On Sunday, July 15th a small group joined Rob and Mary Bard on a farewell run to Millie’s Restaurant in Lake Delevan, WI. The Bard’s have sold their Lindenhurst home and are moving to Sarasota, Florida. Rob and Mary wanted to make one more road trip in their ‘74 MGB before shipping it to their new residence.

The Bards were joined in this run with Dan & Mary Kerkman and Vic & Penny L’Heureux. Dan and Nancy Herman met us at the restaurant. We took a leisurely trip along back roads through the Fox Lake area then heading north to Lake Delevan via Walworth, WI. It was a great day for a drive – wispy clouds and not too hot. Dan & Nancy met us soon after are arrival and had breakfast and shared many past experiences....And Millie’s Bloody Mary’s with a beer chaser were enjoyable!

Dan Herman presented Rob & Mary a Bard favorite – orange slice candies and malted milk balls – for their long trip to Florida.

~~Victor L’Heureux

We will miss you guys. Safe trip!

Library Muse
I don't need to tell you that this has been extraordinarily HOT summer. Driving around in an open MG in 95 plus degree weather is not my idea of a particularly good time. I actually drove my car more over this past winter than I have this summer. Its not very often that you can say that in Chicago. I have been able to escape to Northern Wisconsin several times to cool off. Drift fishing the Manitowish River in a canoe for small mouth or swimming in the lake are much more pleasant activities. But when at home staying inside in the AC, I have had some time to get caught up on my reading, including this month's feature, Rapid Response.

Rapid Response
by Dr. Stephen Olvey, 2011, 305 pages, color and B&W photos, paperback
forward by Alex Zanardi

In the movie Grand Prix there is an overhead shot of a solitary F1 car racing down a straight, which in nothing more than a two lane country road. A line of telephone poles run parallel about 10 feet off of the racing line. Times have changed, not just in track safety, but also in car design and medical response at the tracks.
This book was originally published in 2006, this edition appeared in 2011 with added new material. Dr. Olvey started his "racing" career when he became the assistant medical director at Indy (his home town) then shortly became the medical director at USAC, then CART. He set the world-wide gold standard for medical support teams for motor sports.
This book reflects the evolution of track safety from the sixties to present. The stories told are sometimes funny, Derek Daly and Rick Mears racing their wheelchairs around the hospital nurses' station, but too often tragic, as Alex Zanardi's crash in 2001. Speedtv.com gives the book a 5 out of 5 lug nut rating. My MGB only has four.

~~Bill Mennell