Honored to be the charity of Texas Hill Country Mustang Club and joining them for their first meeting as an MCA Club (Mustang Club of America)

Article from MUSTANG TIMES JUNE 2023:

On March 25, the newly chartered Texas Hill Country Mustang Club met for the first time as an MCA recognized club near Marble Falls, Texas, about an hour west of Austin and one and half hours north of San Antonio. The weather was a perfect 80 degrees with blue skies and Texas bluebonnets popping in full bloom on the country roads that led to our inaugural event venue. This description of our location for our first event is a great opening statement because it is the basis on which the club was formed. There are many Mustang owners and enthusiasts who live in the Texas Hill Country who simply can’t make the time or miles to get to the bigger city events. The Texas Hill Country is a beautiful place to live (Shhh! Don’t tell anyone!) and drive your coveted Mustang. The THCMC covers a wide region of approximately seven counties west of Austin and San Antonio, and we work closely in partnership with the MCA clubs in those two great cities. For the first meeting, the THCMC had a private Mustang barn experience hosted by Mustang collector and club board member Jim Ginger, along with his lovely wife Danette, who told me, “This is one of Jim’s passions. He works hard and I support what makes him happy.” Amen, Danette!

Jim and a few of his fellow colleagues and Mustang friends, including Fred Turpen and Travis Hendricks, spent two days prepping cars and slowly marinating and cooking brisket, chicken, and ribs. The meeting location was in a gated community—whereby some advance planning and coordination had to take place—and approximately 30 came for this fundraiser, membership drive, and fellowship experience. As you can see from the photos, the details of the private Mustang garage leave little to be desired. It includes a sound system with Alexa voice control, a spot for a covered Mustang trailer for MCA events, a four-post lift, and a kegerator with a couple craft beers on tap.

Jim provided a personal tour for the entire group, which included a thorough history and detail for his Mustangs. These cars include a pair of Fox-bodies, (one of the 71 Shadow Blue SVOs and a rare 1984 Predator GT), a pair of 1971 Mustangs (Grabber Blue Boss 351 and the Grabber Blue 429 SCJ Mach 1 used in the movie Machete), a red 1970 Boss 302, and a highly modified 1971 restomod convertible with a 460 engine. Unique to an intimate event, each attendee also made a personal introduction, one by one, to talk about how they learned about the club along with a fun Mustang story. Some great laughs were shared. Staci Almager, CEO of Hill Country Family Services, also spoke to the group about how the fundraiser would benefit families in crisis in our club footprint, bringing a touching and important aspect to our gathering. The youngest person to attend (my son Samuel McGee, ten years old and our youth chair) said to the group, “My Dad and I are restoring an Antique Bronze 1966 Sprint, and I love working on it with him because I look forward to driving it around with him when I am older.” With a high intense focus on preserving our past and growing our future in MCA, this couldn’t have been better stated. When the bulk of the attendees had left, Jim fired up the ground-shaking and window-rattling 460 for the board members, and a few hung around to enjoy a cold afternoon beverage, decompress, and talk some more shop. At the THCMC, we believe the future of our club lies in our mission, which is all about being with great people. What a great day it was to be alive in the Texas Hill Country to celebrate our first club event as a chartered club. For more information on this MCA club, visit the website at www.hillcountrytxmustangs.com and their charitable Hill Country Family Services mission at www.hcfstx.org.