The Steering Column
Left Hand Drive from our President

The “Dan Herman Memorial Secrets of Jo Daviess County Tour” is behind us now and based on comments received from those in attendance it was a successful tour. It was a pleasure for Susan and I to work with Tim and Jamie Schafer planning the tour. Work is not the right word. I should say that we enjoyed their company while driving the route and looking at restaurants. We laughed a lot as we discovered some of the roads we originally thought would be good candidates for the route were either gravel or not much fun. The thought of taking the club down a beautiful county road only to find the paving changes to gravel before the next turn had us wondering if a mass U-turn would be an experience worth exploring. Two of us thought “this will be a riot” and talked about for years but the other two (read girls) said it was not a very good idea. Needless to say the cooler heads prevailed. Not to be left without a mass U-turn we found a couple of actual intersections where a U-turn was not only legal but a true driving experience.

Everyone thinks that planning a tour or rally is more work than it really is. It may seem intimidating but tour attendees are historically forgiving. Everyone is there for a fun drive and friendship. Some of the most memorable tours involved an unexpected challenge—flooded roads, street closures, detours, cow moves down the road, a runaway horse and many others. They all make for great stories and lots of laughs. Sure, you need to put in the effort but it is fun to drive the route instead of doing the normal duties around the house.

Any excuse to drive is okay by me. If you are anything like me you probably have a few favorite roads nearby that you like to drive and maybe a fun casual restaurant you like. Why not put together a short tour or rally right in your own back yard to share the secret roads you enjoy? It doesn’t have to be a two or three day tour like the Secrets Tour or the Beer, Wine & Cheese Tour. Just a couple of hours of nice roads and a stop for a beer and or lunch is all that is needed. A short rally with easy questions is always popular. So think about your favorite back roads and put something on the calendar. Your new driving coordinator Jamie and the club will thank you.

~~ Ray Hansen & Maggie

	The Steering Column
	Right Hand Drive   from our Vice-President

Well driving and car show season is finally here. Hope you’re enjoying it as much as I am. I want to thank Dean and Kerry for the great job they did with the Land’s End Rally. I enjoyed the new (to me) roads. I must admit I messed up. I was planning on going to the Highland games. But when I looked up the details I found that I was past the registration date. Also, my brother in law had asked me to bring the MG out to a charity car show in St Charles. He was planning on bringing his Miata too. I got there just as registration opened because the organizer was expecting 350 cars. Well only 20 showed up and my brother-in-law decided last minute not to show his car. But all-in-all Bob and I had a good time meeting the handful of other car buffs that did show up.

I was particularly taken with a young woman named Marina Anderson. She BUILT and Drives a rail dragster. And she’s only 25 years old. Watch for her name. I expect we will hear more about her in the years to come. It turns out that her entire family is involved in drag racing. So, she grew up in the garage with her father. This has made me think of my granddaughter. She’s not even two years old yet but she loves to figure out how to take things apart. I’m hoping she will help keep me the MG going, in the years to come.

Another good thing that came from going to this car show was I meet a couple with a 1977 MGB. I told them about the club and gave them last month’s Driveline. They seemed interested and I hope they will join us for some of the driving events this summer.

So, to wrap this up. I’m sad I didn’t make the highland Games. Sorry James. But I may have to make it more of a point to hit some more of these small local car shows. My MG isn’t a concourse car and that’s not what I want. But I love talking to the folks about MG’s.

Safety Fast

~~~ Jim Compton