fff |
HISTORY OF THE
AMERICAN MGB ASSOCIATION by Frank Ochal The American MGB Association is a nonprofit organization founded in 1975 in New York. From the club's inception through today the club is dedicated to serving the interests of MGB, MGB-GT and Midget owners throughout North America. The American MGB Association was started by John
Giannasca and Rick Horan, the original chairmen. They thought it would be nice
to have a club for MGBs just as there were clubs for other cars that people were
driving new out of the showroom. They operated the club out of a spare room in
the house where they lived. It was there that the 111 Roger Avenue in Inwood,
New York address was used. They advertised the club in Road & Track and invited
responses from prospective members for ideas in starting the club. The first
newsletter was published in 1976 using a copier and contained some of the
features still used today such as the Technical Section and From the Editor's
Desk. Newsletter mailing preparation and mailing were done in Inwood, New York. In those early days, as the club continued to grow, it provided a way for people to meet other members in the same area who wished to start Local Chapters. It was this way that the Chicago Chapter of the American MGB Association was founded. Two of the most prominent American MGB Association members were there at the start of the Chicago Chapter - Bruce Magers, the current Vice-President and Steve Glochowsky, the past president. Steve Glochowsky became heavily involved with the National Club through the Chicago Chapter. Each early AMGBA newsletter which was filled with accounts on how well the Chicago Chapter was doing and the events that were being held. Rick Horan and John Giannasca wished to have some of the same expertise in the national organization and Steve became the AMGBA Publicity Director. The member magazine, the Quarterly, began being published using Liberty-Whitfield Printing in Glenview, Illinois which was the same printer that the Chicago Chapter of the AMGBA used with magazine mailing preparation done by AMGBA officers. The magazine was now being mailed out of the Fort Dearborn post office on Ontario Street in Chicago, Illinois. I, Frank Ochal became involved in the club at the 1978 Chicago Auto Show when I met Chicago Chapter members at the MG Exhibit. As a result, I became both a Chicago Chapter member and AMGBA member shortly thereafter. The AMGBA held its first National Convention in the summer of 1978 in Chicago at the Hillside Holiday Inn. It was moderately successful and was a result of much hard work by Steve Glochowsky, Rick Horan and John Giannasca. I attended and met the founding chairmen for the first time. During that year I became more heavily involved with national AMGBA activities and was named assistant publicity director. During the spring of 1979, Steve and I visited New York to promote the AMGBA at the New York Auto Show. It was at this time that I saw the original club headquarters and met with some of the other original officers including Marion Farrell, the first secretary. During the summer of 1979, our first eastern
convention was held in Ithaca, New York with Floyd Garren as convention
organizer. The enthusiasm was growing as evidenced by the turnout. On another
promotional trip later that year, Steve and I went to a GOF, a 'Gathering of the
Faithful' held by the New England MGT Register, in Cooperstown, New York. Rick
Horan joined us in Cooperstown for this event. It was at this time that Rick
told us about his new business and how it would be consuming much of his time.
Consequently, he and John were transferring the administration of the AMGBA to
Also in 1979, the AMGBA and the Chicago Chapter participated in the filming of the Blues Brothers movie with John Belushi and Dan Akroyd. Myself, Steve Glochowsky, Al Rada and my brother Dave were in the scenes shot in the Daley Center and the South Shore Country Club in Chicago as well as in a shopping ma ll in Harvey, Illinois.In 1980, the AMGBA made a trip to England to tour
the Abingdon Works where MGs were made. We
The conventions continued to grow and to be moved around the country. The 1980 AMGBA National Convention was held in Glens Falls, New York. The organization's growth and success led to renting the world famous Indianapolis 500 Motor Speedway in 1981 for that year's AMGBA National Convention. Also in 1981, the AMGBA and the local chapter participated in a parade with their MGs inside the old Chicago White Sox park. In 1982, the AMGBA held its first National
Convention outside the USA in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. 1982 also saw a change
in officers as
Toward the end of 1983, Steve Glochowsky started working at a new job that consumed much of his spare time. I, Frank Ochal assumed most of the duties of running the club and became President in 1984 with Bruce Magers as Vice-President in a Milwaukee meeting of the club. Magazine mailing preparation was now transferred to North Suburban Office mailing service in Northfield, Illinois with the Winnetka, Illinois post office now doing the actual mailing of the magazine. In 1984 we went west again and held our national convention in Boulder, Colorado. In 1985, the AMGBA held two conventions in Santa Barbara, California and Abingdon, Illinois. Later in 1985, the AMGBA office was moved to Margie Johnson's (now Springer) apartment in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. In 1986, we visited Texas during its 150 year anniversary in San Antonio, Texas and in 1987 we visited the Saratoga Springs area of beautiful upstate New York. In 1988, the convention site was Kansas City, Missouri. In 1989, we visited the Great Northwest part of our country in Springfield, Oregon. In 1990 the convention was held in Atlanta,
Georgia, which was a first for the Southeast portion of the country. In 1991 we
returned to the site of our first convention in Chicago. That same year, Margie
Johnson (now Springer) moved to Cape Cod, MA where she continued as the AMGBA
secretary. The AMGBA
In 2000, we went to Armagh, Pennsylvania and joined
with The Roadster Factory Summer Party. In 2001, we went to Houston, Texas for
the Houston MG Club's All British Motor Vehicle Exposition and in 2002 we again
went to the San Francisco, California area for the Palo Alto British Car Meet.
Also in 2002, we began offering eMembership at a reduced rate and included all
benefits of regular membership except the printed Octagon would not be
received by postal mail. In 2003 we were in Florida for the first time in
Titusville, Florida.
In 2010 we went to Sussex, Wisconsin for the
British Car Field Day. For 2011 we were in Ohio for the first time at Dayton in
conjunction with the 27th Annual British Car Day at Eastwood Metropark. For 2012
we went to the Jersey Shore to Ocean Grove, New Jersey to join in with Brits on
the Beach 2012. Also in 2012, we changed printers to Johnson Press in Pontiac,
Illinois with 16 pages of color. They did the magazine mailing preparation and
mailed it in poly wrap to better protect the magazine during mailing. In 2013 we
visited Mississippi for the first time to the oldest city on the Mississippi
River
Meet 2020 was not held due to the Coronavirus pandemic. For Meet 2021 we were "back where it all started" at the Chicagoland British Car Festival at Harper College in Palatine, Illinois. No Meet was held in 202 2 and future shows are suspended due to continuing pandemic issues and staff aging made more of concern travelling cross country in an MG.In 2022, we published the last printed issue of the Octagon with future issues to be emailed and available on the club website without an email address in the members only section of the club website at www.mgclub.org. Other member benefits remained the same. Bruce Magers retired from his role as Regalia Chairmen and Treasurer as of December 31, 2022. Margie Springer retired from the position of AMGBA Secretary also at the end of that year. Frank Ochal continued in his role as editor of the Octagon publication and to send it to the membership. Remember that the American MGB Association, the AMGBA, offers what no one else can - a tradition of service to MGB, MGB-GT and Midget owners since 1975 with a proven track record as evidenced that many members that have been with us for more than 4 5 years. Why? - because the AMGBA gives them what they want and need!!For more information contact the American MGB Association, 5433 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago, IL 60640 USA, call 773-769-7084, email: info@mgclub.org, website: www.mgclub.org. Note: The above history tries to be as accurate as possible. If you notice anything that should be corrected or something that should be added, contact us and we will place the correction on the club website as well as in a future emailed publication.
1976: 1st American MGB Association newsletter using
a typewriter and copier published by the club founders in NY AMERICAN MGB ASSOCIATION ORGANIZATIONAL DATELINE:
1975: American MGB Association (AMGBA) founded by Rick
Horan & John Giannasca in New York; Bruce Magers started Chicago chapter and it
joined AMGBA List of American MGB Association Meets and Conventions 1. 1978 - Chicago, IL 2. 1979 - Ithaca, NY 3. 1980 - Glens Falls, NY 4. 1981 - Indianapolis, IN 5. 1982 - Kingston, Ontario, Canada 6. 1983 - Lake Tahoe, CA 7. 1984 - Boulder, CO 8. 1985 - Santa Barbara, CA and Abingdon, IL 9. 1986 - San Antonio, TX 10. 1987 - Saratoga Springs, NY 11. 1988 - Kansas City, MO 12. 1989 - Springfield, OR 13. 1990 - Atlanta, GA 14. 1991 - Chicago, IL 15. 1992 - Palo Alto, CA 16. 1993 - Keene, NH 17. 1994 - San Diego, CA 18. 1995 - Memphis, TN 19. 1996 - Indianapolis, IN 20. 1997 - Palo Alto, CA 21. 1998 - Charlotte, NC 22. 1999 - Los Angeles, CA 23. 2000 - Armagh, PA 24. 2001 - Houston, TX 25. 2002 - Palo Alto, CA 26. 2003 - Titusville, FL 27. 2004 - Cape Cod, MA 28. 2005 - San Diego, CA 29. 2006 - Rocks State Park, MD 30. 2007 - Charlotte, NC 31. 2008 - Armagh, PA 32. 2009 - Fresno, CA 33. 2010 - Sussex, WI 34. 2011 - Dayton, OH 35. 2012 - Ocean Grove, NJ 36. 2013 - Natchez, MS 37. 2014 - Stowe, VT 38. 2015 - Myrtle Beach, SC 39. 2016 - Waynesboro, VA 40. 2017 - Fairhope, AL 41. 2018 - Lahaska, PA 42. 2019 - Myrtle Beach, SC Meet 2020 not held due to the Coronavirus pandemic 43. 2021 - Chicago
(Palatine), IL
|
|