Saint Johns Austin Healey Club Minutes for March 31, 2025

The April SJAHC member meeting took up a day early at Fionn MacCools Irish Pub and Restaurant at about 7:30 p.m. on Monday night. Presiding in the absence of club president Mike Foster, who had another obligation, was club VP Dave Morton. In addiction to Dave and his wife, Angela, those attending the dinner meeting included Erling and Sandy Onsager, Rick and Marilynn Stevenson, Bill and Judy Young, Ben and Lisa Procter, Bob and Norma Pippin, Bill and Char Maroney, Alan Winer and Janis Croft, Tony Martini and Ron Keysor.

The minutes of the March 3 member meeting were approved, as was the report of Treasurer Paul Sandefer, who was unable to attend because of a continuing health issue. Bill Young offered Paul’s report on the state of the club’s bank account, which stands at $$$$$$.

Member Chair Bill Maroney reports club membership stands at 33, with three of those holding local membership in our club, the balance also belonging to our national organization, the Austin Healey Club of America (AHCA). Bill said he has been in conversation with an AHCA official about the club’s loss of several members and commented on his efforts to bring the strays back into the SJAHC herd. His diligence in that regard is well recognized.

Similar zeal in trying to locate a venue for what was hoped to be British Car Rendezvous III has been to no avail, said events co-chair Tony Martini. His partner in that effort, Bob Pippin, put in a lot of work attempting to find a suitable setting for what would have been our club’s third Brit car show but found the known potential sites already booked. The first two years of the gathering were held at the Spring Park Pavilion in Green Cove Springs and brought out a nice mix of Healeys, Jaguars, Lotus (Loti?), MGs, TRs and a couple of other less familiar (don’t want to call them less common) British marques.

With nothing in the club schedule for April, though the ice cream social usually held in warmer seasons may yet be organized, Tony said there are hopes that we can revive the almost but not quite spontaneous Healey cruises of the past. Members who have thoughts on local trips they would like to lead should contact Bob Pippin with their suggestions. Ditto those who want to host small gatherings (the club pays for the lunch) to do car projects. A lift is nice but not necessary for most small projects. All members should expect to receive email notices of any of these club activities, though the secretary acknowledges that several members have somehow not received these messages because their information failed to get included in his SJAHC Google label list. For this he apologizes and will attempt to fix.

For those looking for a local car/motorcycle show this weekend with free food, the Ponte Vedra Presbyterian Church Men’s Ministry is holding just such an event on Saturday, April 5, from 10 a.m. til 2 p.m. The churchmen are welcoming classic, exotic, overlander/off-road vehicles to include motorcycles without the customary entry fee. The location is the Presbyterian church at 4510 Pine Valley Road in the Ponte Vedra area. Members likely received a notice earlier from our club VP Dave Morton, and the information shown is taken from the flyer Dave emailed back on March 17. He repeated the invitation as last night’s dinner meeting concluded.

Finally, Bill and Char Maroney have volunteered to again host the club member meeting set for May 5, Cinque de Mayo, 2025. Members will receive an email reminder closer to that date. R.Keysor, Sec.

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