A dedicated group of Chicagoland MG Club members have gathered at the corner of South Cornell and eastbound Midway Plaisance every Thanksgiving morning since 1995, the year of a centennial observance of Times-Herald Race -- the first automobile race on this continent.

This year was no exception, and the weather was milder than that of many years in the past. Those attending included Liz & Steve LaFond (74 MGB), Jody Simons & Steve Sparks (72 Midget), Kerry & Dean Hickenlooper (79 MGB), Jean Heasley & Bill Kalafut (70 MGB), David Newman (79 MGB at home), Bob Dorley, Jim Compton (MGB), Doug Clark (68 MGC), Dee & Dave Bralich (69 MGB), Scot Boyer (77 MGB V8), Ann & Jake Snyder (68 MGB stored for the winter in Marengo).

The pleasant weather also brought out, among others, a flock of Corvettes, street rods, representatives from the Toys for Tots Motorcycle Parade, and Bill Wildt, who interviewed everyone for his cable program Motorsports Unlimited. As usual he noted that the Chicagoland MG Club has always come out for this informal annual observance and expressed his puzzlement that a British car club could be so dedicated to such an American event. And as usual we replied that those of us with British sports cars are quite naturally interested in motorsports, using the example of the Midwestern Council of Sports Car Clubs, a grassroots race sanctioning organization that began as the Midwestern Centre of the Overseas MG Car Club. And then, as is our tradition, some of us concluded the morning with brunch at Harvey’s (formerly Stage’s) on 31st Street near Halsted.

A bit of background may be helpful: The centennial observance included the placement of a large rock bearing a plaque about the race at the start/finish point of the route that ran to Evanston and back. The Race had been planned for November 2, 1895 but was postponed because only 2 out of the 75 prospective entrants were prepared to run the event. According to the Times-Herald, a crowd of thousands awaited the start of the race in Jackson Park on Thanksgiving morning, with the ground covered by a foot of snow. Only six of the final eleven entries were able to make it to the starting line, due to the weather, mechanical problems or accidents en route. Of those six, two were electric and the others were gasoline-powered. Of the gasoline-powered cars, three were Benz vehicles that had been brought from Europe and one of these had won the Paris to Bordeaux race that was the inspiration for this race.

The fourth gasoline-powered car had been designed and built by J. Frank Duryea, the 25-year-old chief engineer, and only real employee, of the Duryea Motor Wagon Company. Duryea was born in Washburn, Illinois, northeast of Peoria, and grew up on a farm in Stark County. After completing high school, he had followed his older brother Charles to Washington, DC, then to New Jersey, and finally to Springfield, Massachusetts, where eventually, between 1894 and 1895, he designed and single-handedly built the vehicle entered in the race. The Times-Herald erroneously referred to the Duryea entry as the “result of three years’ inventive effort on the part of Charles E. Duryea of Peoria”. Although Charles had arranged financing and took credit for much of the enterprise, he had returned to Peoria in 1892 to manufacture bicycles, and it was actually Frank’s creativity, skill and persistence that brought the car into being.

Twice during the race Duryea had to stop to make repairs: When the steering broke, a support vehicle was on hand to locate a blacksmith shop, but the “sparking plug” failed after Duryea had

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