February 13, 2011
We had our first luncheon/meeting at the
Waterfront Restaurant in Camden on Sunday. The food was superb,
as usual. The turnout was small but those in attendance had a
great time as the talk fluctuated between cars, New Zealand,
Antarctica, travel, college year memories and grandchildren. As
you can see, any subject is within bounds!
As many of you may know OHTM has received the entire collection
of Dick Cobb and his late wife Dottie. Twenty-seven MG's in
total!! To help celebrate this wonderful gift our club
sponsored a talk covering the history of the MG company and the
many facets of collecting and maintaining the breed. The talk included a power point presentation and the
showing of the museum collection of MG's plus a few of our
private cars. Tom
Latta discussed the history of the MG company from 1923
through 1949. Steve Neal talked about the history and
mechanics of MG engines and Jim Lea discussed building an MG
vintage race car.
After ten years at the helm I have decided to step down from the
presidency of the club effective as of the Holiday party
so we will need a volunteer to take over the presidents duties.
I intend to stay active and help in any way I can but racing my
MGTD will take precedence next season. Sooooooo.... think about
what you would like to do for the club and your fellow gearheads
and step up. The club is only as good as we make it and it takes
many people to keep it running well. Jim Lea.
Tom Latta has become the new
club President. Good luck Tom.
The James Lea
Driven Class Award
The annual Holiday Party is
always among the the most popular events of the Mid Maine Sports
Car Club. Again this year, the party was held in Camden at St.
Thomas Episcopal Church's beautiful facility. Carter Mann made
sure the fireplace was going nicely in the sitting room and that
there was sufficient seating in the dining room. Ultimately, we
had to add more tables and chairs because of the excellent turn
out.
Since Jim
Lea announced last fall he wouldn't be available to serve
another term as President because he wants to concentrate on
finishing his MG TD for the coming vintage racing season, this
was to be the last gathering Jim and Barbara would be hosting.
Following a terrific self catered lunch, we had a brief
business meeting. Jim presented his recommendation for the new
slate of officers. After unanimous approval by the members of
the proposed slate, incoming President, Tom Latta, asked
everyone to thank Jim and Barbara Lea for their efforts with a
round of applause. Tom noted that Jim not only invented the
MMSCC, he has sustained the Club over its ten years of
existence, sometimes virtually unassisted by the rest of us.
Jim responded that he loves the cars and the people who own and
restore them
Tom
announced the establishment of a new award in Jim's honor: The
James Lea Driven Class Award. While details for qualification
will be determined over the next several months, the idea behind
the award is to acknowledge owners whose cars exemplify Jim's
personal philosophy about sports car ownership. That is, the
award will be presented to a person whose car, while ready for
the best car shows in New England, is also fully utilized for
rallies, vintage racing or extensive touring. So called Trailer
Queens that are only removed from storage for static display and
to win fancy trophies need not apply. Ideas from the membership
for the design of a perpetual trophy are welcome. In the spirit
of anti-trophy trophies, perhaps a bent and rusty rat tail file
welded to the stub of a broken crankshaft mounted on a piece of
drift wood might be appropriate.
Jim will
continue to have an active roll in the Club. He will be our
Vice President and his racing TD will fly a club badge. Sarah
Rheult will continue as Treasurer, with Meg Hunter Membership
Chair, Carol Latta Photographer, Mark Buongirno Web Site
Manager and Steve Neal, Marty Welt and Rick Pearson Board
Members at large. The Board will meet in February to begin
planning the 2012 driving and show season. This year we plan to
schedule rain for the weekend before rather than the
weekend of the annual car show. Any ideas for additional
events are encouraged.
Our business
meeting was followed by the usual Lithuanian/Chinese gift
exchange. The rules are murky. As a result, presents ranged
from a bottle of Red Truck wine through Christmas tree
decorations and a can of engine degreaser. Dela Factor's hope
to hang on to "Her" Leatherman was unsuccessful. Meg Hunter,
however, was able to retain a nicely crafted bronze model of an
MG TC. Barbara Lea donated her Ferrari model to Abby Neal's
pile of Match Box cars for visiting grandchildren.
At the end
of the gathering new member, Albert Kolff, and business partner,
Tom Lederer, made a brief presentation of their collector car
condominium project at Brunswick Landing. For more information
call Albert at (203) 913-0736.
Happy New
Year,
Tom Latta
