August 27, 2026
 

When you allowed me to become President of MOCSEM in January, I knew we had a great club, but it really showed with flying colors during our 51st annual Mustang Memories Show! Keep in mind that for the last 9 years, I was just a Vendor/Participant handling the duties of working for my wife Sue at the Good Humor Truck (trying to do what I was told)! So this year, I got to experience just what it takes to put on the annual Mustang Memories Show. The endless meetings, planning, suggestions/changes, merchandise, and the coordination of activities, tents, tables, chairs, golf carts, etc, etc! What I saw was an entire Mustang community (Members, Sponsors, Show Coordinators, Workers, Board Members, even folks that are not club members) come together to make sure that this show was over the top, first class, and executed seamlessly!

Our 2026 Mustang Memories show was one of the best shows operationally that I have ever been involved with! I wasn’t sure what to expect having to be out of bed at 4 am and on the show field by 6 am (because our Social Director Dana, the Board, and Coordinators told me I had to be there at that time!). But watching the entire team working together as the sun came up, and the cars started rolling in, you could see the well-oiled machine just purring along as it had the previous 50 years. At the end of the day, I just looked over at the show field after the last tent was taken down, and the last chair was stacked, and thought to myself "damn, this club and all of it’s members are absolutely outstanding!" The comments I received about how well the show was run still continue to come in.  So my hat is off to each and every one of you!

Of course, that was just the beginning of our many events for the club during the month of August. Next up was the Mohawk Track Experience put on by Paul Rocha at Gingerman Raceway in South Haven, MI.  Proceeds for that event went directly to charity for JDRF. We had members participating for the first time on the track as well as experienced members.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We even had a couple members playing cat and mouse on the track until one of them over-corrected on turn 3 and decided to see what the grassy/sandy part of the track felt like (you can ask my wife Sue about that next time you see her)!

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We also had the Woodward Pre-Cruise at the Berkley A&W, where our members were out in full force, even before I arrived at 6 pm! Now I know why we go there every year – the service that we received from the staff is outstanding! They come to us out on their grassy area, take our food orders and then bring the food out to us! Two days later we were back at Woodward for MOCSEM’s Mustang Corral where the city of Ferndale gave us our own Mustang Alley for the Dream Cruise! And it once again shows how the club pulls together to be able to handle any last minute changes that are thrown at us. And you know that since this was our first year at this location, it will be even better next year!

September is right around the corner and we are gearing up for additional events for the remainder of the year.  I think you may see some cruising events coming up such at a trip to Bakers in Milford, Cider Mill visits, and maybe even a fall color tour if we can catch the leaves changing at the right time. You can’t rule out a potential get-together at the Home of the Mustang (FRAP) as they look to their own employee/family get-together later this year.

For September, our guest speaker will be John Clor, Ford Mustang Enthusiast Communication Specialist, and he will be sharing Ford’s perspective on the Mustang Community and where we are heading.

Activities already on the calendar for MOCSEM are as follows:

• Caffeine and Chrome – August 29 th (9 am – Noon) – Gateway Classic Cars in Dearborn

• General Meeting – September 8th

• Frankenmuth Auto Fest – September 11th-13th

• AAA Auto Expo – September 19th – (10 am – 2 pm)

• MOCSEM Scholarship Chili Cookoff/Picnic – October 3rd

 

October we will have Nick Terzes, Ford Racing Heritage Business Manager who will be speaking to us on new and exciting things happening within Ford Motor Company!

Mike Berardi – MOCSEM President