Morgan Sports Car Club Ltd
Registered Office, Dolphin House, Durford Wood
Petersfield GU31 5AW
Registered Number 2595917 England

Webmaster Bill Noble

MOG 2010

Now that it is over I have time to reflect on the occasion and collect my thoughts. There is probably little doubt that at least 1,000 members attended the event at some time during the weekend and much will have gone on that I was not aware of. Therefore, I should be pleased to hear what you got up to, what you liked and what, if anything, might have been done differently. The best medium for this might be within the pages of Miscellany so please write to Charles Neal (cc Brian Downing). We also need your photographs. I took my camera but it never came out of the box since I was preoccupied with other things!

What follows is my personal account of the event and since I was mostly based in the town forgive me if my comments do not embrace all that was arranged for you. Let me say from the onset however, that I am very very grateful to all those members, traders, dealers, sponsors and local services who have assisted me in any way, shape or form both during the period leading up to the commencement of the event and during the entire weekend. Without them it would not have been possible. I was especially gratified by the willingness of members to give me a hand at very short notice. Take for example, Sunday morning when it was brought to my attention that we needed a marshal on the gate at the hotel to relieve a member who had been on post for some time. When I asked for help and said "just for half an hour", the response was without hesitation. During a period from 10.30 am until 3.30 pm the gate was manned in succession by 10 members (all from different centres throughout the country) each doing the requested half an hour. I am so proud of you; thank you very much indeed.

We were blessed with reasonable weather and it got better as the event progressed, culminating in a glorious summer’s day on Sunday. Someone said to me that if the weather had been awful and the staff at the chosen sites for the events had been indifferent you might have been calling for my head by now. However, with particular reference to the Barceló Palace Hotel, the staff members, without exception, were exemplary, efficient, hard working and exceedingly pleasant; nothing was too much trouble. I know that there was some apprehension amongst the staff before the event but that melted within minutes of our arrival so thank you to all who visited the hotel for the manner in which you conducted yourselves. Immediately following the end of the event I had a debrief with the hotel management and complemented them for their contribution to the success of the event. I have also written to express our appreciation to the head of the Barceló Group.

I managed to visit the Pavilion Gardens site briefly on Saturday and Sunday and particularly on Saturday afternoon there was quite a buzz about the place; the sun shone, the bands played well, the car displays looked magnificent and the public were entranced. Some feedback already from members has been that the opportunity for the club and the public to mingle was particularly good. For those events in the town there was a lot of interaction with local people and unsuspecting tourists, many of whom will now have a much better idea of what Morganeering is all about.

Before the event there was much banter on Mogtalk about the Concours competition and it was just that; banter. The rationale was of course to raise the profile of the competition which has sadly not had the support it deserves in recent years from our members. I am pleased to say that the banter had some success and we will build on this, taking on board all the comments we received from our members to ensure that we run a competition that meets the requirements of as many members as possible in the future.

I also managed to get up to the Gymkhana site on Saturday afternoon and cannot thank the organising team and marshals enough for their dedication in standing at post all day in severe weather conditions. Fortunately, that was an event that was strongly supported. Well done to them. On my way home from the event I called in at the Gymkhana site and spoke to the landlord. Whilst disappointed at the number of members who camped on his site this was more than made up for by the numbers that called in for lunch and refreshments.

Talking of camping, on my way back into town after visiting the Gymkhana I called in at the Lime Tree Park camping and caravan site. By all accounts this was a very well chosen site and the owners and staff could not have been more helpful and accommodating. For once the Club appears to have got that right!

Friday afternoon was hectic; perhaps the pinch point of the entire weekend and at one stage I was dealing with query after query so having one of the Club's two way radios was invaluable and giving one to the duty manager at the hotel a very good idea. I think I was able to resolve most queries that came my way to everyone's satisfaction but considered it impolite to break off from dealing with one member's query to deal with that for another member so I hope you will understand if you were kept waiting for a short while.

The entertainment got off to a good start on Friday night at the Barceló Palace Hotel; the buffet service was first class, quick and efficient, there appeared to be more than sufficient food and the band played quietly to get us in the mood. When the barn dance proper was about to commence I had little doubt that Jean would drag me onto the dance floor to "lead by example" so I was staggered when within minutes of the first dance being announced you could not move on the dance floor; we were packed in like sardines and so it continued for the rest of the night.

The Saturday evening event at the Barceló Palace Hotel also went with a swing, with the dance floor being packed out for 3 hours solid from when the band started at 10 pm. Never have I seen so many people up dancing for so long and at one stage everyone in the room seemed to be dancing; not just those on the dance floor but everywhere I looked in the room. Wow, it was exhausting, especially to finish off with a couple of high energy Rolling Stones numbers!

Sunday was the best day for weather and those of you who came up to the Barceló Palace Hotel had a treat. We had fine weather and excellent entertainment. The fun and games competition was especially good, although not perhaps if you were on the receiving end of a wet sponge! The jazz band were, in my view, spot on and looked to be enjoying themselves as much as we were enjoying being entertained. I did not quite know what to expect of the Shrug Ladies but as they came on recommendation from Jim Kirby (member of Revival, the Saturday night band) I had no hesitation in asking one of my team to book them. I was bemused at first as my initial meeting with them was in the foyer of the hotel. As they were already in character I could not quite get comfortable with the fact that I was speaking and they were writing down their response on chalk boards. They were certainly different but great entertainment and were well received by one and all.

Finally, the raffle was an enormous success in that it has raised potentially about £500 of profit that the Club can donate to WaterAid. I use the word potentially since we still have a supply of greeting cards for sale which I have factored into my profit estimation. If you wish to purchase any of these greetings cards please contact David Evans. Thank you for your generosity.

Once again thank you for your support.

Brian Lee

Chairman