Just got back from Hagerstown via the boonies of northern Pennsylvania
where i've exiled my kids for a month or so - nearly 800 fun filled miles
this weekend ! (shhhh- dont tell the insurance co!)
What a great weekend! - im sure plenty of folk will recount the details
of the events so i thought id give a little bit of a different
perspective as there were a LOT of kodak moments and incidents running
the gamut from smirks through chuckles to downright belly laughs!
The hotel must have been built for an event like this - a huge parking
lot bordered by rooms with a swimming pool in the middle - what a
fantastic sight, almost every every parking space taken by an MG with a
couple of notable exceptions, someone had a Miata there - obviously a
gutsy soul but he did have the good sense to put a sign on it
"my other car is an MG - please do not vandalize!" - he got away with his
life but on friday night received more "boos" than a politician
announcing a tax hike!
Ian Pender opened "Ians Bar and Grill" in room 138 and was operating 24
hours a day providing refreshing malted beverages and bonnet struts to
the passing masses.
Oh, and V8 T shirts that are basically X rated!
The price of installation of said struts was a case of Bass Ale - if i'd
known this i would have bought stock in the company before i went!
If any of you run into a chap called Bob White, a Texan now resident in
NJ, be sure to ask to see his "pink mushroom"! - its about 2 feet tall
and fuzzy!
A lady in white shorts won "best in show" on friday night!
The Show itself on saturday was truly excellent, I met a lot of listers
there, some who i had met before and lots of new ones, notably (including
but not limited to)
Bill Schooler, who is still having to tell everyone that he ISNT Bill
Spohn, and he DIDNT say THAT!
Dr Doug - who i think Kevin referred to as the big dude wit the goatee
(he is and he has!)
Dan Ray, who in company with Rick Brown and myself was treated to a
living definition of the word "hick" while watching a cannon being fired
John Rossi, who brought some southern charm to the event as well as a
steering wheel and the biggest beard in the show! - did you sell it in
the end John?(the wheel not the beard)
Bob Allen - Bob wasnt there but so many people quoted him he might as
well have been!
John Twists Tech sessions were riveting and fortunately he spent a lot of
time working on a car that came from Alaska so the folk who came in it
could get home!
For those of you who havnt heard him, its like reading one of Barneys
posts, lights go on in your head where otherwise darkness would prevail!
The array of beautiful cars was truly breathtaking - so many fine
exemples and the awards pretty much went to ones that deserved it the
most (yours truly blagged a third in class with the GT which i was more
surprised about than anything and am immensely proud of!!) The Black
Tulip 73 roadster from Ohio (sorry, didnt see the owners name) was
probably the most beautiful B i have ever seen and rightfully walked off
with its class!
The car that won best in show, and RB GT class was the only
disappointment
(my opinion only) - it was beautifully clean, absolutely pristine - but
then it only has 650 miles on it and presumably didnt get there under its
own steam, cant fault the car in itself but if it aint driven its a
paperweight!
A factory V8 from Oklahoma won concours and truly deserved to - i think
it was something like 980 points out of 1000 - i watched the judging and
there were no free rides there!- dem fellas know how to make you sweat!
A TV show called "My Classic Car" covered the event - apparently its on
TNN and they didnt know when it would air so i guess we'll all have to
watch some Bass fishing and Line Dancing so we can find out - somebody
mentioned January next year - thats rather more line dancing than i
think i can watch personally!
The awards dinner was a lot of fun, Robin Weatherall sat in with the band
for a while just to prove that MG owners can do anything!
Watching so many MG owners in one place there are several observations
that one may make about how different we are from the general populace
a)narrow ageband - pretty much everyone is 44!
b)longer hair and more facial adornments than the average sample!
c)no toupees or wigs to be seen
d)have more fun than conventions of bankers
e)have more diverse careers than any group you can think of! - who was it
on the list who did a survey recently? - you should do one on
occupations!!
The MGs of Baltimore folk who organized the convention did a terrific job
and were all helpful,good natured and good company - I'll bet theyre
sleeping well tonight!
Lots of Ohio folk there too - and if they were anything to go by the
Cleveland show in 2000 will be a blast!
mike robson
69 roadster
70 BGT (did i mention 3rd in class of 30 cars???!! - hehe)
72 roadster
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