JULY/AUGUST 2015, VOL 40/NO 6

Here I am looking into my crystal ball to forecast the future. I’m betting you didn’t even know that I had a crystal ball. So what do I see? I see that GT-40 was a huge success with everyone who attended having a great time!

The Jaunt Around the Lake turned out to be a super way to travel between MG events. It’s always more fun to travel with others, making new friends along the way, reconnecting with old friends, and enjoying new adventures together.

Our Chapter Coordinators, Ed and Colleen, led a lively discussion providing much information to those in attendance at the Chapter Contacts meeting. That always provides a much needed time for Chapters to connect with the NAMGAR Board and reconnect with each other. A representative from Hagerty was well informed and presented vital information about their Youth Initiative Program. This program assists clubs with ideas to encourage young folks to become interested in our small British cars and offers opportunities to involve youth with our events including the Youth Judging Program where they get an opportunity to learn about our cars. If your club is interested, write to youthjudging@hagerty.com for more information.

We had more than enough volunteers to man the NAMGAR Regalia table, providing much needed relief to our former Regalia team, Mike and Sandy Hickman. We are looking forward to welcoming our new Regalia team on board and if that may be you, contact me at chairman@namgar.com. It is always exciting to get new folks involved and see what enhancements they bring!

Naturally, some of the other highlights of the GT were the car show, a trip to Bronner’s Christmas store, and of course the exciting announcements about MG2016/GT-41 and GT-42! What announcements you say? Well, if you missed out on hearing about them first hand, I’m guessing you’ll have to wait to read about them in the upcoming months.

Let’s step away from the future and look at the recent past. We have just added our newest chapter, British Sports Cars Alaska, to the NAMGAR family. Can you imagine attending a Regional that they might host? I believe there are a couple of Regionals being planned as I speak – guess we’ll have to ask our Vice Chairman, Jeff Becker, about the where and when of those.

I’ve spent time at some local shows and have spread the word about NAMGAR. It amazes me that someone could own an MGA and still not know about our register and all the benefits it offers. Please do your part in finding those folks and encouraging them to join our fun-loving family. The same is true if you belong to a car club that is not a chapter of NAMGAR. Do your part to encourage the club to become a chapter by contacting us through chapters@namgar.com. Also if your club is a chapter, be sure to be prepared to present your annual report of activities and membership count in order to be eligible for the Chapter Recognition Award. Also those numbers are necessary to renew our blanket coverage for all NAMGAR and chapter events.

So here we are in the middle of our driving season. I sure hope that you are making the most of it. After all, we have to enjoy the good weather while we can! Now is when we make those memories that keep us sustained when the weather is too cold and nasty for driving our cars.

Keep an eye on your email for a couple of small surveys that you’ll be asked to participate in. One will be a short follow-up on GT-40. This will provide valuable information as your feedback helps those planning future GTs see what was good and what needs to change. Some might be obvious to us and others not so much; therefore we really do need to hear from you.

A second short survey that I need to request is your input on the upcoming all MG meet in 2016, as the Council of MG Registers continues their planning. It will help us plan for the correct room allocations, if we know your intentions regarding attendance. It will also help to know what extra activities might interest you.

So I close for now and look forward to when our paths may cross again!