The Octagon 

NEWSLETTER OF THE CLASSIC  CLUB

Vol. 46                       No.6                    Issue 548                                    June  2009 

MAINTAINING THE BREED FOR OVER FORTY YEARS

PRESIDENT:   Jim McSweeney.  3516 Seaford Ln., Casselberry, FL 32707. Phone 407 695 2981.  E-mail jimspeedmaster@aol.com.

EDITOR:   Al Cook, 8554 Amber Oak Dr. Orlando, FL 32817.  Phone 407-678- 6814. E–mail arcpa@mpinet.net.

WEBSITE:  www.classicmgclub.com  WEBMASTER:  Paul Plasschaert, E-mail: webmaster@classicmgclub.com.

MEETING:  As usual, it is the third Thursday, June 18^th at 7:00 PM in the Maitland Senior Center, 145 S Maitland Ave. in (can it be?) Maitland.    Directions: from Horatio and Orlando Ave. (AKA 17-92), Go West on Horatio to Maitland Ave. Then left (South) on Maitland Ave. to Packwood. Go right (West) on Packwood about ½ a block to the parking lot. Pull into the 1st driveway on the left.  We will discuss the

EVENT; This month we will be keeping it close to home. We will hold our annual “Too - Hot – To – Drive – Too – Far Summer Car Show and Darts Tournament.” at Fiddler’s Irish Pub in Lovely Downtown Winter Park. for a Pub Lunch, throw a few darts and show off our cars.   The date and time this year is Saturday, June 20 at 12:00, noon. All British car club members from the surrounding Orlando area and beyond are invited to participate in this yearly event. Those to unseat last year’s club winner will be presented with an award that is not guaranteed to be there. We will guarantee that the company and fellowship of other British Car Nuts there will be enjoyed.

 Fiddler’s is near the intersection of Orange and Fairbanks.  Come show your car and join the fun!See you there.

A CHARITIBLE CONUNDRUM:  As a result of our modest profit from the Crystal River GOF and the distribution of profits from the Winter Park Car Show, a proposal was made to donate $1000.00 to charity, as we have done in the past.  A considerable discussion resulted, which threatened to delay us from dinner and the best suggestion was to table (get the pun?) the discussion until next meeting when we will either forget the suggestion or our members will bring us thoughtful ideas for worthy charities in the Central Florida area.  If you have a suggestion, send it in to your Editor, either by phone message or by email and I will present it to the Meeting on the 18^th in an organized manner, so we can discuss what to do.

WRAP – UP OF MAY EVENTS:  Our fantastic and successful Road Rally, held on May 9th was discussed at the May Meeting, but for those of you who weren’t there,  we hosted an event, open to all British cars, which featured a clue – driven tour of Central Florida which had planned stops in Yelaha and Mount Dora.  Awards were given to those who had the shortest total time and for those who took the longest.  This Rally validated the childhood story of the Tortoise and the Hare: the car that seemed to be the slowest, John and Jean Camicho’s 1950 MGTD, beat out a much faster – looking field of British Iron.  Tony Geraci, driving without a co-pilot in his beautiful TR-6, came in last, but captured the cherished Snail Trophy (an award we are sure he will come to not hate – after a few years).  After a few Margaritas, all of our participants reported that they had a good time.  Mucho thanks to Jan Burg and Kathy Cook who put the event together.

A second event held during May was organized by Paul and Ann Plasschaert and was held on May 23^rd.  As you may recall, this was during the “Flood of ‘09” and we were seriously affected by the weather, at the beginning of our event.  The Plan was to meet for Coffee and snacks and to then head off to explore Wonderful Downtown Debary.

We had a good turn-out, but the weather kept a number of our older cars under cover.  To avoid leaving in the middle of a storm, our quick meting at Paul & Ann’s lasted till almost 11:00 AM.  When we finally got under way, we had only one intrepid MG in the Convoy, and it didn’t even have working windshield wipers (but what else is new)!  In spite of the rough start, we found the Debary House to be a charming gem that even many of the old-time Floridians among us hadn’t previously seen.  The Swamp House Grill was a lovely and tasty stop and all enjoyed Lunch and Fellowship.  The last laugh went to Patrick and Carol Railey who were able to throw the top down on their MGB and cruise home, enjoying the balance of a lovely day.

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS:  A rousing Classic MG Club welcome to new members Pete Rogers and Richard Lambrutus who attended the May meeting!  I don’t think we did anything too obnoxious and may not have scared them off.  We are always looking for MG enthusiasts, whether or not they presently have an MG.  Remember, anyone can have a moment of weakness!  Be sure to keep a supply of Club Business Cards with you and give them out to every MG driver (or parked MG) so that they can contact us or come to our meetings or events.  We will have extra Cards available at the next meeting

INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS:  John-Peter Smit, who escaped to Canada with, Ms Triss, his little MG Midget a couple of years ago, sent us a note to say that he misses us and send along photos of his now running and painted Baby.  From the photos, it looks like he has joined the ranks of the proud, yet broke, owners of newly restored MGs.  You do remember, this was a free car and you get what you pay for.

You may have seen this already, the "before's" and the work in progress shots

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/10772705@N05/sets/72157602917606548/

 Here are the completed shots

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/10772705@N05/sets/72157618742098410/