÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø

The BCCCB Christmas Party that we all love and wait patiently for, signifies the end of another great year... Great year? I think it was a littler better than great, it was an amazing year! This year our membership had grown by about 16 and there is a reason for this. The BCCCB promotes family, safety, and most importantly, fun. There are two reasons to join a British Car Club. For support, for those moments where you just need help to keep your great looking British Car running and to just have fun and this club over flows on both points. Read on.

Carol, once again opened her lovely home for our Christmas party and the first pic is the sight as I walked through the door. At first glace it looked like Barc was telling a Christmas story to Bill the elf and Alton, who by the way had snow flakes stuck to his shirt. Boy this is what being a member of the BCCCB is like... who cares what you wear, just have fun. Now look at Alfred, this guy has fun oozing out of his pours and he knows tonight is going to be a hoot.

The dining room looks a little empty but have no fear, before this night is over, this Christmassy looking table will be transformed into a buffet fit for the big guy (St, Nick). Before this happens, we are treated with a few hors d'oeuvers. Yes that's right, an English car club using a French word. Alfred did the rounds making sure all had a treat to tide them over. He didn't get far before a morsel was tested, the lovely Estelle got the first treat. 

We had four new members attend this function and I am sure it was a tad overwhelming. Trying to remember names and meet so many people for the first time has it's challenges but they handled it well. Tonight we are lucky enough to have them join our little family, Mary and Mike MacIssac as well as Ann Marie and Donnie Steele. It's a pleasure and honour to have you folks as members and I am sure you won't be disappointed.

Ahh the mingling. British car owners never have nothing to talk about. The car chatter was endless and in the thick of it all in the family room, amongst the men, was Carol,  spinning yarns about her car. I just love when a women can keep a car conversation going. Next we have three lovely ladies of the BCCCB and each takes a beautiful picture. From left to right Beautiful Bonnie, stunning Sheila and finally, Joyous Joy. Joy has finally thawed out. If your following our stories, Joy near froze to death driving the Cabot Trail during the Bert Miller Memorial Fall Colors Tour. Brent wanted the roof down on that chilly October morning and the cold air on the mountains outside of Cheticamp near finished her off. I think a tear was frozen to her cheek when we pulled over at one of the look-offs. Brent finally put the roof up and all was well.

It is a Christmas party so why not dress for the occasion. I am sure many of us have donned a shirt and tie and for the ladies, something new and pretty. Well Bill and Jennifer did just that, a shirt and tie for Bill (the elf) and something new and pretty for Jennifer (Miss Snowflake), both with a Christmas theme. Going the extra mile is what being a member of the BCCCB is all about and these two are now our official BCCCB Christmas Mascots.

Can a cake be a mascot? Two years ago Don had shown up at the BCCCB Christmas Party with a cake he ordered with British Car emblems made of icing all over it. This year and last, he and Jenessa, Don's Daughter, designed an amazing cake that I am sure no one else would ever think of.  Don sent me a sneak preview the morning of the party of Jenessa prepping the cake. The car, which looks like a red MGA, was carved out of a cake as was the snowman. Each year I wondered how they were going to top this cake and wouldn't you know, each year he has topped the last. We can't wait to see what he has in store for next year.

Soon the awards for 2011 will be given out but first lets take a peek shall we. The moneys for the awards comes from our lobster-fest auction. This years auction brought in enough money for a new BCCCB Events Tent (See the BCCCB Events Tent story on our site) and the awards. The bulk of the awards are the black embroidered bags, and then there is the ever popular Christmas Bell. I went through last years awards list and if an award was deserving this year and they didn't receive a bell, I hoped to get them a BCCCB Christmas bell this year. The bells have the BCCCB crest on it as well as a picture of the recipients car. I usually take a picture of the awards for the website and wile doing so, getting two bells ready, one showing the club crest and the other next to it showing the owners car, I dropped Brian MacDonald's Christmas Bell smashing to pieces on the hardwood floor. To late to order a replacement, so off to Wal-Mart for a club crested cup, ready in an hour.

Next we have the Crested mugs and for the Healey owners, Haylett and Nina, as well as Craig, Carol's son, a mug with their cars on it. Over the years I have taken literally thousands of photos while travelling with the club and there are many amazing shots but the cup with Carol's Healey is a Photo Barc Cunningham had taken of the car a long time ago. A perfect photo.

Next we have the KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON poster. In an incident this summer that sidelined a car while on a tour, the owner stayed calm while we carried on. Keep Calm and Carry On was a poster produced by the British government in 1939 during the beginning of the Second World War, intended to raise the morale of the British public in the event of invasion. Next we have the Club Contribution award, a 1/4 zip pullover. Anyone who helps the club excel can be the recipient of this award but only one recipient a year.

Lets get started shall we. This year we had Don giving out the awards, so perhaps it's a good idea to have the lovely ladies of the BCCCB accept the awards. NEW CAR AWARD, or should I say another car award. God love those who take on another project. It's like a sickness, once you get your temperamental steed looking and running the way you want it, some of us run out and get another car. Sickness? Maybe but it sure is nice to have a backup car if something should go wrong with the other. Anyway, First up is Lee and Sheila for their purchase of and orange 1980 B that is currently being tweaked to perfection at the body shop. Here, Sheila is accepting the award. Next, Bill and Susan for there purchase of a new rubber bumper B, (I am not sure of the year) with Susan accepting the award. Good luck guys.

May as well stay up Susan. Next the REFURBISH AWARD. This is one of my personal favourites. Your car is both a reflection of you and of our club. If your car looks good then we all look good. The tweaking of body and paint is never a cheap endeavour and well, a little something is in order for your efforts. Above we have Susan accepting an award for her car that Bill worked on all winter and painted himself. A very impressive job by the way, for a do it yourself job. Next we have Donna accepting an award for her beautiful BRG MGB. Her car was in the shop last year and got it back, I believe.... Christmas eve. You can see the car in last years Christmas Car Photos.... well... we don't really know what's under the wrapping... LOL it's a gift.  Also in this category we have Brian and Gloria MacDonald (who couldn't make the party), They received an award for having their beautiful Spitfire tweaked to perfection.

Next THE HOST AWARD, Or HOSTESS, What is this you ask? Well for those who open their house to host a BCCCB event certainly deserve something and this year, once again, we had a few who did just that. All these events are what brings us all together, from tech sessions to parties, from overnighters to invites for supper, all are very much appreciated and shows club spirit. The first award was to both Don and Paula for the GET TO KNOW YOUR REAR-END tech session. Hummmm not sure if I like that sound of that. Anyway after Julian lost his rear-end we thought it was time to explain to members what to watch for so that there is no trouble down the road in their cars.  Both Don and I held the tech session but Paula had set out enough food to feed an army. Thanks guys. Next we have Carol accepting an award for for opening her lovely home for us to have our annual LOBSTER/CRAB-FEST. Thank you so much Carol, you sure are a treasure to have in this great club.

Stay up Carol as there is yet another award for you. This time for the 2010 Christmas Party. Girl you have more energy and the biggest heart of anyone I have ever known. I am not sure what we would do without you. Here Carol received the KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON poster for her generosity and because of her trying year with her car, I thought it was the perfect award. Next we have Sandy accepting the award for for her and Peter hosting the CANADA DAY SHOW AND BBQ in Baddeck. This is an event not to miss. Peter and Sandy pull out all the stops and even recruit help from their son and future daughter in-law as well as Merriam, a family friend. Check out the Canada Day story on the web. This event that they host, promotes the club and brings everyone together. Heck they come from as far away as New Glasgow to attend. What does this tell you about the event? A well deserved award for sure. Speaking of New Glasgow, our good friends and members as well, couldn't make it to our Christmas Party to accept their awards. The story on the web is THE LIFE OF RILEY TOUR. Hatlett and Nina invited us up to their beautiful cottage on the shore of the Northumberland Strait for the weekend. Here we were treated like kings and queens, an amazing time. Adding to our fun and enjoyment of this weekend was Don and Eleanor who took us to Rollie MacDonald's place (you have to read the story) and then back to their place for a a huge lunch before we hit the road for home. This was an amazing weekend and I still talk about it today. Thanks so much Haylett, Nina, Don and Eleanor. Your simple awards fails to show our true appreciation of your efforts for the Life Of Riley Tour.

÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø

We have a few members who live a great distance away and all are important to us.  A few travelled from the Halifax area and one from Newfoundland to spend some time with us. I decided to make a new awards category this year to show that we appreciate the fact that they enjoyed being with us enough, that they travelled a long way to get here. The award is called THE LONG DISTANCE AWARD and the awards goes to Dave and Susan Warr for their trip from Newfoundland to spend a great weekend with us which included the lobster fest and a run to Ingonish. A BCCCB Christmas Bell depicting a picture from that run on it is their award.  Next, we have Ron and Lynne Gray, these folks travelled from Sackville to attend our September meeting. As it turns out, the weather was bad and Paula was home with a Migraine and I couldn't even have them out for a cup of tea. So it really wasn't a great first meeting of our little club with Ron and Lynne but for their efforts a BCCCB Christmas Bell is in the mail, on the way to their house. The third and final recipient of this award went to Preston and Betti Ann Smith. I met these folks once or twice, our cars brought us together, very nice people and I asked if they were interested in joining our fun loving club. Sure enough they jumped at the chance. Now.... this summer we had a joint BATANS/BCCCB Run. Preston and Betti Anne holds membership in both clubs and if Preston and Betti Ann hadn't attended this tour, I would have been the only BCCCB member to attend. So, thanks for attending Preston and Betti Ann and for traveling such a great distance to attend, the long distance award, A BCCCB Christmas Bell with a picture of you guys on this tour has been sent out to you.

÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø÷ø

The next award is for those who go the extra mile to help our club in any way. The SPECIAL MENTION AWARD. First we have Bill (the elf) English. My heavens, what can I say about this guy? Bill is an amazing guy. I think we'll keep him under wraps before someone discovers his comedy act and sends him off to Hollywood. Bill entertains us in many ways and is an asset to this great club. Bill, among his many talents is the clubs auctioneer and for his very entertaining auction antic, he surely deserves an award. Next we have Sharon accepting an award from Don for her roll in organizing our part in the I.W.K. Telethon. Here our cars, and Members, helps bring in visitors to the telethon and is great exposure for the club. Everyone benefits.

In the same category we have "Craig the Chef". The Lobster Fest would never come off as well as it does without this guy. The Lobster Fest feels like a catered event because Craig looks after everything. Not only does he boil up those tasty crustaceans but if your not a lobster lover, Craig looks after whatever you bring to cook and he cooks it to perfection. the award is a little token of the clubs appreciation for your help in making this event unforgettable.  Also in this category we have Donnie Peters for organizing the Mayflower Mall show. This show gives the club a great amount of exposure and it's a very interactive event where people can ask questions about the cars and sit in if they wish. Many parents and kids had their pictures taken in the cars. A perfect show, thanks Don. The last award category is the CLUB CONTRIBUTION AWARD  This is an award that I am very proud to give out. It is perhaps the most Important award of all and a few extra bucks are spent. There are many who deserve this award but it's only given to one person each year. This award is given to a member who help make us become such a popular club, a happy club and for that matter a helpful club. This is the third year for this award and in the past, the recipients included Barc for getting this club off the ground and being the glue that keeps it together. The second year, the award went to Carol for allowing so many functions to me held in her gorgeous house. Year three, Donnie Peters. This guy is first on hand if there is a problem. Donnie is a driving force behind a lot of club activities, and this well deserved award, surely belongs to him this year.

I am not sure what the story is here, I believe we have a secret Santa in our midst. Just before I started the awards I was handed a red Christmas bag that was found under the three. Now with all the activity going on, I am not sure who gave it to me. I looked down to see who it was for... Barc... and when I looked up who ever gave it to me, disappeared. I seem to remember a red jacket and red pants a white beard and a little twinkle in the persons eye. but for the life of me do I know who it was. As it turns out it was a canister of OLD SPECKLED HEN Beer. Look it up. If there was ever a beer that was for an MGB driver this is it. Do look it up and read where the name came from. I think the twinkle is now in good ole Barc's eye.   

I am not very happy with the next award,  I knew nothing about it. After I finished Don took over, I am like "What the heck" He started to say a bunch of lies about me, about how I devote so much time to the club. BAHH, When one enjoys doing what he does the enjoyment is enough. Now he did say something like behind every good man there's a woman telling him what to do and in my case, there sure is. Paula is very patient. Many evenings she said "you spent four hours on that story and didn't say a word to me". Yeah I guess she is right and Don presented her with an award for her patients, A gift certificate from the body shop and for me a club crested duffel bag. I love it! Time for the door prizes. Only a few this year and first up, Don pulls out Alfred's name.

Alfred pulled out Frances name and Frances pulled out Barc's name. God it looks like the door prized were rigged, two club officers winning, each received a crested bag. Not rigged.... I promise.

Alfred got the first door prize and then Alfred's lovely wife Donna's name was pulled out by Barc. Next donna pulled out Joan's name, her prize was the Red Shoe Pub T-Shirt that they donated to our club. The last prize was a vest that was left over from the auction and that went to Ricky. We're not done just yet.

I received an email from Anita saying that Julian, her son and also a member with his great looking yellow spitfire had purchased a wallet and he would like to donate it to the Christmas Auction. Well we did have a small auction last year for an extra hat so why not have a quick and very entertaining auction to see what this great looking wallet could fetch. The wallet was passed around the house for all to see. It is in a tin case and has am MGA on it. HUMMMM  we do have 2 MGA owners, could this become a bidding war?

The wallet came back to me and Bill the Auctioneer took over. He looks a lot like Bill the Elf. Bill is a man who wears many hats for sure. Just look how charming he is, yes charming and devilish as he will separate you from your money before you even know what happed. Do your thing Bill the Auctioneer.

Bill started off his pillaging by winning over the crowd with his annual Christmas poem (see here) Then the attack. Bill the Auctioneer works the crowd like no other. The hands were going up and the yelling had begun, and while this was going on, the house filled with the smell of delicious food. The increasing bids slowed as people turned to the dining room. The end result, the wallet that Julian donated brought a cool $42 and the lucky bidder I believe was Arleen. Thanks so much Bill the Auctioneer and the change of outfits shows your passion for the things you do.

From the Family room to the Dinning Room we went and the once empty dining room table is now transformed and filled to capacity with some fine foods. Oh man this is great! Hard to describe the scene and even harder to describe the tastes. If the day ever comes where we have to move to a restaurant or hall for this event we are going to miss so much. There is no way in heck are we going to get food that tastes like this in any restaurant. I mean really, my mouth was alive with flavour. It was said that there was to much food, I am not sure about that. I went for seconds and there were empty trays and bowls. I am at a loss for words. This is amazing. I hope that the BCCCB never changes. I think we are the perfect club.

Speaking for myself here, my plate was overflowing and piled high. I sat down with Norm, Joan, Sharon, Ricky, Mike and Mary and began to dig  in. Holy heavens each fork full tasted better the the last. What a crew of cooks here at the BCCCB. If you went home hungry it's your fault. Seating at Carols isn't an issue for (my count) 38. You have the sunroom the family room the kitchen and the living room, the buffet was set up in the dining room. This place is the perfect venue and we are so lucky to have Carol.

The remnants of the main course has been removed from the dining room table, only to me replaced by deserts and what an array of tasty treats they were. Everything was delicious, I have to write about it so I have to try everything. The things I do for this club. hehehe. Yes, I did try everything except for the hottest item on the table. I don't mean heat hot, I mean very sought after hot. Sandy's Raisin Pie. My Mother in-law has been making raisin pie as long as I known her, I can't say that I hear of it before that and I guess Sandy has been making it for Peter for years not knowing that others make it or even heard of it for that matter. The subject of raisin pie came up in conversation a few months ago and low and behold, there before us at  the BCCCB Christmas party, was Sandy's raisin pie. I was hearing many great reviews throughout the house so there you go Sandy, your raisin pie was a hit.  Don  and Jenessa's cake caught Mike's eye. All that work and it looked to good to eat but eat it we did, and it sure was good. I wonder, did anyone take a chunk out of the red MGA? I know the real MGA doesn't look as good as the cake one. But in time... look out.

And there you have it. After an entertaining evening followed by a great meal, all we could do was sit around Carols beautiful house and chat.

This BCCCB Christmas story will be the 24th story for 2011 but the Stories of the BCCCB goes way beyond that. There are countless stories that never get told each year. It's stories of friendships that these little cars created, such as stopping by ones house to adjust their valves to just stopping by for a chat. Any member of the BCCCB can call on another for assistance at almost any time and that shows strength and club spirit which is rare. Any club is only as strong as it members and our little club is strong.  Just read beyond the story and look beyond the pictures. There is a lot more then 23 stories going on here with the BCCCB. I closed out so many stories saying "If you weren't there you missed it. Come along next time". The truth be told, it should read "If you weren't there we missed you. Come along next time".

MERRY CHRISTMAS

AND

HAPPY NEW YEAR

From all your friends at the

BCCCB