Untitled Document
To: All VSCCA Members,
January 2003
John J. Schieffelin Jr. President, - jschieff@comcast.net
Our newly elected Officers and Directors are in place after a somewhat
tumultuous year for our Club. I would like to start by thanking those who
have served on the Board, particularly the gentleman whose office I have
inherited, Gil Steward. Gil has been first and foremost a good and loyal
friend. A man of few, though well chosen words, he has perhaps done more
behind the scenes to keep the VSCCA on track and healthy and true to its
purpose than most of us will ever realize. I am delighted that he has been
voted into a Director's position so that the Club will continue to benefit
from his wisdom and counsel.
As most of you know, the Vintage Bentley is my favorite old sporting car.
That passion commenced many years ago when I read S.C.H. Davis' account of
the gallant 3-liter that survived a horrendous crash and went on to win the
1927 Le Mans 24 hour race. The 3-liter Bentley - an exciting car then and
now - strong, beautiful, dependable. A car of integrity, mirroring its
creator, W. O. Bentley.
Integrity - An old fashioned virtue - In these days of corporate scandal, a
virtue that has seemed to be honored more in the breach than the observance.
In the years I have been privileged to serve on the VSCCA Board of
Directors, I have been impressed with the number of Officers and Directors
and Club members who embody this old fashioned virtue. It is unfortunate
that part of the dialogue that has been going on for the past year included
calling into question the integrity of our election process and of some of
our Board members to such a degree that for the first time in our Club's
history, the VSCCA had an outside auditor count the ballots cast in our
recent election. Ladies and gentlemen, this portion of the discussion was
most distressing to me and I would posit that this is not what any of us
want our Club to be about.
The VSCCA occupies a special niche in the current spectrum of motorsports.
We keep alive the memory of a period of history where sporting cars of
infinite variety and character were built and driven by people of similarly
great character. The part of that history we do not want to recreate is the
casualty list. As we enter the Club's 45th season, we have been eminently
successful in keeping alive both the history and the custodians of that
history.
We look forward to the marvelous list of 2003 events to be administered by
our new Activities Chairman, Bob Klingenburg, providing us with an
extraordinary variety of opportunities to enjoy having fun with our old cars
in the company of like-minded friends and acquaintances.
As we begin the new season, I hope we can focus on maintaining the integrity
of purpose as stated in the VSCCA by-laws in terms of how we approach the
preparation of our cars. But more important, acknowledging that none of us
is perfect, I trust that we can work on restoring our faith in the integrity
of others. The key to this will be open and honest communication.
Happy Vintage Motoring - John Schieffelin, President VSCCA
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