EDITORIAL

There was a rather large “whoops” amongst the jokes printed in September’s issue.  I am not blessed with a Crystal Ball and I apologise if anyone thought it was in bad taste in light of the tragic events in New York, which happened just before that edition hit your mats.
Now, I feel a small whinge coming on! You lot out there have got away lightly with this Editor on that front.  Other Editors weren’t so kind about reminding you to support your club, doing your bit etc.  Well here comes a big nagging and as I am a woman (yes it is true!) I am entitled to nag (although I am not the only one this month to touch on this subject!) Where were all our marshals on September 2nd?  Chris Scudder did not get one phone call from members volunteering to help at the Spotted Dick Stages. 23 club members out of approximately 250+ made it to the event, which meant hard graft for a small number of people who set up and cleared away. Our club was outnumbered by members of other motor clubs whose people turned up to help. We had a lower entry than usual too, the committee thought that this was probably because there were a number of events bunched together and competitors were either repairing damage from previous weekend’s excursions or having to choose between events and remaining solvent!  Despite these small setbacks, the event was a success and various members of the committee have received nice emails/letters/phone calls of the “thanks for a good event once more” type.
Next up is The Rally of Kent, a BIG event with a potentially huge future for the three clubs involved!    There is a website for this event and I had a look whilst surfing and it’s worth a noz.  It gives information on the history of the Rally , the championships involved, the organisation and clubs behind it and spectator information.
Looking forward to the last speed event for the club this year, our North Weald Sprint on October 21st.  Now I know that these events have come all at once (rather like buses) but we need to see you there once more for Marshalling duties.  Read “Compost” for more details!  I know North Weald in October is never very appealing but let’s make the effort people!
On a lighter note, September’s Social was a very interesting evening and thanks go to Chris Judge and Alan Pearson for leading a very interesting discussion forum on Autotests and other forms of grass roots motorsport, which took place after the 2001 Autotest Series awards were presented to their worthy winners.
Quite a few points were discussed including how to promote 7Oaks Motorclub to the youngsters (Sam Collins has touched on this subject in the past) and encourage them to tryout their driving prowess in a controlled environment (relatively) and hopefully teach them a bit about car control at Autotests and PCTs.  Women in Motorsport, where are they and what puts them off competing!  Even the MSA have been trying to puzzle this one out (don’t hold out much hope of a solution there though!).  I know cars aren’t every lady’s cup of tea and most reach for the AA’s phone number when they need a tyre changing! (Not me, I changed my own outside my children’s school a while back, with a truck load of Fire Fighters shouting encouragement as they drove past!).  I also know that when you have small children time and money gets channelled into them (ask Ralph about the cost!) and it is not always practical to find overnight babysitters when we want to double enter events or even when I marshal while Ralph drives.  Lady members and wives/girlfriends out there let us have your views.  Another interesting question was about the possibility of the club running a PCT again.  Venues are a bit scarce, though and again email one of the committee with any suggestions.
It may seem a bit previous to some, but this month sees the publication of the Dinner and Dance Information and Booking Form.  If you don’t want to cut up your precious Acorn, you can down load a form off our website. As the 2001 D&D was very well supported at Leeds Castle, you’d better get your requests in for tickets soon!  Colin Rodger awaits your requests!
Ralph and I will be out on the Scatter on the 10th and by the time you read this, may have got divorced on our Wedding Anniversary.  For some reason we always did better on 12Cars than Scatters and we haven’t been on either for a while but we are willing to give it another go.  They are still great fun whatever!
How about turning out for the next Scatter on the 31st October in fancy dress (it being Halloween and all)!  What a photo opportunity for the Acorn! Go on I dare you !

Till next time!

Dawn

The Acorn : October Edition