Resolutions for the New Year

Resolutions are a common tradition to usher in the New Year. We think about things we’d like to improve and vow that we’ll do better starting January 1. With a new year starting for the Mercedes-Benz Club of America – and new officers in many positions from section leadership to the National Board – should we be making resolutions about the club?

I thought about that after my wife Genie and I had the pleasure of attending the San Francisco Bay Area Section’s 2013 Holiday Gala at a conference center overlooking the Pacific. Members were in party attire, with tuxedos and long gowns sprinkled liberally among the business suits and party frocks, drinking champagne and happily dancing waltzes and foxtrots to a live combo playing tunes with words like “moonlight” and “memories” and verses that rhymed.

During the band’s break, the president and her activity chairs talked about section events scheduled in 2014, ranging from a 750-mile weekend car tour and a technical event on car maintenance to a jazz concert and history museum visit. The image was of a vital, interesting group of people who were used to enjoying one another’s company and sharing common interests in the Mercedes marque.

Genie and I had the same positive feeling as we downloaded almost 50 October and November event reports from the mbca.org club website and worked with magazine designer Stephan McKeown to select pictures for the event articles on pages 82-92 of this issue.

A variety of driving tours at the sectional and national levels were organized during the past three months. These ranged from one-day events for small groups to enjoy local attractions and the glorious autumn scenery, to national special events such as the Lake Erie Tour described on pages 40-43 with 50 members driving on a five-day sightseeing tour.

Excursions like these allow us to enjoy our cars as they were designed to be used while building and reinforcing club friendships, and incidentally showing the cars in public so that people not so familiar with our marque – especially the classic variations – can see them out on the road.
Many sections hosted technical sessions with local dealerships and independent specialists that help members understand and maintain their cars in order to be able to pass them on to the next generation.

Events on the calendar also included the first of the seasonal holiday parties, similar to the one Genie and I attended. We occasionally talk about these “drive-to-dine” activities as ancillary to “real car events.” However, it’s worth remembering that among the greatest rewards of a hobby club like the MBCA are the opportunities for people in our demographic group – past the age when shared parenting and business activities created social opportunities – to enjoy the companionship that science tells us is the best way to ward off the mental maladies of advancing years.

At our section’s holiday party, I also noticed the number of people our first-term president introduced to describe the events they were planning for the upcoming year. Clearly, our local officers have figured out two secrets to maintaining a vibrant section. First, to stay healthy, an organization must constantly look to the depth of leadership it is developing, constantly preparing new people with new ideas and fresh enthusiasm to be prepared to take the reins. Second, the best way to do that is to assign small responsibilities to newer members to get them involved quickly so they feel part of the group.

Here’s an idea for a New Year’s resolution. Let’s resolve to continue planning and participating in all of these wonderful events on which the future of our club depends.