President Hermann Schaller called our October 12th meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. with 32 attendees. He noted that meeting was moved to Mission BBQ due to storm damage at previous location. Feedback on the location change was unanimously positive, and the club will explore a permanent change.

The news from members was that most did not experience significant British vehicle damage. The exception was Tom Berger’s 1964 Elva Courier, which was totaled.

Membership

Membership stands at 90 accounts. One new member joined at the meeting, bringing the total to 175 members.

The Treasurer’s Report was then presented.

Past events

Due to the “Ian the Terrible” hurricane, the club Breakfast Run was cancelled. The local Sun-Cap Motor Club Cruise Inn event was also cancelled.

Upcoming events (as of the meeting date)

October 19 — Afternoon Tea at Brambles Tea Room, Naples.

October 21-22 — All-British Car Show, Safety Harbor (non-BCCSWF event).

October 26 — BritToberfest, to be rescheduled.

November 8 — Monthly member meeting, Mission BBQ, Fort Myers.

November 11 — Veterans Day event being planned, details to follow.

November 12 — Naples Botanical Garden tour and lunch, Naples.

November 16 — “Welcome Back Snowbirds” Party, Lighthouse Bay at Brooks Clubhouse, Bonita Springs. The location may change.

November 20 — British Car Invasion at Mercato, Naples.

December 3 — Monthly member meeting.

December 17 — Holiday Party. We need a new location due to storm damage (Hilton Garden Inn at 12600 University Drive, Fort Myers, and the Fort Myers Crowne Plaza are previous venues).

January 10 — Monthly member meeting.

January 15 — Invitational International Classic, Exotic & Sports Car Show, Peace River Botanical Gardens, Punta Gorda.

January 27 — Everglades hockey game, Estero.

February 5 — Cars on 5th, Naples. Registration is now open.

Future event ideas

Car Club Cruise — Information for the Spring Cruise with the Rolls-Royce/Bentley club has been sent out to members.

U.K. tour — A vote was taken to gauge interest and a dozen members raised their hands. We will engage with a travel agent to plan for fall 2024 to coincide with the annual Goodwood Revival.

Other items

Calendars featuring club member vehicles are available for sale. The price is $20.

We noted club member vehicles that are for sale.

It was also noted that Hagerty’s disaster team was very responsive to our members.

The meeting adjourned at 7:20 p.m.

On Saturday, September 10th, 18 members of the BCCSWF gathered at the home of Club Secretary Isabel Mack and her husband/in-house mechanic Kirk Pierce. President Hermann Schaller made a grand entrance in fins, mask, and snorkel, armed with a water gun.

Isabel prepared her Spanish mother’s recipe for Paella Mixta and everyone brought a dish to share. Summer in Florida often brings rain and the skies delivered a heavy downpour just as the paella was being assembled on the special grill. Despite “tipping down,” the rain failed to dampen our spirits!

We had a wonderful mix of new and established members, and it’s fun to learn who is a year-round resident of southwest Florida.

The September 13th meeting was called to order by President Hermann Schaller. A moment of silence noted the recent passing of Queen Elizabeth. It was mentioned that there are many photographs on Google of King Charles and his family driving British vehicles during public and personal moments throughout the years.

Reports

Membership — The BCCSWF has 89 memberships, comprising 171 individuals. This report was followed by a discussion about recruiting new members and pursuing lapsed members.

Treasurer — The balance in the club treasury was reported, along with pending items.

Recent past events

August 25 — Lunch at Bahama Breeze, a Caribbean restaurant in Fort Myers, Fla. Thirty members attended.

September 10 — Pool party and paella lunch at the Mack/Pierce residence. Eighteen members attended.

Upcoming club events

October 11 — Monthly member meeting.

October 19 — Brambles Tea Room, Naples.

October 26 — Brit-toberfest, Sanibel Causeway.

November 8 — Monthly member meeting.

November 12 — Naples Botanical Garden Tour and Lunch, Naples.

November 16 — “Welcome Back Snowbirds” Party, Lighthouse Bay at Brooks Clubhouse, Bonita Springs.

November 20 — British Car Invasion, Naples.

December 13 — Monthly member meeting.

December 17 — Holiday Party, Orr residence, Cape Coral.

January 10, 2023 — Monthly member meeting.

January 15 — Invitational International Classic, Exotic & Sports Car Show, Peace River Botanical Gardens, Punta Gorda.

January 27 — Everglades hockey game, Estero.

Other matters

A possible cruise and a U.K. tour were discussed, then the meeting adjourned.

October 11 — Membership meeting. Dinner 5:30 p.m., business part 6:30 p.m., Famous Dave’s BBQ Restaurant, 12148 S. Cleveland Ave., Fort Myers, Fla.

October 19 — High tea social, 2 p.m., Brambles Tea Room, 340 5th Ave. S. #102, Naples, Fla., (239) 262-7894. RSVP to Mark Shlien, BCCSWF@outlook.com or (202) 415-1599.

October 26 — “Brit-toberfest,” 10 a.m., Sanibel Causeway Islands Park, Island #2 (toll charge $6). BCCSWF club members’ picnic on the beach, with hot dogs, bratwurst, etc. RSVP to Tom Shaw, tomasshaw679@gmail.com or (201) 486-3506.

One of the greatest benefits of being retired is the pleasure of not being awakened by an alarm clock in the morning and the possibility to sleep as long as you want. On this Tuesday morning, however, blaring Beethoven music from my alarm clock ejected me from dreamland (filled with classic British cars driving along curvy roads through sun-filled but moderate temperature pastures, naturally). I had to get ready to leave at 8 a.m., which is also known as the middle of the night for the people who never get to bed before midnight.

Instead of driving the Lagonda, I opted for the nearly classic BMW (10 years old), because I had to cover multiple destinations as far as Naples in limited time. Instead of driving on curvy roads, it was the endless asphalt beauty of I-75 from Harbour Heights to the Fort Myers Alico Road exit for me.

With the help of Mark Shlien’s description, it wasn’t too difficult to find Haney’s Café. When I parked the car I saw other club members entering the restaurant. Being five minutes early, I wasn’t the first at the scene. Obviously many BCCSWF members got up much easier than me and were already at the tables.

Nearly everybody who signed up came: Chris and John Baum, Sandy and Peter Blackford, Antje and Ray Boulay (from the Mercedes Club), Charlie Cox and Mary Young, new members Marguerite and Tim Donnery, Susan and Bob Engelhart, new member Randy Fogel, Jay Huffaker, Isabel Mack and Kirk Pierce, Gerry and Ed McMahon, David Ross, Michelle and Steve St. Angelo, Tom Shaw, Chuck Swanson and Dan Tiedge. Including myself, we were 25 participants in this club event.

Dan came in, pointing out that it was going to rain and triggered Kirk to run out and put the top up on his MG Midget.

The British cars in the parking lot showed a cross section of our club with Charlie’s Aston Martin, Randy’s Bentley, David’s Jaguar, and Kirk’s MG, accented by a Porsche, Maserati, Lexus and other nice “daily drivers.”

The food was good and the service fast and efficient. I tried the Egg Crêpes with Bacon and Avocado and it was very good.

The lively discussions at the tables centered around cars (who would have guessed) and other subjects. After the breakfast and with the rain gone, several people continued their conversations in the parking lot, looking at the cars and attracting further interested people passing by.

It is great to spend time with fellow car club members. Okay, it was early — but it was worth every minute of missed sleep.

[As both the President and Secretary were out of town, Mark Shlien ran the monthly meeting. —Contrib. Ed.]

The BCCSWF held its club meeting on Tuesday, August 9th, at Famous Dave’s BBQ.

We had 22 attendees (including Larry and Tom, current Board members).

Three new members were in attendance, including Randy Fogul, and Tony and his wife Beverly.

The 50/50 raffle was held.

Birthdays for the month of August were covered.

According to Larry, we now have 88 member accounts — and growing!

We discussed the breakfast at Haney’s Café (positive feedback) and our upcoming event at Bahama Breeze. As it relates to this event, we have roughly 21 RSVPs and Mark will be resending the invitation this weekend.

The Pool Party on September 10th was also covered, including that guests are requested to BYOB and a side or a dessert.

The Treasurer’s Report was provided by Larry.

One thing I did want to mention: the room was not set up for the meeting. That said, the service was pretty quick.

NAPLES, Fla. — On June 25th, a group of 13 BCCSWF members and one guest met for lunch at Spanky’s Speakeasy Restaurant. It was great to meet members from Naples that we don’t see much at our meetings in Fort Myers. We decided to place more events in the southern part of Southwest Florida.

From Spanky’s we moved on to a short visit of Naples Motorsport, where we looked at McLarens, Cobra replicas and a $180,000 Mini from David Brown. We stood around this very special “classic” Mini, but nobody from our group put a deposit down.

Then we made our way over to the Revs Institute, where our guide was waiting to take us through the museum and point out the specialties of the many interesting and beautiful cars. The guide took our group picture.

The glass eagle head is not our new club logo, but we all agreed that it was the most beautiful radiator cap/hood ornament in the museum.

Our thanks go to Dan Tiedge, who responded to last month’s greetings and organized our trip to Naples by arranging everything with the Revs Institute, as well as reserving the tables at Spanky’s.

Newly rejoined member Peter Blackwood invited us to his garage, only a mile away from the Revs, to offer cold drinks and a look at his interesting collection of three Lotus, a Nash and a Mercedes-Benz.

This was a Saturday well spent on a car theme.

The meeting was called to order at 6:30 by President Hermann Schaller. It was reported that of July 10th, there were 81 paid membership accounts with 154 voting members.

Past events

June 25 — REVS Institute in Naples.

Upcoming events (as of the meeting date)

Hermann Schaller presented a first edition of the activities plan for the 2022/2023 season. Activities include:

July 26 — Breakfast Social, 9 a.m., Haney’s Café, 18011 S. Tamiami Trail, Fort Myers.

August 9 — Membership meeting. Dinner at 5:30 p.m., business part at 6:30 p.m.

August 24 — Brunch, 11:30 a.m., Bahama Breeze, 14701 S. Tamiami Trail, Fort Myers.

September TBD — Pool Party.

September 13 — Membership meeting. Dinner at 5:30 p.m., business part at 6:30 p.m.

October 11 — Membership meeting. Dinner at 5:30 p.m., business part at 6:30 p.m.

October 19 — High Tea, 2 p.m., Brambles Tea Room, 340 5th Ave. S., #102, Naples.

October 26 — Brit-toberfest, 10 a.m. Sanibel Causeway Islands Park, Island #2.

November 8 — Membership meeting. Dinner at 5:30 p.m., business part at 6:30 p.m.

November 12 — Naples Botanical Garden Tour, 10 a.m., 4820 Bayshore Dr., Naples.

November 16 — Welcome Back Party, 5 p.m., Lighthouse Bay at Brooks Club House, 23740 Olde Lighthouse Road, Bonita Springs.

November 20 — British Car Invasion, Mercato Cars & Coffee, 9 to 11 a.m., Mercato Shopping & Dining Complex. 9132 Strada Pl., Ste. 11103, Naples.

December 13 — Membership meeting. Dinner at 5:30 p.m., business part at 6:30 p.m.

December 17 — Christmas Holiday Party, 6 p.m. (to be confirmed), Jim and Kim Orr’s, 5813 SW 1st Ave., Cape Coral.

January 10 — Membership meeting. Dinner at 5:30 p.m., business part at 6:30 p.m.

January 15 — Car & Art Invitational International Classic, Exotic & Sports Car Show, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Peace River Botanical & Sculpture Gardens, 5800 Riverside Dr., Punta Gorda.

January 27 — Everblades hockey game, 7 p.m., Estero Hertz Arena.

February 4 — Cars on Fifth, Naples.

February 14 — Membership meeting. Dinner at 5:30 p.m., business part at 6:30 p.m.

February 18 — Ferry to Useppa Island for lunch and tour, 9:30 a.m.

February 26 — Jeri Schaller’s Chili Cook-off, 2 p.m., 3572 Peace River Dr., Punta Gorda, Harbour Heights.

March 5 — B.I.G. European Car Show, 10 a.m., Rotary Park, Cape Coral.

March 14 — Membership meeting. Dinner at 5:30 p.m., business part at 6:30 p.m.

April 8 — Captain’s Table Restaurant Dinner, 6 p.m., Punta Gorda, Fisherman’s Wharf.

April 11 — Membership meeting. Dinner at 5:30 p.m., business part at 6:30 p.m.

For sale

1953 MG TD — $25,000, contact Bob Engelhard.

1954 Lagonda DB 3-Litre Drophead Coupe — Contact Hermann Schaller.

1977 MGB — Good driver at $3,400 by Treasurer Larry.

1995 Jaguar XJS V12 — $12,500, contact Bill Longley, (404) 307-2076.