Award Descriptions & Winners
Golden Wrench Award
The 2023 golden wrench award goes to a long-time club member and former board member who has enthusiastically supported the club over many years by providing technical assistance, hands-on mechanical repairs and replacement parts for members in their times of need. Many have travelled to his Front Royal farm in search of large, medium and small-sized parts for their mgs in need. Our recipient’s storage barns contain many hard-to-get parts. On top of that, our recipient has a roll back truck and has regularly helped folks transport their non-working vehicles both locally and out of state. Plus, he has participated in the planning and execution of club events including the 2023 turkye rallye. Additionally, he has willingly shared his mechanical expertise with club members who have absolutely no skills on how to keep their mgs on the road. Currently he is rebuilding a club member’s engine in his garage at front royal.
The 2023 recipient of the Golden Wrench Award is Jeff Stoddard.
Morris Award
This very special and possibly embarrassing award is presented to one of our members that has performed some ignominious or illogical act related to the Club or a Club activity. ASTOUNDINGLY, there has been no Club member since 2019 (and he knows who he is) who has merited this not so prestigious award. Currently, Morris, who by the way, is a stuffed and rather dilapidated pheasant, is quietly spending his “Golden Years” at the historic Old Kemp’s Mill home of Dick Nye and Tsue. However, during his term as Club President, Chris Kintner was able to design and award a very handsome plaque that embodies all that Morris stands for.
But a New Year certainly can produce fresh fruits. Lo and behold, there is a 2023 Morris recipient! The 2023 recipient known to most of us here in the room has been unable to ascertain the whereabouts of the Morris plaque in preparation for this awards ceremony (not for lack of trying). Now losing the Morris plaque does place the recipient in both financial and reputational peril, so is there anyone out there who knows where Morris currently resides? There is a reward for his repatriation.
The 2023 recipient for Morris is none other than our intrepid Vice-President, John Puglisi!
The Broken Plank
Awarded to a member who was unfortunate enough to have had some breakdown, fender bender or other misfortune during a club event. Now there is always a story behind these sorts of things. And 2023 was no different. It’s always fun to hear about and see our Club’s racing adventures, both past and present. Some of us had a chance to see racing in action as part of a May Saturday drive to Summit Point to watch the Vintage Racer Group in the Jefferson 500. Now Summit Point was just one of several track events on the East Coast during the year. And then it was on to the Pittsburgh Grand Prix in July. It got a bit more dicey during Lime Rock in early September.
The recipient of the 2023 Broken Plank award is Jeff Bare.
Jeff is relatively new to racing, but he has definitely plunged in the deep end of the pool. He completed the Drivers School in 2021
Jeff wrote a terrific article in August for The Spark about his 2023 Jefferson 500 experience which we have at the table for you to view. He’s joined a select group of Club racers to include the Eatons, the Racing Bobs, Chris Kintner and Jim Byers.
It turned out that Jeff had more than a minor issue at Lime Rock as he was doing well in his next to last race. An engine pushrod bent which caused a valve to smash a spark plug and put a hole in the #4-cylinder piston. Now, that sounds bad even when it’s read. It must have sounded horrible on the track.
Jeff, we’re proud of you. Now, it’s time to recruit more club members for your pit crew!
The Bill Scott Memorial Broken Wheel
This award recognizes active participation and support of competitive events by a member of our club. This prestigious Club award is named in honor of Bill Scott, a dedicated Club member and racecar driver who passed in 2009. Despite having a Yale Doctorate degree in Geophysics, Bill found his passion as a racecar driver. From 1965-1972, he entered 124 races, winning 42 times and finishing in the top three 77 times. Bill later purchased Summit Point Raceway in Jefferson County, WV and opened a track to coach competition drivers and promote motorsports.
This year’s recipient has been a long-time Club member and former Board member who came down with the racing bug during COVID in 2021. He has provided loyal pit crew support to Jeff Bare during Jeff’s racing campaign stops from 2021 through 2023 and shows no signs of stopping. Our recipient was instrumental in helping Jeff finish strong with a third overall and first in class win in May 2023 at Summit Point.
Our award recipient is Jim Spurgeon. You’ll notice that Jim’s name is engraved on several of the other awards on the table as well (including Morris if we had that plaque—nice work, John).
The John Thornley Spirit Award
This award recognizes a member who demonstrates true spirit and enthusiasm regarding MGs, our club, our events and our members. The award is named after Sir John Thornley who was one of the founders of the parent UK MG Car Club, served as its first secretary, and later became a Director and General Manager of the MG Car Company.
The award for 2023 award is presented to a contributor team for their frequent contributions to many aspects of functioning of the Club.
The awardees are Eric and Debbie Newman.
While relatively new to the Club, Eric accepted the role of Webmaster and was able to immediately address various site functionality issues, while enhancing the Website features to improve the user experience. Eric also stepped up to a Club Board position to replace another member who was no longer able to serve. Eric, together with Alphonso Stewart, conducted an MG electrical issues tech session last summer and will conduct the same tech session in February. Eric and Debbie stepped up to provide massive assistance for HCC stuffing party and were an integral part of the day of registration and tabulation process. Their commonsense suggestions and willingness to participate have made them integral to Club operations in a very short period.
