Thank you for the opportunity to serve you as section president for this year. I have been a MBCA member since buying my first Mercedes in 1993. As an avid fan of car maintenance by the owner, I went to Hayes, my M-B dealer in Kalamazoo, to buy an oil filter for its first oil change. After looking in all the usual places, I could not find the filter in my car.

This was my first chance to use one of our clubs valuable services. A call to George Murphy, MBCA's National Technical Director, and a check of George’s microfiche file revealed the location of the filter on this new engine model, a 3.2 liter in-line six. 

Each time I do a maintenance job on either of my Mercedes, I find new ways to appreciate the quality of materials, sophistication of design and simplicity of maintenance and repair. My wife Brenda wonders why we don’t take our cars to the dealer like normal people.

My professional career, culminating as a business Vice President at Pharmacia & Upjohn followed by a stint as President and CEO of Chesapeake Biological Laboratories in Baltimore did little to prepare me for Mercedes maintenance.

Your section has several fun filled events planed for this year. I hope you can join us to enjoy each others company and our cars.

Jeffrey S. Kimpton is the seventh president of Interlochen Center for the Arts. Since 2003 he has lead this internationally known organization and its comprehensive portfolio of arts education, public broadcasting and presentations programs, which includes Interlochen Arts Camp, Interlochen Arts Academy, Interlochen Public Radio, the Interlochen Arts Festival and Interlochen College for the Creative Arts.

More than 250,000 people participate in Interlochen programs annually, including student and adult learners, radio listeners and those who attend the more than 600 performances a year at Interlochen. In 2006 President Bush awarded Interlochen the National Medal of Arts, the nation1s highest award given to an artist or arts organization.

Mr. Kimpton and his wife Julie are Western Michigan Section members and the proud owners of an E320 4Matic, C280 4Matic, SL550 and a 1962 220SE Coupe.