Our 2016 Driving Events will begin soon. And as always, the month of May is one of the busiest times of the year. Spring everything; - Brunch, - Tune-up, - Chicken Rally, and - Tour. The dates can be found in the Preliminary 2016 Calendar elsewhere in the newsletters. And the Autocrossers start even a day earlier on the last Saturday in April. June is busy in a different way. We have MG 2016, the all register convention in Louisville, KY in the week of June 13. And on Wednesday, June 8, The CMGC members are invited to join the VMGCC meeting for a presentation by a group of Australian MG Adventurers about their 2014 trip, driving MGs, from Argentina to Canada. This year they make a North American tour from Vancouver Canada to MG 2016 in Louisville, and back to Canada, Montreal, Quebec and the Canadian East Coast with a 3-day layover in Chicago.

After June you’ll notice a large hiatus on the calendar. No events between late June, July and the beginning of August? Well, not quite. But it is not too far-off either.  Let me explain. The secrets of Jo Daviess County Tour lost its champion with the unfortunate passing of Dan Herman. There is a little bit of action going around, but we haven’t found a permanent solution yet. The Land’s End Rally, for several years the event that Russ and Amy Mehaffey organized before they took on the Wine, Cheese, and Beer Tour, doesn’t have a long term solution yet either. We are also exploring a driving event to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the CMGC and the 50th anniversary of the VMGCC. The clubs each have already some formal celebrations scheduled, but wouldn’t it be great to Drive our MG’s to Celebrate 40 and 50 years of Driving with our clubs? Let’s call it the 40/50 Tour. The good news is that we are planning a July garage tour that will end in Gurnee, IL at ‘ ays’s Morris and MG Picnic'. We just haven’t nailed down the date.

We may also have the VMGCC President’s picnic in July. There may be a few more ideas for activities but I would first like to firm up the organizers and dates for the events we just talked about. Organizers for the events we just talked about? Yes, if you read between the lines of this part of the New Directions column, you may notice that the clubs are in dire need for organizers. May I suggest that, if you like the Jo Daviess Tour,  the Land’s End Rally, and the 40.50 Tour idea, that you consider helping to make them happen.. Please give me a call of send me an email if you have any questions or ideas.

Luckily, July is still far out. And thanks to  Jim Compton, Bill Mennell, Cowboy, Brian and Rose Dubin, George and Jana Phariss, and Rick and Nancy Maitzen the months of May is full of good events. I hope that you have your MG’s ready on April 30th if you want to try the Autocross or May 1st if you plan to join us on for Spring Brunch. And if you block all the dates of the May and June driving events on your calendars at home and on your smart phone or tablet calendars they will remain available to participate in as many events as possible. 

As always, I look forward to hearing from you with suggestions, comments, ideas, or questions at 847 342 9804 or reinoutvogt@gmail.com 

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

-- Reinout Vogt