Anne Greenwood from WIMA GB wrote this article for WIMA News.
My fun at the WIMA Continental rally July 1965
Dennis and I arrived at the rally in Germany at about 5 pm on Monday. It was held at Oberreifenberg, which is a little village in Hesse in the Taunus Mountains. While we were in the hotel, one or two more arrived, making eight members that evening: Christel Berg, Sigrid Romca, Christa Spathe, Ellen of course, Kirsten Peschel, Marianne Gruttman, Irene Hartwich and myself.
Tuesday morning was the Orientation Run. We were all given a map and a list of places through which we had to pass. There were four control posts where we had to get our cards stamped and we had to do the route in three hours, marks being deducted for being either too early or too late. We had quite an amusing time doing this because in one of the towns we got lost, and as Dennis speaks no German at all and I speak very little, you can imagine the state we were in! Eventually we found our way and completed the course without much trouble.
On Wednesday we all set off to Laubuseschbach where we held our trial. This was set out on a football pitch and some rough ground nearby. Sigrid fell on one of the bumpy sections, and a day or two later she was sporting some brightly coloured bruises on her leg. Her bad luck must have brought me good luck, because I managed to stay on, even though it was the first time I had done anything of this sort, and I was very nervous. When we had finished, we all went down to the village for a jolly good feed, and by golly I was ready for it.
That evening after our meal, we went down into the village again to the Post Hotel. Ellen took her guitar and Christel’s husband took his accordion. We all sang and talked so long that it was two o’clock in the morning before we went up the hill to bed.
Friday’s event was the Picture Search Run which consisted of seven pictures on a card with no location indicated at all. What we had to do was find out where they were and go there. At each of the places someone stamped our card. The winner was the one who did it in the least mileage. Dennis and I were lucky enough to find two men who knew a little English and were able to tell us where most of the places were.
In the evening was an apron auction. There were some really nice ones from as far away as New Zealand, Australia and America, plus those from England and Germany. That was a great deal of fun because of the modelling show put on by Sigrid’s husband, Gerhard Romca, who paraded across the tables wearing the aprons. Into this cheerful scene came a message from Wiesbaden that Anke-Eve had just had a baby girl!
Saturday was a free day so we went shopping and to the Frankfurt Zoo. Our prize giving was during the evening at the Weilquelle Hotel. It came as a big surprise to me that I was the overall winner of the Rally. I was given a laurel wreath with my name on purple ribbons, various certificates and trophies, and the merriment continued well into the morning.
