The Steering Column
Left Hand Drive from our President

Hi all - March is finally here. Most of us will soon remove the covers off our cars and put the key in the ignition, turn the key with a feeling of anxiety or celebrate with joy as we hear the engine roar. From the beginning many of us thought will this precious car start, for some it will and for others - well may not. But in the end, no matter the cost that car will be on the road once again competing in road rallies and car shows.

Jamie - our event coordinator, is looking for people to sign up and either take over one of the current rally events or create a new one. If you are interested, please reach out to one of the staff members and we will be more than happy to guide you. We are excited we will be able to come together more this year than the past two years.  It has been coldly disappointing and difficult to plan and attend our community events.  But hey why dwell on the past because the MG season is here – yeah!!! I am ready to stop complaining about winter and ready to complain about hot summers – Ha Ha! C’mon spring and summer we are so ready for you.

CMGC is one of the largest clubs in North America, we have 263 plus members, therefore it will be awesome to see more members attend our monthly meetings that are held on the 3rd Monday of the month. Please mark your calendars. We would send out an email blast indicating our upcoming meetings and events, except there is no one at this time to do this task.  If you are interested in sending out our monthly email blast again, please reach out to one of the staff members we will be more than happy to guide you.

We are also currently looking for a treasurer, Jim Compton our treasurer is stepping down due to other obligations he has taken, and we wish him well. Jim, thank you for a job well done.  The treasurer shall have custody of and be responsible for all CMGC funds, keeping financial records, and providing reports on the sources and uses of our funds.
Our club has been in existence since 1987, and we wish to keep it going. However, without members stepping up and volunteering it will be difficult to keep the club functional. My mother and father (Diana and Oscar Gonzales) belonged to our club and during their service built incredible friendships and I hope to do the same.

It is my prayer and wish that 2022 will be a good year for all of us, stay safe, stay healthy and we will soon see you “on the road again”.

One more thing, thank you for all who voted and if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions or just want to simply say Hi, please feel free to call, email or text me and I will get back to you asap.

~~ Melissa Gonzales

	The Steering Column
	Right Hand Drive   from our Vice-President

My hands are dirty and I’m having a blast.

One of the reasons I got an MG is to learn more about cars. I sit at a desk and work on a computer every day for my job. I got a project MGB and with the help of this club I got it running and driving. Now I am working on other members cars and it’s great. I keep learning every time I get my hands dirty.

Last week Pat Guest and I were working on Dean Hickenlooper’s MGA. Dean has been a huge help to us. He is allowing us to continue are journey of learning while attempting to give back to Dean. We were replacing a rubber boot that is part of the steering (Rack Seal) and we had to take off the tie rod end to start this process. We spent 45 minutes getting the first tie rod end off. After we finally got the first one off, we realized what we thought was one piece was really the tie rod end and an additional lock nut. We spent all the time fighting to get the tie rod end off by cranking on the lock nut. When we finally accomplished this are muscles were spent, are hands were dirty, and we learned something. The other side took Pat about 2 minutes after he loosened the lock nut then removed the tie rod end.

I look forward to getting my hands dirty every week and learning. I’m having a blast and it feels so rewarding to help get a project done. I know Dean would accomplish the same tasks that he allows us to tackle in a fraction of the time. I’m so glad that he enables us to get our hands dirty and learn with his car.

~~ Paul Pickley