Articles

British Car Breakfast Club Holiday Party 2005

by Ron Swiger












	Photos submitted by Ron Swiger

The 2005 Holiday Party was held on Sunday, December 11. A large turnout of Breakfast Clubbers gathered at Gary and Sylvia Thomas’ home for the festivities. Jan Burg and her merry band of helpers put together a wonderful array of goodies and libations for the enjoyment of all. The Club provided ham, turkey, shrimp, rolls and cranberry sauce as well as a nice selection of wines and British beers. Each of the revelers brought an appetizer, side dish or dessert. As usual we had several tables filled to excess with all the contributions.

The fun kicked off at 2:00 P.M. Due to the cool weather and threatening clouds only a few British cars were in the driveway for tire kicking. Many were from Gary and Sylvia’s collection and included the AH 3000, MGA and TR7 coupe. Our erstwhile leader Rick Frazee and wife Sam said this was perfect weather for British cars and arrived in style driving the Morgan +8 with, for the first time that I have ever seen, the top up and side curtains in place. Local friends of Gary’s also had a beautiful MGA roadster and MG Magnette on display.

Upon arriving we were directed THROUGH the garage into the house to deposit our culinary contribution and then it was back to the garage for wine and beer and conversation. Fortunately the clouds never opened up and we could check out the British motorcars that did make it to the event. The appetizers were served prior to the full meal and we all enjoyed great wings, spinach dip, crab dip, egg rolls and a vegetable tray with our beverage of choice. Next the table was set with the main course buffet and we loaded our plates from the selection that included different casseroles, tossed salad, deviled eggs and the ham, turkey and shrimp. For those that still had room the dessert selections were inviting including apple, key lime and pecan pies, chocolate and cheesecake and cookies.

After letting our meal settle, it was time for the annual gift exchange. We call it that because the gifts usually change hands a number of times during the activity. This year was no exception with a number of “unique” gifts finding several owners as the evening progressed. A pink Victoria’s Secret box marked for a “man’s man” intrigued all the guys with yours truly selecting it. You will have to ask me what was in it; I don’t think I should put it in print as this IS a family website.

The 2005 Holiday Party was once again a great success thanks to our hosts, Gary and Sylvia for sharing their lovely home and Jan, Dee and Pat for coordinating and preparing the food and drink. A wonderful time was had by all.

Charles and Camilla Reception Tea Held

by Ron Swiger

The sign welcoming the British Car Breakfast Club to the Spring Tea read “ Charles and Camilla Reception Tea,” how very British. The tea, held Sunday April 10, 2005 at the lovely lake front home of Jim and Diane O’Brien, seemed a good time to celebrate the royal nuptials as well as our wonderful British motorcars. The day was magnificent and many hoods were down as we gathered once again to stuff our faces and kick tires. Jim’s garage was the immediate attraction for the guys while the ladies met in the kitchen to set up the wonderful treats brought by all. The menu included sandwiches of chicken, tuna and egg salads, turkey, ham and cheese, roast beef, sliced egg and water cress and strawberry and cream cheese. Also mini quiche and a vegetable tray rounded out the main course. The desserts were outstanding as usual including Petit Fours, éclairs, cream puffs, chocolate cake, cheesecake, brownies, lemon bars, pecan tarts, shortbread, scones with clotted cream and jam, strawberries with chocolate dip, nut bread and lemon pound cake (my wife’s specialty). Jan Burg, our perennial hostess had a vast selection of English teas to chose from, however host Jim O’Brien had laid in some Brown Ale which seemed to be the drink of the day with many.

But back to Jim’s garage. This 30 x 50 foot showplace for Jim’s mostly British collection of automobiles was a must see for all of the guys (and a few of the gals too). Included in Jim’s collection is a Jaguar XKE, a Triumph TR6 and a recently completed, frame off restored Sunbeam Tiger. Oh, there was also an American icon, a mid 60s Vette, that looked pretty nice. The garage is nicely outfitted and has a lot of automotive related art on the walls. He is also in the process of air conditioning this showplace, just in time for summer. Don’t want those great cars to sweat.

Seventeen British cars were present for the tea with many marques represented including Morgans, Jags, MGs, Triumphs, Tigers, a Healey and a new MINI. Also joining the group on the O’Brien lawn was a unique 1972 Austin taxi owned by famed aviator and space pioneer Joe Kittinger.

During and after the feast, which was enjoyed around the swimming pool, we all had a good time visiting and talking about the 21^st All British Show the previous weekend (see separate article). Many of the tea party goers had been instrumental in conducting the show. The O’Brien home is wonderfully laid out for entertaining and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there. Thanks to Jim and Diane for having the group over, unfortunately Charles and Camilla were otherwise occupied but we carried on without them.

I was up at 4 am on Saturday, April 2, 2005 sitting at my computer watching the weather radar screens as a cold front bearing a lot of rain was slowing moving into the Orlando area where we were to hold the 21^st edition of the All British Car and Cycle Show at our new venue, Lake Lily Park, in Maitland. By 6 when I started to put out the signs directing cars to the show site it was pouring. But with a little prayer and a lot of luck, the rain ceased at 7:30 and the sun came out by 10 to give us a wonderful day for this event. The early rain did scare off a few, especially those north and east of Maitland as the rain did not stop at the east coast until around 9:30. But we still had 200+ fantastic British motorcars (no cycles made it this year) to enjoy the day. I was the show chair this year and as soon as we settled on Lake Lily as our show site, my deputy Rick Frazee and I started meeting with the City Parks folks who wanted to put together a community event that would bring local residents into the park to see the cars as well as expose the show participants to the City of Maitland. To that end Chuck Jordan, Manager of Parks and Recreation worked very close with our planning team to do some special things. Chuck put together a community concert to follow our awards ceremony that would build on the British theme. He invited The Red Coats, a well known area band to do a tribute to the Beatles. The New Tradition Jazz Ensemble also did a 30 minute set to warm up the audience for the Red Coats. All show participants were invited to stay and enjoy the concert and mingle with local residents who were of course interested in our LBCs. Chuck also contracted with The Rosie O’Grady’s Highlanders, a bagpipe band, to entertain during the afternoon after lunch. I want to give a special thank you to the City of Maitland for their assistance in making the show a success.

The food concession this year was given to the Maitland Historical Society that maintains four museums in Maitland. They count on fundraisers of this type to continue their work.. In exchange the Society provided free admission to the ca.1880s Waterhouse Residence and Carpentry Shop that is on the grounds of Lake Lily Park. Mr. William Waterhouse and his family were early pioneers in Maitland and their home has been restored by the Society and contains period furnishings including some original family pieces.

The day, while starting off somewhat ominously, was a total success. The credit goes to the four Central Florida British Car Clubs that have taken on this project for 21 years. They are the Jaguar, Austin Healey, Triumph and MG clubs. Each club furnished numerous members to help with the work both in our planning meetings for 6 months before the show and on the day of the event. It couldn’t happen without this support. Special thanks to those that took leadership rolls in the preparation which included:

Special thanks also goes out to Jan Burg, Ethel Danhof and Theenda Conner and their spouses Pete, Jim and Harry respectively for organizing our new event, the “Meet and Greet” held Friday night before the show at our host hotel, the Best Western Mt. Vernon Inn.

Additionally I want to thank Bill Wheeler for developing our wonderful website www.allbritishcarclub.com that helped immensely in publicizing the event.

After being cancelled in 2004, the 13^th annual British Classic Car Show was again held at Bryant Park on Sunday, February 20, 2005. A group of British Car Breakfast Clubbers made the trip down on Saturday. Included in our caravan were myself and wife Linda in our 1961 Austin Healey, fellow CFAHC members Gary and Sylvia Thomas in the Austin Healey BJ8, Bob McClain and Pat Dempsey in Bob’s MGB V8 and Pete and Jan Burg in their air conditioned 76 TR6. We gathered at Breakfast Club leader Rick Frazee’s Best Western Mount Vernon Inn on Saturday morning with some grabbing some breakfast before we began the trek south. We left promptly at 10 am following a homemade map to St. Cloud stopping along the way to pick up Pete and Gayl Betterman in their bright red Morgan Plus 8. Continuing south we had a rest stop at the World Famous Desert Inn (I sure thought it was in Las Vegas) and continued on to Okeechobee and lunch at the Brahma Bull Restaurant (highly recommended by the locals). Following lunch we continued around Lake Okeechobee before heading due east just north of Pahokee. We arrived at our destination, the Best Western Lantana in time to clean off the road grime, and take a short nap before heading over to the Meet and Greet at Brogue’s Irish Pub.

The pub was great place for Bangers and Mash or Fish and Chips and we enjoyed meeting and talking with a number of other show participants. Friends and fellow Breakfast Clubbers John Webber and Chuck Colley also joined us, having driven down earlier in their Sunbeam Tigers (we go too slow for them). It had been a long day and after a couple of pints of Guinness and a satisfying meal, we returned to our hotel for a good nights sleep.

We arose early on Sunday and proceeded to detail the cars in the parking lot, cleaning the bugs and road grime off from the trip down... With every car sparkling we headed off to the show site at Bryant Park in Lake Worth. This is an excellent venue for the show sitting next to the Intercoastal Waterway. The day way perfect weather-wise and after placing our cars on the show field, we proceeded to check out the competition. There were some great British motorcars at the show and we enjoyed viewing and photographing all of them. I was particularly interested in the lone Jensen Healey as it was the same color as our recent acquisition. It was in beautiful condition and the owner was very helpful in describing some of the details missing in our car.

It was a great day of tire kicking and conversation and following the awards presentation we headed back to Orlando taking the more direct but less scenic route using Interstate 95 and the Turnpike. We were pleased to have been recognized with a 1^st place in the Healey 3000 Roadster class with Chuck Colley and his Sunbeam Tiger taking a 2^nd in the very tough Open British class. The neat gas pump trophies were really nice, and very much appreciated.

Thanks to the Gold Coast British Sports Car Club for reviving this great show and putting out the extra effort to make the weekend so enjoyable. We are looking forward to next year.

CFAHC’s own Bob Cooper and his outstanding Austin Healey 100 BN1 were present on the Concours Field Sunday March 13, 2005. This completely original motorcar was the lone representative of our marque and he did represent us well. The car is a beautiful shade of green with the original top (yes, 50+year old!!!). Bob and his dad Marty restored the car to concours standards over the last several years and it was a pleasure to see. The car has won numerous awards including 1^st place at the 2004 Winter Park Concours and Senior Level Recognition by the Antique Car Club of America.

The Amelia Concours this year was perfect with 80 degree weather and not a cloud in the sky. There were 280 of the best motor cars from around the world with participants and judges straight from the list of elite car collectors. Jerry Seinfeld even had a survivor Porsche displayed not far from Bob’s Healey.

This was the first year my wife Linda and I have gone and it was quite an experience. You just can not imagine what this event has done in the 10 years since its inception. The Ritz Carlton is a terrific venue for the concours and the logistics to handle what I suspect was a record crowd was executed perfectly. Breakfast Club friends John Webber and Pete Burg and I went to the auction on Saturday to watch (not buy my wife said) and it was a neat experience. A 1964 Austin Healey BJ8 went as high as $59K but did not make the reserve but a 1962 Tri-carb sold at $52K plus 10% buyer’s premium. The top selling car was a 1950 Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta at $1.6 Million!

Mark your calendars now for next year’s Amelia Island Concours to be held on March 12, 2006.