Fourth Quarter 2018

What’s New!!!

As probably most you already know, NAMGAR Chairman, Carol Shamonsky passed away on September 30, 2018. This was unexpected. Carol was a good friend, and long-time NAMGAR member and supporter. Carol was vice-chair from 2011 before stepping up to Chairman in 2015. Carol will be missed by NAMGAR and the MG community. Larry Pitman, will fill out the remainder of her term before the new Chairman takes over in January.

The driving season is winding down for many areas of the country. Colleen and I spend our summers in Wisconsin and we have put away our MGA and LE for the winter. We are back in Texas once again where we have “all winter” driving. That is aided by the fact our MG in Texas is a Magnette. Speaking of the Magnette, there are still lot of little (and some bigger) things that we want to do this winter. Hopefully we can check a few off the list.

If you are one of those fortunate people that travel south for the winter, consider visiting another MG or British club while there. A list of our NAMGAR Chapters appears in each issue of MGA! You can also review Chapter profiles on the NAMGAR website Join up with a club where you might be traveling. It has been our experience that visitors are always welcome and it is a great way to meet some new MG friends.

Chapter and Interest Group Responsibilities

This is your second and hopefully the last reminder. We have had a pretty good response so far, so let’s see how do with this go. If you have already sent of your chapter information, we would like to thank you and you can skip forward. But if you haven’t…

It is that time of year that we need to hear from our Chapters. 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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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 need to compile this information for our 2018 Board Report due after the first of the year. Thanks!!

Upcoming NAMGAR and Other MG Events

April 12 – 13, 2019 Kimber Festival, Philadelphia, PA. Happy Birthday Cecil! All MG and British car enthusiasts are welcome to this two-day academic conference and birthday celebration. The New England MG T Register will hold this event at Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum. Enjoy the museum and flea market before the Friday dinner and birthday celebration. Saturday will feature various speakers covering various topics about the MG. The Simeone Museum is one of the world’s greatest collections of racing sports cars. For more information contact: www.nemgtr.org

June 27 – 30, 2019 Gathering of the Faithful (GOF) Central, St. Louis, MO. GOF Central is the premiere yearly MG event in the Midwest drawing well over one hundred of the most beautiful MGs in the country! Although presented by a loose coalition of independent MG clubs and state chapters of the New England MG-T Register located in the central United States, ALL models of MG are welcome at GOF events. There are too many events to list, but for more information go to 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. This annual event, which will be organized by the Minnesota MG Vintage Racers, will be held in the historic town of Dubuque, Iowa, from July 10-14, 2019.

Located on the banks of the Mississippi River, Dubuque offers visitors breathtaking views, award-winning restaurants, charming shops, art and river history museum, elegant turn-of-the-century homes, etc.

August 23 – 25, 2019 50th Heritage Classic Event, South Surrey, BC, Canada. Interested in a little Northern Exposure in the dog days of summer? Head north of the border and take a left to beautiful British Columbia. South Surrey is only about 5 miles (8 kilometers) north of the US border on Interstate 5. That puts it just south of Vancouver, BC and just north of Seattle. If you don’t drive (which you should) you’ll have your choice of several airports. This event is will be organized by NAMGAR’s Canadian Classic MG Club. Full details of the event will available in January. For more information go to the Chapter website.

NAMGAR is Looking for a Website Programmer

NAMGAR is currently seeking an experienced web designer and programmer to assist the Internet Coordinators with a number of web projects. The incumbent must have a good working knowledge of website and network technologies, including a strong knowledge of PHP, MySQL, HTML5, CSS3, and Javascript/JQuery. Experience with EllisLab’s Expression Engine CMS would be a distinct advantage. Experience with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, and graphic design skills are a plus. The successful candidate will be required to spend approximately one week one-on-one with the Internet Coordinators and current programmer to gain an understanding of the projects. If you are interested in applying please email the Internet Coordinators at www.web@namgar.com Please include full details of your skills and experience. Hourly rates are negotiable. The applicant is not required to be a NAMGAR member. This position is ideal for a self-employed programmer or a qualified retired programmer.

Please share this information with club. We know that there a lot of qualified people out there who would really like to “get in” on this.

NAMGAR Regional GTs – Something Your Chapter Might Want to Consider!

Are there any events on your club’s calendar such as a weekend trip or a car show that could be expanded to become a NAMGAR Regional? Is it something that you might want to consider? What the heck, the more the merrier. If you’ve already done the planning for an event then you’re more than half way there. Having a regional just might fill up that motel or enhance your car show field. Contact NAMGAR Vice Chairman Larry Pitman for details and advice on hosting a NAMGAR Regional. Larry is putting the finishing touches on an updated version of everything you need to know to put on a Regional GT. Give him a call.

Chapter Newsletters

We enjoy reading your club newsletters. Please let us know when a new one has been posted to your website or include us on your e-mail list. Those using the British Marque News as your newsletter vehicle, please let us know when you’ve submitted one to the Marque News so we know to look for it.

Chapter Events – Post Yours on the NAMGAR.com Events Page

NAMGAR Web Coordinators Peter and Anne Tilbury provide a service on the NAMGAR web site to post your upcoming club sponsored events which might interest other NAMGAR members convenient to your area. Please use this FREE service to promote your MG or British car hobbyist event.

You may add your club events to the Calendar of Events by visiting the events page at www.namgar.com.

Renkenberger Spirit Award

This award is presented by the NAMGAR Board of Directors to a member of a Chapter or Interest Group upon request of the local Chapter. The member does not have to be a member of NAMGAR. Each NAMGAR Chapter or NAMGAR Interest Group is eligible to nominate one of their members every three (3) years. As most Chapters have their annual planning meetings coming up, this would be an appropriate time to suggest that your Chapter’s Board consider nominating a member for this award. Also, our Interest groups can think about nominating one of their members. All Chapters and Interest Groups have individuals that spend vast amounts of time and energy making their organization successful and this award is a very appropriate way of recognizing them. Here are the guidelines:

The award is prepared and sent to the Chapter Contact by NAMGAR upon receipt of the Chapter’s 300-400 word nomination submission to the Chapter Coordinators, along with a photograph of the awardee. These will be published in MGA! and posted on the NAMGAR website. It should be noted there is no cost to the Chapter for the award, which is provided by NAMGAR, and we do encourage each Chapter to use this award to recognize an outstanding member.

For more information on how to submit a nomination please contact us.

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