At our Christmas Dinner at the Bird In Hand our Awards Officer Carol Rose had the pleasure of presenting our trophies to the winners for 2012. For those of you that were not there I am now pleased to announce the winners as follows:
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F. H. Douglass Trophy: for the owner who has driven the most distance in their Morgan during the year was won by Ian Morgan for travelling seven thousands miles in his Centenary Aero 8. His Morgan has been off the road for the last nine months of 2012 so this mileage was quite an achievement. One can only imagine the distance he may have covered given the other months of the year. A challenge to the rest of us I would say. Well done Ian;
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Richard Thorne Charity Trophy: for a member’s contribution to raising money for charity associated with the use of their Morgan was won by Frank Lomax for his tour round the Coast of Britain, in support of Help for Heroes, in his Morgan. Frank clearly was also in contention for the F.H. Douglass award; however, the rules stipulate that one can only win one trophy in a given year. However, Frank did a lot of good for this fine charity and he should be congratulated. His journey in April 2012 saw the start of the wettest year in England, if not the whole country and at times must have been quite an ordeal. The final total donated in support of Frank was £6881.02 plus a potential of a further £929.41 from Gift Aid. Good for you Frank – I look forward to hearing about your plans for your future fund raising exploits in your Morgan;
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Thames Valley Trophy (35th anniversary car badge number 001 mounted on an ash plinth): to celebrate its sponsored charity journey along the River Thames and awarded to a member who has attended the most noggins in their Morgan over the year, was won by Andy Doughty. This award was hotly contested this year and went down to the wire, I understand. I am pleased you won Andy – well deserved;
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SGT Trophy: awarded to the member who has exhibited the best traditions of Morgan ownership and its furtherance in true club spirit and was won by Roger Bluff. I must say that I was humbled to win this trophy, there are some important names on this trophy from years gone by and I am honoured to be up there with them. I would like to thank you for your votes. The spirit of Morganeering is in my blood – I got it from my father;
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The late Glenn Davies Trophy: awarded to the member who wins the annual boules competition held somewhere in the world usually on a nice beach, this time was won last May by David Neary. In May 2013 this trophy will be competed for in Torquay;
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Marcos versus Morgan Trophy: awarded at the annual beer and skittles match held at the Jack of Newbury pub in Binfield. Always a hotly contested evening was won by the Marcos Club. Congratulations go to our Motoring Club cousins;
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Silver salver Trophy: awarded to a Centre member that has been most inspirational in the spirit of competition during the year. This trophy provided by Richard Thorne Classic Cars was won by Anne and Andrew Miller. They are highly competitive and often drive to the limit and beyond. This was a well deserved award for both of them and particularly special as they are the first winners of this new Thames Valley Trophy - congratulations. I would like to thank Richard Thorne for this beautiful trophy provided as a replacement for the sadly lost F.H. Douglass trophy. The F.H. Douglass trophy has been expertly reconstructed by Roger Prior and is a sympathetic consummate presentation of the original. The odometer mounted on the trophy was kindly provided by Miller Commercial Motors. On behalf of the Centre I would like to convey my thanks for the reincarnation of this important trophy.
We also have two small trophies presented to the high scoring lady and gentleman at the annual beer and skittles match between us and the Marcos club. As you probably know if you clear the pins you continue with your turn and consequently you can build up quite a good score. Well I am proud to say, this is what distinguished our winners. The highest scoring lady and gentleman were Anita Pullen and Dave Cleveland respectively. Well done to both you. As we are now well into 2013, I would like to wish everyone all the best and I hope you will be competing for our trophies as the year progresses. In many ways they are the ethos of the club: encouraging the use of our Morgan sports cars while doing some good for others, and of course remembering our friends that are sadly no longer with us. I hope this spirit will continue in our club for a long time to come. I would like thank Carol Rose for all her hard work in bringing our awards and trophies importantly to prominence once more. The photo of all our trophies displayed together was impressive. We are fortunate indeed to own such an array within the Centre.
Take care, see you all soon – Roger.