The Steering Column
Left Hand Drive from our President

Since I am not running for reelection, this will be my last opportunity to address you from this forum. I want to say that it has been a real pleasure and honor to serve you from this position. It truly has been a great experience for me to lead our Club. We are a fun group and there are so many contributors that make us successful. I tried to identify many of you at the Christmas party and why our club might have been recognized to receive the Nuffield Trophy. I still do not know specifically why we were selected to receive the Nuffield Trophy, but I would agree that we have the best and most fun loving MG club in the country. I also believe that the biggest reason for our recognition and the Nuffield Trophy award is all of our club members.

I also want to say that the new incoming club administration will continue to enable our club to have fun with our MGs. There is something for everyone in our Club. There are also many opportunities for anyone that might want to try something new, something from the past, or for someone that wants to start a new tradition. There are no limits or boundaries if you are willing to try. You just have to love the Chicagoland MG Club!

I want to thank Sue and Ralph Arata for the work that they did to host the Christmas party at Wheatstack. Also there was great participation from the Vintage MG Car Club and especially from Rick Rausch. Without them, the party would not have been the success that it was. Thanks to all.

At our January meeting we will have Bob Simon showing pictures and discussing his recent trip to some British Car events in the UK. Of course at our January meeting, we will also be announcing the results of the balloting for new club officers. No surprises there! At our February meeting we will have our annual Business Meeting with reports from each of our staff positions telling us of their past accomplishments and their plans for the year 2015. In March we have tentatively scheduled a presentation by John Twist. You do not want to miss any of these meetings.

The first event of 2015 is our annual train trip, where this year, we are headed to Pontiac, Illinois. Yes Illinois! It is always a fun adventure hosted by Ann and Jake Snyder. Look at the club web site for details.

Hope to see you there!

-- George Phariss

	The Steering Column
	Right Hand Drive from our Vice-President

It always seems so far away in September – the upcoming Christmas holidays. This past year was no exception. I no sooner got my cars in the garage and started thinking on what projects I was going to start first when Thanksgiving was upon us. I spent that holiday in Omaha visiting my youngest son and family. Since I was traveling with my other two sons and families, we rented a 14-passenger van for the trip. It turned out to be the best move we made -- plenty of room and a comfortable ride both ways. Then it was on to Christmas.

Do you realize there are only 24 days between the Thanksgiving weekend and Christmas Eve? Not much time for us procrastinators to find presents for family members. Since I’ve moved from our big house in Cary with lots of room for entertaining to a much smaller venue, I found it to be a challenge to find enough area to set up a family get-together and dinner. The huge 8 ft Christmas tree was replaced with a much smaller version – similar to Charlie Brown’s. It made the pile of colorfully wrapped presents look even larger much to the glee to our 2-1/2 year old granddaughter. We survived.

I believe the biggest surprise for me was for our club being this year’s recipient of the Nuffield Cup just prior to the MG Holiday Party. What a trophy! It was our ‘Stanley Cup’… and we all got a chance to hold it and have our picture taken with it. Really cool!! It is ours to show off for the whole year. Hopefully you will take the opportunity to attend a club meeting and see this marvelous award for yourself.

Looking forward to the New Year is always exciting. Already the CMGC calendar is getting penciled in with new events and many of the old favorites. The new slate of club officers are ready to take on the challenges of providing a fun-filled and productive agenda for the year. The annual Swap Meet and Autojumble planning is in full swing and promises to be a successful event.

And just like viewing the Christmas holidays from September, the 2015 Driving season is not that far away.

Be ready!

-- ~~ Victor L’Heureux