Twenty years ago, we bought a Mini Cooper Convertible. We could just barely fit our two young children, newly liberated from their booster seats, in the back seat, so it was mostly a commuter car, an occasional date night car for when we could escape the kids and the family dog for a few hours. We knew one of the Mini Cooper rules of the road was to always give a friendly wave to another Mini driver, but we had no idea that the car came with a family until we recently joined a Mini Club and attended a Minis Take Vermont Rally. We were able to meet some of the folks who “came standard” with our car and were so glad we did!
The family we didn’t know we had!
We were aware of many Mini Cooper Clubs through out the world, but we hadn’t joined one. Many clubs organize events and rallies for drivers to meet and explore their region. We started searching out clubs and rally events in our area and found Minis Take Vermont, (MTVT) a club with a well organized 5 year old rally event in Vermont. Run by volunteers as a charitable organization, the event roams around Vermont annually basing out of different ski resorts in late fall. We registered for the club and for some of the events and rallies and ordered some merch online and prepared ourselves for the family reunion!
As frequent travelers, we were immediately impressed by the level of organization by the volunteer organizers. All the materials are clear, questions posed to the social media group are answered quickly and we only needed to pack our bags, make a reservation at the host resort, and detail our Mini.
We packed up our warm clothes, some snacks and the two way radios recommended for rallies. I eyeballed the boot of the Mini Cooper and cooler and the pile of luggage we’d planned to take, and gave Hubby a skeptical look. He has a habit of saying in a voice to imitate a petulant toddler “but Mini is a BIG car!” And sure enough, it all ended up in the car and we were soon zipping down the road headed north.
Once we joined the club, before we left for Vermont, we were able to choose online from several rallies and events organized by the club. We were already planning to be in Vermont for the weekend to visit our daughter, so we chose a Thursday event and Friday rally heading north that we could peel off and head further north for the weekend. So we missed some of the events later in the weekend, but we’ve already decided we won’t make the mistake of skipping any again! We had a little FOMO, leaving early, because what we learned is that the whole Mini family is like all “fun aunts and uncles” at the family reunion! We had suspected that there wouldn’t be any jerks in a group of people who drive such a fun car, and we were right! We received a warm welcome from everyone and had a lot of laughs as well as being able to visit some beautiful back roads of Vermont.
A little rain didn’t dampen anyone’s enthusiasm!
The host resort, Jackson Gore Inn, was beautiful, and we took advantage of a group discount to book our comfortable and quiet room. The Ludlow restaurant and golf club, Calcutta’s, was the site of several club events including a welcome dinner, fireside local beer swap (with respect to those who are sober, any beverage can be swapped!!) and farewell dinner with a charity raffle that raised funds for the Okemo Valley Disaster Relief Fund.
We chose Squire Whaleback Rally, which included a stop at the Squire Family Farm and a tasting at the Whaleback Vineyard and a stop for lunch at Birdseye Diner. Each rally goes off in a different direction with a limited number of Minis to minimize local disruptions on the road and make it easier to stay together. With a google rally map, a list of complete addresses for each stop, a rally leader and sweep and a two way radio channel, MTVT made it easy to join as a newbie! Several “photo ops” are included, safe places to pull out and take photos of all the Mini Coopers parked in a scenic area.
On Friday morning before our rally, we enjoyed delicious local donuts and hot coffee while attending a Drivers Meeting, where important rules of the road are emphasized, most especially being respectful of local drivers. This essential kindness and respect came across as a core value of the whole club. From funds raised in relief of this summer’s devastating floods to pulling over to regroup rather than skirting traffic laws or cutting off drivers to supporting the local businesses by stocking up on local goodies, it was clear that this club is made up of a very diverse group of wonderful people whose warm hearts prove they have more than just a car in common!
Vermont goodies from the rally, but the best part was the new friendships we came home with.
Next year’s rally is already in the books…get yourself a Mini Cooper that comes standard with a family! Or if you already have a Mini…come to the reunion!
Photos: J Klofft
Editor: K Klofft