The place to gather with friends, get information, and much more: 

• Calling all artists, crafters and photographers! Consider entering an example of your creativity for a chance to win an award! The pieces will be on display and able to be voted on in the Hospitality room throughout the GOF. 
• Display your Valve Cover racer here to compete in the VCR Beauty Contest.
• The Silent Auction items will be displayed and bidding open here through Wednesday afternoon.

Snacks and beverages will be on hand.  See you there!

When: July 11, 5:00-5:30 p.m.
Where: Front Street between the hotel and Riverside Park

An All-American BBQ will be held simultaneously in the Three Rivers Lodge Restaurant in the Radisson hotel. A cash bar serving beer and wine will be available during the meal. Signup on the GOF Registration form is required.

Tech Sessions
When: July 12, 1:00-4:00 p.m.
Where: Wisconsin Room Lobby

There will be two Tech Sessions both to be held on Tuesday, July 12th – times to be announced at Check-In. The first one will be given by Russ Westfall, a long-time manufacturer's rep in the paint body and equipment industry and a dealer of Meguiar’s Car Care and Rupes products. It will be a class on paint correction using clay, color sanding, and buffing. He will demonstrate both random orbit and rotary buffers, also paint protection using waxes and polymers. Russ will also be covering leather care, engine cleaning, and other upholstery and fabric cleaning.

The second session, “The inside story of the MG transmission,” will be given by Steve Blomberg.  Steve is a long-time dissector of MGs and he currently owns a TC, a TD and a 72 Midget. He will be assisted by Gary Krukowski, purveyor of MG parts and owner of a J2. This Tech Session will be a primer on how that mysterious box of gears get its job done. Like most of us the internal workings of the gearbox in our favorite car seemed to be a mystery. We will try to help you understand what happens when you move the shift lever and what can (and does) go wrong. Great visuals and hands on parts will make this Tech Session well worth your time.

When: July 12, 12:30-4:00 p.m.
Where: Wisconsin Room Lobby

Bring your MG treasures to sell or trade to other MGers who are looking for just what you are offering.  Sign up on the GOF Registration form.

Vendors will also be in attendance that day to display their products or services. They will be in the same lobby area. Sign up on the GOF Registration form.

When: July 12, 1:00-4:00 p.m.
Where: All Glazed Up, 313 Pearl Street

No experience needed! Come and relax with friends while an art instructor leads us step by step through painting a pre-selected scene. Feel free to take liberties and paint in your own style – release your inner artist!  Everything we need to create our own work of art will be provided. 

Beverages (wine, beer, soda, water, and a few mixed drinks) are available for purchase.  Each painter will receive a special gift created by one of our members.

The class lasts for 2 hours. Aprons are provided. Dress for comfort and probably don’t wear your Sunday best (the paints are acrylic). All Glazed Up is a 3-block walk from the hotel on Pearl Street.  Signup on the GOF Registration form is required.

When: July 12, 5:00 p.m.
Where: Fayze’s RestaurantMMM Member Dinner and Meeting

The Bibulous Gallimaufry will be held Tuesday evening, July 12th at 5:00 PM, at Fayze’s Restaurant.  Members of the North American MMM Register only, please.

When: July 13, 9:00-12:00 p.m.
Where: Pettibone Park, Barro Island

Pettibone Park is a short (2 miles) drive just across the main channel of the Mississippi River and can be seen from the West side of the hotel. A photograph of you and your car will be taken as you enter the show area. This photo will be available for pick up at the Banquet.

Awards will be given for the following car show categories and other contests:

When: July 13, 1:30 - 4:00 p.m.
Where: Oktoberfest Parking Lot (Oktoberfest Strasse off 2nd Street N.)

The Funkhana is a competition that challenges the teamwork of driver and passenger as they navigate through a closed course while trying to complete some tasks along the way.

The winner is determined by having the best time with the most accuracy completing tasks. Time penalties are assessed for each task not completed – such as trying to grab a golf ball off a T-Ball tee as shown in the picture. Other tasks could be throwing a hula hoop over a traffic cone or throwing a basketball into a garbage can. It is much fun for the spectators as it is for the participants. Many a team have had hours of silence between them after competing in a Funkahana. So team up and come try your luck. 

There will be a Silent Auction that will be held in the Hospitality Suite. The silent auction will be open for bids when the Hospitality Suite is open (see schedule). The Silent Auction will close at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 13. People with the winning bid(s) will be able to claim, and pay for, their item(s) in the Hospitality Suite immediately after the Live Auction which will be Wednesday evening.

The Live Auction will be held in the Ballroom on Wednesday evening starting at 7:00 PM.  Our Auctioneer will be Art Wilson from Michigan.  A cash bar will be available for refreshments during this auction.

When: July 13, 4:00-5:30 p.m.
Where: Snap Turtle Brew Pub (across the street from the hotel)

One of the MNMGTR's favorite and best attended summer club events is the Honnigford's Annual Beer Tasting. Join us for a recreation of this contest at the Turtle Stack Brewery, a small independent craft brewery located right across the street from the Radisson. Sign-up cost gets you a sampling of 8-10 Turtle Stack beers and an entry into the contest (see details below), as well as a gift pack. Snacks (pretzels, chips, etc.) and water will be provided. Space is limited, so sign up early on the GOF Registration form.

Contest details: Each contest entrant will receive a sheet of paper listing the names of all beers being sampled during the contest with blanks next to each beer's name. A tasting of a beer (everyone gets the same beer at the same time) is presented to all participants in a glass with a letter on it, and the participant must taste the beer and mark their choice for which beer they think it is by writing the letter from the glass in the blank next to the presumed beer's name. Each subsequent beer is brought out for tasting and choice marking until all beers have been presented and consumed. The participant with the most correct guesses wins the pride of 2022 GOF Beer Tasting Champion! Tiebreakers will be settled by British penny coin flip.

When: July 14, 9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Where: See below

Enjoy the winding roads of La Crosse and Vernon Counties of Wisconsin with a stop at the Norskedalen Nature & Heritage Center for a tour and lunch. The tour will depart the hotel parking lot at 9:00 a.m. Upon arrival, we will be greeted by Norskedalen volunteers to help guide us through the Bekkum Homestead and the Thrune Visitor’s Center Museum and Immigration Story exhibit. The gift shop will also be open. A hot sandwich buffet will be served at 11:30 a.m. in the Shelter House. 

Take a step back to the mid-nineteenth century and experience the lifestyles of the Norwegian Immigrants in the Coon Valley area of Wisconsin. Norskedalen means “Norwegian Valley.” The land for the center was donated by Dr. Alf Gundersen (son of the founder of the Gunderson Health Services) and his wife Carroll as an outdoor laboratory and arboretum in 1977.  Since then the site has grown to 400 acres of wooden coulee, goat prairie, springs, creek and fields, and crossed over by 5 miles of nature trails. Original log farm buildings, built by Norwegian immigrants in the region, and artifacts inside the buildings were donated by local families with the financial support of Owen and Dorothy Bekkum.

The first buildings were moved on the site in 1982. The Thrune Visitor’s Center was also constructed in 1982 and houses the museum where you can learn about these Norwegian immigrants and why they stopped here. The mission of the Norskedalen Nature and Heritage Center is to preserve and interpret the natural environment and cultural heritage of the region, as well as to make people aware of and sensitive to these resources.   

Don’t miss the Benrud Little White Chapel or the Gundersen Arboretum honoring Alf Gundersen’s mother, Helga Isaksaetre Gundersen. Nature trails allow for additional exploring of the site.

The return drive takes you through Coon Valley, Chaseburg and Stoddard, Wisconsin.  Signup on the GOF Registration form is required.

When: July 14, 1:00 p.m. (clinic followed by races)
Where: Hotel Ballroom Lobby

Please visit the Valve Cover Race section for details and rules.

Lee Jacobson of the Michigan club was going to hold a Valve Cover Racer clinic at the 2020 GOF which, obviously, did not happen. He has offered to do the clinic at our GOF. Bring a valve cover and leave with a highly competitive Valve Cover Racer in about an hour.

The cost is $30 paid to Lee at the time of the clinic and is to cover the cost of the wheels. He also supplies the chassis and axles which is ready to add wheels.  Gary Krukoski has valve covers available for a nominal cost (garykrukoski@yahoo.com or 763-226-5789).

The first eight people to sign up via the GOF Registration form learn how to attach their valve cover. All others are welcome to watch. Please indicate on the Registration form if you want to participate.

When: July 14, 5:00-9:00 p.m
Where: Ballroom 1 & 2

The evening will begin with a cocktail hour in the Ballroom Lobby with a cash bar. Obviously, the awards will be handed out for the car shows and other GOF events. There will also be the Special Awards such as the Paul Johnson award, the Could’a Had a Better Day (Hard Luck) award, and the Most Loved award. Our keynote speaker will be Tom Wilson from Indiana who will also make a presentation for GOF 2023 in Indiana. Signup on the GOF Registration form is required.

Maps for Self-Guided Tours will be available at the Registration Desk and the Hospitality Suite.

There will be driving tour maps for the scenic areas around La Crosse and the West side (the Minnesota side) of the Mississippi river. There are historic sites to see, many cultural places such as the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and the Hixon House Museum, and good driving roads for our cars. U.S. Lock and Dam No. 7, on the Minnesota side, provides a panoramic view if the river and bluffs as does Grandad Bluff Park on the Wisconsin side.

There will be information for walking the downtown area of La Crosse. There are many historic buildings and boutique shops. There is also the Dahl Automobile Museum within walking distance of the hotel.

We will have signup sheets in the Hospitality Suite for people to list their names for the tours. This way other people interested in the same tour can drive or walk together.