The show was held on the courthouse grounds. The field was covered in a beautiful lawn, well trimmed hedges and wonderful shade trees. A great deal of the time was spent sitting on a lawn chair sipping a cool libation and enjoying pleasant conversation as we sat beneath those trees.

The Awards banquet was also excellent. It began with a surprise visit by a notable (notorious?) woman, Miss Lizzie, who apparently had been active in the "entertainment" business in St. Joseph's history. The irrascable Robert Allen was the master of ceremonies for the awards portion of the banquet, and aptly identified the body as a tough crowd when two Ferraries could only garner an honorable mention when compared to a couple of old street rods and a kit car in the open non-British class.

Right: President Marvin Marshall seeks advice from past President, Jim Danielson, regarding Hospitaltiy Suite

The FWAHC did well in the awards. Dan Forehead won in the MGA 1500 class, Marvin Marshall won and Steve Esplund took second in the early '65-'70 B class. Ben Anderson took second with his MGCGT, Leo Thietje took second in the late Chrome bumper B class, Ken and Vicki Grant took second with their rubber bumper B, and John Ulrich won second in the British open class with his Bugeye Sprite.

Special mention must be made to Karen Higgins and Rene Drewell and Ryan Reese. Karen drove her MGA 1500, sans top, side curtains, side rails and turn signals to St. Joseph. She did run into some rain on the way home, but was able to maintain the proper forward motion so as to remain dry. Rene and Ryan managed to purchase a late 60's vintage MGB, and install an overdrive transmission in it by Heartland despite Ryan's finishing law college this spring. They also deserve the hard luck and perseverence award for pressing on despite several break downs. The final one was when the heater hose broke on the way home. They were able to fill their radiator with drinking water and rain water scooped from the gutter. Rene also won the comment of the week in reply to Jim Danielson's query, "Was your father alive in 1931?" with the comment "I don't think my grandfather was born in 1931!" She has what it takes to survive with this group.

The Heartland Regional was larger than ever this year. Pat Koch asked Mel Finch why the show was larger. Without hesitation Mel replied that he attributed it to the involvement of "that Flatwater group." Lets strive to make the our presence even stronger in 2000.

Condolences

Our condolences to Jim Danielson, whose father passed away June 20th. There will be a memorial service in Shenandoah, IA. on July 6th at 1:30 PM at the funeral home.

If you cannot attend lift a glass to his memory at that moment. He was a car guy, and enjoyed a good time; he would have enjoyed the thought. Our thoughts are with Jim and Barbara.

Triple Folly

As you read this, Marvin and Sue Marshall, Steve and Deb Esplund, and Bob Shaw and Martha Johnson will be driving their MG roadsters toward the west coast. This is not a vain attempt to relive adventures from adolescence. Well, O.K. maybe it is for Marvin and Bob. But mostly we think that the northern mountains are best seen from an open roadster. We also think that Route 101, a.k.a. the coastal highway, is best seen from an open car.

Finally we want to see if Marvin can really camp to Oregon and back and still get into and out of his MG! If the "tour" goes as planned we will try another next year, and will open the adventure to any FWAHC member brave (insane?) enough to accompany us. Be forewarned, only LBCs will be allowed on any of these tours. As Marvin said, "If I have to shake my body half apart in that little car you aren't driving any sedans with air conditioning!" GTs, however, may be another matter.

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