President’s Message – November 2022

President’s Message – November 2022

Hi everyone and here we are in November already … how did that happen?     The fall edition of Ragtop is being printed as we speak and will be distributed next week.  It focuses on a review of the 37th British Car Day and a variety of articles that I hope you will enjoy.  Here’s a teaser of what’s inside our brilliant magazine:

The October weather was stunning, as were the fall colours, which led to some great drives on backroads across S. Ontario.     Here’s a photo depicting a very nice variety of Triumphs lined up at Guelph Airpark after a wonderful drive orchestrated by Terence.  Derek organized similar drives closer to the GTA which garnered glowing reviews.  Next year it would be great if a few more club members could step up and lead some drives.

It looks like November may have a few suitable days for an excursion so keep a look out for an e-blast inviting you to a “pop-up” drive.   Several years ago, we managed to drive our Triumphs into December … can we do the same this year?  It will of course depend on when the snow flies which will be closely followed by that pesky Triumph-destroying salt!

The Rockton All British Flea Market and Car Show was held at Rockton Fairgrounds on the 16th and while my drive started out quite cool in Burlington, by the time I met up with Rob and Al for an early morning coffee it was starting to warm up a bit and turned out to be a very pleasant fall day.   Although not as busy as last year, it was great to see many Toronto Triumph Club members at our table as well as a very good selection of ~80 LBCs in the parking lot.

Rob Ragsdale hosted a British Car Day Volunteer Feedback meeting towards the end of October and about 25 volunteers joined us for a short BCD presentation, a Done Well / Do Better discussion followed by pizza, courtesy of TTC.   Our volunteers are the lifeblood of BCD and it was great to hear from them on how we can continuously improve our wonderful event.  We will be reviewing these suggestions, together with others that we have received, once the BCD committee gets underway early next year.  If you have any suggested improvements you would like to share, please don’t hesitate to drop me a line.

Finally, we have our Annual General Meeting scheduled for Tuesday 23rd November at 7 P.M. via Zoom.  PLEASE NOTE – THE PROPOSED DATE HAS CHANGED BECAUSE I HAVE TO GIVE AT LEAST 2 WEEKS NOTICE and I’m running a bit late this year.   I will send the details and an invitation in the next day or two.   As is customary ALL TTC positions are available and club members may volunteer for any of them.  I have heard from many of the current Executive Members and Coordinators many of whom are willing to return if there is no one interested in taking on the role.   If you wish to run for a position where there is more than one interested party, a vote will be cast to decide the winner.   Please stay tuned for more information.

At our last Board meeting we discussed whether we should have a virtual, in-person or hybrid AGM.   While it would be great to have a hybrid meeting of both in-person and distanced club members to attract an audience from anywhere in the world, technically it’s quite difficult to pull off.  Maybe next year?  

Stay safe, keep healthy and if any of you need assistance or just want to chat please pick up the phone or send me an e-mail.

Dave Sims, President, Toronto Triumph Club