GoF West Steering Committee
 

GoF West, Inc., is managed by a Steering Committee (SC) made up of members from the various clubs which support GoF West. The purpose of the SC is to ensure that annual GoF West events are held in the Western United States or Western Canada to bring together owners and enthusiasts of T-series and earlier MG cars. The SC members are elected during a meeting at each GoF West to serve three-year terms. They select the clubs (or groups of volunteers) and chairmen who will have the responsibility of organizing each annual GoF West, then oversee the management of those events. They ensure that each event is conducted in the spirit of and according to the guidelines set forth in the "Red Book", a document which outlines everything that past events have shown is necessary for a successful GoF West. The SC conducts an Advisory Council Meeting at each GoF West, when members of participating clubs can offer comments about the current event and suggestions for future events. The SC also meets twice more each year to review progress and planning for future events, and has the financial responsibility for the corporation.

Steering Committee Member's Biographies

Larry Long has been an avid MG fan since he was making models of the MGTC way back when he was a young boy. However, he didn't become an MG owner until the late 1960s when he purchased a TD for $200, then spent the next 17 years restoring it. He still has that car, and has driven it to GoF West events in Bend, OR, Sun Valley, ID, Jackson Hole, WY, and several other venues a little closer--Lake Tahoe, Monterey, etc. However, he always wanted a TC, and came across one for restoration in 1992. After a shorter period of restoration time (2 years) he was driving that car to events in Oregon and Washington. Then along came a 1979 MGB which was too good a deal to pass up. The MG bug finally took hold back in Boston when he was on a business trip and saw a couple of MG J2s that had come over from England for the "Raid on New England at the eastern GoF. He states "The J2 was the neatest little car that I had ever seen, and I was convinced that if I ever came across one that I could afford, I would buy it." One came available, and he bought it and fully restored it. Now the icing on the cake was buying a 1936 MG NB; that car is currently being restored.

Larry and his wife, Barbara, have been faithful GoF West registrants since the Sun Valley venue, except for a couple of years. Larry has served as an officer of the Santa Barbara MG Club and the Paradise British Car Club (Santa Maria, CA) several times, and has served on the GoF West Steering Committee in a couple of different capacities and is currently the Chairman. He has also prepared and published the Gazette for the last 7 or 8 years and is editor and publisher of the NAMMM Register newsletter.

Larry says "My main objective as Chairman of the Steering Committee is to make sure that the By-laws of the organization are followed, and that the current GoF West Chairman is using the Red Book as a guide to provide the best GoF they can possibly provide, and a good value for the registrants as well as a friendly atmosphere with encouragement to attend other GoF west events."

Dave Bradley has been a member of Vintage MG of Southern California since I bought my 1950 MG TD in 1979 (which I still have). In addition I’ve owned a 1979 MGB, a 1967 MGB-GT, and a 1972 MG Midget. The TD has been to 18 GoFs (3 at more than 1,000 miles and 1 at 2,000 miles). I’m currently the Chairman of VMG (second stint) and previously served on the Steering Committee in the late 90s. After I graduated I entered the Navy in Sep 1960 and volunteered in 1967 for active duty in Vietnam and ended up running a Swift boat along the coast and rivers (we were the brown water Navy). In 1969 I left active duty and went to work for Bank of America in Long Beach (but stayed in the Navy Reserves). From the B of A (as Asst Branch Ops Mgr) I went to the City of Long Beach (and in the interim managed to get a BA, an MBA, and an MPA) and then to Xerox Corp as a IT System Mgr. Xerox outsourced its IT operations to Electronic Data System (EDS) and I was the Western Regional Mgr for the transition. While in the Navy Reserve during this period I went on several assignments to the Far East (Korea, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand), the Middle East (Bahrain), and the UK (as an exchange officer with the Royal Air Force). I managed several other EDS operations and had the opportunity to take an early retirement in June of 1999. The Navy promptly recalled me to active duty (by this time I was a Lieutenant Commander – started as a Seaman) and sent me as the Logistics & Maintenance officer for Naval Coastal Warfare Group Two (NCWGRU2) in Williamsburg, VA. We were the Navy’s Anti-terrorism, Force Protection group and things really kicked into high gear after the Cole bombing and I did a lot of traveling all over the world supervising deployment, setup and return of assets used in battle group force protection.

I retired from the Navy in Sep of 2002 (with 42 years of Navy service) and shortly thereafter went to work for the federal Drug Enforcement Agency. I was assigned to the Riverside office and was engaged in the investigation, surveillance, arrest and prosecution of medical and pharmaceutical professionals that diverted controlled substances. I retired in Sep 2008 and now have a part time consulting business in pharmaceutical regulatory compliance.

My hobbies, in addition to MG cars are sailing & boating (duh), photography, and computers. I sail occasionally with a Swift Boat shipmate in San Diego harbor and a have a 1958 Boston Whaler Classic that I recently re-engined and got back on the water. I’m the National VP for Government Relations with the Assoc. of the U. S. Navy and on the Board of Directors for the Vietnam Unit Memorial Monument Foundation.

Mike Campbell was born and raised in Bonita, California where he still lives with his wife, Jo Lynn, having been married to her for 45 years. His interest in MG's became serious in 1979 after having attended the GoF West in San Diego that year. Since then he and his wife have acquired a 1937 MG VA, 1949 MG TC, 1951 MG TD, 1952 MG TD, 1955 MG TF 1500 and a 1952 MG Arnolt.
 

He has either chaired or co-chaired the GoF West events in 1986 (San Diego), 2000 (Lake San Marcos), 2004 (Harrison Hot Springs), 2008 (Monterey) and 2009 (Squaw Valley). He was first elected to the Steering Committee in 1995, later becoming Chairman in 1997. He has been on the Steering Committee since that time except for two years when he was ineligible to be on the Committee. In 1996, he authored the Guide for Prospective GoF West Event Chairpersons (now known as the "Red Book").

Dave Machovec was born in Iowa and raised in Southern Oregon. He drove his first MG TD in 1967 while working at a tire store in Medford Oregon and never forgot that experience. After a short military career, Dave enrolled at Oregon State and, in 1976, graduated with a degree in Nuclear Engineering. For the next 30 years he worked as a Shift Supervisor and Facility Manager at the Idaho National Laboratory, retiring in January, 2006. In 1981, Dave met and married Muriel, not least because she shared his love of cars.

Dave started collecting antique cars, tractors and "hit-and-miss" stationary engines in 1972 and never stopped. His first MG was a 1969 BGT which he purchased cheap as it had suffered an engine fire. He re-wired and painted it and it has been to several GoF Wests. Muriel still drives it daily in the summer. Next came a Robin's Egg Blue 1961 Magnette Mk. III which he found for sale at a Portland Swap Meet. It had always been garage-kept and had just 72,000 miles on the odometer; Muriel drove the car back to Idaho. It now has 115,000 miles and Dave often drives it to GoF West events.

He bought the pictured '53 MG TD in Howe, Idaho in 1994 and Muriel has driven it to GoF Wests ever since. Dave and his wife have attended all but one GoF West gatherings since 1988 and they really enjoyed all of them. They now spend about half their time in Idaho and half on a ranch in Southern Oregon.

Dave has been a Steering Committee member for a number of years and he and Muriel are highly regarded for their willingness to volunteer for whatever jobs need doing at these annual gatherings.