$ 557.38 - Profit from Swap Meet / Sales through Classifieds
      $ 975.63 - Total

Treasury report – Reinout Vogt
The overall Balance Sheet looks solid. The club had a total income of $17,489.50 with expenses of $15,117.06 in 2009.
Income from Membership Dues, Regalia Sales and Swap Meet revenue were $7,632.00, $519.50, and $5,728.00 respectively.
Major expenses were Driveline newsletter, Postage, Swap meet expenses and miscellaneous club expenses.
(A complete report can be obtained by contacting the Club Treasurer at Treasurer@chicagolandmgclub.com)

2009 Awards – Jim Evans
Trophies were presented to the following members in the following categories:
Safety Fast - Success in competitive driving – John Schroeder
Maintaining the Breed - Commendable efforts in restoration work – Bill Reece
Ambassador at Large - Promoting goodwill towards the club – Dave Bralich
New Member of the Year - Enthusiastic contribution from a new member – George Phariss
Cream Crackers - Contribution to the MG community – Dan & Nancy Herman
Presidents Award - Special Appreciation – Reinout Vogt

Driving Events - Traveling Trophies
Driver of the Year – Barney Gaylord
Navigator of the Year – Penny L’Heureux

Meeting adjourned at 9:47 pm

Respectfully submitted,
-Victor L’Heureux

I intend to always open my new column with the upcoming driving events. And yes, although it is still winter, the beginning of our driving season is approaching fast. The first event is technically maybe not a driving event. However, since we use the Spring Tune Up to prepare our MG's to drive, and because you have to drive your MG to get there and tune it up in the first place, I want to include Saturday April 24th in the 2010 line-up. Please see the announcement in this newsletter for the details and we hope to see many of you there. And to give the Spring Tune Up a little bit of a competitive aspect, I plan on setting up a part contest. Also note that after the work is done we go to a nearby establishment for a bite and some refreshments and to announce the winner of the parts contest. In a future article I'll explain where that term "refreshments" comes from. For those of you who don't know; a part contest is kind of a trivia game where you're asked to write down the name, function, or origin of a bunch of MG parts. I don't think that we did one of these in a long time.
In my previous column I also promised to talk a little bit about our rally program. Many of our newer members may not be familiar with the type of Gimmick Rallies that our club usually organizes. And if you don't know what to expect, I can imagine that many MG drivers are a little hesitant to participate. After all there are plenty of horror stories about getting lost or getting in argument with your co-driver, who is in many cases the significant other. Well, let me try to give you a different perspective. We'll do a Rally School at the April or May monthly meeting at Mack's. Then, the first rally of the season, The Land's End Rally on June 13, will be a model event, a practice run you might say. The second and third rallies, the Lucas Memorial Night Rally and the trip to the Union Rail Museum, may become a little bit more challenging, but we'll make sure that they will be good. No errors in the directions and no debates about the clues. Just fun rallies, the way it should be. And maybe, after you tried one or two rallies, you say "that was fun". Some of the experienced rally participants and organizers have agreed to help us with this plan and you may see some old and familiar names, such as Paul Urquhart and Jim Evans and more, come along as the season unfolds.
Driving events also used to have dash plaques and competitive events also used to have trophies. If you attended the annual business meeting you may have noticed that the 2010 budget for driving events was increased by 100%: yes, doubled!. I am trying hard to find sources that can help us to bring the plaques and some form of trophies back within our price range. Stay tuned, for more.
So, we're working hard to make the 2010 driving season a Mighty Great one we hope that you are too. Put the preliminary calendar on your computer, in the garage and in your office. Come to the Spring Tune Up, and remember ...

“The more you drive, the more you smile” -- Reinout Vogt