Bluegrass Austin Healey Club

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Bluegrass Austin Healey Club

Welcome to the Bluegrass Chapter of the Austin-Healey Club!

The Bluegrass Austin-Healey Club is dedicated to enjoying and preserving the cars of Donald M. Healey and the adventures made possible when owning one. Our members' cars run the full range from Bugeye to BJ8, project cars to concours.

The Bluegrass chapter covers all of Kentucky and parts of Southern Indiana. Anyone is welcome to join, regardless of whether you own a Healey or not. This Club is home to owners and dreamers alike! 

 

June 2009 Non Meeting

Thanks to everyone who attended tonight's Westport General Store Meeting. We had 13 cars in attendance!

What a great night to be a Bluegrass Club member!

Over 40 of our members gathered at the Westport General Store for a
gourmet meal and excellent weather. The scenery for the drive was
beautiful and the turnout was incredible. We had 13 Healeys in the
parking lot and lots of smiles in the restaurant.

 

Spring Thing 2009 Recap

SpringThing 2009 was another huge success. As scientifically measured by the number of smiles, the Bluegrass Club has another hit on its hands. With attendees from 12 states and parts of Canada, this SpringThing was truly special. We had 52 registrations and 99 participants who drove over 40 cars. But that’s just the numbers, let’s see what actually went down.

Each year we strive to provide a unique and enjoyable experience full of value and good-times for our attendees. Our "hospitality first" mantra means that there’s never a shortage of food, beer and laughs. But, it’s the little things, the going above and beyond that SpringThing 2009 participants really enjoyed. Whether it was the Bluegrass Club member that volunteered to take a flat tire to be fixed so the owner could enjoy their day, or a hotdog roller attendants that served up piping hot hotdogs, every detail of SpringThing 2009 was designed with the guest in mind.

Our reserved seating on Millionaire’s Row at historic Churchill Downs provided guests an opportunity to see Kentucky’s economic engine up close and personal. In fact, some lucky Northern Indiana guests were treated to a special “on the rail” viewing and paddock tour during the seventh race. The running scavenger hunt Funkhana kept our guests busy looking for everything from dog poop (dried of course) to number 2 pencils. It’s amazing what Healey folks will find and collect for a trophy!

On Saturday the gorgeous weather came through for us as we ventured toward Georgetown. The tour was packed with scenic roads and unique stops along the way. The twist this year included authoring your own original writing piece, complete with Blue Books. The final piece of the puzzle this year included VIP, behind the scenes tours of the Kentucky Horse Park, a buffet style Kentucky dinner, complete with burgoo, fried chicken and corn pudding, and finally dancing that brought everyone to their feet. Our closing ceremonies back at the hotel awarded prizes for the original works submitted for the tour, car judging, Funkhana and the photo contest.

All in all, a SpringThing veteran will tell you that this was what they’ve come to expect from a Bluegrass event. A “newbie” will tell you how much fun they had during the non-stop relaxing weekend. It’s not often you hear people wrapping up a Healey weekend using words like “relaxing” “fun” “unique” “exciting” “once-in-a-lifetime” all in the same sentence. But for us, it’s what we’ve come to expect of ourselves and our event. Thanks to all those that were a part of it and we hope to see you next year at SpringThing 2010: Back to Bourbon Country. Stay tuned for more details!
 

Herb Chreste Austin Healey Memorial Award

The Herb Chreste Austin Healey Memorial Award was announced and presented this year to an outstanding member of the Bluegrass Austin Healey Club. The award was in honor of Herb and his long time passionate involvement in the Bluegrass Austin Healey Club. The award recognized an Austin Healey owner for the owners commitment to Austin Healey motoring, club involvement and their car.  The recipient of the 2009 Herb Chreste Austin Healey Memorial Award went to Bernie Lamp.

Presenting the award was Bonnie Chreste a long time Bluegrass Austin Healey club member and Herb’s wife. Bonnie drove Herb’s Austin Healey to the 25th annual British Bash and is shown here with the a
ward winner Bernie Lamp.