60 Years in New Jersey
The June Jamboree weekend of June 25-26 in Florham Park, New Jersey, was one to remember from this year’s rolling celebration of Mercedes-Benz Club of America’s 60th anniversary. As always happens at the Jamboree, people gathered from across the country to join the Northern New Jersey Section for the longest continuously running MBCA event, now in its 53rd year. This year, celebrations were all the more special by making Jamboree a two-day event and properly recognizing the visionaries who formed the MBCA many years ago.
Festivities began with a Friday night gala – organized by Section President Matt Huda – attended by some very special friends: Constantin von Kageneck from Mercedes-Benz Classic Center in Irvine, California, and Marcel Schuh from Mercedes-Benz Classic in Stuttgart, Germany. Together, we spoke about the club’s history, its evolution to the present, and our hopes and dreams for MBCA’s continued success in the future.
To our collective delight, Marcel presented us with a certificate from the management board of Mercedes-Benz Cars as a formal congratulation for MBCA’s 60th anniversary.
Perhaps the best birthday gift our club members could ever imagine was a video with Christian Boucke, head of Mercedes-Benz Classic in Stuttgart, introducing numerous individuals who have made amazing contributions to the Mercedes-Benz marque through the years – Hans Herrmann, Marcel Tiemann, Ellen Lohr, Roland Asch, Jochen Mass and Dieter Glemser, among others – who sang “Happy Birthday” to us. We were all humbled by this amazing presentation and thank Constantin, Marcel and Mercedes-Benz Classic for their partnership and friendship. While we celebrate our own anniversary, we also join our friends in celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Mercedes-Benz Museum, which houses the most impressive display of Mercedes-Benz vehicles and history in the world.
As June Jamboree officially started Saturday morning, I stood next to Lucille Chabala and Valerie Cristiano as we checked-in cars and drivers. During those few hours, it was simply excellent to shake hands and get reacquainted with so many members while they sat in their impeccably prepared cars, ready to face the scrutiny of the numerous judges who had the pleasure of analyzing one of the nicest collections of cars that MBCA had ever assembled.
If there is a constant within the MBCA membership, it’s great old friends driving ever more interesting cars. Anne Fagan brought a stunning green on parchment 280SL that won Judges’ Choice. An always-smiling Bob Platz showed up in a unique 280SEL 4.5 that Peter Lesler honored with a Silver Star certificate. Richard Rose switched cars this year and showed up in his exquisite 300SL roadster. And Phil Morgan arrived in a very clean 560SEC that won Best of Show, which was a very apt award; Phil and his son Keith have set high-mileage records for attendance at MBCA events across the country for decades.
On Saturday night, a few of us went out to dinner; I sat with my Western Reserve Section friends Frank and Mary Alice Cozza and Josie and Peter Lesler. Over dinner, we rehashed the last several decades of events and all our memories – especially those that left us speechless at the time but keep us laughing now. We all had a great time during dinner – and we all hurt from laughing so much. I can’t imagine a better end to the weekend.
As I flew home Sunday, I was all smiles. June Jamboree 2016 was a wonderful venue for MBCA’s 60th anniversary celebration. Everything went incredibly well and was a testament to the progress that we’ve made and the good relationships we have formed among ourselves as club members. The celebration also set the stage for the club’s progress that I'm sure MBCA members will continue to sustain during the next 60 years. It certainly will be fun to watch.