First of all I want to wish all of you a Mighty Good New Year. I hope that in 2007 all your personal, family, and professional dreams come true. But mostly, I hope that you will be able to continue enjoying your MG as much as you wished for.

On behalf of the No Name Party I would like to thank you for your support in the recent elections. Your confidence in Jim Evans, your new chairman, and myself, the new treasurer has been overwhelming, and we will certainly do our utmost to help you make all your MG Wishes come true. At this time it is also appropriate to thank the outgoing officers for their contributions in the past couple of years and we're very fortunate that in this case outgoing is only a relative term. John Schroeder will still be around and has the "past president's" 5th vote in all club matters and Jim just moves over to a new chair. So for all practical purposes, it is just me, as the new kid on the block. Although was I was treasurer before (in the very early 90'ies) today's function has a much different character. Back then, I first used pencil and paper to keep track of about 60 dues, and because Quicken had not been invented, I 'digitized' the club's treasury by using the most basic version of Excel. Today with over 200 members, PC's, and a very healthy bank balance that part is going to be easy. I also served as co-chairman together with George Goeppner for a while, in the years that the club started its expansion to what we have become today. I do think that today's job will have elements of both these previous tasks, but much more it will be looking ahead. What do we want to achieve in the short term, let's say by the end of this year. And, in the longer term, where do you, the members, see your club's future. This vision knows many angles; will we have more driving events, tours, autocrosses; will we spend more in our web based presence of the club or will the personal and social contacts remain the basis for the club existence; how will we experience our monthly meeting and N&N; and how will traditional events such as Abingdon and the Swapmeet evolve. From a treasurers' point of view these are important issues, because they determine how the club will be spending its money. And because the club's money is basically your dues, we want to make sure that everybody feels good about the club and the activities. If you have any suggestions, ideas, concerns, wishes, or just some comments, please be assured that we like to hear from you. Contact us by telephone, e-mail. or at one of the next meetings. We like to hear from you. And finally, speaking as your 2007 treasurer, and having just mentioned your dues, the 2007 membership renewals are in this newsletter and you could be of no greater help than by sending in your check as soon as possible.

MGreetings,
Reinout Vogt - 847 342 9804 - rfvogt@comcast.net