June 26th, 2022 1:30-When we’re done!
Join us for a nice drive down some eastern Iowa highways, with a couple stops along the way.
We will meet up at the Hy-Vee in on Hickman Road in Waukee. Depart time is 1:30pm. Bring your walkies and your sense of adventure.
Expect a total drive with stops of approx. 3 hours.
April 23rd, 10 AM – 2 PM at MINI of Des Moines
With Spring around the corner let’s get our MINI’s all spruced up! More details to follow but get it on the calendar and plan on joining us.
March 20th, 2:30 PM – 4:00 PM
Warrior Lanes, Waukee.
Join us, yet again, for another fun filled afternoon of bowling. Perhaps some ice cream afterwards at the DQ across the parking lot?
Participation will be a little different than in the past. You are allowed only 5 people per lane, whether they are bowling or not, meaning spectators would count. We have a limit of 25 people. Due to this restriction, and to ensure we have enough slots for the bowlers, please only RSVP if you are planning to bowl. And by no means think you have to know how to bowl. Everyone is welcome, regardless of age or ability. It’s not a competition so don’t count on a trophy or prize. It’s for fun, strictly for fun.
Cost is $8.25 per person; shoe rental is $3.75 plus tax.
RSPV deadline is midnight, Thursday, March 17th.
Details have been sent via email to our Google Group members for our first event of 2022. If you are not in the Group, or want to confirm that you are, go to our website, www.centraliowaminiclub.org. Click on the Join tab, complete and submit. You will be sent an invitation to join….please accept. It’s that simple. Emails sent to the Group can be responded to….there is a human at the other end.
It’s the time of year to enjoy Jolly Holiday Lights with our MINI’s!!
The plan: Sunday, December 19th, 2021 at 5:15pm….
We will meet in the parking lot of the Altoona Cinemark Theater (2227 Adventureland Dr NW, Altoona). Jolly Holiday Lights starts at 5:30 so we can roll from the parking lot right over to the entrance and once there, we can line up and enter as a group. There’s plenty of space for us, in case we get split-up on the drive over. If you want to purchase tickets ahead of time, it’s a little less money, but the proceeds go to a good cause either way. If anyone wants to get a bite to eat beforehand, Culver’s is in the lot right next to the theater. We could stop in around 4:30 for an early supper. Nothing official, but it’s an option that’s really, REALLY close.
Hope to see many of your smiling faces there.
Mark your calendars for the Fall Colors Drive on Sunday, September 19th, hosted by Brad Bristow. We’ll meet at MINI of Des Moines for the drivers meeting at 12:45 PM. Departing at 1 PM to head south to Madison County. We’ll make a stop in the countryside and check out the Winterset Cidery at the end of the drive. Sounds interesting. Please RSVP on the Facebook event or emailing Laura or Brad by midnight on Tuesday, September 14. Let’s hope this year brings lots of color and if not, it’ll be just another great day spent with fellow MINIacs.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2021 AT 8 AM CDT
How about motoring to the Ox Yoke Inn in the Amanas for breakfast and an on-your-own day checking out the town and maybe do a little shopping? Question is will Bill & Carey get another award?? We’ll meet at the HyVee in Altoona and head out at 8 AM SHARP!! Make sure to have MINI’s belly full of petrol, don your shirt, name badge and charge the walkies!! Hummm, wonder if this will become another of our annual events. Who doesn’t like breakfast? RSVP’s for the number in your party are needed no later than Monday, September 27, so we can alert the establishment.
Saturday August 21, 2021
The Round House – Building D
1402 South Missouri Street
Macon, Missouri
10:00 AM – MINI Cooper Arrival/Socialize
11:00 AM – Official Welcome
12:00 PM – Complimentary Lunch
1:30 PM – Group Pictures
2:00 PM – Farewell
*Optional- The Fork & Cork Artisan Festival located Downtown Macon at Vine & Rollins Street is happening the same day as our rally. If you want to check out the information for the festival
Here is the website: https://maconforkandcork.squarespace.com/
WHY: What a year! Is everyone ready to breakout and have some fun? Let’s put 2020 behind us and get out, have some fun and return to our regular lives. That means shine up the MINI and let’s hit the road! I want to invite everyone to Macon, Missouri for a special MINI Rally.
I realize that putting on a Mini Cooper Rally in Macon, Missouri presents some travel logistics for everyone, however it may well be an adventure worth taking to come to the country. I hope to see you!
MINI PASSION: Hilary Morrissey is a passionate MINI owner of 11 years. She has attended MINI Cooper shows and events throughout the state as well as hosting the MINI’s to Macon show in October 2011 & 2013, the MINI’s to Richmond show for 7 years plus the MINI’s to the Springs Rally in Excelsior Springs, MO in 2016. The opportunity to get a group of MINIs together for a fun event seems very appealing, so here we go! Mark Saturday, August 21st, 2021 on your calendar and make the trip to Macon, Missouri! ADVENTURE AWAITS! 
TO MAKE RESERVATIONS TO ATTEND: Please e-mail Hilary Morrissey at ministomacon@gmail.com with your first and last name, the year, model, color of your MINI and how many people are attending.
Got Questions/Comments? Contact Hilary Morrissey at ministomacon@gmail.com or visit the website for more information www.ministomacon2021.moonfruit.com
Every year since 2006 owners have submitted photos for inclusion in an annual Mini of the Month calendar. If you would like to submit a photo for 2021, or just want to buy the finished calendar, here is the latest information from John and the folks who take care of this project.
Well, it’s September and time is running short to submit your MINI or Classic Mini photo entries to be included in the voting to select the photos for the 2021 Mini of the Month calendar. For those of you who have already submitted photos, thank you. For everyone else, I look forward to seeing all your MINI and Classic Mini photos soon. Voting to select the photos to be published in the 2021 MINI of the Month Calendar(s) will occur in late September/early October which will be here before you know it so don’t delay.
Calendar photos for 2021 must be submitted by September 20, 2020.
In my last email I mentioned that Lulu.com, the publisher of our calendars, has completely overhauled their website and that the new calendar creation tool was not yet available. I have recently received an email from Lulu indicating the new and completely revised calendar tool will be available in late September. This fits our schedule pretty well as long as Lulu delivers the tool on time and there are no glitches in the new release. For those of you who want to know the reason for this change, the previous versions of the calendar tool used Adobe Flash which will no longer be supported by Adobe after the end of 2020.
I encourage all participants to visit the MINI of the Month website for full details. MINIoftheMonthCalendar.com
Please review the photo guidelines, schedule and samples of some of the previous winning photos on the website. We have quite a few photos submitted every year that do not meet the minimum requirements for format, resolution or quality. Here are some key points to make sure your photos are of sufficient quality to be used in the calendar:
All the details are on the website. You can also keep up to date with the latest calendar information by visiting the MINI of the Month Calendar Facebook page: facebook.com/MINIoftheMonthCalendar
For each submitted photo, please include a descriptive caption (100 characters or less) and the first initial and last name of the photographer and/or person submitting the photo. Captions should contain information about the subject, event and/or location where the photo was taken along with any other interesting information. Please keep this in mind. If I have to track down winners to get caption information after the voting is over, it just slows down the preparation of the calendars.
Also, if you know of MINI events you would like included in the calendar, please send the date, location and name of the event. This is especially important for non-US participants since I do not have access to most non-US MINI events. Most major US MINI events are included in the calendar, but some events have not finalized their dates before the calendar is completed. Non-US participants can also send dates of important holidays in your part of the world if you would like them included in the calendar. We now have quite a few participants from several other countries. I would like to include significant dates, events and holidays for all MINI of the Month participants.
The worldwide pandemic caused many of this year’s planned events to be cancelled or rescheduled. It is possible that some 2021 events could also be disrupted by the ongoing pandemic. We’ll include event dates as we know them, but the calendar is finalized in October and we have no guarantees that events will take place as scheduled once we get into 2021.
Photos, comments or questions can be submitted to: MINIoftheMonth@gmail.com
If you send links to your photos stored on a photo sharing website, please make sure that the original full resolution photos can be downloaded. Many of these sites only save much smaller, lower resolution photos to download.
2021 MINI of the Month Calendar schedule:
September 20, 2020 – Deadline for submission of photos
September 25, 2020 – Start of voting to select winners
October 18, 2020 – Voting closes
October 23, 2020 – Winners announced
November 6, 2020 – 2021 calendars available for purchase
Jeremy, once again, has volunteered to host our yearly photo scavenger hunt.
The details of the hunt are kept under wraps until that day. Jeremy is thinking we could do this as a ‘never have to get out of your car’ event. We could dust the cobwebs off our walkies and use those! Or some other form of technology….
We’ll gather in the service drive behind MINI of Des Moines at 1:45 pm for the “No Contact” drivers meeting and proceed from there. Laura promises an awesome prize for the winner!
Remember to keep your distance, wear your mask and be very mindful of others. Stay safe MINIacs and here’s hoping to see you all for our first event of 2020!!