I Like To Get Things Started

When I was a sophomore in college I bought my first car, a 1971 MGBGT. I loved that car. When I was younger I swore that my first car wasn’t going to be some big ugly clunker, but something that I really wanted. And I really wanted that MG. The picture here isn’t of my car, but it is exactly what mine looked like, color and all.

MGB GT 1971Much to everyone’s amazement, I got the MG. And I was devoted to it. And like most old cars do, it broke down. Now I had enough money at that time to make my car payment and buy gas, but I really didn’t have enough money for repair bill. So after getting it repaired, thanks dad, and it breaking down again I figured out that I was going to have to learn to fix it myself. There was only one problem though; I had no idea how to work on cars. Even then I was a budding computer geek – without much mechanical ability at all.

So, after begging a job at Foreign Car Parts, the parts shop not far from my home and run by now good friend Don Brown, I started to make some car friends. And then it occurred to me. There were lots of people out there with these cars who would love to share information. We could get together, talk cars, work on each other’s problems, and generally share the load. And so The British Car Club of Charleston was born. Over twenty-five years later it is still going strong.

Not too many years after forming the club I graduated college, moved to Atlanta, and got married. And the club survived and flourished. I may have been the founder and first president, but thankfully it grew into a fully mature club independent of me.

Fast forward about 12 years or so. I was back in Charleston and still grooving to the tunes of Jimmy Buffett. I became a fan of his in high school and remain so to this day. I went to my first show over 30 years ago. Wow. Anyway, it was start-up time again. This time with a few other guys, Fred Murray and Ron Thayer, we started the local chapter of the Parrot Head Club. The club is a great group of people who may have a common interest in the music of Jimmy Buffett, but their activities revolve around charities and doing good for the community. Please, check out the Lowcountry Parrothead Club.

OK, lets fast-forward again – this time to about a little over a year ago. Palmetto Technology Hub - PATHThis time the organization would be the Palmetto Technology Hub, or PATH. You can check out our website at SCPath.org. My partner this time is the astounding Tina Arnoldi. After hearing so often of the needs of non-profits and knowing first hand how many tech people wanted to pitch in and help, we formed PATH to put the two together. Simply put, we pair tech folks with the non-profit community organizations who need them. Not only is this rewarding, it is a heck of a lot of fun. There are some great folks out there.

Well where I am with this is I feel it is about to happen again. My wife says it is a disease, but I consider it a gift. I tend to start things. Actually, I tend to start organizations. (This doesn’t even include businesses! That is an entirely different subject.) And this next one I am looking to form may be the biggest, most difficult, but most lasting of them all. I am not showing all my cards yet, but let me just say this, I have a one track mind so stay tuned.