der Bayerische May/June 2020 - 8

NCC's 2020
Annual Meeting and Banquet
By Jack Raymond | Photos by Marc Caden

ational Capital Chapter held its
annual meeting at China
Garden Restaurant in Rockville,
MD on Saturday, February 8. The
event exceeded my greatest expectations; while it was promoted as an
"annual meeting", I would have
described it as a banquet, with a
meeting thrown in for good measure.
During the planning phase, the
goal was to sell 125 tickets to the
event at $75 each. Whew, a tall
order, or so I thought. We actually
had 140 people attend the event; it
was jam-packed.
After a whirlwind of activity
with setup, registration, name tags,
waivers, selling raffle tickets, and
finding a seat, the event opened with
a slideshow and music memorial
to our late friend, Phil Cummings.
Phil was an active leader in NCC's
Do-It-Yourself program; we will

miss his energy and enthusiasm and
his smile. We are grateful to have
had him in our lives, and we are
grateful to his wife Theresa for
attending the banquet.
Next, Paul Seto gave a "State of
the Club" address, reiterating the
recent message that "change is
coming". Paul reviewed the club's
finances (where the money comes
from and where it goes), and
addressed the increase in annual
dues from BMW CCA. As Paul
mentioned, financial realities drove
the decision for der Bayerische to
"go green", which I think will actually
be a good thing, resulting in a better
user experience for the reader.
Following that, our chapter
officers for 2020 were sworn in.
As before, they are as follows: Paul
Seto - President; James Laws - Vice
President, John Walker - Treasurer,

and Robert Hopkins - Secretary.
Our first guest speaker was
Lothar Schuettler. A photograph
of Lothar and his 328 roadster
appeared in the January-February
2020 issue of dB. He is a local
Maryland resident and a lifelong
BMW enthusiast. Among his many
BMWs have been a 1956 502
Cabriolet, a 1958 502, a Z1, a Z8, a
1972 3.0 CS, a 3200 Bertone CS
coupe, an E28 M5, and a couple
of motorcycles - any of which
would be the jewel of most
enthusiasts' collections. Lothar's
greatest claim to fame, however,
may be his restoration of his 1937
328. As he tells this story, the 328,
his most expensive purchase,
actually arrived in boxes as a bunch
of parts. He then spent seven years
painstakingly restoring every part
and assembling it back into a perfect

BMW 328 roadster. He did such
an amazing job that the car won
Best In Class at the Pebble Beach
Concours d"Elegance in 2016; quite
an accomplishment. This is no
trailer queen, despite its rarity and
value; Lothar drove this car on the
track at the Spartanburg O'Fest.
Lothar loves collecting and restoring cars, and says that he is fortunate and grateful to have made a
living with BMWs all his life. We all
enjoyed being regaled by Lothar's
tales, and aspire to have his energy,
enthusiasm, and passion when we
approach the octogenarian mark.
Mary Snyder and Chris Wootten
gave a talk about the DIY program,
particularly our Ladies' DIY events.
What is DIY? A Do-It-Yourself is a
regularly scheduled NCC activity at
which the participants meet at an
automotive service sponsor's shop

derBayerische

der Bayerische May/June 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of der Bayerische May/June 2020