February - March 2012 www.kcmbca.org In this issue:
President’s Message By Jeff Klepac
Saturday, January 28th Columns Presidents Message 1 turned out to be a splendid evening for the Kansas City Section’s Winter Gala. An Feature Articles annual event, normally held January First-Sunday Drive 2 in venues of fine restaurants Winter Gala 2-9 and country clubs, this year Good Vision in Downpour 4 was different. We chose a American Sign Language fitting location, gathering in the in Ukraine 9 Porsche showroom at Aristocrat Ohio Back Roads Tour 9 Motors. Flanked by the presence of a ’06 MercedesMiscellaneous Benz SLR McLaren, this proved Rants, Raves and to be a great choice! What a Ramblings photo op! Guests first enjoyed a Loyalty Awards Program 4 Logo Shop 3 fun social hour having drinks How to Join MBCA 5 and scrumptious appetizers Section President, Jeff Klepac stands proudly Officers and Board 5 while visiting with old friends, KC followed by a delicious buffet with a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren. This car can Club Store Discount 7 dinner. be yours for about one-half million, give or take a Uplift 7 Photo by Morgan Klepac After our feast, we hundred grand. NTB Discount 7 celebrated the 125th anniversary Tire Rack Rebate 7 of the automobile one last time and guests followed along as I reviewed KC Section Advance Auto Rebate 7 highlights from the past year. Request from NBO 7 We were honored to have Steve and Barbara Dierks with us from Colorado New Members 9 Springs. Steve is the current National President of the Mercedes-Benz Club of America and has selected Kansas City as his second section. Steve gave an informative update Coming Up on current happenings within the Mercedes-Benz Club of America. Throughout the night, door prizes were presented and membership milestones February - June announced, giving honor to those who have been in our section for many years. John St. Patricks Party 3 and Donna Ryan received a First Place trophy for successfully navigating and winning DD/AX April 2012 3 the Smith Rallye last year. Yours truly only wished he would have finished – oh well, StarFest 2012 3 maybe next time?? Spaßnacht Dates 5 Towards the end of the evening, First and Second place winners of the Oktoberfest A Day At The Races 9 Concours ‘d Elegance were announced and each presented with a beautifully engraved Calendar 12 plaque. Bill Denton, our Regional Director, presented the well-deserved ‘Officer of the Year’ award to Dudley Smith and congratulated him for going ‘above and beyond’ in his 20 years of membership with MBCA. Dudley has set a great example for us to follow. MBCA Director at Large, Terry Kiwala (also a KC Second Section member) shared some important thoughts and encouraged the KC Section to continue offering a variety of events for our members. I was pleased to announce Mark Moody as our 2011 ‘Member of the Year’ and Kansas City Section presented him with a nice plaque and service pin as a token of our appreciation for his www.kcmbca.org efforts last year. Mark is currently the Vice-President of the KC Section. At the end of the day, it was a great evening and everyone enjoyed their time together. 2012 plans to be another busy year, filled with fun events, so consider getting together with us. You’ll be glad you did! See A Wonderful Winter Gala! Pg. 2