President’s Message
Terry Kiwala
Starting the Second Lap
As the garnet-red SL500 rounded turn 17 at Barber Motorsports Park, it was pedal to the metal and the V-8 roared down the front straight. Midway down at full acceleration and overcome with the thrill of such an exciting ride, driver Julie Bruggner shouted out, “This is so much fun!” As her instructor, my first order of business was to say, “Okay, that’s great, Julie, but watch the road.” Then I smiled myself; Julie was having a blast and I had enjoyed my two days here at Heimatfest immensely.
Having just wrapped up the National Board Meeting, I am honored to be serving the MBCA for a second year as its president. And I feel just like Julie did at Heimatfest – this is so much fun! While it has been fun and rewarding, there has been a lot of hard work and major milestones achieved this year: I am taking this opportunity to update you on many of our accomplishments during this past year.
I am thrilled to report that your club is on excellent financial ground. This year we are going to put well over $100,000 back into reserve funds and are on a solid path toward longterm sustainability. With your help, we have made changes to our bylaws to secure longterm cost savings. The board has funded member services and has been very careful to run the operations as efficiently as possible. The result is a financially healthy MBCA that will be able to properly resource sections and members who work so hard around the country to help members enjoy our cars together.
We hired an executive director and I could not be happier to work with Mike Regennitter. With leadership from Cliff Reyle, the Personnel Committee and National Business Office staff considered many qualified candidates. Mike impressed us with his calm demeanor and methodical thinking. He has hit the ground running and earned the respect of the NBO staff. He is constantly figuring out ways to improve this organization and is an asset to the MBCA.
In lieu of StarFest®, we supported local and regional events with subsidies from the national organization and we are really happy that so many members attended these events. We are still processing the rosters, but it is clear that thousands of members participated in these events this past year. I am proud that we supported so many events that encouraged active membership. I look forward to the same results this year.
Julie Bruggner and Terry Kiwala at the track during Heimtfest
We conducted our first driving-skills instruction meeting at Heimatfest where new instructors and old were trained on properly conducting driving events. Frank and Mary Alice Cozza, along with Dr. James Roberts, led an excellent discussion and graciously answered our many questions. In the end, the MBCA is well-equipped to conduct these driving events under the leadership of the Cozzas.
We established a partnership with Airstream and are already seeing a new group of Mercedes-Benz enthusiasts gather with us at events around the country. Our events feature Airstream vehicles prominently and the new members from this relationship are thoroughly engaged in club activities.
We renewed The Star contract to continue Gary Anderson’s editorship of this award-winning magazine. We are also pleased to have Michael Salemi as the advertising manager for The Star and anticipate a closer relationship with our vendors.
Julie said it first, and I am just repeating – “This is so much fun!” I wouldn’t trade the past year for anything. Every time I look at the shirts, hats, glassware, pins and pictures, I am reminded of the good times I had at events and the members I have met. I couldn’t be happier to be part of the MBCA, and I look forward to another successful year. Thank you for your dedication, support and friendship.
Terry Kiwala
Starting the Second Lap
As the garnet-red SL500 rounded turn 17 at Barber Motorsports Park, it was pedal to the metal and the V-8 roared down the front straight. Midway down at full acceleration and overcome with the thrill of such an exciting ride, driver Julie Bruggner shouted out, “This is so much fun!” As her instructor, my first order of business was to say, “Okay, that’s great, Julie, but watch the road.” Then I smiled myself; Julie was having a blast and I had enjoyed my two days here at Heimatfest immensely.
Having just wrapped up the National Board Meeting, I am honored to be serving the MBCA for a second year as its president. And I feel just like Julie did at Heimatfest – this is so much fun! While it has been fun and rewarding, there has been a lot of hard work and major milestones achieved this year: I am taking this opportunity to update you on many of our accomplishments during this past year.
I am thrilled to report that your club is on excellent financial ground. This year we are going to put well over $100,000 back into reserve funds and are on a solid path toward longterm sustainability. With your help, we have made changes to our bylaws to secure longterm cost savings. The board has funded member services and has been very careful to run the operations as efficiently as possible. The result is a financially healthy MBCA that will be able to properly resource sections and members who work so hard around the country to help members enjoy our cars together.
We hired an executive director and I could not be happier to work with Mike Regennitter. With leadership from Cliff Reyle, the Personnel Committee and National Business Office staff considered many qualified candidates. Mike impressed us with his calm demeanor and methodical thinking. He has hit the ground running and earned the respect of the NBO staff. He is constantly figuring out ways to improve this organization and is an asset to the MBCA.
In lieu of StarFest®, we supported local and regional events with subsidies from the national organization and we are really happy that so many members attended these events. We are still processing the rosters, but it is clear that thousands of members participated in these events this past year. I am proud that we supported so many events that encouraged active membership. I look forward to the same results this year.
Julie Bruggner and Terry Kiwala at the track during Heimtfest
We conducted our first driving-skills instruction meeting at Heimatfest where new instructors and old were trained on properly conducting driving events. Frank and Mary Alice Cozza, along with Dr. James Roberts, led an excellent discussion and graciously answered our many questions. In the end, the MBCA is well-equipped to conduct these driving events under the leadership of the Cozzas.
We established a partnership with Airstream and are already seeing a new group of Mercedes-Benz enthusiasts gather with us at events around the country. Our events feature Airstream vehicles prominently and the new members from this relationship are thoroughly engaged in club activities.
We renewed The Star contract to continue Gary Anderson’s editorship of this award-winning magazine. We are also pleased to have Michael Salemi as the advertising manager for The Star and anticipate a closer relationship with our vendors.
Julie said it first, and I am just repeating – “This is so much fun!” I wouldn’t trade the past year for anything. Every time I look at the shirts, hats, glassware, pins and pictures, I am reminded of the good times I had at events and the members I have met. I couldn’t be happier to be part of the MBCA, and I look forward to another successful year. Thank you for your dedication, support and friendship.