Before we start to talk about the upcoming events I would like to congratulate the winners of the 2012 Driving Season trophies and awards. This may be news for VMGCC members, but most of the CMGC members should be familiar with it. We have two traveling trophies; the Moss Motors Trophy for the Driver of the Year and the Victoria British Trophy for the Co-driver of the Year. They are awarded for the participants that accumulate the most points by coming out to driving events and scoring high in competitive events. The 2012 winners are Victor L'Heureux and Shirley Goebbert. And then there are about a dozen more awards for second, third, and several other categories. The Driveline editor found some space in this issue and both editors should reserve a spot for the entire list. Barney also posts it on the CMGC website. We will adapt the rules so that members of both clubs will be eligible in 2013.

The 2013 calendar is taking up shape and although not all events are 100% confirmed you may find a preliminary copy in this newsletter so that you can start to mark the dates on your garage calendar, the refrigerator, and the family activity planner. We don't have the exact details of the first events, so please make sure that you watch for announcements for the Spring Tune Up. The Spring Brunch, The Spring Tour, and the Spring Chicken Rally. Yes, four Spring driving events to choose from. And at the end of May, we will have our first Garage Tour of the year.

Now that we have one calendar for both clubs, most months have several events, in particular May. We understand that most of us can't make it to all the events, but I encourage you to come out to the Spring Tune Up Party. It is a great way to kick-off the season and as I mentioned in an earlier column, everybody would be very happy to see more T-Types on the racks. Secondly, I hope that you start to take advantage of the

cross-club participation opportunities. Just imagine that you can't make it to an event that was traditionally a typical VMGCC or CMGC event. This year, you don't have to keep the MG in the garage anymore as there is always at least one more event of "the other club" that you can join. Try it out, I am sure that you'll like it. 

On the Saturday before Mother's Day, we have a new community event. The Naperville-Lisle Township hosts a Car Care Clinic for Seniors. That means that the seniors come to the township yard and volunteers do a safety and general inspection of their cars. To make the whole thing a little more entertaining, they display interesting and vintage cars so that the seniors have something to look at while the volunteers do their work. Last year Barney Gaylord, Jim Evans and myself participated and showed our MG's alongside Model T Fords and other cool cars. Despite a little bit of rain we had a very good day; we did good work for the elderly, showed our MG and talked about cars with the other volunteers and show car owners. Jim Vondran is looking for MG Club participation again for May 11 and I hope that members of the CMGC and the VMGCC will find a few hours of their time to help in the community and show their MG's. Jim van be contacted at 630-357-7296 or vondrangroup@aol.com for details.

And finally, I am looking for help. We are planning a garage tour for Saturday June 13. We have one very, very special garage lined up in Melrose Park for that date and I am looking for a member that can help locating one or two more places and maybe a restaurant to go for lunch after the tour. Please let me know if you have any ideas or are willing to step in. And of course if you have any other question, suggestion, or concern, just give me a call at 847-342-9804 or e-mail me at reinoutvogt@gmail.com

"The more you drive, the more you smile".

-- Reinout Vogt