View through the Star - December 2024

from Rusty Duncan, President MBCA Peachtree

Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone has a fantastic end to 2024 and is excited about the promise of 2025!

My name is Rusty Duncan, and I am honored to serve as your President in 2025. I look forward to continuing the progress we have made over the past few years. I want to express my gratitude to all the volunteers who dedicate their time to making our club the best it can be. It is truly a labor of love, and it requires a lot of hard work. Star Summit was the culmination of these efforts—an incredible collaboration between our board, members, and sponsors, all guided by the vision of our former president, Rubin Howard.

I am pleased to announce a few changes to our Board of Directors. Marisa Hegyesi is our newest Board Member. She has gracious agreed to help Reijo Haarla with membership along with continuing to write our Member Spotlight articles. Sam Kamber has assumed the duties of Vice-President and Event Chair. Sam's dedication to quality events such as Star Summit and our Concours events is commendable. Abel Beck and Austin Hoffer is joining our board as Directors at Large. We thank them for their service to MBCA Peachtree.

Our members enjoy a wide range of activities, including driving events, social gatherings to celebrate our shared passion for cars, travel, and more. We love to explore and learn, and we are fortunate to live in a region that offers many opportunities.

Rubin believed that our club could—and should—do something to demonstrate to MBCA that Atlanta and our region has active and vibrant members. With the support of our sponsors, he envisioned a multi-day event that would celebrate the Mercedes-Benz marquis. He also suggested partnering with a brand that shares our appreciation for fine craftsmanship, IWC Watches, in collaboration with the Atlanta Watch Society, given the overlapping interests of fine watches and fine motor cars. The result was a four-day event that included:

•    A welcome cocktail party featuring both IWC and Mercedes
•    A Concours d’Elegance followed by a Gala Awards Dinner at RBM Alpharetta’s showroom
•    A Sunday Cars & Coffee event at MBUSA Headquarters, followed by a mountain drive
•    A full track day at Atlanta Motorsports Park on Monday, including classroom and on-track instruction

This event was a grand undertaking, requiring nearly a year of meticulous planning. Thanks to prudent and conservative financial management, our club was in a position to provide the needed financial resources to make the event truly memorable. Our esteemed host sponsor, RBM of Alpharetta, generously provided venues for the Friday cocktail party, the Concours, and the Gala. They also contributed hors d’oeuvres, tables, staff, and casino equipment for a Monte Carlo-themed Gala as well as raffle prizes for the event.

Cameron Davis and Andy Sumner of DC MotorWerks generously donated prizes and brought their iconic Cannonball Run cars to showcase at the Concours. They also brought along a special guest, Ed Bolian, who delivered an exceptional performance as the event’s emcee. The MB Market showcased a collection of rare and captivating cars, providing gifts for the Gala participants. Katie Carruth, the director of MBCA National, provided giveaways as well. Thank you all!!

The event attracted nearly 600 visitors and featured over 80 cars across all activities. Our membership contributed over 40 volunteers! Some of the highlights included:
    •    Grant Wilmer’s magnificent 1952 300S
    •    John Heller’s awe-inspiring 1959 300d Adenauer
    •    The SLR McLaren (GAS Motorcars & MB Market)
    •    The 560SEC AMG 6.0 Widebody (Blakley Leonard)
    •    The E320 Designo Silver Edition (Ben Everest)
    •    Bob Slayden’s legendary 1954 300 Gullwing
    •    And many more!

I’ll share links to the event photos that were posted on Facebook at the end of this text.

For a club entirely run by volunteers, Star Summit was an incredible achievement, and I want to extend my heartfelt congratulations to everyone involved for a job well done. We should all be incredibly proud of what we accomplished. I also want to express my sincere gratitude to our sponsors: Christy Spooner and her team at The Mercedes Benz Experience by RBM Alpharetta; Cameron Davis and Andy Sumner of DC MotorWerks; Ben Everest and Blakely Leonard of The MB Market, Chris Fabina and Matt Otten of Motoescape; Katie Carruth, the Director of MBCA National; and Paul La Penta, who organized the MBUSA Cars & Coffee event, which even had the MBUSA CEO in attendance.

A special thank you also goes to Natalija Christ who came from MBCA’s national business office in Colorado. She is the operations director. Also, David Dukehart, the President of the Gullwing Group International, traveled over 1,000 miles to the event. I know we had several other attendees who traveled some distance to be there. Thank you as well!

Finally, to our volunteers. Over 40 of us put this event together. I wish I could name all 40. Please know that each one of you are so important to the club. Some of us really go above and beyond. I will be mentioning them at our upcoming Holiday Luncheon on December 14th. I hope to see many of you at the event.

Hosting this event taught us a great deal, and we are already eagerly anticipating the possibility of hosting it again in the fall of 2026. We believe that a two-year gap will provide us with the necessary time to secure the level of sponsorship required and to secure the appropriate venues.

With regard to 2025, we are looking forward to a great schedule of mountain drives, tours, another regional Star Summit in Alabama, high performance driving, technical sessions, great holiday celebrations, great meals, and the camaraderie that comes with membership. You will get more from this club than you put in. I encourage everyone to join us for an adventure, and to take us on your adventure too - we need your involvement. Bring friends to our monthly Cars & Coffee and to our mountain drives. When I joined in 2014, board members told me they had met some of their best friends in the club. I can say the same now too. We look forward to spending 2025 with all of you.

Happy holidays and here’s to a great 2025 and beyond!

STAR SUMMIT Photo Links:  (Can't see these links?  Join the MBCA Peachtree FB Group:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/mbcapeachtree/)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/mbcapeachtree/permalink/3898194820421635/?

https://www.facebook.com/groups/mbcapeachtree/permalink/3899306833643767/?

https://www.facebook.com/groups/mbcapeachtree/permalink/3898385033735947/?

https://www.facebook.com/groups/mbcapeachtree/permalink/3898329480408169/?

https://www.facebook.com/groups/mbcapeachtree/permalink/3898300327077751/?

https://www.facebook.com/groups/mbcapeachtree/permalink/3898269640414153/?