Three Rivers Alfisti
  • Home
  • About
  • News
  • Events
    • Borelli Winery
  • Alfa BB
  • Contact
    • Join
  • Home
  • About
  • News
  • Events
    • Borelli Winery
  • Alfa BB
  • Contact
    • Join

 Owner's Club News

Three Rivers Alfisti is on the Cover of the New Alfa Owner Magazine!

10/30/2017

0 Comments

 
Alfa Owner: The Dawn of a New Chapter
Below is the Cover story in the November Issue of "Alfa Owner"  it's the monthly magazine published by the Alfa Romeo Owner's Club.  The article was written by Enrique Zuniga announcing the formation of our chapter, The Three River's Alfisti!!
Three Rivers Alfisti Alfa Romeo Owners Club Magazine Cover
​Located in the western foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, at the point where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers meet to form the Ohio Rriver, lies a city well known for its steel history, bridges and sports – and often ranked as one of the best places to live in the world! It’s Pittsburgh, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s largest western city, with a population of over more than 3,000 three hundred thousand and almost two and half2.5 million within the greater metro area. For automobile enthusiasts, it is also a city with a well-established tradition for car events, such as the annual Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix and International Car Show that has been going on for 35 years.

Unsurprisingly, this area is also home to a good number of Aalfisti, who for several decades had hoped to establish a formal Alfa Romeo owners group. While the desire had not materialized, it was not for lack of interest. Locals will relate some of the attempts made over the years, such as the Allegheny Alfisti of the late 1970’s. This was the effort by Howard West, Don Wannagat, Kevin Benzenhoefer and others, to form an Alfa Romeo Owners Club chapter in the Pittsburgh area. Despite holding meetings for several years, a chapter was not formed.

Then, in 2010, invigorated by the 100-year celebration of the Alfa Romeo marque during the Vintage Grand Prix event, local organizers and Alfa enthusiasts, Jim Shaw and Marianne Fenoglietto once again considered the creation of formal Alfa owners group. It would be an AROC chapter in Western Pennsylvania. As Spider owners, they organized driving events,
which brought other enthusiastic Alfa owners together. The idea enjoyed great support, but while the interest never waned and the formation of a chapter was a topic of discussion for several years, formal steps to organize the group were not taken.

In 2016 however, with the establishment of the Ron Lewis Automotive Group as an Alfa Romeo dealer in the Pittsburgh area, the elusive goal was to find a path towards reality. While returning from corporate Alfa Romeo training, during an extended flight delay, the Ron Lewis Sales team found themselves on the airport tarmac with Jim Neville, the Alfa Romeo chairperson for the Pittsburgh Grand Prix Italian “Cortile” Car Show. A few months later, in April, the dealership hosted the area’s 2017 launch event of the Alfa Romeo Giulia. Enveloped by the energy at the event, Jim Neville was joined by Bernard Martin (Cortile event Managing Director), and together they approached the dealership about joining their endeavor of establishing an AROC chapter.

​Their proposal was enthusiastically embraced by Gwen Lewis and Jobie Glessner. The newly formed partnership quickly took concrete steps, with Gwen hosting local Aalfisti meetings at the dealership and contacting AROC National on behalf of the Pittsburgh group. Conversations, meetings and a bit of work took place from April through June, as Jim, Bernard and Gwen took the lead to establish a formal Alfa Owners group in the Pittsburgh area.

Three Rivers Alfisti, a.k.a. Three Rivers AROC, is our newest chapter. It was officially launched during the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix week, at the Cortile Italian Car Show, on Saturday, July 15, 2017.

Three Rivers Alfisti Founding Officers

Jim Neville
President
​Jim is a long-time Alfa enthusiast and owner of an award- winning 1967 Duetto Spider. He is Vice President of Oil and Gas at Equipment & Controls, Inc. in Pittsburgh PA. “It’s perfect timing for the Three Rivers Alfisti to officially kick off at the Cortile Italian Car Show Saturday July 15, 2017,” said Jim Neville, first President of Three Rivers Alfisti, said. “Alfa Romeo’s return to the U.S., and the launch of our new Chapter, present a great opportunity for owners to share their love for these automobiles.”
Gwen Lewis
​Vice President
Gwen is also Vice President of Marketing/Online Operations at the Ron Lewis Automotive Group. Ron Lewis Alfa Romeo is the newest franchise addition to the family-run dealership group. “To celebrate the launch of our Chapter, Ron Lewis Alfa Romeo will subsidize a 1-year Standard membership of any new Alfa Romeo customer betweens July 15, 2017 and -December 31, 2017,” said Gwen Lewis said. “We’re excited to welcome our customers to the joys of Alfa Romeo ownership and to introduce them to a local group who share the same affinity.”
Bernard Martin
Secretary/Webmaster
​Bernie is the Founder and President of Rapid Production Marketing in Pittsburgh. In 2009, Bernie created the Italian Cortile in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix. Owner of a 1988 Alfa Romeo Spider, Bernie completed a 2,890- mile round trip journey to the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance in March 2017 in his Alfa.  “We’re already receiving positive feedback about forming the Three Rivers Alfisti,” said Bernie Martin said. “All the pieces are in place to make this Owner’s Club a success after many years of trying.”
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    News

    Here you will find the details about upcoming and past events as well as member profiles.

    Archives

    April 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    October 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    June 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017

    Categories

    All
    110th Anniversary
    Alfa Owner
    Alfa Romeo
    Alfa Romeo Racing
    Alleys
    AROC Convention
    Art
    Art Car
    Axles & Ales
    Bernard Martin
    Borelli Winery
    Buone Feste
    Catz Automotive
    Chapter Update
    Cortile
    Cortile Della Corsa
    Detailing
    Dwight Knowlton
    Enrico Biscotti
    Enrique Zuniga
    Events
    FAST Company
    Formula 1
    Giulia
    Greenbrier Concours
    GTV
    Gwen Lewis
    Holiday Luncheon
    Jergel's
    Jim Neville
    Kentucky Knob
    Logo
    Meguiar's
    Members
    Mid Atlantic Sports Cars
    Minutes
    Narcisi Winery
    Paul Bowman
    Pitt Race Complex
    Pittsburgh Auto Show
    Pittsburgh Golf Club
    Polo Match
    PVGP
    Rally Across America
    Ron Lewis Alfa Romeo
    Sienna On The Square
    Stelvio
    Summit Inn
    Tony Sikorski
    Touring

    RSS Feed

Address

Contact Us

Three Rivers Alfisti
Alfa Romeo Owners Club
412.996.5700

©2023 Three Rivers Alfisiti
All Rights Reserved.
web design: Rapid Production Marketing