The meeting was held Thursday, August 8, 2002. There were 21 members and one guest in
attendance. Our guest was Mr. Phil Kern. Mr. Kern is the new head of maintenance and body
shop at Alley Motors. We were glad to have him and hope he will return soon.
Come one - come all to the ABCS 10th anniversary picnic and celebration! Shine up your
British car or SOB (Some Other Brand) and drive to Warrior's Path State Park, Shelter #1, Sunday,
September 22, 2002. Bring a covered dish (with food in it) and come prepared to enjoy
fellowship and fun. The club will provide hot dogs, hamburgers and drinks. Picnic starts
at 1:00 PM. We'll also have the traditional auction of car items, so bring plenty of money!
Welcome Larry and Judy Schiffer of Sneedville (Kyles Ford), TN.
Larry and Judy have a Blue 1980 Triumph TR-7. Glad to have you join the club and look forward to seeing you at our club events!
The Appalachian British Car Society and Smoky Mountain Jaguar Club will sponsor an all British
Car show at Sycamore Shoals State Park. The show is in conjunction with the annual Celtic
Festival September 7 & 8, 2002 in Elizabethton, TN. All British cars are invited to register
Saturday or Sunday from 9-10 AM. The first 20 cars will receive commemorative dash plaques.
Cars will be parked in an area to the right of the welcome building next to the river. Ben Bailey organized the show this year and will have window placards for each car.
There are trophies for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. No entry fee is associated with this show.
Judging for trophies will be during the day and winners announced at 3:00 PM. Come and enjoy
all the fun, sites, and good food this festival is sure to have for all. Call Ben
at (423) 283-9356 if you have questions.
The ABCS Board voted at the August 8 to discontinue mailing the newsletter to those with
Internet connections. Each member is encouraged to visit ABCS's web site at www.britcars.net
to view and download the newsletter each month. Herren Floyd does a great job posting the
articles, announcements, and pictures. The pictures appear much clearer and in color
on the Web! I will continue to mail hard copies to all who request and certainly to those without Internet
access.
On Saturday, July 27, a hardy gang of ten members and guests assembled at the Duffield, Va.,
Hardees for a drive to Hanging Rock Picnic Area near Dungannon, Va. Sam Chandler and Ricki
Fields in a 79 MGB, Ben Bailey in his familiar Weber powered MGB, Roger and Pat Boggs in a
shiny red 93 XJ6 coupe, Al Bradley in his sparkling 1959 Austin Healey 3000, Herren and Otti
Floyd in a Mercury Capri convertible, David Wallace in a Mazda Miata, and new member,
Bill White, in a Ford Ranger. The group backtracked south on US 23 about 4 miles to the Ft Blackmore exit, where the group
got on Va route 72 for the 27 mile trip to the Hanging Rock Picnic Area. The route was
idyllic in that pastoral sort of way, following the meanders of the Clinch River north,
through the old farming and riverport communities of Fort Blackmore and Clinchport, before
motoring through downtown Dungannon. Just outside of Dungannon, heading toward Coeburn,
the road picks up a few more curves as you enter the Jefferson National Forest. We shortly
arrived at a wooded picnic area, deserted except for a stray puppy who tried to make fast
friends with everyone. An impromptu vote was taken on whether to hike to Little Stoney Falls
or eat our picnic lunches. We hiked. And hiked. And hiked some more. The trail to the Falls,
usually rated an easy to moderate 2.8 mile jaunt, was a bit more of an ordeal as a result of
spring flooding which had washed out portions of the trail. Upon reaching the upper Stoney
Falls, a quick head count revealed 7 of us had made the distance. Herren Floyd even hiked
down to the pool below the upper waterfall. Several of our group removed sox and shoes and
waded the always cool waters of Little Stoney Creek. The trip back to the picnic area was mostly downhill, and was accomplished with quite a bit
more alacrity than the hike up. After dining on our packed lunches, we departed for home,
most of us with aching feet, sore backs, or some kind of ache. Our British and non-British
cars certainly had a much easier time on this trip than the drivers. The Little Stoney Falls
is a beautiful destination, and can actually be reached by a parking area above the Falls,
accessible by a gravel forest road if you wish to hazard chinked paint or a busted oil hose.
Our British cars are certainly grateful that our feet did most of the work on this drive.
September 7-8: Sycamore Shoals Celtic Festival. September 12-15: Healeys in the Smokies. September 22: ABCS 10th Anniversary Picnic and Gathering, Warrior's Path State Park. September 28: Autumn in the Mountains, A British Car Gathering, Flat Rock, NC. October 12: British Motorcar and Motorbike Show, Carnton Plantation, Franklin, TN. October 18-20: Euro 2002 Auto Festival at the BMW Zentrum Visitors Center
between Greenville and Spartanburg, SC.
Threatening weather kept participation down a bit for the Club's annual drive to Virginia's
Grayson Highlands State Park on August 17. Jag XJs were the predominant British marque, with
Clarence Goodson's XJ roadster, Gerald and Becky Mitchell's XJ V12, Al Bradley in his
1959 Austin Healey 3000, and my 71 MGB GT. The SOBs (Something Other than British) were
represented by Becca and Jeff Hughes in a Mazda Miata, and Allen and Margaret Calcote in
their Honda - both rational cars. The group departed the Abingdon Cracker Barrel parking
lot a little after 10AM, under the aforementioned threatening skies. Al led our six car
squadron to Grayson Highlands. This is a perfect drive for British cars, and it's easy
to see why this destination has become an annual event for the ABCS for several years.
Several raindrops greeted us on old Route 58 on the way to the Park. Al didn't bring the
top for his Healey, so his was the only open car in our group. The park is a fascinating place, and we visited the visitor's center with historic and
craft displays before a short hike to the Twin Pinnacles overlook, quite a view from about
5000 feet elevation. Some of us donned jackets to fend off the much cooler temperatures at
this high point. The wild huckleberries weren't as plentiful this year because of some
late frosts, but some of us did manage to graze on a few of these blueberry like morsels. A deluge of rain hit us as we pulled into the parking lot of our picnic shelter.
Good thing Al brought a tarp to cover his Healey. Several whitetail deer were seen
in the park, and one doe watched us eat our packed meals from as close as 30 yards away,
obviously a park scavenger. The Park, itself, is much larger than I thought, and its
elevation makes it an ideal location to escape the summer heat. Hats off to Clarence Goodson
for sharing his delicious homegrown tomatoes. A good time was had by all, in spite of the
raindrops. I hope this Drive remains a Club tradition for many years to come.
President: Robert Hall, 423-262-0402.
Vice-President: Gael Bright, 423-239-4247.
Secretary: Clarence (CC) Goodson, 423-928-2023
Treasurer: Al Bradley, 540-628-4763.
Newsletter: Jane Ogle, 423-282-5687.
Driving Events: Randall Thomas, 606-432-5153.
Programs: John Hanlin, 423-239-5603.
Webpage: Herren Floyd, 423-239-5455.