We couldn’t have asked for more cooperation from the weather, and as a result we enjoyed another superb day in Marion participating in the annual Swamp Fox Festival Parade .

An EIM toast to Sevyn as our Miss Eastern Iowa MINIs 2010 — thanks for representing us! Many thanks also to Larry for his excellent planning and organization, and to Daryl for bringing all of the wonderful MINI swag!

We had fun meeting new EIMers Mica, Amber, Xander, and Liam; and it was great to have Gary and Penni travel all the way from Ankeny to join us. A very special EIM shout-out to Kim from Buffalo who joined us in the parade — come back anytime!.

Pictures from the day can be found in the EIM Photo Gallery or accessed directly using the following link:

Photos from the Swamp Fox Festival Parade, September 18 2010

Come celebrate Spring with us — and the impending motoring season — along with great food and MINI fellowship at our 3rd Annual “Spring has Sprung” Meet-n-Eat. It will be hosted on Saturday, March 27th at the Granite City Restaurant in Cedar Rapids. Rendezvous time in the restaurant parking lot is 10:30 am.   (This event was originally planned for the 20th but was rescheduled due to weather.)

We expect the fine folks from Willis Auto Campus in Des Moines to join us. For those who don’t know yet, they have been awarded the very first MINI Cooper franchise in the State of Iowa. They’re ready to answer your questions about the new franchise.

Details including times, address, phone, map, and links for restaurant info and RSVP sign-up, are available in the EIM Event Calendar Entry on NAM.  Let us know you’re coming so we can arrange sufficient seating.

If you’re new to our group or don’t yet have a NAM identity, you can RSVP by simply leaving a comment using the comments link above.

We continue to plan for our group’s participation in the High Plains Motoring Society (HPMS) Run for the Ozarks (R4TO). This event is being held on the twisty roads of northwest Arkansas in the area of Harrison, AR from 13-16 May (the first and last of these days include transit time).

We already have a nice contingent of our Iowa MINIs planning on attending, but there’s always room for more! Coordination among our members is occurring in the associated NAM Planning Thread –> EIM at the 2010 HPMS R4TO

Anyone interested in more info is welcome to post in the aforementioned NAM thread, send a NAM PM (private message) to Gil-galad, or simply leave a comment to this post using the comments link above and we’ll get back to you ASAP.

The HPMS motored to the Black Hills of South Dakota last year, and most of us felt like it was the highlight of our year. Check out the pictures in our EIM in the Black Hills photo gallery if you want a taste of the adventure!

Check out all of the fun pictures from our Eastern Iowa MINIs Meet-n-Eat at the Blueport Junction Bar and Grill in Davenport!  You can access them in our Gallery or directly using the following link:

Photos from Blueport Junction in Davenport 2-20-2010

Great times together with great people, and a great showing despite the winter weather. Thanks to Linda for the pics, to Denny and Sandy for the venue, and to all of our MINI mates for coming out and joining us.

See you in March at Granite City!

Photos from this event are now available in our Gallery: Breitbach’s at Balltown Photos

Click “more…” to see a recap of our 2009 EIM awards!

Here’s a summary of the ’09 EIM awards that were presented at Breitbach’s:

Most Infatuated with Blue MINIs Award – l&g speaker
Most Dependable IL-Based EIM Members Award – getting grey
Most Fanatical MINI Family Award – bsteig
Most Devoted to the MINI Cooper Brand Award – oldsbear
Most Opportunistic Photographer Award – deanman
Best & Most Serendipitous First EIM Rendezvous Award – densan57
Best MINI Travel Story Award – Smokin’ Jo
Best New Mirror Caps Award – TasmaninanBlu
Best Online Presence and Webmaster Extraordinaire Award – R56MINICooper
Best Performance Modifications Award – D3m0N
Best Emergency Navigation and Leadership Award – lapshoffman
“Best in Show” Award – MariaChick
Best Event Host/Hostess Award – 05MINI
Best Volunteer Spirit Award – deanman
Comeback Motorer of the Year Award – MariaChick

Looking forward to a great motoring year with all of our Iowa MINI friends in 2010!

Artistic thumbnail photo credit: T. Siminski

Despite the uncooperative weather at the start of the day, the 7th Annual MINICooperIowa Fall MINI Drive on Saturday, October 3rd turned out to be a wonderful event! Twenty-one Iowa MINIs started the day together and thoroughly enjoyed the central Iowa countryside, the Grinnell tour, the ice cream, Ledges State Park, and the great dinner at the historic Hotel Pattee in Perry.

Many thanks to the MINICooperIowa team that planned and hosted the event.  Also, props to EIMer deanman for the cool, personalized MINI buttons!

There are several links to pictures from our fun day in the associated NAM Discussion Thread (<-link) for this event.  Check ‘em out!

A full cadre of 18 MINIs made a great showing for the folks in Marion during this year’s Swamp Fox Festival Parade. Everyone loves MINIs! Thanks to all for coming out and joining us. Additional thanks to our parade coordinator lapshoffman for all of the hard prep work, and to he and 05MINI for the great MINI baubles and bling. Sincere EIM special thanks go out as well to Alexandra, our “Miss Eastern Iowa MINIs 2009″ who represented us with grace and style.

There is a gallery with some photos available here: Swamp Fox Parade Photos

Discussion and links to more pictures can be found on our companion NAM Thread using this link: Swamp Fox Festival Parade 2009

At least sixty-four MINIs strong–with Miah34 and Gil-galad among them–turned out for the St. Louis MINI Club’s 7th Annual Run to the Louis P. Balducci Winery charity drive on August 29th. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect, the twisties on the way to the winery were mighty fine indeed, the raffle was incredible, and the Balducci wines exquisite! We thank our MINI friends from St. Louis for inviting us along.

Pictures from this event can be viewed in our EIM Gallery. Also, you can review the related wrap-up discussion in the St. Louis MINIs Event Thread (<-link)

*** Listen to Todd Pearson from the world famous White Roof Radio talk about his experiences with us in the Run to the Balducci Winery in White Roof Radio – Woofcast #304!

Woo hoo! MariaChick and that “one bad JCW” is an award winner at the 2009 Heartland British Autofest Day car show in Davenport, IA on August 9th. 1st Place for BMW MINI Coopers as well as an additional award for the flashiest wheels overall. Congratulations!

The award pics are now safely resident in our Gallery — check it out!

Thanks much to our Clinton buddy JPMM for alerting us to this opportunity!

Pictures are up and available in our Gallery. Also, feel free to check out the picture links over in our NAM Discussion Thread to recap this fun event.

Our thanks to all who participated!