That's it! Today, the day after the Thanksgiving Day Cruise to the Rock, the official 2011 driving season of the Chicagoland MG Club is in the history books. I have tallied up the results and it is probably no surprise that Barney Gaylord and his daughter Theresa are the winners again. Numbers two and three in the Moss Motors Trophy for Driver of the Year and the Victoria British Trophy for Navigator of the Year are: Victor and Penny L'Heureux (2nd and 3rd resp.) and Roger and Shirley Goebbert (3rd and 2nd resp.) Congratulations to all and please see the complete results at the club web site.

Looking at the season results, one thing becomes very clear: participating in a lot of events helps to score high. But more importantly, it helps even more in enjoying your MG. Some of our events didn't see too many Chicagoland MG Club members participate - in particular the rallies, autocross, and camping trip. In the last staff meeting we discussed various ideas to get more MG's at our driving events. But what do we know? The real answer has to come from you, the members.

Instead of holding an official survey, I would like to ask you to think about the following question.

  What does the club need to do to have you participate in next year's driving events two times as often as you did in 2011? Or if you didn't make it at all this year, what does it take to have you join us for two driving events in 2012?

The things that you may consider are endless: The type of events, would you like to see more one day tours, garage tours, rallies? What kind of events did you miss on the 2011 calendar? Do you prefer Saturday of Sunday events? Are mornings, afternoons, or evenings better? Do you prefer to go home right after the events or is a social get-together at a restaurant better? Maybe you already have so many family and other commitments that you just can't make it, no matter what we organize. Even that is a valuable answer for us. Whatever your thoughts are, do me a favor and share it with me. You can e-mail and call me or we can talk in person at one of the next club meetings or N&N's. It doesn't matter, as long as we hear from you what we can do to see you on the road two times, or two times as often, in 2012.

     Because this is my last 2011 column I also want to wish you all the best for the Holiday Season. Enjoy the time with family, friends, and fellow MG drivers. And of course a Mighty Good New Year!

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

-- Reinout Vogt