"Who said same sex marriages dont work!"

"Biggles and Ginger were still a little dazed after surviving the crash landing"

"Biggles and friend"

"Bless, may they live happily ever after!"

"I seem to have lost my goggles Trev"

"Living proof that an alien crew did survive Roswell"

"Dick Dastardly and Mutley look like they finally caught the pidgeon"

"Finally Compo got Nora Batty in a clinch much to her disgust, sorry his disgust"

GLOUCESTERSHIRE MG OWNERS CLUB

January 2012 Newsletter No 46

It was the beginning of the New Year and Brian our chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting wishing them a very Happy New Year.  As the speaker for the evening was from Penrite oils the ladies present decamped en masse to the bar, preferring to enjoy a drink and a natter rather than the joys of motoring oil.

I have it on first hand knowledge that Martin Gough gave a very informative talk on the philosophy of lubricants where many questions were answered.

The ladies rejoined the meeting at 8.45pm whereupon Mo ably assisted by Diana, as Rita was unwell, did the monthly swindle.  There were not so many members at this meeting as last but Mo and Diana managed to sell as many tickets, with our Secretary being lucky enough to win two prizes.

Brian opened part two of the meeting, as he called it, thanking the ladies for the raffle and complaining that he did not win anything.  Several months ago a question was raised that perhaps the Club’s accounts should be audited and as we are nearing the end of the financial year Brian asked for a volunteer to review the accounts for the year 2011/2012.  Needless to say shyness suddenly afflicted all those present but we did eventually have a gallant volunteer and Rob was thanked by the Chairman for this.

Adrian reminded the members that the 22nd January was the visit to Weston Cider Factory with a tour and lunch organised by Chris, but unfortunately Chris could not finalise the details as he was still making his way home from work...  There was a great deal of laughter as Chris had been sitting at the rear of the room for some time and Adrian had not seen him.  Chris then informed everyone that we needed to be at the Cider Factory by 10.45am at the latest as the tour starts at 11.00am.

The February meeting, which is Adrian’s favourite of the year, will see a talk given by Tim Brock, a Club member, on the joys of whisky.  Members will be allowed to sample 4 whiskies, 2 from the same distillery but aged at different times plus 2 others.  Tim mentioned that there was not enough room in his garage for his car due to the whisky and Adrian offered to help him drink it!

As no one offered to arrange February Sunday lunch Adrian took it upon himself to organise one.

Members were asked and it was agreed that a Teddy Bears Picnic again this year would be a good idea, the suggested date was 15th July which is to be confirmed later.  Steve and Marion will organise this as last year.

Membership to the Club is being kept at £10.00 again for this coming year and as Sue will be away Trevor will be collecting the subs on her behalf.
In the secure members area on the website there is a section for runs organised by other Clubs.  If any member is attending a run then Adrian can add their name to the list and perhaps we could all meet up and go as a Club, a suggestion which was met with approval.

There are still vacancies for the Isle of Wight trip in September, so if anyone is interested then contact Adrian, who is also planning a trip to Prague in December to take in the atmosphere of the Christmas Market.

The first spring event of the year which some members will be attending is the Coleford Carnival in the Forest of Dean which is on the 9th April, so let’s hope it will be a lovely warm, sunny day.

A bottle of wine is now being offered as a prize for the Caption Competition, so get cracking and email Adrian with a suitable caption.  I wonder who the first lucky winner will be.

John gave a progress report on the Caper stating that Steve and Rob had already started on the first part of the route which was the Cotswolds and that he and Trev had the Forest of Dean wrapped up.  The Star Centre pupils were holding a competition between themselves to see who would be flagging off the cars.  Volunteers were needed for marshalling and particularly important is the selling of raffle tickets on site.  The law forbids us to sell tickets beforehand, so the ladies will be even busier this year with their selling.

St Roses Wheelnuts day will be on the 29th April, but to date Adrian has received no communication from the head, Mrs Billington with whom we had a good relationship retired from teaching last year.

Adrian had received a letter of thanks from LINC expressing great appreciation for the donation made by the Club and the efforts which had gone into it.  A date will be arranged for a small party of members to view the new unit at Gloucester Royal Hospital.

The meeting closed at 9.25pm