OH SO HOT!

The EMC juggernaut rolled right thru June with no blown temps nor radiator caps that I’m aware of. On June 17th twelve members of the EMC gathered over at Jake Weaver’s for our yearly summer fest with a hamburger/hot dog sizzling. Temps in the south have moved into the egg on asphalt cooking time of the year.

Not too much wrenching this time of year however we did have a good turn out at Jake’s with three new members joining us for the gathering. New members Walter and Kathy Mashburn attended in their 1960 TR3 A and Bruce Richard’s brought out his 1965 Sunbeam Tiger for everyone’s enjoyment. My camera went Lucas on me so I missed the photo ops however when secured I’ll update everyone on the new members and their rides.

Martha and I along with Jim and Faye Enzman joined several members of the British Car Club of New Orleans in Meridian MS on a very-very warm June 20th to caravan to MG ‘06 in Gatlinburg TN. In route BCCNO Vice President Keith Vezina’s Lucas alternator succumbed to the heat giving up around Birmingham Al. Much to everyone’s surprise Jim Enzman just happened to bring along a replacement and that, along with borrowing a battery from one of the trailer’d cars assist us in making the overnight stop in Gadsden Al. Jim gets the Be Prepared Award for his donation to the venture.

Next morning the group split in to early departers, going for the cooler am temps, and a slightly later departing group willing to challenge the heat of mid day southern heat and humidity. Another two hundred and forty miles and we arrived in Gatlinburg TN for MG’06.

A count of 1,100 entries has been given for MG ‘06. I’d say that was a minimum. The gathering allowed lots of folks who may only know each other by e-mail to meet and party in the parking lots of the area hotels. I had marked on my calendar a trip up and down The Tail of the Dragon. Brother Clay and I exchanged directions and had a blast, one driving down and one driving back. The early start time combined with the mid-week day gave us pretty much open roadway down and back. Oh to have roads like that in our home state.

Show day was very warm with a little shower late in the day to bring the humidity up a little higher but enthusiasm couldn’t be extinguished, as the cars and crowd were simply marvelous. No awards for the EMC however the New Orleans Club will be along to tell of their booty.

Saturday we reluctantly left Gatlinburg, Martha taking an empty seat in a real car i.e. equipped with AC. Jim, Faye, Martha and I spent the evening in Birmingham with Birmingham British Car Club host’s Tom and Myra Warren over dinner and evaluating Tom’s progress on his recently acquired MGB GT. Sunday we all went our separate ways with Martha finally getting her wish to have the top up when a little sprinkle started near Meridian.

Jim’s already called and is testing the waters for other far-away visits.... must be nice to be retired uh Jim? Jim..Jim..are you there Jim....ZZZZZZ!

Just prior to leaving for MG '06 I did note an update to the website forum. Alex Wade our expatriated EMC member now residing in Yuma AZ posted a note indicating that he’d finally engineered his ‘57 TR3 to handle 100+ temps without pegging the temp and boiling over. Another testimony to the ingenuity of an EMC member.

Pat and Barbara made their second attempt at the US Grand Prix since our last update and had a great time enjoying the tour host and a great race. Ron and Haven Stuckey traveled down in the TR-7 from Kosciusko on July 8th for our Brits By The River ‘06 planning party. Assignments were agreed to, a plan is in place to make the ‘06 gathering in Vidalia LA a fun event on September 30th. Hope everyone within earshot can make our gathering. For additional info check out the web-site www.msemc.org.

Here’s the update from the EMC events calendar:

August 19, 2006 - Tech Session II / Brandon MS

We had such a good time in 2005 that Barry and Patti Schmidt invited us back. Barry indicates that he’s going to have to wrenches dusted off and is ready to put in a full day on the B. Wear your shade tree clothes and bring a dish we’ll dust off a few projects and have a good meal. Wrenching begins at 11:00am and there’ll be a meal about 12:00pm.

Details: Barry or Patti Schmidt (601) 992 - 9196

 

August 19, 2006 - Tech Session II / Brandon MS

We had such a good time in 2005 that Barry and Patti Schmidt invited us back. Barry indicates that he’s going to have to wrenches dusted off and is ready to put in a full day on the B. Wear your shade tree clothes and bring a dish we’ll dust off a few projects and have a good meal. Wrenching begins at 11:00am and there’ll be a meal about 12:00pm.

Details: Barry or Patti Schmidt (601) 992 - 9196

 

September 30, 2006 - EMC’s Brits By The River / Vidalia LA

We’ll have a go at it again in ‘06. As Randy Newman wrote "they tried to wash us away" however the EMC’s 9th Annual Brits by the River is in the planning stages so stay tuned for updates. Details: www.msemc.org

John Turbeville (601) 940 - 5288

Gene Johnston (601) 607 - 7021

 

Well, that’s the update for July 2006. Hope everyone is having a great summer and are making plans for Brits By The River.

 

We’ll be looking for you.

Happy Motoring

Gene Johnston