The Steering Column Left Hand Drive from our President

I spent some time recently with another club member reflecting on some of the changes that have taken place in the club over the last few years, and some of the progress that has been made and some that hasn’t.
As a longtime member I have seen many aspects of the club over the years, some good and some questionable. Three years ago the time seemed right to me to exercise some influence over the events that were due to unfold in the near future. My candidacy for office at that time was questioned by some members, but I hope that they now respect the results of my efforts.
A volunteer based organization such as our club represents a management challenge that is occasionally difficult for some to work with. On the one hand, the club is fortunate to benefit from the receipt of services from members, many of whom are highly qualified professionals in the ”real world”, that would be quite expensive if purchased. On the other hand, the club deserves a fair and reasonable effort from all who assume volunteer positions, and that simply doesn’t always happen to the extent we would wish. With the absence of any true authority and no real “clout”, the challenge to produce results sometimes takes unexpected forms.
And so, we have had some good successes in the last three years, but have also had some “what happened?” scenarios. Some of the challenges were on the table at the start and some were brought on thereafter. On the balance, I think the overall results may not qualify for an A+ report card but certainly a B or above.
As a student of military history, and a longtime anglophile, I was at one time quite knowledgeable of the various wars, skirmishes, battles and the like that helped shape and hold the British Empire in its heyday. Amongst those actually producing results “out in the field”, a singular honor was to be “mentioned in the despatches” – those periodic communications back to the Queen from her generals reporting on their results.
In the spirit of that precedent, I would like to “mention in the despatches” the following contributors to the club over the last few years, listed here in no particular order or hierarchy:
Bill Reece – for taking the club newsletter to a new state of the art level and setting a new standard of quality and reliability.
Barney Gaylord – for “adopting” the club project car into his driveway when that was needed and providing the circumstance that allowed for its successful completion; for also assuming responsibility for newsletter production for many months when the need unexpectedly arose.
Victor L’Heureux – for establishing and managing the membership function as it should be done from now on.
David Evans – for establishing the club used parts vending program and eBay marketing effort from scratch when asked to do so.

Reinout Vogt – for his excellent counsel and assistance with many of the problems and decisions faced over the last three years, and for being a general “go to” guy for club business activities.
George Phariss – for his initiative in quickly establishing the new “on-demand” regalia program when asked to do so.

The above individuals are all in the best mold of volunteers and contributing club members due to their “self starter” mentality and their enjoyment of the task at hand. I thank them all for their able assistance over the last three years.
Safety Fast, -- Jim Evans