Georgia Triumph Association

2004 BOZO Award

by Paul Logue, GTA

     As most of you know, George Forster is stepping down as GTA Director.  He is doing so after 5 years of continuous service.  This is a GTA record.  Hugh McAleer served 4 years.  If the GTA had a Hall of Fame, both of them would surely be included.  The old saying, “behind every great man there is a great woman,” holds true about George’s wife Joan.  That being said, our most active members are overexposed and eventually they do something that is totally below their mental capability.  In 2001, Mike Hurst and I started the annual Bozo award to recognize such individuals. 

     Kevin Bowen was our first winner after the spare tire episode and Jeremy Whitehead was the winner in 2002 after his brake episode, which, by the way, led to the longest running GTA newsletter article in the club’s history.  Yes, the one about brakes.  Mercy.  However, during 2003, Jeremy’s activity went from a 10 to 0 as he had job problems and then a shift in priorities.  We wish him well.  Earlier this year, Jeremy called me and asked what he should do with the Bozo Award plaque (The tradition is for the last winner to select the following year’s winner.)  I told him to send it to me. 

     I had forgotten about the award till our Athens trip during the summer.  This was an event sponsored by one of our sister clubs and the money to go to a charity.  As is the case on many “other club rides”, the GTA was well represented.  This is only a 35-mile trip, but we still got separated into two groups.  The first group stopped at a filling station to wait for the 2^nd group.  After a reasonable time, the first group began to leave.  Tony Lewis had been trying to call George, who was in the 2^nd group.  He finally got him and this is what George told Tony.  “I have a fuel problem!”  “We are trying to fix it.”  It didn’t sink in at that moment because, after all, mechanical problems on our trips are not uncommon.  Later in Athens after everybody had arrived safely, George relayed more about the problem and said he had run out of fuel.  Tony and I looked at each other and said BOZO. 

     George Forster!  All time leader of GTA events and author of many articles on how to prepare for a road tour!  But wait, Jeremy is gone, I have the plaque.  What now?  Nothing else was said until his monthly newsletter column explains what he had done.   I need to give some quotes from that article.

1.  “One of the secrets to suc­cessful Triumph ownership is to know the limits of your car.”

2.  “Another important secret is to remember those limitations for more than a few hours.”

3.  “When we left Lilburn for Athens , about 5 miles into the trip, the engine began to sputter, then died. I recently had a bad wire in my distributor, and suspected that I didn’t fix it properly. I pulled into a parking lot, raised the bonnet, and was soon joined by the Munsons, Pwitts, and Tarletons. We tinkered with the distributor and the car fired up immediately, only to die about 8 seconds later. Only then did I do the math.”

4.  “We determined the problem was with the fuel system, and decided that the best course of action would be to adjust the fluid level. This corrected the problem, and we were on our way.”

5.  “The reason that I mention all this is that there may be some terrible rumors and photos in circulation that could do damage to my reelection campaign and expose me to adverse recognition among my peers (a Bozo no-no). I feel that it is best to get these things out in the open and humiliate myself publicly, rather than let someone else do it for me.”

6.  “I learned an important lesson that day: never let your friends see you do stupid things.  I just hope my wife

doesn’t question that gas charge ($1.97) when the credit card bill arrives.”

What is wrong with this photo?

     Well, it goes without saying, George’s article sealed his nomination for the BOZO award.  However, to be safe, I called Mike Hurst and ask what he thought about George getting the award.  “Oh yeah, go for it.  If not for that, he got a speeding ticket during the Torpedo Run and wasn’t even racing.”  So George, only those high on the list of “who we would most like to be with on a road tour” can receive this award.  We (the GTA) affectionately give you the BOZO award for 2004.

Note:  For those new to the club, go to the GTA website and read about the annual BOZO award in the January 2002 newsletter. 

Pictures were made and presented to George by Shawn Tarleton.