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2021 |
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| 2021 Officers... | 2021 Marque Leaders... |
| President: Terry Roberts | Austin Healey: Jim Hofer |
| Vice President: Jeb Blanchard | Empire: Tom Wilson |
| Secretary: Jim Duke | Jaguar: Dave White |
| Treasurer: Jerry Farrar | MG: Paul Burdette |
| Triumph: Jon Brody | |
| Lotus: Chris Irving | |
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Car Show Chairman: Jim Hofer |
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Newsletter Editor: Jim Duke |
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Communications Assistant: Janey Reynolds |
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Webmaster/Historian: Joe Reed |
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| 2021 Newsletters | |
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January Mid-January February Mid-February March Ides of March April May June July August September |
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| August 14, 2021 - Blues Highway | |
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By Carolyn Shepard. 8/15/2021
Driving event to the Delta Blues town
Clarksdale Mississippi
As usual the British Sports Car Club did not disappoint with their Saturday driving event that started on Hwy 61 and ended at the Cross Roads of route 49 and 61 in Clarksdale Mississippi with lunch at Morgan Freeman’s restaurant, Ground Zero Blues Club, followed by a tour of the Delta Blues museum across the street.
With sunny skies, billowy clouds and
the local Blues channel blaring on the radio, 10 mostly late model
Jaguars trekked south down Hwy 61 past a few casinos, multiple
Dollar General stores that vowed to have their yellow logo every 15
miles apart, many stainless grain silos with green cotton fields and
dried corn stalks flanking the road side.
Free of the predicted rain and the help
of my Southern born club members, the reason why the Snow White
anticipated cotton fields were not in view was explained. And that
would be…the growing season and harvesting of cotton occurs in
November after the green leaves are defoliated and just before the
cotton gins begins their harvesting choirs.
The hour and one half drive was
interrupted by the first stop at the “Shack Up Inn” motel near
Clarksdale. Anyone wanting to experience a night in an old cotton
picking shack must spend a night in a completely renovated edifice
that now includes AC and a flushing commode for about $90 per night.
Anchoring these hotel shacks is a juke
joint with a lodging registration desk and live blues stage with
tchotchke artifacts from old southern living. The proprietor was
happy to give us a tour of one of the accommodations that included a
bar, old piano and the story of the previous inhabitant who fathered
7 kids without indoor plumbing and only 3 rooms.
The next drive-by was the cross roads
sign where Hwy 61 and 49 converge. The greatest blues singer was
Robert Johnson according to Dave White, our fearless event leader
and Blues connoisseur. Dave even followed the Delta Blues in LA
where he lived for 27 years. He told the story of Johnson and his
death that occurred at the Crossroads after selling his soul to the
devil.
The Blues and the Blues singer had
really special powers over women, especially. It is said that the
Blues singer, Johnson, could possess women and have any woman he
wanted. And so when Robert Johnson came back to Mississippi, having
left his community as an apparently mediocre musician, with a clear
genius in his guitar style and lyrics, people said he must have
“sold his soul to the devil.” And that fits in with this old African
association with the Crossroads where you find wisdom: you go down
to the crossroads to learn, and in his case to learn in a Faustian
pact, with the devil. You sell your soul to become the greatest
musician in history. Legend has the devil as the poisonous murderer.
But according to Dave White’s account,
Johnson was poisoned by a husband of one of his ladies verses the
devil as legend states. Dave said he watched one of the blues
players who was with Johnson the night he was poisoned strum in LA.
Dave’s version is better then Wikipedia that states Johnson died of
syphilis.
Onward to Clarksdale, a sleepy Blues
town on the Blues Hwy that stretches from Minnesota to Louisiana.
Morgan Freeman opened up the Ground Zero Blues Club where Blues
bands play for donations. Tourists and Blues enthusiasts stop for a
hamburger or listen to delta blues while playing pool at the club.
The entrance porch has old dilapidated sofas and metal yard
furniture for those who must wait in line. A huge bbq smoker lures
people in with the Smokey smell of roasting pork. The hamburger did
not disappoint.
Rounding the day was a tour of the
Delta Museum just across the way. Dave did not disappoint either. He
was the best docent as we walked past a Muddy Waters display, a
1930’s car set up with speakers in the trunk and old instruments
wired together.
A big thank you to Dave and his unique
trip to Clarksdale.
Here are some photos of the event taken by Al Ross and Carolyn Shepard... |
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| July 10, 2021 - BSCC Scavenger Hunt | |
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This event began at Pleasant Hill
Cemetery on Brunswick Road, which was founded in 1853 and was the site of
Brunswick Cumberland Presbyterian Church. The church was used as a Hospital during
the Confederate War. Seventeen unknown confederate soldiers who died there are
buried in a nearby plot along with many of the pioneers of the area. After answering a few riddles at the historic cemetery, BSCC members enjoyed a leisurely 40 mile drive on the most desolate roads Shelby and Tipton county have to offer and had a few more questions to be dealt with. The Rally ended at Chris and Pam Irving’s home in the woods in Bartlett with Pam’s delicious spaghetti and French Bread. Handmade awards were handed out for best answers, worst answers, worst luck and best vehicle. Photos of the event (courtesy of Al Ross) are below... |
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| May 30, 2021 - Indy 500 Fish Fry | |
| Jim Hofer hosted our annual Indy 500 Fish Fry, as he has done for many years. Here are photos of the event courtesy of Carolyn Shepard. | |
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| April 24, 2021 - DeTerra Winery | |
| The skies cleared just in time to provide a beautiful day for this event - a drive to the De Terra Winery near Somerville. Carolyn Shepard provided these photos of the event... | |
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| March 14, 2021 - BSCC Spring Break(out) | |
| Our first driving event of 2021 was a pleasant drive from Greenbelt Park on Mud Island, northward through the Shelby Forest area and on to Munford City Park in Tipton County where we had a small birthday celebration for Dave White. As you can see in the photos, we had an excellent turnout for this event - the first in many months - with a wide variety of classic British sports cars, newer British cars...and a couple of German examples as well. The weather cooperated beautifully with temps in the mid-70s and no rain in sight. | |
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