any thanks are due to Bryan and Kathy Broadhead for providing the location and delicious food for the club’s January meeting. At this annual planning meeting we set about the enjoyable task of deciding just where we would go and what we would do this year. The result is a busy schedule of drives, meetings, and shows, but there are a couple of new events on the club’s agenda. Get the details inside this issue.

Plan Early for Conclave

June may seem a long way away, but it’s just around the corner…especially if you have to get that restoration finished or book a hotel room or plan your vacation from work!

Don’t let June sneak up on you. Check out the November 1998 issue of Chatter to see the great events that are being planned in St. Louis. If you have Internet access, the Conclave web page can be found at http://www.healeyconlave99.org. The registration chairman is Ron Varley at 847-546-0141, or e-mail ronvarley@aol.com.

This year hotel rooms will be reserved directly with the host hotel, the Sheraton West Port Inn in St. Louis, rather than in conjunction with Conclave registration. Get your reservation in early!

Doug’s Drivel

What a great meeting we had at Bryan and Kathy Broadhead’s house last Saturday! Though some of our stalwart regulars were missing (It was their loss!), we had a real good turnout of about fifteen members who all seemed to enjoy the three kinds of soup the gracious hosts had prepared for us and the succulent dessert afterward. The meeting was almost anticlimactic.

But we did have many things to discuss, most of which I’m sure Amy will mention elsewhere in this newsletter. We scheduled most of the club events for ’99, but left some spaces open in case you wish to lead a drive or sponsor an event – just let myself or Amy know.

One of the things I’m most excited about is the "Pub Night" we’re going to have on the second Monday of each month starting about 7:00 p.m. We’ll get together in a very informal setting at Sullivan’s Restaurant on Northshore Drive and discuss Healeys or anything else we wish to. Our sincere thanks to Leonard McKeehan for setting it up.

And Gary and Paulette Lownsdale presented a good delegate’s report from National along with a beautiful plaque to our club for winning a share of first place in the Healey Promotional Challenge. Our thanks and congratulations to all members who worked on this.

The Lownsdales also brought with them a clear plastic model Healey 3000 filled with M&Ms. We had to guess how many it contained. Bill Denton was the only one who came up with the correct number. Guess what it was — Do you give up yet? Gary also had for us an Austin-Healey trivia quiz which will probably be included in a later Smoke Signals!

Guess I’ll see some of you at Sullivan’s on February 8^th. Meanwhile…

Happy Healeying,

Doug

Smoke Editions

January 1, 1999: We rang in the final year of the twentieth century.

January 5, 1999: John Ward broadcast his final Volunteer football game.

January 16, 1999: Bryan Broadhead handed Amy Turner a stack of newsletter materials.

These events all marked the end of an era. In every case I was sad to see it end. Bryan has left me with a high standard to live up to, but I’m hoping I’ll be able to continue in his footsteps and keep you all up to date on the happenings in our club. Those happenings are getting better and bigger and more exciting all the time, so I’ll certainly have my hands full.

Now, with hands full and feet in footsteps, I also have a head swimming with ideas. (Too many metaphors? Do you guys want Bryan back already?) One feature I hope to add to each issue is a calendar each month adorned with a picture of a member’s car. I’ve often oohed and ahhed over photo albums that people brought to drives and lunches, and I want to be sure everyone gets the same opportunity to admire your machines. Send me your tired, your shiny, your leaking masses, and I’ll put them on a calendar that will be magneted to refrigerators across east Tennessee. I have a scanner and a digital camera, so if you see me stealing pictures from your photo album or snapping pictures of your pride and joy, you’ll know what I’m up to. If you have a favorite photo, please send it to me at 126 S. Jackson Street, Athens, TN 37303 or e-mail me at ltturner@usit.net. I’ll be glad to scan your picture and get the original back to you.

The next time you see Bryan Broadhead be sure to thank him for the hard work he’s put in on the Smoke Signal. He’s the reason we’ve all managed to get to the same place at the same time, found out about British car events in our area, and heard about the happenings in our club.

Feet following, head swimming, hands full… you’ll be sure to recognize me if you pass me on the street.

Happy Healeying!

Amy

April Rugby Event

The April driving event marks another first for the SMAHC: an overnight stay. David Campbell has organized a wonderful outing for our club on April 24^th and 25^th. If you’ve been on any of the previous drives to Rugby you know what a beautiful Victorian English village it is, but you may not have had enough time to really get acquainted with the area and the hospitality of its people. One of David’s favorite getaways is also where Paul and I chose to spend our honeymoon, the Grey Gables Bed and Breakfast in Rugby. Combine the charm of the bed and breakfast with a drive around the Cumberland Plateau, the company of fellow Healey enthusiasts, the sumptuous repasts, and the sheer joy of driving a Healey, and you’re in for a glorious weekend.

David has arranged for us to have the Grey Gables to ourselves if we can get eight registrants. The prices are as follows:

• Lunch on Saturday the 24^th, $8.00
• Drive over the plateau roads Saturday afternoon, FREE!
• Bed and breakfast with dinner on the evening of the 24^th and breakfast on the morning of the 25^th, $125.00 per couple, $80.00 single.

As you can see, the prices are great, the scenery will be gorgeous, and the company can’t be beat. Call innkeeper Linda Brooks before March 31 at 423-628-5252 to make your reservations. I’m looking forward to this one!

Pub Night

At the January planning meeting, Leonard McKeehan coined an apt phrase when he suggested our club needs a "continuity of congeniality." And so Pub Night was born.

The second Monday of each month at about 7:00 p.m., we’ll have an informal gathering at Sullivan’s restaurant on Northshore Drive in Knoxville. Sullivan’s offers steaks, chicken, pasta, sandwiches, and salads. We’re checking to see if they’ll provide us with special parking for our cars, too.

Big Events in ’99!

If you missed the January planning meeting, you missed the excitement. The Smoky Mountain Austin-Healey Club is movin’ and shakin’ in ’99. In addition to drives and quarterly meetings, we’re planning our first competitive driving event ever.

Here’s the lowdown on local and regional events:

8. Pub Night at Sullivan’s

28. National Committee Meeting and finalization of national calendar

8. Pub night at Sullivan’s

13. Tech. Session: Spring tune-up. Brakes, carbs, choke, and overall Healey wellness.

CLUB OFFICERS: "SPARKPLUGS"

President

Doug Smith

Rt. 3, Box 535C

Rutledge, TN 37861

423-828-3922

Vice-President

Bryan Broadhead

215 Sugarwood Drive

Farragut, TN 37922

423-966-7098

Paul/Amy Turner

126 S. Jackson Street

Athens, TN 37303

423-745-0309

Treasurer/membership

Rick Hayes

9024 Tall Timber Drive

Knoxville, TN 37931

423-531-7174

Tech Chairman

Bob Ricker

9108 Montague Lane

Knoxville, TN 37923

423-694-6086

External Events

Bill Denton

807 W. First St., No.

Morristown, TN 37814

423-587-1982

Club Historian

Richard Miller

9705 Bob Gray Road

Knoxville, TN 37923

423-694-4435

AHCA Delegate

Gary Lownsdale

417 Shawnee Place

Loudon, TN 37774-3164

423-458-0993

Planning Meeting Minutes

On top of the plans we made for drives, shows, and events, a few other notes came from the January meeting.

• Dues, dues, dues! Don’t forget that dues must be received by February 15 if you want to appear in and receive the national directory. Contact Rick Hayes if you haven’t yet paid.
• The SMAHC received the small club award in the Healey Promotional Challenge. The award committee was especially impressed with the news coverage we arranged. Since we don’t have a club trophy case, the lovely trophy will make the rounds among members who were involved. We owe special thanks to Leonard McKeehan for his popular posters and to Paul Robinson who coordinated our efforts so well. Congratulations to the whole club!

• Planning for the Sevierville show will take place at the next quarterly meeting in April.
• Leonard’s Healey posters are a hot item! The price has been reduced to $25 each. Sales have reached about $1000. The article in Chatter generated about $325 in sales. Plans are afoot to advertise the posters in Smoke Signals and in Healey Marque.
• Paulette Lownsdale and Leonard McKeehan will work together to create a club patch and polo shirt.
• Gary Lownsdale presented a synopsis of the Delegates Meeting. Major news: Dues were increased by $5.00, some realignment of national officers took place, the national magazine was renamed Healey Marque, and Gary is taking over advertising duties for Healey Marque.