Straight Talk Jan/Feb 2024

Straight Talk from the MANN Cave
Bruce Mann

As Tom Medeen mentioned in the last issue of MGA! there is a new Board commencing the first of the year in 2024. Before we get to that, I would personally like to thank Tom for his mentoring and leadership for the past four years as NAMGAR’s Chairman. Tom’s dedication to NAMGAR has left our register in a good position and ready for the next Chairman. Humm, that’s where I start.

Most of you are probably wondering why I would want this job, or am I qualified. Well, they checked my pulse and said I was good to go. What qualifications could I possibly have for a job this big. Well, after some thought I couldn’t put my finger on it.

I guess it all started back in 2010, when I was taking my 1960 MGA out of our garage for a spring cleanup and a little drive. Well, that never happened. The master cylinder was leaking brake fluid, and it was all over the shelf, yes eating away the paint, good ole DOT 4. There was more wrong with the MG than the master cylinder. My carbs were even leaking gas.
Long story short, I decided to call Cecelia Bruce, and we started talking about carbs, and then I asked her who is a good carb guy. So, the conversation continued, and I asked if there was an MG club in the Michigan area. Just so you know, I am a Michigan transplant, having grown up in Ohio. She said “you don’t know Bruce Nichols, and the Michigan Rowdies, and you live in Michigan? Or NAMGAR?” I said, “who is NAMGAR?”

Well, I got a 30-minute education, informing me what the Michigan Rowdies were all about, as well as NAMGAR. Rowdies and NAMGAR. After a few months and a few phone calls, I joined the Rowdies and then NAMGAR.

So, to further enhance the story, I have had my 1960 1600 Roadster since I was a young man, right out of high school. I drove it everywhere, and when it needed repairs, I could count on my father who was familiar with engines; and if he couldn’t fix it, we had an MG dealer close by that helped me when I had a problem. Not being mechanically inclined and tool challenged when we started to rebuild it in 2010 (in fact, when we first started working on my car a couple of cars ago, some would say he only has a wrench and a screwdriver in his tool kit), it has grown to a decent size working garage these days. I have accepted help from experienced club members, absorbing what they would take time to teach me. My family, and especially my wife Willie, have helped and encouraged me when long hours spent in the garage showed little progress. We have had a lot of fun and some anxious moments.

Now after thirteen years, I have been on the Board of the Michigan Rowdies, handling the Regalia and helping wherever I could. I so wanted to give back to the Rowdies and NAMGAR for all the help they gave me over the years. Since the first restoration in 2010, we have completed four MGs: a 1960 1600 MGA Roadster, a 1952 MGTD, a 1962 MGA Mk II, and we are just finishing a 1958 MGA Coupe.

I have been the Advertising and Marketing Manager of NAMGAR for about seven years now and Communications Manager for the last two years. I have been on the Board and have enjoyed meeting many of the people who support our great Register. So, if any of this makes me qualified, then I hope we can have a grand time together going forward. I have the support of my wonderful wife, Willie, who will be by my side and keep me in line. As I tell most people, she is my Chief Mechanic.

We have an all-star lineup of Board members for 2024 as follows: Dennis Urick, Vice Chairman; Dave Gribler, Treasurer; Mike Jacobsen, Registrar; and newly appointed Communications, Advertising and Marketing Manager, Greg Poffenbarger, of the Texas MG Register, replacing yours truly. We have combined Communications with the Advertising and Marketing positions. We will maintain both email addresses to handle the advertising separately for the sponsors. Greg will manage our website, advertisers who support us, sponsorships for our GTs, classified ads and regalia.

We have also added a long-time Board member who went into retirement, some time ago, but as the saying goes, just when you think you’re out, they pull you back in. Larry Pittman is that man; he will be an Advisor to the Board, or the sixth man, and assist in many areas as the Board directs. Larry has a long history of organizing GTs, and it all started with GT-40 in
Frankenmuth. Since then, he has become very familiar with the organization of many regional and national GTs.

I would also like to recognize and thank our Staff people that support all of us in providing the Register with everything needed to run a first-class organization.

To begin, Mike Tooke continues as your Editor of MGA! magazine. Mike works tirelessly to get our magazine to us in a timely manner. Gail Lenhart has decided to retire after many years of copy editing. We want to thank Gail for supporting NAMGAR’s MGA! magazine as Copy Editor.

With the changing of the guard, John Graves, a member of the Eastern New York MGA Club, will replace Gail as Copy Editor. John, a new NAMGAR member, has many years of experience in publishing and will assist us in editing MGA!

Ken and Kathy Nelson of the Michigan Rowdies are senior proofreaders of our magazine. Ken
also writes the “At Leisure” column for each edition since 1985. Our thanks to both Ken and Kathy for helping us with MGA!

We have a new Technical Editor starting the first of the year, replacing Bruce Woodson, who has served NAMGAR in many positions over the past twenty plus years. Bruce was Chairman of NAMGAR from 2011-2015. After his tenure as Chairman, Bruce become NAMGAR’s Technical Editor until recently. We certainly want to thank Bruce for all his contributions and the many great technical articles he has written over the years. Replacing Bruce in this key role will be Bob Shafto of the Michigan Rowdies. Bob has many years of experience with MGAs and has rebuilt two in the past few years. Check out Bob’s bio that is highlighted in this issue.

To fill out the lineup, we have Ed Sass and Colleen Quinn as Chapter Coordinators. They are members of the Texas MG Register and do a great job in handling all of our 55 chapters in North America and one in Norway. Ed and Colleen also support 7 special interest groups. Bill Marshall, from the Mid Atlantic Chapter, is our Archivist. Bill has many years of working with NAMGAR in various positions. Dave McCann, or Famous Dave as he is called, is our Multimedia Coordinator who supports the entire organization in many ways. Dave is a member of the MG Car Club Southwestern Ohio Centre. Mike Eaton from the Mid Atlantic Chapter and Dan Suter, Eastern New York MGA Club, are MGA and NAMGAR Historians, respectively.

To me it is amazing that we have all these folks from many chapters across the country coming together to bring you a very well-organized MGA Register. Can we make it better? Always, and we will strive to do so. Please let us know how we are doing, and we will do our best to keep you all informed of changes that occur.

Most should know by now that we have reached an agreement with a supplier to custom embroider NAMGAR apparel. We have a link on our website that allows our members to order regalia. Give it a try. On this subject our many thanks to Greg and LeeAnn Eroe for many years of providing our members with apparel and especially the hard work in liquidating our inventory in Memphis at GT-48.

As I have heard said, “It’s the cars that bring us together, but it’s the people that bring us back.” Hope to see you at Welches in Oregon in July or at another NAMGAR event.

Any questions, drop me a line any time at chairman@namgar.com.

Sincerely yours,
Chairman Bruce