Doing our part for our Veterans, showing off our British cars and dodging road apples at the same time. What fun! See the photos.

VISALIA, CA – A few of us participated in a local Veterans Day Parade, and here is how it played out. We met up at a Starbucks in Visalia at 7:30 in the morning (I need my morning fix). We ended up with one MG Midget, a Morgan, a Triumph TR3, an MGA and two MGBs. Knowing that we can never leave on time, the 7:45 departure time ended up about 8:10. This did give us time to diagnose the MGA’s problem of not running well. We looked at it, poked a few things, looked at it some more, scratched our heads, then closed the bonnet, crossed our fingers and headed on our way.

We had about an eight-mile drive to get to the staging area, almost far enough for the heater to feel like it might be doing some heating. We were placed next to a group, a large group, of little girls who were baton twirlers. The girls needed to practice their twirling and tossing – right next to our cars. This was very nerve-racking to say the least, but as far as I know no out-of-control batons hit our cars. A few did roll underneath the cars and I hope they didn’t get too much oil on them. There was a lot of picture­taking for the girls, using our cars as backdrops, which was great, but before every picture they had to spray some type of glitter stuff all over themselves, which gave our cars an all-new look of glitter.

We did our own prepping and polishing. We placed a few flags on the cars and I placed the new club logo (magnetic) on each of my doors. After the glitter girls left we wiped off the glitter on our cars, not the look we were going for.

We were #35 out of about 100 entrants. We lined up behind a school marching band.

The parade route was about ten blocks long. It became very clear that a few horses were someplace ahead of us and had decided to mark the path they had taken. So, I began dodging the horse biscuits (road apples), which became a nice zigzag pattern down the street. The crowd loved it. (This action was taken so we did not high center our cars.) At every intersection we would do a couple of circles in the street. We gave high fives to people along the route, passed out some flags they had given us. We were a big hit.

Found out after we were done that the MGA was not doing well and had died a couple times on the route. So I made sure he made it back home – no British car left behind.

This was our third year participating and once again I felt humbled and honored to support our vets. Hope to get a few more cars next year.

I would like to thank all those who came out to show off their British cars and show their support. My daughter posted the following on Facebook, a proud moment: “Happy Veterans Day to all those who have served and are currently serving in the United States military! Freedom isn’t free, and sadly, many great men and women who have dedicated their lives to our country have given their lives in order for us to have one! Thank you, vets.”

Scary photos of the Halloween costume party on October 30th have been released and are posted in the album. Take a look but don’t blame me, I didn’t take them, OK?

Trick or Treat!

by Monica Hubanks

This is the common query around Halloween, and the first-ever VBAC Halloween Party proved to be a treat indeed!  An enthusiastic and boisterous group of 30-plus members (I lost count at some point) descended upon our co-hosts’ home, a/k/a the Leonards’ Haunt. Big thanks to them for opening their beautiful home for this event and being such gracious hosts.

The party was a fun-filled evening for VBACers to share scrumptious munchies, a little mayhem, titillating conversations, much laughter and a drink – or two or three, which could explain why… er, um, never mind. If you were unable to attend, think of Bart Simpson’s astute words: “I didn’t do anything, you didn’t see me do it and you can’t prove anything!”  For those who did attend, VBAC gatherings are much like Vegas – what happens at the party stays at the party. Don’t make me headlock and noogie you!

I was pleasantly surprised to find that our club friends took their costumes quite seriously. Although all the costumes were marvelous, a few I found especially cute: Angie and Todd were adorable as a ladybug and entomologist and my biological tendencies loved it’ . The Lanses proved it wasn’t their first rodeo as cowboy and cowgirl, while Rick and Betty demonstrated that they go together as perfectly as bacon and eggs! Wes’ Ghostbusters costume (complete with Proton Pak) made me smile as I remembered watching that as a 10-year-old. Hey, now… is that groaning I hear?  Had Wes stayed a  little longer I would have slimed him for sure!

The variety  and thought that went into the costumes  made it tough to judge and award prizes.  However winners were named and received gift baskets from Arbonne, The Pampered Chef or Yummy Snacks. C’mon, guys LBCers cannot live by cars alone but we did throw in an AutoZone basket too!

It was wonderful to see a different side (we won’t share which side that may be, but it does give a whole new meaning  to the phrase ” top down driving” ) of the same folks we see at meetings, car runs and shows. Everyone seemed a bit chattier, relaxed, and, um, shall we say …. forthcoming?  Was it the rich running exhaust fumes, the Lucas smoke, or the apparent lack of MG drivers? (Kidding, kidding – Richard you know I am only kidding. Mostly.

Simply stated we are great individuals who together make a great club. If you missed out this year, know that the Leonards and I are looking forward to making this an annual event. An event that we can only hope is made better by your participation and fun loving spirit!  ¡Amistad, amor, y autos!