Reunion site field trip

Imagine a tranquil park in the lush Snoqualmie River valley. Now imagine it filled with Mini enthusiasts and dozens of Minis. That’s what Tim Boyd was imagining when he suggested Tolt-McDonald Park as the site for the SAMOA 40th Anniversary Reunion. A small group of SAMOAns (aka “The 40th Committee”) met at Tim (the committee chairman) and Patti’s house for the April planning session and the highlight by far was the field trip we took to the park. Tim’s son, Eric, took some photos and here they are.

On the banks of the Snoqualmie there are covered and paved picnic facilities under a restored barn from when the land was a dairy farm. Clifford thinks this is a great place for a walk with SAMOA member Noreen Hancock.


A lush grass soccer pitch on which to display the Minis. There will be plenty of parking for non-Minis in the surrounding lots.


An amazing suspension bridge over the Snoqualmie River leads to miles of wooded hiking trails.




There’s a link to more information about the park on the bottom right of this page. We can hardly wait for August 18. Hope you can make it!

A special reunion for a former Mini owner

The SAMOA 40th Reunion promises to be an amazing event. Not only will Mini friends reunite, here is a story of a Mini owner who will reunite with her Mini after nearly 30 years apart. The heart-warming story begins with a notice that appeared in the pages of The SAMOA Newsletter in March, 1978:

STOLEN MINI!! 1968 Austin Cooper S MkII, blue with white top, Wash. Plate – OGR956. Stolen from the Queen Anne area of Seattle in February. Owner, Barbara Graham, a SAMOA member around 1970, bought the car new in 1968 and it was the last Mini sold new in the Seattle area. Registered as a 1967, the car is stock except for a leather steering wheel. Please be on the lookout, including you Mini lovers out of state (we’re afraid it may have been taken out of the area). Anyone noting anything suspicious about a Mini or Cooper S parts for sale contact the Seattle Police Dept. or SAMOA.

Shown here are photos of Barbara's Mini. One photo taken in 1968 when the car was new (Wa. license on front bumper) and the other taken at this years White Elephant Auction party with Al Beebe at the wheel. How on earth did Al end up behind the wheel of Barbara's car? Read on to learn more of this fantastic story.

In response to the recent mailing to former SAMOA members we received the following email:

Hi,
I'd love to come to the SAMOA reunion. How did you find me? Amazing! As Bert Lobberegt knows, my '68 Cooper was stolen and totaled in 1978. Fond memories and a blue and white Mini Matchbox model are what's left of that era. When I first saw the current generation of MINIs, I was dismayed because they are so-o-o beefy....and so computerized---so different in overall feeling. Really only cute relative to a Humvee. Nevertheless I went to Fife and tried out a '06 Cooper S and a Cooper last June. To my amazement I realized that the new Cooper S MINIs are RACE cars! I pursued my 40+ year dream of driving on a grand prix track (never mind that it has holes in it!) and took the day and a half Proformance driving lessons with my '05 Cooper S. I've never experienced adrenaline like that. It took at least 4 hours of driving before I stopped shaking. The car performed well and so did I. I determined that I would go back to the track in the spring with racing wheels and tires and a harness. I've got that gear now and I'm going back to the track for more instruction and lapping sessions. I'll be able to see better how well the car and I can perform. I've always known I was a race car driver without a race car. So I hope that new MINIs are welcome at the party August 18th. I'm looking forward to seeing Bert and Chuck Heleker again. Thanks for finding me here on Whidbey and sending the invitation. - All the best, Barbara Graham (not Severinghaus)

Hi Barbara,
I am Tim Boyd and am chairman of the 40th Anniversary committee. I will be passing your note on to Chuck Heleker and Ed Sauer. While the party is for the members from 1967 through today, and for the original minis, I can tell you that my wife and I will have both of our '06 MINIs there, and I'm sure that a few more will show up too. Look forward to meeting you and seeing your "BINI". - Tim

Barb,
My name is Al Beebe. I've been a member of SAMOA since 1967. I bought your old Mini from Bert and restored it back to original. You will see it at the 40th reunion. - Al Beebe

Dear Al,
Wow! what a surprise! Really a shock!
Thanks for the photo of my first "child". (It was my first car.) I'm pleased she's been in your good hands. I wonder if she'll "recognize" me when we meet again. Just last night I told some new friends about my 1968 Mini and how it was stolen and totaled at the tender age 10. I showed them my photo of it when it was 6 months old. Seeing your photo, I feel like the Lindbergs might have felt if they had found their kidnapped child alive. - BG

An early club rally with a "Gay 90s" theme!

Over the years, SAMOA made several trips to Bert Lobberegt's father's private car museum including celebrating the SAMOA 20th anniversary there. It was more than a car museum with music machines, cuckoo clocks, and much more. On Nov. 1, 1970 the first visit by the club started with a gimmick rally designed by Chuck Heleker and Ellen Dawson. The Gay 90s Rally started at the Sunset Village parking lot in Eastgate with all the cars lined up in a row and the owners, starting a few yards away, rushing to the cars to get the instructions placed on their front seats. Sort of a Mini Le Mans start. That kicked off the rally and the hilarity that eventually guided all the cars to the museum on the Sammamish Plateau above Issaquah.The photo was taken just prior to the start of the rally and very recently Chuck Heleker and Bert Lobberegt had to do some scratchin’ to come up with this caption information:

From left, Marcia (maybe Arnold by then), unknown male, Jerri Everett, Kathy Woodcock (Looks a little like Kathy Dawson - At least we got the first name right), then probably Larry Arnold, then an unknown, balding male in sun glasses (That must be Jerry Everett?), Unknown female in yellow jacket, Mike Howze in SAMOA jacket, in background in SAMOA jacket might be Brian Carlson, owner of the car he's touching, right behind him in green jacket unknown, unknown female in red hidden behind Jim Dawson (Jim is wearing SAMOA jacket and looking left), the brown shirted male is Mike Woodcock, person behind Mike unknown and on the far right is Jeorge Patience. The little girl in the foreground of the photo, standing next to the open Mini door is Gretchen Everett (who we hear is now active in SCCA autocrossing - of course!)

The Mini on the left is Larry Arnold's car although not sure if he was owner at this time. We wonder since he and Marcia are both outside the car....The woody in the center is Brian Carlson's, later sold to Chuck Heleker and now belongs to Barbara Praefke....The blue Mini with white stripes on the right is Jim Dawson’s (formerly Del Gould's) Downton Mini.

Perhaps a SAMOA member from that period will be able to fill in some of the blanks?

And who might this be distributing rally instructions to the front seats of the participant's Minis? An only slightly younger Chuck Heleker, of course!