17th Annual British Motorcar Gathering

Sunday, June 13, 2010 | Reservoir Park, Hellertown, Pa.
All-British car show hosted by the Keystone Region MG Club

➤Winners List

By Mike Jones
Keystone Region MG Club Show Chairman

The weather for the 17th Annual British Motorcar Gathering in Hellertown, Pa., started out great. When we arrived at the park at 7 a.m., the sun was already over the horizon. Everything went well as we set up the park for the show. Some of us remarked that we seemed to be ahead of schedule and ready for the cars to arrive by 8:30 a.m. We had a great crew this year. I believe we had more help than ever.

We did need the help as were about to find out. The cars came in at a steady pace. By the time all was said and done, we had more than 200 registrations. Taking into account the pre-registered “no-shows,” we had about 190 cars on the field. This was one of our best years, if not a record.

Things were going along smoothly until about 1p.m. when President Dick Horn informed me that the weather looked rather threatening. We were soon faced with some rain, and participants were scrambling to put up their hoods or get out other weather protection for their cars. The rain stopped for a while and we decided to get the ballots counted and move things along as fast as we could. We moved the ballot counting to the pavilion area and we closed down the registration tents and spectator admission.

I hated to see the day end sooner than we wanted, but it seemed that getting the awards out as soon as possible was the best thing to do. During a pouring rain, I handed the awards from the pavilion while Dick Horn announced the winning cars and the respective owners from the DJ tent. This wasn’t the smoothest set up, but we worked through it. We are fortunate to have the use of a large picnic pavilion at our show – I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people in it!

Working with my co chair Terry Allen and with all of the club members is a real joy. It is a pleasure because everyone is so willing to help. For some members the day of the show can be a very long day. Many members drive some distance to the park and then work from the set up period beginning at 7 a.m. until closing. We owe them a debt of gratitude. Let’s not forget those who spend hours with the planning for the show.

I want to particularly thank Marty and Marybeth Chamberlain for hosting the “Bag Stuffing” session again this year. They are gracious hosts and the work involved in preparing the goody bags always runs smoothly thanks to their expert organization skills.

I want to also extend many thanks to Kim and Charles de Bourbon for the preparation of so much of the printed materials need to run the show such as the design of the flier, the welcome letter, the ballot, and all the windshield cards.

Additional thanks goes to Bill Webb who has served as event Registrar for many years. He has kept a perfect record of our pre-registrations so that we can determine the classes we need to list on the ballot. This is a very important part of the show.

I think of Ken and Cindy Beck, who have handled our door prizes for every show as long as I can remember. They deserve a lot of credit.

I really could go on and on. I do, however, want to thank Ed Haas who has arranged for our awards for many years and also Bob Van Syckle who has provided our show with the classiest music you could ever wish for.

The point is that it takes a lot of our membership to produce one of the best British car shows in the Northeast. They are listed below, with a big “thank you” to all of them:
  • Terry Allen, co-chairman
  • Tony Altieri
  • Ken and Cindy Beck
  • Patsy and Jerry Betz
  • Tom Brobst and Julie DiRodio-Wilkins
  • Marty and Marybeth Chamberlain
  • Kim and Charles de Bourbon
  • Joseph Ditalia
  • Art and Margie Edinger
  • Ed and Angie Haas
  • Richard Horn
  • Myra Jones
  • Don Kohn
  • Arch Kunkle
  • Gerry Kunkle
  • Bill Miers
  • Jim and Shirley Mink
  • Leon and Phyllis Morgan
  • Dennis and Ann Marie Nash
  • Bill Page
  • Noel Peters
  • Victor and Lani Rodriguez
  • Ken and Barbara Saltern
  • John Shoemaker
  • Sunny Sonnenrein
  • Don and Karen Struckle
  • Bob VanSyckle
  • Bill Webb