Gallery of Past Club Events
Eastern Shore Club Drive
October 4-5, 2008
Len and Ruth Renkenberger once again hosted the Chapter at their home in Easton Maryland the weekend of October 4th and 5th. Our small caravan consisted of Liz Ten Eyck and her guest Betty Ann Johns, followed by Bill & Karen Marshall. Once in Easton, we were joined by Keith amp; Kathy Kallopos – who were still reassembling their MGA Saturday morning - arriving at the Renkenberger’s just in time to enjoy the refreshments provided by Ruth.
We were then off to visit the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels to attend the Small Crafts festival held that weekend and to enjoy the museum’s detailed history of the Chesapeake Bay and its watermen. After our tour, we felt more refreshments were in order and went to visit the Eastern Shore Brewery – a micro brewery recently opened in St. Michaels – to sample their products. The brewery has a nice operation, a strong knowledge of their brews, clever names such as St. Michaels Ale, Lighthause Ale and Knot So Pale Ale. It is our hope they will soon hit on a tasty combination of barley and hops and produce a Good Tasting Ale!
We were joined for dinner by Len and Ruth and decided on the Suicide Bridge Restaurant located on the Choptank River. There have been three bridges located here over time and each bridge has a history of suicides according to local lore – although some claim a few of the victims may have had “assistance” in reaching the water below. After dinner we returned to our motel with plans for further sightseeing in St. Michaels Sunday morning and then returning to the Renkenberger’s for brunch.
As we headed into town on Sunday morning, we stopped to fill up with gas. Traffic was a bit heavy and the gaps were not large enough for all three MGAs to pull out safely. When a promising opening appeared, Liz and Keith pulled out leaving Bill to make a decision of falling behind or hope the oncoming Cadillac would slow down and provide a little space. Well, the Cadillac owner obliged and space was made, but when the Cadillac began to follow us at every turn, thoughts of an angry driver began to emerge. Our designation was the St. Michaels Yacht Club where Len had his small sailboat docked.
When we pulled into the parking lot and the Cadillac once again followed, we knew we had either an MGA fan or one upset driver with coffee spilled down his shirt. As luck would have it, the driver and passenger were none other than Chapter members Ken & Joyce Lawrence. They were on their way to the Renkenberger’s when we pulled out and they decided to join our caravan!
After scoping out Len’s sailboat, we began to make our way back to the Renkenberger’s for brunch – timed for the arrival of John & Linda Wright, making the trip Sunday morning from Pennsylvania. Our route took us past a garden center, which had a British telephone booth on display. Our caravan quickly pulled in so Bill & Karen could negotiate a fair price to obtain this booth for display at their Manassas home. We are sure the neighbors will be thrilled when the bright red telephone booth is finally positioned in the landscaping!
Arriving at the Renkenberger’s we found the John and Linda had arrived just before us. Ruth prepared many variations of quiche which were enjoyed by all. As typical for these events, the Renks and Wrights were peppered with questions about the early days of the founding of NAMGAR and stories emerged about early GTs, chapter outings, what passed for MGA “restoration” at that time and the quality level of the current crop of MGAs.
It seems no MGA gathering can happen without an impromptu tech session becoming necessary and this event was no exception. A missing seatback bolt on Bill’s seat was repaired by Len while John investigated the non-performing starter motor on Keith’s MGA. Keith had provided entertainment all weekend for the tourists as each time we stopped. Keith could only restart his A by getting out the hand-crank and cranking the engine. Sometimes we waited bemused while Keith cranked with the key off, other times we suggested he turn the key on after just a few cranks. Such is the role of friends when it is the other guy’s MGA suffering from Prince of Darkness woes.
Our group would not be complete without mentioning Bill & Martha Ludtke, who had emailed their regrets for not being able to attend that morning, and Butch Smith, who telephoned in his appearance later in the day. We were all in agreement Butch was much better company on the phone than he is in person. We did miss having Judy with us this year though.
With a desire to be home before dark and accepting Keith’s self-imposed 50 mph speed limit, we started our good-byes around 3 pm and were on the road by 0 – arriving back in Virginia with minutes of daylight to spare.
We once again would like to thank our hosts Len and Ruth and hope to be invited back again next year.
