Hi all - Hope you’re into lots of summer driving and chapter events. Judging by your newsletters and chat rooms your chapter has either hosted a car show or planning on doing so shortly. We have lots to report on, so here goes. MG 2011 / GT 36 held last June 13 – 16 at Reno was a blast. This was the fourth all MG event and we must say that most everything flowed rather nicely. A terrific location and the NAMGAR affiliated Reno British Car Club did a great job of hosting. There was time to do MG things, time to see Reno and its surrounds and time play those penny slots! . As a kick off prior to MG 2011 NAMGAR’s Chairman Bruce Woodson helped organize the Rallye To Reno which provided a venue for MG owners all along Route 50 to either drive onto Reno or to join in for a day or two. A lot of MG friendships were established and for many MG owners it was their MG trip of a lifetime. NAMGAR specific events at MG 2011 / GT 36 featured the Z Magnette Group’s (ZMG) Breakfast, NAMGAR’s Board Meeting, First Timer’s Reception, Register Night and a Lake Tahoe Tour and lunch. This year as a prelude to the Wrap-up Banquet all registers held a register specific Preliminary Awards Ceremony. In our humble opinion a brilliant idea, as that cuts down on a multi hours long grand awards ceremony that has plagued the previous all MG events. Also, kudos to new NAMGAR Vice Chairman Carol Shamonsky for jumping into the “fire” feet first and acting like she’s been doing it for years. Congratulations to the Columbia Gorge MGA Club for winning the initial NAMGAR GT Chapter Attendance Award. It was our pleasure to present the award to club president Keith Ansell and the many club members present at the Awards Ceremony. What chapter will win this award at next year’s GT in Dayton, OH? Start talking it up with your chapter now. 6th Annual Chapter & Interest Group Contacts Meeting - The meeting was held on Wednesday, June 15 from 3 – 5 PM in the El Dorado’s Board Room. There were contacts from 21 chapters and 2 interest groups as well as the NAMGAR Board in attendance. Here’s the highlights: A. Status of Chapters and Interest Groups 1. There are currently 53 chapters and 7 interest groups affiliated with NAMGAR representing 28 states, 2 provence’s and 1 country. In the last year 2 new chapters have become affiliated: Rhody MG Car Club & Florida Suncoast MG Car Club. 2. Web sites: 50 chapters and 2 interest groups have web sites. 3. Intra chapter / interest group communications: 24 chapters use snail mail, 16 chapters use Email or their web site, 8 chapters have no newsletter but use Email for event notification and 5 chapters use British Marque News as their primary means of communicating. 4 interest groups use 1 on 1 phone calls, 2 interest groups use Email chat rooms and 1 interest group uses a newsletter via Email. 4. Chapter membership ranges: under 100 members – 21 chapters, 100 to 250 members – 23 chapters, 250 – 350 members – 7 chapters and over 350 members – 2 chapters B. Renkenberger Spirit Award: 4 chapters have requested this award in the last 12 months with a total of 9 awards since the awards inception in Nov 2008. It’s free for chapters and interest groups so take advantage of it! A copy of the guidelines are attached. C. NAMGAR Web Site – Peter & Anne Tilbury, Web Site coordinators report that less than 50% of NAMGAR members have activated their profile. Please ask your chapter’s or interest group’s NAMGAR members to activate their profiles if they have not. D. Chapter / Interest Group Contacts / NAMGAR Board Discussion Points 1. Young Members: In order to attract young members some chapters provide free memberships to anyone under 25 years old. The cost is minimal but the potential for acquiring and keeping younger members has paid off. 2. Free newsletters – Some chapters have taken the route of making their Email / web site newsletters available to the general public rather than having them password protected. The thinking here is that the newsletter is used as a marketing tool for attracting new members. 3. Tech School Donations - Some chapters every couple of years purchase a “fixer upper” MGB and then donate the car to a local Tech School. The chapters’ members then also donate their time in aiding in the restoration. It’s a mentoring process that is good for both the students and the members. Once the car is restored, it is then sold or raffled off with the proceeds going back to the school. 4. Chapter Newsletter Costs – A number of chapters have a double dues schedule. Any member that still wants the newsletter sent to them via snail mail when the chapter has gone to electronic means is charged an extra $5 or $10 per year. 5. Local Cruise-in Nights – Yes they’re usually for hot rods and lead sleds but a number of chapters report that it’s a great venue to strike up conversations with people not familiar with MGs, especially younger people. Toss in a demo ride and presto a new member. Don’t forget to take along some of your club’s membership applications as well as some NAMGAR membership applications that you receive yearly from NAMGAR Registrar John Drake 6. General Public – The feeling amongst many chapters is that both NAMGAR and local chapters don’t do enough to bring a human touch to our events. It was suggested that on the local level chapters need to get the word out about events through media sources such as print or TV. What’s wrong with offering up a rallye or “other than British” category at your car show to the general public. On a NAMGAR level, the GT should be PR’d to the general public so the goal is to try to get as many of the general public to the car show as possible. Exposure is how you get interest, and interest is how you get new members. 7. Business Cards – Some chapters have a business card printed up and given out to their members for placement on MGs when they see one parked and don’t recognize it as a club member’s car. The card carries the club’s logo, name and contact person’s phone # and the club’s web site. They are carried in club members’ wallets so that they are always handy. 8. Insurance Information For Chapters A. Event Insurance: All NAMGAR affiliated chapters receive complimentary event insurance. Thus, your chapter is automatically covered when hosting chapter sanctioned shows. Should the show site owner require an “addition insured” certificate, which is available at no additional cost, contact Bruce Woodson at chairman@namgar.com. Please note that competitive moving events such as funkhanas, hill climbs, etc. may not be covered without special permits. B. Directors & Officers Insurance: All chapters are encouraged to maintain a Directors 7 Officers Insurance policy. This policy will protect said officers from unforeseen issues that could arise. This IS NOT included in the complimentary event policy. The cost is approximately $$150 for a one year policy. Please have your Chapter President contact NAMGAR Chairman Bruce Woodson at chairman@namgar.com for more information regarding this important coverage. NAMGAR Interest Group MG Vintage Racers (MGVR) - 30th Anniversary will be celebrated September 3 – 5 at Lime Rock, CT. Go to www.limerock.com for details. NAMGAR Regionals – Two great venues for getting together this fall. Make plans now to attend with members of your club or interest group. A. NAMGAR at Solomans Island, MD - September 28 – October 2 hosted by the Mid-Atlantic Chapter. Go to www.mga-midatlantic.org for details or see the flyer in MGA!. B. MG Fall Festival 2011 at Sonoma County, CA – September 29 – October 2, 2011 hosted by San Francisco Bay Area MG Owners Club Chapter. Go to www.MGFallFestival.com for more information or see the flyer in MGA!. C. 2012 Regionals - How about your chapter stepping forth to host a regional in 2012. Contact NAMGAR Vice Chairman Carol Shamonsky @ vicechair@namgar.com for details on how your club can host a NAMGAR Regional. GT 37 “The Wright Place To Be” – Dayton, OH – July 9 – 13, 2012 – Hosted by the Southwestern Ohio Center MG Club. GT 37 Coordinators Dave & Lois Gribler gave a great presenation with regard of what to expect at next year’s GT. Needless to say, we’re going. Are you? Now’s the time to take up the challenge of getting your chapter ready to participate and win the NAMGAR Chapter GT Attendance Award. Get GT 37 on your Club’s 2012 calendar. Have an enjoyable remainder of the 2011 driving season. May you all get on your special MG road and may all your drives be sunny. Lee & Liz Niner – NAMGAR Chapter & Interest Group Coordinators Hi all – Spring is finally here and we hope that you’ve been able to get out and about in your MGA, Magnette or variant. Judging by your newsletters, your tech sessions are done and you’re now out enjoying those MG roads. Here’s the latest NAMGAR buzz. Please pass this on to your chapter or interest group members. 1. Drive Your MGA Day – Saturday, May 7, 2011 – That includes any cars under the NAMGAR umbrella. Don’t forget to take some pictures and send them to the editor of MGA! (editor@namgar.com) and the web site coordinators (web@namgar.com). 2. MG 2011 / GT 36 - This event is shaping up nicely and it looks like there going to lots to see and do both with MG’s and the beautiful scenery around Reno. A. Registration – Please register now and reserve your hotel. For information, we suggest first going to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkzSuA_MBY to view the promotional video. Next go to www.mgcars.ork.uk/mgcouncil/index.html for the MG 2011 link to register for both the event and one of three hotels. Registration and vendors will be located in the Silver Legacy Hotel. B. NAMGAR GT Chapter Attendance Award – The NAMGAR Board of Directors has announced that starting with this year’s GT 36 an annual award will be presented to the chapter with the most attendees. Chapters have always been strong supporters of GTs so recognizing an individual chapter for its efforts at achieving top attendance at a GT is a very visible way of expressing NAMGAR’s appreciation of what chapters bring to NAMGAR. Here’s the rules for the NAMGAR GT Chapter Attendance Award: 1. All attendees when checking in at registration will also identify which NAMGAR chapter they are representing and how many people are in there party. 2. The host chapter would be exempt from the competition. 3. The chapter coordinators will then tally each chapters attendees. 4. The chapter with the most attendees will be awarded two (2) one year memberships to NAMGAR by the Chapter Coordinators at the awards banquet (at MG 2011 / GT 36 it will be on chapter night). The winning chapter then decides how they wish to distribute the two (2) one year memberships. For example they may draw two names from their members that attended the GT or they may hold a raffle within their chapter. 5. A photo of the winning chapter group would be taken for MGA! and the web site. Let the competition begin. Don’t forget to tell your chapter members who are attending MG 2011 / GT 36 that they have to identify both themselves and their chapter at registration. May the best chapter win! C. Annual NAMGAR Chapter / Interest Group Contacts Meeting – Wednesday, June 15th from 3 – 5 PM Chapter & Interest Group Contacts please make arrangements to attend this meeting. It’s your chance to dialogue with NAMGAR Board & Staff members and also to share common issues and successes with other chapter and interest group contacts. Refreshments and snacks will be provided. If you’re not going to Reno please appoint an attending chapter or interest group member to attend in your place. Please forward any items that you want added to the meeting agenda to us at(leeliz9r@aol.com) by June 1st. D. MG 2011 Door Prizes – Please check with your officers and see if your chapter would like to donate a door prize for MG 2011. George Merryweather is coordinating this effort for MG 2011 and would appreciate any assistance that your chapter could provide. Please send any donations of door prizes directly to: Gene deRuelle, MG 2011, 4410 Camino Lindo Way, Reno, NV 89502. Be sure and label your donation “Door Prize” and include your chapter’s name. All donors will receive credit for their donations. All donations should be received by June 1, 2011. E. Segway Human Funkhana @ MG 2011 – Monday, June 13th from 1 – 4 PM will be the first time that an opportunity to participate in a Human Funkhana will be offered. Renofuntours has agreed to provide Segways, helmets, etc. for the event. There will be a brief lesson on how to ride a Segway and a little practice time before setting off on the course. Participants will be required to sign a waiver and pay $10 per person; persons should be at least 18 years of age (14 to 17 yrs old allowed with a parent present) and weigh between 100 and 250 lbs. Sign ups prior to the event are encouraged to reserve a spot. Email Carol Shamonsky at vicechair@namgar.com so that a schedule can be set up. So if you’ve ever thought, “I wonder how much fun it would be to ride a Segway?” or “Gee, I’d love to try to do a funkhana.”; now you can do BOTH! This sounds like a hoot! Participants will also be able to make reservations for a 1 1/2 hour Segway tour of Reno led by a tour guide for another day at a reduced price of $50 per person. 3. Rallye To Reno – There’s already more than 100 cars signed up to participate. If you’re driving your MG out to MG 2011, this could be the drive of your MG lifetime. Go to www.rallyetoreno.com for more information. 4. NAMGAR Regional’s – There’s two scheduled this fall. One in the east and one in the west. Eastern – NAMGAR at Solomons Island, MD – September 28 – October 2, 2011. The Mid Atlantic Chapter is hosting this regional. Go to www.mga-midatlantic.org for information. Western - MG Fall Festival – September 29 – October 2, 2011 at Petaluma, CA. The MG Owners Club of North California is hosting this regional. Go to www.MGFallFestival.com for information. 5. Newest Affiliated Chapter – A big NAMGAR welcome is extended to the Florida Suncoast MG Club as NAMGAR’s 53rd affiliated chapter. Long time NAMGAR members Bert & Bruce Rauch are the chapter coordinators. Welcome aboard! 6. Renkenberger Spirit Award – As you attend events, look back on a chapter or Interest group member who has done a lot or is always there when you need him or her. The Renkenberger Spirit Award is given by NAMGAR to a requesting chapter or interest group for presentation to a member. The guidelines are attached. On behalf of NAMGAR have a great 2011 driving season and thanks for being a chapter or interest group contact. Remember it’s not the destination but rather the journey that’s important. May all your MG roads be sunny and winding. We hope to see many of you at MG 2011 / GT 36. Lee & Liz Niner – NAMGAR Chapter & Interest Group Coordinators One way to help the our club is to renew or enroll in NAMGBR, the North American MGB Registry. As long as we have at least eight club members, the registry provides insurance coverage for all club events. Other benefits include a bi-monthly color magazine with helpful tech tips and a roster of fellow owners willing to help with any problems while you are on the road. Wherever in North America, you will always have someone local for assistance. All of this for a mere $25 a year. More info is at the following link or contact me for any questions: http://www.mgcars.org.uk/namgbr/index.htm Safety Fast! Paul Phillips As I write this update, MG2011 is only 3 months away! It seems as though I was still in Gatlinburg helping out with MG2006! By the time you read this issue, the event will only be a few short weeks away! The MG Council had its final site visit to Reno in March; everyone in Reno is looking forward to their own “British invasion”. All three hotel properties (the Silver Legacy, the El Dorado, and Circus-Circus) are bending over backwards to accommodate almost every need and desire that we’ve presented to them. The Reno-Sparks Visitors and Convention Authority has also been a great asset for us during the planning of this mega-event. There have been some updates to the MG2011 website ( http://www.mg2011.com ) If you’ve already registered for the event, you may still want to go back into the website. Clarifications have been made to the Register nights; information on the MG2011 Nite at the ballpark is available; we’ve added vegetarian meals to the box lunches at the show field and additional vegetarian choices to the Thursday night awards banquet. And, don’t forget to order your MG2011 regalia! We have hats, t-shirts, polo shirts, dress shirts, tote bags, sweatshirts…t-shirts and totes are screen printed; all other items are embroidery. Order pre-event and pick up your regalia items at the event. (Orders placed after the third week of May will be sent via USPS as there will not be time to make these items before the event.) Registrations have been coming in nicely; about 20% of the total have placed items into their “shopping cart”. If the latter is something that you have done, please remember to go back into the website and finalize your choices. Also remember that you can go back into your registration and add items such as meals and regalia at any time. Should you wish to decrease or eliminate an item, you will need to contact BlueSkyz to do so. Be sure to arrive by Monday afternoon if possible, as you will NOT want to miss our opening activity at the National Automobile Museum. You must pre-register for this event. Tuesday night is “Register Night” and each of the five M.G. registers has made some special arrangements with the hotels in order for their members to have a memorable night of camaraderie. These “Register nights” are an activity NOT to be missed. If you’ve not signed up for a Register Night, go back into the MG2011 website and do it now! We’ve been making arrangements for an “MG2011 Nite” at the Reno Aces ballpark (located a short five-minute walk from the hotel properties). Low ticket prices, special pre-game events for our registrants and their cars, and a fun night at the “old ball game” await those who choose this activity. Just save me some beer and Cracker Jack (you can keep the peanuts), okay?! Our auction of donated items (for example, George Herschell has donated several of his M.G. prints) will be held at the Silver Legacy on Wednesday night as well. We will also be entertained Wednesday evening by the Morris Garage Band. Don’t miss these activities! The awards banquet, held at the Reno Ballroom across the street from the Silver Legacy, will be a fun evening with a lot of surprises. You will want to attend the pre-banquet happy hours of your Register as some awards will be given out at that time. We have a nice buffet selected that should please the palates of all attending. Our keynote speaker, Tim Suddard of Classic Motorsports, is certain provide an entertaining outlook of our hobby. Don’t miss this activity! As I’ve mentioned before, it is important that you advise us if you have elected to bring your M.G. to Reno on a trailer. Offsite parking has been arranged; no trailers will be permitted in the hotel parking garages. I’ll either see you “on the road” or in Reno on June 17th! Rick Ingram – Executive Director, North American council of M.G. Registers Hi all – Hope all your winter MG projects are coming along. Here’s our first newsletter for 2011. Please pass this onto your officer’s, newsletter editors, webmasters and your members. 1. DRIVE YOUR MGA DAY – This annual event is set for May 7, 2011. Let’s get this date posted on your club’s calendar. Why not take some pics and write an article for MGA! about what you did to celebrate “Drive Your MGA Day”. 2. CONTACT RESPONSIBILITIES - We’ve attached the position descriptions for both chapter and interest group contacts. Please review them and note that a NAMGAR chapter or interest group contact is the primary communicator between NAMGAR and the club’s or interest group’s members. 3. MGA! – As a chapter contact you should be receiving an extra issue of MGA! magazine. This extra issue should be taken to meetings and events and shared with members. It’s meant both as a communication tool and an advertising tool for NAMGAR. 4. WEB SITE – Your chapter or interest group is missing a free opportunity to publicize your organization if you are not fully utilizing NAMGAR’s web site (www.namgar.com) to announce events or update the MGA community about your club or interest group. Is your club’s logo on the web site? 5. Renkenberger Spirit Award – We’ve attached the guidelines for submittals for the Renkenberger Spirit Award. It’s totally free to a club or interest group and the award recipient does not have to belong to NAMGAR. 6. EDITOR / COPY EDITOR – NAMGAR is seeking both a new editor and a new copy editor. Please inquire within your club or interest group if there is someone who would be interested in serving in these positions. 7. NAMGAR EVENTS in 2011: “Parrots In Paradise” – A NAMGAR Regional Event - Key West FL – April 25 – 28. This is a real hoot if you’ve never been plus the drive over the causeway down to Key West is fabulous. Contact Rob Camblin @ vice@kwbcc.com for info. GT 36 – RENO – A Western Experience – Reno / Tahoe NV – June 13 – 17. It’s in conjunction with the 4th “every five years all MG event”. Go to www.MG2011.com for info. Rallye To Reno – It’s a drive along RT 50 starting in Ocean City, MD and cruising on out to Reno with numerous other MGers. Go to www.RallyetoReno.com for details. NAMGAR AT SOLOMONS ISLAND – A NAMGAR Regional Event – September 28 – October 2 – Go to www.mga-midatlantic.org for details. For those of you contacts in winter climates, spring is less than a month away so get all those winter projects completed. For those of you contacts in warmer climates enjoy your MGs and have a good run on your special MG road. Till next time, Lee & Liz Niner – NAMGAR Chapter & Interest Group Coordinators
The Rallye-To-Reno has been a very successful event, with Moss Motors and Victoria British both making nice contributions to the activity. (Moss is even providing a support vehicle stocked with commonly used parts for the M.G., be it a “T”, “A”, “B”, “C”, or Midget!)
Our tech sessions will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday at the hotel properties. We have a very knowledgeable group of enthusiasts (among them being Ken Smith, John Twist, Lloyd Faust, Brian McCullough, Bill Guzman, and Pete Mantell) who are eager to share their expertise with you.
There are a few spots left for the Reno-Fernley driving events being held on Wednesday. The autocross experience is certain to make you a better driver (as well as a better competitor in your local autocross competition); the performance driving module will also increase your driving skills. Note that the performance driving session is NOT a competitive session, but is a learning tool available to you to better learn how your car handles and performs (with the added bonus of possibly making you more competitive at a future track event). Both modules include classroom time (instructed by professional drivers) and Behind-The-Wheel sessions (also being conducted by professional drivers). The fees of $75/driver (autocross) and $225/driver (performance driving) are quite a bargain.
Keith Sanders and Mark Saylor of the MGC Register have already determined how the M.G.s and vendors at the show field at Rancho San Rafael will be displayed. We have a tremendous amount of grass available to us for our car show. Did you know that Rancho San Rafael is only 1&1/2 miles away from the hotel properties?! As you saw on the website, we have box lunches available for pre-event purchase. There will be no other food vendors on the show field. There will be a limited number of box lunches for sale at the field the day of the event. I highly advise that you reserve your lunch through MG2011.com today!
NAMGAR Chapter & Interest Group Contacts Newsletter – 02/2011
Webmaster : 02/26/2011 3:56 PM : NAMGAR, Registries
