The 2015 (32nd annual) Christmas Party

Time now to mark your calendars with a big circle on the evening of December 5th for the thirtieth-second annual OVLR Christmas Party. Unlike last year, the event will be at Peter Gaby's home in centretown.

There will be an assortment of the usual Christmas games set up. as with every year a variety of Land Rover games such as; the feelie meelie to test your knowledge of Land Rover Parts and the Seelie Meelie. The feelie meelie, not sure what it is? (which in the past has included up to four different versions - easy, medium, hard, Ladies) is a game where a number of unknown parts are placed in a box. You put your hand in and try to identify what these parts might be. To help ensure that you don't see the part by mistake, a plastic garbage bag is placed over the opening of the box for you to feel the parts through.

The Easy level includes such objects as wheel nuts, wiper blades etc.
The Medium level such things as a transmission brake shoe, engine mount, gearshift grommet etc.
The Expert level such things as a frame shackle bush, hub seal collar, fill/check plug from the front diff.
The Extreme such items as hood spare tire holder (series I), handbrake release (late IIA), horn button bracket (Series II) [Note: in the extreme you have to identify the Series too...].
The Seelie Meelie is an assortment of parts you can see, touch, manipulate etc. These items are even more obscure.
Last year there was an additional category, parts that don't belong. Several parts from one vintage, with one from another vintage to correctly identify. How many levels this year will see is yet to be determined.

Hopefully the Club Marshal will have prepared another one of his Ladies Challenge Crossword puzzles, which grow all the trickier for those cheating husbands who are generally disconnected from their feminine side.

Awards

And, there are the Awards. The club has a number of traditional and non-traditional awards that are given out every year. Decided upon by a secret cabal of erudite members, this is your opportunity to rat out a trusted friend as we all know that he, or she, has already ratted you out. No, mutual trust doesn't work. Remember the prisoner's dilemma. Co-operating and revealing all is the optimal course of action, just as Clifford and Sedgewich have conspired to rat out our esteemed president.

The Lugnut: Ahhh, our oldest, and most famous award. A feared trophy made of the finest butternut. A small award with a famed list of admirers. The recipient's list reads like a who's who of Land Rover ownership. It recognizes spectacular, and often fudged, stories of prowess in anything Land Rover. With an uncanny ability to seek out the guilty, and if it can't find them locally, go on walkabout throughout the United States and Europe looking for potential vic^H^H^H candidates while it spreads its Nigel-like woe internationally. Such activities on the part of this award are generally necessary as its potential recipients are usually scrambling over each other to avoid its baleful glance.

Because of the prestige associated with this award, members are noticeably shy about coming forward and claiming the award, preferring to defer the honour to someone worthier. On the other hand, many are afraid to nominate someone else in fear that they might get ratted out themselves. Well, don't fear. We have several nominations thus far, so the chances are that your good buddy over there has already turned you in. So, this is your chance! Turn him in before your name appears on this lovely work of art!

Send nominations to: Bruce Ricker

An indicator of the type of recipient we are looking for. In a previous year, this prestigious award was bestowed upon Dave Lowe (as turned in by Tom Tollefson (note betrayal, a good thing)) for a multitude of sins, that range from rear ramming innocent 88's, to crossaxling the mighty 101 in the middle of a city park, to undertaking more engine rebuilds than even Dixon manages, as well as other assorted crimes to numerous to list.

The Silver Swivel Ball: An award to the club member who has done the most on a volunteer basis to help the club. Bestowed upon the unrecognized, past recipients have included Charlie Haigh and Spencer Norcross for their behind the scenes support of the clubs activities.

Gasket Under Glass: A perennial favourite, and one of the most attractive awards in the club's collection. In Ted Rose's words "the most spectacular head gasket failure that I have ever seen", Gasket Under Glass is a lovely 2.25l copper head gasket in an antique gold leaf frame upon the finest felt background. Using the adage "we can't believe it ran" the award honours mechanical wonderment. The recipient's list reads like those who you would never believe would win it (see above on ratting out your best buddy. He already has turned you in!)

The Towball: A simple award based upon who has towed Land Rovers the most, and the furthest in the past year. Extra points awarded if the vehicle did not need towing. Bestowed upon the person who tows perfectly functional Land Rovers around for fun (Quintin, Christian, Brett towing Dave (pops, that would be dysfunctional in this case), or for all the wrong reasons (Zippy Tow and their new airmobile service), forgotten where their Land Rover is (Peter Gaby) or for other various reasons.

The Golden Wench: bestowed upon the fairest member of the long suffering female persuasion who must put up with the fascinating antics of her spouse. Generally nominated by husbands trying to deflect attention, it also serves as encouragement for wives to turn in their naughty husbands.

The Grey Poupon: An award for the most salubrious vehicle at an off-road event.

Then, there are the random awards created on an annual basis to honour individual achievement. These are carefully crafted by an old-world antique restoration craftsman from the finest mangled parts, generally your own that have made their way into the hands of the secret cabal.

Event details:

Where: Maps and directions to follow (google maps)

When: Social is at six PM, dinner will be about 6:30 PM
Cost: TBD. Dinner will be a pot luck.

How to register:

Send your e-mail confirmation to Dave Pell Please include the number of adults and children that will be in attendance