The next month’s offer the last opportunities to drive your favorite car, your MG, in one of the club's 2011 Driving Events. Yes, after the Wine, Cheese, and Beer Tour, Fall Color Tour, Halloween Rally, Fall Tune-down, and Cruise to the Rock, it's over. And although 2012 is still 4 months away it is a good idea to start planning for that unique year now. 2012 will be a unique MG year for members of the Chicagoland MG Club because we'll be involved in two new events; the GOF Central and the University Motors Summer Party.

GOF Central
GOF stands for Gatherings of the Faithful and are the conventions of the New England MG T Register, which is the T Type register for North America. The register is organized by regions and our sister club, The Vintage MG Car Club of Chicago is part of the Central Region. The clubs in each region take turns organizing a regional convention and in 2012 it is our turn to put on GOF Central MK XXXIV (that is the 34th edition). Why did I write "our" instead of "their", I hear you ask? Well the answer is simple: because the CMGC is supporting the GOF. That means that we are going to help a little bit with the organization and that we'll participate in the events and car show, and that we can hang out, or stay, with the T and pre-war model owners at the convention hotel, the Pheasant Run Resort Hotel in St. Charles. As most large register conventions these days, this is a midweek event and the agenda starts with a 1st Timer Show and Cocktail Party on Tuesday July 24 and ends with the banquet on Thursday July 26. In between are a rally, tech sessions, funkhaha, car show, and a visit to the Volo Museum. The formal invitation is in print and you'll hear a lot more about this event, and how we'll participate, in the next couple of months.

University Motors Summer Party
University Motors is, and was, an all MG Shop in Grand Rapids Michigan. Proprietors John and Caroline Twist

have been associated with the Chicagoland MG Club from the beginning and were recognized as one of the "Original Members" at the club's 20th Anniversary celebration in 1995. For many years John and Caroline organized the University Motors Summer Party which grew to 700-800 MG's on the show field in the late 90's. Because Grand Rapids, MI is not too far away and because John and Caroline where considered "one of us", the Summer Party always drew a very large crowd from Chicago - 20-30 cars in the caravan on Friday, our own barbecue lunch with a keg of beer at the car show and the famous parking lot party to empty that keg on Saturday evening. The Summer Party was also the first endurance rally - a non-stop tour around Lake Michigan called the Grand Lake Tour. Many things have happened in the meantime, the Summer Parties ended, the Grand Lake Tour stopped, University Motors closed, and most saddening of all, Caroline Twist passed away. But big things are going to happen in Grand Rapids again in 2012. The Summer Party will be back on August 17-18, and it looks like Mark Michalak - winner of the 2010 Safety Fast Award for participating in so many long distance events in his MGA Coupe - is going to bring the Grand Lake Tour back. The Chicagoland MG Club is planning to pick-up where we left also with a caravan, lunch and parking lot party, just as we used to.

It is going to be an exciting year and if we manage to also have the Secrets of Jo Daviess County and Wine, Cheese, and Beer Tours, we can speak of the 2012 Chicago MG Grand Slam. Stay posted!

As always, feel free to give me a call at 847 342 9804 or reinoutvogt@gmail.com with questions, suggestions, or concerns.

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

-- Reinout Vogt