The Pikes Peak Section set a record on Sunday, 29 Jan at our Annual Pot Luck Dinner. We had 76 attendees and accompanying dishes – an awesome turnout. We saw old friends and welcomed new ones in a convivial setting generously provided by Mercedes-Benz of Colorado Springs. The dealership also provided Mercedes logo golf shoe bags, hats, golf towels, and golf balls for our yearly auction.
On Saturday, 21 Jan, 8 cars and passengers made the short trip to the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame. This is a unique venue – the only heritage center in the world devoted to professional rodeo. We viewed exhibits covering the history of rodeo and roamed the heritage Hall containing both historic and modern cowboy gear and clothing. The largest gallery in the Hall of Champions features contestants from each rodeo event.
Our top Down Holiday Lights Drive was once again a resounding success. Andrea Hansen and Cheryl Kerbs (with the assistance of Tom Croak) put together a great evening of entertainment for the Pikes Peak Section. This was the 3rd year in a row and we agree that this event is well on its way to becoming one of our best loved traditions. We don’t know how they did it but once again the weather was extremely cooperative - cold but clear. Great for driving with the top down and ear muffs on.
The 2011 Pikes Peak Section Holiday Party was another rousing success. Sixty-eight members donned their holiday sparkles and tuxes and gathered at the venerable El Paso Club in downtown Colorado Springs. Doug Veitch and his wife Barb, graciously hosted our group at this prestigious, private facility. We were very pleased to welcome our MBCA National President Steve Dierks; Tom James, the MBCA legal representative; Doug Truitt, MBCA Executive Director; and Pete Watson, past MBCA National President.
On Saturday, 19 Nov, 18 members of the Pikes Peak Section gathered for a tour of the historic Forney Museum of Transportation in Denver. Christof Kheim, the Museum Director, took us on a spectacular journey across transportation history. Among the museum’s 500 exhibits is Amelia Earhart’s banana yellow Gold Bug Kissel with outside seating for 2. The most popular exhibit, from our perspective, however, was the classic Mercedes-Benz display.
In September, we enjoyed an eclectic fun run, courtesy of Gary Gagnon. After breakfast at the Golden Corral, we received maps and instructions on how to get to the American Numismatic Museum, aka the Money Museum. This is a world class facility that houses the $40 million coin collection of Texas oilman Harry W. Bass. After our museum tour, we hopped in our cars for a leisurely drive down scenic Highway 115 to the Happy Apple Farm in Penrose. The owners were delighted to see us and reserved special parking spots just for our Mercedes. The farm is in a beautiful location, just off the highway, but completely bucolic in nature.
Dan and Cheryl Kerbs scored another hit with the Pikes Peak Section Drive-In Movie Night on Sunday, Sep 4. This year the theme was, most appropriately, “Cars.” We started out from the Pikes Peak International Raceway where we watched race cars make the ear-splitting circuit around the track. Cheryl and Dan launched us on our route and we cruised along back roads to the town of Fountain, discovering clues and trivia about our movie on our way to the ‘Drive-In’.
The Pikes Peak and Mile High Sections converged on Sunday, 17 July for our annual Joint Section Picnic. This year the Pikes Peak Section hosted and we held the picnic at the beautiful Farish Recreation Area north of Woodland Park. Since temperatures in Denver and Colorado Springs promised to spike into the high 90s, it was a serendipitous choice. Our picnic pavilion provided shelter from the sun and a refreshing breeze continued all afternoon. It was a great location to visit with old friends and make new ones.
It was a beautiful day for a drive on Sunday, June 26 so the Pikes Peak Section headed for the hills - Mt Evans to be exact. It was a completely impromptu event with no RSVPs or planned-in-advance stops. Just 12 drivers with SLs, SLKs and even MLs who showed up in Woodland Park to begin a fabulous day of mountain driving. We divided ourselves into tortoises and hares. The crazy hares took off and blew out the carbon, hitting speeds of 90 mph. The tortoises, those sensible creatures, followed the speed limit and enjoyed the scenery.
For those of you who were unable to participate in the tour of Invesco Field, home of the Denver Broncos, you missed an opportunity to see and hear all about our beloved Broncos and their facility. Thirtythree of us had a great time and we took the opportunity to visit areas that are not normally open to the public when attending home games.
Thanks to everyone who participated, and to the Broadmoor and El Pomar Carriage Museum staffs who helped make it possible. The weather was superb, and we had a great turnout with 16 cars and 31 people. We started with a group car photo at the west entrance…bringing the term "herding cats" to mind as we jockeyed the cars around, trying to get them all into the picture.
Six of the new members who joined the Pikes Peak Section in 2010 were able to join us for a welcome dinner at Mimi's Cafe. The cozy private dining room was the perfect place to welcome Patrick Boyle and wife Sandy, Steve Herzog, Ron McLean, Bill Russell, Michael Stiehl and wife Penny, and Don and Mary Anne Tebedo.