Happy Holidays, everyone! Another driving season is behind most of us. I know some of us drive our cars year round and I do get the MG out whenever possible all winter. But now, it is downright cold out there and the B is sitting in its nice warm garage.
We had an excellent presentation by Dave Mullis at the last meeting. Several couples from our club went to the Netherlands for the fiftieth anniversary of the Holland MG club. It sounds as if everyone had a great time including the opportunity to drive MG's built long after the last ones came to North America.
Our annual Holiday Party is December 3rd, hope to see you there.
This has been an absolutely fantastic year. We got to spend a lot of time with MG friends, new and old. After the years I met Ann and we married and had children, this has got to be one of the best years of my life.
I traveled ten thousand miles in the B, most of it with Ann. We enjoyed a great trip to the west coast for MG 2005. It is easy to forget what a beautiful country we live in and no better way to be reminded than an extended road trip. We attended the University Motors Summer Party in Grand Rapids, drove all three of the club's tours, and managed to do three rallies. I did drive my neighbors TR8 for the Spring Tour and Wade's B for the Spring Chicken rally as my B was undergoing major surgery in the garage. Most of the body work is done and I have a new interior. The car is much quieter and handles better than before the sills and floor were replaced. This was our first Abingdon Weekend and we had a blast. You just can't beat socializing with MG people as we have discovered over and over the last few years.
Again, I want to thank the officers, staff, rallymasters, and others who worked so hard to make this a successful year. It really was a busy and fun year.
But the New Year is waiting for us. Jake and Ann Snyder have planned our annual Amtrak trip. We are going back to Detroit to see the Annual Detroit Auto Show. I made our Amtrak and hotel reservations last night. This will be our first Amtrak outing and we are really looking forward to it. In February, we will have our planning meeting to schedule the driving events for 2006. We are still getting more members signed up for the tour to MG2006, in June. I think we have ten cars signed up from our club. Please let me know when you register so I can add you to the group's email list for updates. I am open to suggestions of things to do on the way back if anyone has any ideas email me.
My projects for the winter include a new gas tank, rebuilt front calipers, and some other maintenance items. I plan to host a warm garage tech session in January for some of the projects. The car runs better every year and should be like new in a couple of more years.
This is also the time to elect officers for next year. All positions are for one year terms and must be filled annually. Unfortunately, the positions are uncontested again this year. Ballots are printed and located in this issue of the Driveline. I am looking forward to serving another year.
There will not be lots of warm, sunny days to get our MG's out to blow the dust off them and us, but I encourage you to make the most of the few we always have.
See you on the road! And on the railroad!