Season

Details

Published: 05 May 2022

After two years of limited events and canceled plans, Northern Ohio Chapter will start 2022 with our new BMW-mandated logo (look to the right) and plans for the driving season.  We begin with a long-standing drive tradition, continue with an emerging member favorite, and follow with some returning events.  As well, there are a few other gatherings in the works whose details will be forthcoming in the next few weeks.

We start the driving season with the long-standing tradition of a winery drive on Saturday, May 21.  We'll tour some northern counties looking for those usual unusual sights such as odd lawn ornaments, mail boxes, houses and businesses on our way to Stonegait Winery in Madison, Ohio--part of the northern wine country.  Look to your left under the calendar for the Opening the Gate Winery Drive to get details and how to register.

On June 11th, we present our Premier event, our third Show N Shine gathering, starting at a home outside Geauga county's Chardon, where participants will enjoy the owners' car collection. After that review and some breakfast, registered members will explore more of the northern countryside, ending at an Ashtabula home with another garage tour before the catered lunch.  To learn more, click here.

Rolling into the next month, Northern Ohio will be the featured marque at the Gervasi Vineyard's Wednesday night Cruise-In on July 13.  We're looking to continue our reputation of bringing lots of great cars for guests to review that night, so get the details and how to nominate your vehicle for the featured brick drive to the pavilion by clicking here.

Our other events will appear in later announcements on this web page, via the calendar to the left, and through email blasts to our members.  To get those emails, make certain your contact information is correct at BMWCCA's national web site, as only you can correct or change your information. To access your data, click here and follow the log-in directions.

In addition to our own events, we have highlighted in our left-column events calendar some events of interest from other chapters and organizations as well.

To see a list of all our currently finalized events, scroll to the top of this page, click Chapter Info, then scroll down to and click List All Calendar Events.

We'll keep you updated as summer progresses.  We look forward to seeing you in the upcoming months!

Origins of Northern Ohio Chapter

Details

Published: 09 October 2016

When early BMW Car Club of America members joined the national organization in the mid-1970s, they became members of a local entity which was rather unique at the time. While most chapters were located around metropolitan areas, Ohio had one of the first—if not the first—statewide chapter, Buckeye.

After attending meetings and events in the Columbus area for a time, our lifetime member John Franklin contacted members in Cleveland, Akron, and other northeastern Ohio areas and created the Cleveland/Akron Area to have more localized events and management. At approximately the same time, members in the Cincinnati region also organized regionally as an Area within Buckeye.

Cleveland/Akron monthly meetings initially were held at the Franklin home and later in area restaurants. To pull members from Cleveland’s western suburbs, later meetings were held at the Elegant Hog—the current location of the Windham Hotel.

In the early 1980s, the Columbus Area turned over management of Buckeye Chapter to the Cleveland/Akron Area.  In the late 1980s-early 1990s, the Cincinnati Area became the managing force for Buckeye.

After Buckeye Chapter hosted their first BMWCCA OktoberFest, members of the Cleveland/Akron Area requested secession from Buckeye Chapter. The intention was to concentrate activities and governance in a more localized area, believing this would better serve local members. This request for secession was one of the first of its type for the national organization.

In late fall 1991 with agreement from the remaining Areas of Buckeye Chapter, Northern Ohio Chapter was formed, encompassing Ohio postal zip codes from 44000 to 44999, which corresponds to the northeastern quadrant of the state. The general territorial area covers from Castalia-Sandusky to Galion-Mansfield to Dover-New Philadelphia over to the Pennsylvania border and northward to the shores of Lake Erie.