The Steering Column
From your Co-chairmen

Jim Evans'
Left Hand Drive

There is a well known saying about Chicago – “If you don’t like the weather, just wait a day”. The extent of the truth in this sometimes escapes folks outside of our area.
Recently, one Saturday evening when a frost warning was advised, just one week after 90 degree temperatures, I decided to stoke up the fireplace and relax to some old music. With a few elm logs roaring against the chill and a Glenmorangie in hand, I leaned back to listen to Judy Collins ask (yes, still asking after all these years) “Who knows where the time goes?”
Who does, indeed know where the time goes, I wondered as I thought back on my involvement in this club over the years.
I recently attended the 21st anniversary of the British Car Festival here in Chicago…and I distinctly remember being involved with the first edition of this event and many aspects surrounding it. It has grown and provided enjoyment to many enthusiasts over the years. What a pleasure to review those thoughts in my mind to Judy’s inquiry. I hope many other club members also have positive memories of this event over the years.
I recently sought to earn MG Bucks by wearing a T-Shirt from the 1987 AMGBA convention in Saratoga Springs, NY to the club meeting. I recall starting that trip with a slight oil consumption problem and a case of Castrol in the car. Six of us caravanned up through Detroit into Canada and back over the border near Niagara Falls; we drove “in formation” for most of the trip. We met many new MG friends at the convention and still have stories to tell; and the Castrol was quite in demand by all six drivers on the trip and all gone by our return. Some of those drivers have moved out of state, or into other hobbies. I wonder if they ever think about that trip? Would Judy’s question bring it to mind to them? And have other trips to other conventions produced lasting memories for our members in answer to Judy’s question?
This summer, I attended the “Secrets of Jo Daviess County” weekend and recalled the many enjoyable weekends that this club has spent in western and northwestern Illinois over the years. We have toured, rallied, scavenged, concours’d, gymkhana’d and shopped throughout the countryside. MG owners from as far as Alabama, Colorado and Minnesota have regularly joined us. Do those who attended ever think back on the experience? Do they wonder where the time went since then?
We have been working on the club project car recently and I recall the other club project cars over the years. The enthusiasm for welding, sanding, polishing and assembling still amazes me. Where are those cars now? Are they still on the road, rescued from the crusher? And do the club members who restored them ever think back to the camaraderie of the workdays? Do they wonder where the time went since then?
This month is the club anniversary marking the 31st year since our founding. Some of the founders are still members and will be joining us at the meeting along with others whose membership spans many years. I’m sure they all have fond memories of time spent with the club. I hope that newer members will plan to join in on future trips and events so that they, too, will have an answer to Judy’s musical question in the future: “Who knows where the time goes?”
Safety Fast, - Jim Evans