Mini Coopers rally through Southeast Missouri

PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. -- There were several onlookers last Saturday morning, May 21, at the Riverfront Park and Walkway as a Mini Cooper Rally was about to begin. Members of two Mini Cooper clubs -- the St. Louis Mini Club and the Mid-South Miniacs of Memphis, Tennessee -- joined together to motor from New Madrid, Missouri, to Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, by way of back roads to find hills and twisties, or curves.

The rally itself was a two-day journey, with an overnight in Ste. Genevieve. While in Ste. Genevieve, several motorists left and returned to their homes, but nonetheless enjoyed the rally.

"Great route! The second half got quite twisty and exciting. Thanks for organizing it. I know from experience how much work that is," said Tony Williamson, a Mini motorist from St. Louis.

Those who stayed in Ste. Genevieve enjoyed walking around the historic downtown and eating at The Anvil.

The second day included a different route and a stop at Fort Davidson in Pilot Knob, Missouri, and motoring through Iron County to Annapolis, Missouri, and onto Highway C.

"The Missouri Dragon, as I call it," said Williamson.

"At one of our planning meetings last year, I jokingly said I could do a drive in Missouri, and they took me seriously," said Scott Seal of Lilbourn, Missouri, organizer of the event. "Open mouth and insert foot. My wife, Linda, and I have been traveling Southeast Missouri on the weekends trying to pick out some of the better roads. Some of the members wanted us to include wineries around Ste. Genevieve, and we went in search of them. And we are not wine drinkers! I will add that out of all of the wineries, River Ridge Winery at Commerce is by far the better. We decided that would be our first destination and lunch stop."

"This is the first time I planned an event like this, and did not realize how involved it was to put this event together. Since we offered the event to the St. Louis club in addition to Memphis, I really did not know how many would show up due to the distance involved in getting here. Either way, it was a two- or three-hour drive just to get to New Madrid. My goal was for 12 Minis, and would have been happy with less. In total, we had 15 Mini Coopers and 31 participants. I was totally overwhelmed and humbled."

"I wanted to begin the rally in New Madrid at the Riverfront Park, near the boat ramp, due to having plenty of parking space. We did make a tour of the New Madrid Historical Museum before taking a group picture on the observation deck and heading to our Minis. Since I grew up in the Ozark foothills of Missouri, I knew where some of the better hills and curves are, having been on them as a young lad with my parents or as a teenager hitting the roads myself. However, in planning this rally, I learned there were more roads out there to have fun on than what I remembered from my youth."

"Mini Coopers are a fun little car and are designed to hit the hills and curves with a little speed -- OK, a lot of speed. As a rule, among Mini drivers, you double what the speed limit sign says. Some do, and many do not, but for the hard-core Miniacs, just stay behind them."

There are several clubs across the United States, and each has its own drives and rallies. Members can belong to more than one club at a time.

The Seals are the proud owners of two Minis: a Thunder Grey 2015 Mini Cooper S, which was adopted in March, and a White Silver 2012 Mini Cooper S Clubman, adopted in April. The Seals are members of the Mid-South Miniacs Club in Memphis, the St. Louis Mini Club and the Tar Heel Mini Club in North Carolina.