Third Quarter 2018
What’s New!!!
We were hoping to get this newsletter out a bit sooner, but we have been busy. Our trip to Richmond was almost three weeks in length and covered around 3,300 miles. We weren’t home long before we had a trip to Scandinavia that was nearly three weeks in length as well. Along with company and other unforeseen circumstances, we are finally getting our feet back on the ground.
GT 43 was fantastic. Our drive out (from Wisconsin) took us through Canada to visit friends. We crossed the border in Buffalo and headed to Richmond. The event was just wonderful. So many things to see and do, and the weather was near perfect. And we always look forward to visiting with Chapter Contacts at the GTs. After dropping Colleen at the airport to fly home, I headed for Gettysburg and spent a couple of fun filled days at the NAMGBR National Meeting before driving for home.
The Chapter Contact meeting was huge success. We had many more attendees then had RSVP. Please try to let us know who is coming so we can have a room to accommodate everyone. We had 31 attendees representing 23 chapters or interest groups. Both our NAMGAR Chair and Vice Chair were in attendance. Most of discussion centered around membership and what clubs can do to involve younger potential members. There were many, many good ideas that were shared. Jennifer Orum (who drove her MGB 8,000 miles round trip) discussed some of the things that they have tried in their Chapter, the Canadian Classic MG Club in British Columbia. Click here to view an article that Jennifer wrote outlining some of their strategies. Please share this article with your Chapter and discuss this. I think there are some very good ideas in the article!! New membership is an important issue for all MG Clubs!
Dick Wallrich of Minnesota MG Vintage Racers enlightened us about GT-44. This Minnesota based group will be hosting next year’s GT in Dubuque. Immediately following the GT, the MMGVR will have Vintage Racing in nearby Elkhart Lake, WI. Two great events will once again be held back to back to back.
Larry Pittman our NAMGAR Vice Chairman is almost finished with the revised information that you need to put on a regional GT. We will let you know when this is finished.
Chapter and Interest Group Responsibilities
It is that time of year that we need to hear from our Chapters. We are sending this out a little earlier this year hoping to have a better response. One the responsibilities of the Chapter & Interest Group Coordinators is to monitor the health of the local chapters and interest groups. To do this we need some help from YOU. It is very important that we get the following information from you:
- Review the Contacts Information found in the latest edition of MGA! Please do this very carefully and let us know if all of the contact information is correct for you and your Chapter. If anything needs to be changed please email us and email our Internet Coordinators as well. We will pass the changes on to our editor.
- Next we need to know something about the makeup of your club members. We need a count of the total number of club members and the number of members that are members of NAMGAR. Please submit those numbers directly to us. Since we ask for this each year, I have noticed that chapters are gleaning this information on their club renewals. If you haven’t made this modification on your club renewal form, now is a good time bring it up. If you are one of those Chapters who do not know who their members are, Ben Nolan, NAMGAR’s Registrar can assist. Let him know if you need a list of members in your area.
- We need to make sure that we are getting copies of your newsletter or other publication that is sent out to your membership. Copies need to be sent to both the Internet Coordinators (Peter and Anne Tilbury) and us, the Chapter and Interest Group Coordinators. You may have a new newsletter editor. Make sure that your newsletter is getting to us. If you only have a printed format, email me to get my correct physical address. Please check with the person in your club that sends out your newsletter and make sure that both parties are included in your distribution. I have recently noticed that some of our Chapters have not submitted their newsletter. If you have had a change in the person that distributes your newsletter, please make sure they get this information.
- One last item, that I want you to track is how many NAMGAR members became new members to your Chapter in 2018. I don’t need the numbers at this time, but we will use this information to determine the Chapter recognition award. Don’t know if a new member is or is not a NAMGAR member? Contact Ben Nolan. He knows.
Please try to send us this information as soon as possible. We will remind you again in our final newsletter in a few months. Thanks!!
Upcoming NAMGAR Events
November 16 – 18, 2018 MG Jamboree 21, Safety Harbor, FL
Join the Florida Suncoast MG Car Club for this wonderful event in a great time of year to enjoy driving your British Car. The event will be at the Safety Harbor Resort & Spa, in the Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg area. There will be plenty do, some drive down or fly in for a great time. For more information contact Gail Lenhard at gail@glennsmg.com or visit the event website.
July 10-14, 2019 GT – 44, Dubuque, IA
There is no time like the present to start planning for next year’s GT. Make sure you share the date and location with your club members.
NAMGAR GT Chapter Recognition Award
We awarded the NAMGAR Chapter Recognition Award to the MG Owners Club – Northern California at the banquet in Richmond Virginia. Picking up the award was Mike Jacobsen who is their Chapter Contact and last year’s co-chair of GT-42. Mike drove to Richmond from San Francisco and had to re-pack his MGA to accommodate the award. The $100.00 check to be used as the Chapter sees fit was easily transported.
How do we determine the points for this award? Let’s take a look!
Here is how we determine who the gets the award. The award is based on points in the following categories:
- 10 points for hosting a GT (for the past 3 years)
- 5 points for hosting a NAMGAR Regional event (for the past 3 years)
- 3 points for having a complete chapter profile on file at www.namgar.com
- 3 points for providing annual report to Chapter Coordinators including the number NAMGAR members and total number of members of Chapter by December 31st each year.
- 2 points for having submitted their chapter newsletter to NAMGAR
- 1 point for article submission of an event or activity to either MGA! or website (article must be published and does not include National and Regional reports on events).
- 1 point for each new NAMGAR member (as confirmed by the registrar). This is computed for 2018. If you do not know if a new member is a NAMGAR member or not, contact Ben Nolan, our registrar.
There are several things on this list that reflect on the responsibilities of the Chapter Contact. Do your part to help your Chapter accumulate points!!
Lastly, please share this newsletter with your Chapter and Interest Group members. We look forward to your response to our requests and hope you are able to attend the national GT or a Regional GT local to you. We also encourage each Chapter Contact to reach out to a neighboring Chapter to see if there are club activities that would be enhanced by including a larger pool of British vehicles.
Happy Motoring!
Ed Sass & Colleen Quinn, NAMGAR Chapter Coordinators
