September 2012 was another great month for driving your MG. The second Garage Tour and the Wine, Cheese, and Beer Tour were on the calendar. Along with the British Car Festival and an impromptu gathering at the Meadowdale Raceway there was an MG event every weekend! There should be an article and photos of all these events in this issue of the Driveline. If you missed them all, there are still a few chances to participate in a Chicagoland MG Club driving event before the driving season comes to an end.

The Fall Color Tour is an experiment this year. Probably for the first time in our history there will be a weekday club sponsored official driving event. Yes, Dan Herman will have a Fall Color Tour on October 10.

On the last Sunday of October we'll have the Halloween Run. Because I will be in Milan, Italy for work, the rally masters this year are Henneke and Mike Cobb. Start at our house in Prospect Heights and finish for a late lunch and a craft beer at Emmett’s in Palatine. We're expecting again participation from the Vintage MG Car Club of Chicago so if you want to see some T-Types in action, this is going to be your day.

November has the Fall Tune Down and the Cruise to the Rock bringing the total remaining driving events up to four.

  On Saturday November 17 we will again have the Oil Change Day for the homeless clients of PADS at Dave's Auto Clinic in Prospect Heights. This is the third time for this activity. Last year there were some problems and quite some cars, that had a time reserved, didn't show up. We discussed the issues with the folks at PADS and with Dave and we'll give it another try. I will bring a sign-up sheet to the October club

call or e-mail me if you're not able to go to the October meeting, which also is the club anniversary and first nomination night.

  In my last column I mentioned an idea to do something for the children of Advocate Lutheran General Children's Hospital. Well, Ann Snyder brought me in contact with the person who runs their annual picnic, in August, for patients, and their families. The plan is to participate with 10-15 MG's. No cars with a sign "Show Car, Please Don't Touch" on the windshield. We need cars that the children can admire, touch, feel, and sit in for a photo. I would like to get a wide variety of MG models. I will bring Emma and if we could get together a TC, TD, TF, A, B, and C we are already at seven. A few more, maybe a BGT, a race car, and some specials and we can offer a very nice representation of our hobby to this special group. The event normally attracts about 700 people: patients, parents, and family. As soon as the date is final (the forest preserves don't take reservations until January) I will let you know.

  Please enjoy your MG in the last four driving events, and I hope that you'll be able to make it to Halloween Run this year. Henneke and Mike will have the coffee ready at our house from 10:00 am until the start of the run at 11:00 am.

As always, please give me a call at 847 342 9804 or e-mail me at reinoutvogt@gmail.com if you have questions, ideas, or concerns about our driving program.

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

-- Reinout Vogt