Mark these dates on the calendar and plan to participate:
June 26, Saturday - The club with take a back roads tour from Lillian, AL, to the Sweet Home Cheese Farm in Elberta to sample their wares and stock up on some fine cheeses. We will then continue with a leisurely drive to Gulf Shores to have lunch at Lulu's on the Intra-Coastal Waterway.
July 18, Sunday - 15th Annual Joint British Car Clubs Pig Roast. We will gather for the 15th year with the South Alabama British Car Club and the Mardi Gras MG Car Club at the Schmitz's home on Soldiers Creek in Lillian, AL, to enjoy the company of British car enthusiasts and devour another juicy fat porker with all the attendant salads, side dishes and desserts. Other than our local British car shows, this is usually the largest local gathering of British cars of the year.
August 13th or 20th (date TBA) - Friday Night at the Races. We will gather for dinner at a local restaurant and then proceed to Five Flags Speedway where we will take a lap on the race track while our cars and drivers are identified over the PA system and then spend the evening watching the stock car races. Regular Monthly Meetings at Sonny's Bar-B-Que on Navy Blvd, 6/7 pm, June 21 and August 16. The July Meeting is the Pig Roast. The program for the June Meeting will by a short history of PBCA back to the late 80's by Tom Schmitz. The August Meeting program will be announced in an email and the Marque.
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Fred and Carolyn Easton's '67 Triumph TR-4A Best of Show |
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Larry McCain's '60 Morris Minor Traveller Peoples Choice |
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A variety of MGs ready for judging. |
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One lonely Morgan with 4 Sunbeams in the Britannia Open Class |
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Seven little Spitfires all in a row. The largest single model class for the second year. |
The weekend of April 16-17 provided the nicest weather we have had on the Gulf Coast this year for the 18th Annual "Brits on the Bay" All British Car Show in Pensacola, Florida. 104 cars and several hundred owners and enthusiasts attended the Friday night welcome party at Pensacola Beach and the Saturday Show. The cars were arranged in 26 classes and the participating owners voted on their favorites in each class. The car chosen by a team of well qualified judges for Best of Show was the stunning red 1967 Triumph TR4A owned by Fred and Carolyn Easton of Jasper, Alabama. The car selected for the Peoples' Choice trophy was Larry & Maureen McCain's 1960 Morris Minor Traveler.
The event was again kicked off on Friday night at the Days Inn Pensacola Beach Resort at the "Red Beans and Rice" Party arranged by perennial hosts Ann and Gus Fell and their team of helpers. Many PBCA members turned out to welcome the guests from all over the southeast. Ann always does a great job with this party and everyone looks forward to it each year.
Many PBCA members worked both before show day and during the show to make the event one of the best in memory. Many were responsible for signing up the fifty show sponsors which included Overall Show Sponsor, Mini of Pensacola, Best of Show and Peoples Choice Sponsor, B and M Starter and Alternator Service and all Jaguar Classes Sponsor, Jaguar of the Gulf Coast. A large "Thank You" goes to the Moulton family who provides the beautiful oak shaded site on the Pensacola bayfront each year. Again this year, the winner of the Sponsor Contest was Peggy Overly who brought in a total of 10 Show Sponsors. Close behind her was Al DeWeese with 7 which included Mini of Pensacola and Jaguar of the Gulf Coast.
There were many PBCA members working both before the show and during the day. A few of the notable workers were Bill Weeks and Al DeWeese and their greeting and parking crew getting the entrants on to the show field after they were initially welcomed by Mitzi Maddux in her British Bobby helmet and uniform. Mike Japp and his photo crew got every one's photo in front of the McGuires double decker bus for the website and Mike has all attendees photos posted at www.pbca1.com.
On site food vendors were Cajun Specialty Meats and PBCA members Franz and Monica Bachman with their SnoCone trailer.
This was a good year for the valve cover races with eleven racers vying for honors. A.C. Tillman of Louisville, Kentucky, won the highly contested final heat.
Mickey and Kay Kay and Darla Willows kept a large crew working all day in the T-shirt and Raffle and 50/50 ticket sales tents. Mickey is also responsible for starting early in the year to bring in many of the door prizes given out to attendees during the day. The T-shirt design and all the show graphics was again done by Curt Derby. Keith Sanders manned the PA and music system all day. Keith came down from his home in Virginia to handle announcing and also provided his motorhome for registration where Jeanne Schmitz and Midge Derby handled all of the registration chores, not an easy task which they handle so very well each year. Other PBCAers who contributed to the success of the show were: Ian Brown, Chuck and Charlene Byrne, Pat Cooke, Richard Cunningham, Kevin Curran, Mike Darby, Steve Gundrum, Don Hambrick, Margaret Henson, Tom and Mary Keyser, Doug Kirkley, Richard Lewis, Dick Maddux, Bob and Risa Manske, Mickey McNair, John Mahone, Bill Moseley, Ralph Overly, Kenny and Emily Ray, Joe Stephens, Donna Weeks, and Rich Willows. Also Bill Gillson, Peachtree MG Registry, again lent his expert assistance as one of the judges.
Registration closed at noon and voting began. All the ballots were in by 2 pm and counting began, culminating at 4 pm with the announcement of the winners and presentation of trophies by show Co-Chairmen Tom Schmitz and Bob Henson.
Following waves if farewell, "Thanks" for coming and wishes for a safe trip home to the departing guests, many members retired to McGuires for dinner and to recap the day as well as to begin planning for the "2011 Brits on the Bay" which will be held on April 15 and 16, 2011.
Below are the 2010 Trophy Winners: