Event Report

barbara Bonatto has friends in high places. Her responsibility every year is to arrange for great weather on the day of AONE’s Il Giro Del Monadnock fall foliage tour, and her Friend has never let us down. This October 6th was no exception—sunny and warm from beginning to end!

The day started early, when around ten Alfas formed the southern contingent, meeting at Papa Razzi’s in Concord, MA, for the first leg. In addition to the usual assortment of spiffy Spiders, GTs, Giuliettas, and such, Ven Fonte and friends dazzled the crowd by bringing along both Ven’s 1950 6C2500 SS Touring Coupe and his 1961 Giulietta Sprint Speciale!

The tour left promptly at 9 am (just as Walter Powers was pulling into the parking lot) but got off to a rather inauspicious start. Less than a mile from Papa Razzi’s, we got behind a stinkin’ logging truck! And it stayed in front of us all the way to our first stop in Littleton, MA, for coffee. Having ditched the truck and fortified with caffeine, we continued northwestward, enjoying the sunshine, warm air, scenic farmland, and the fact that we were all driving Alfa Romeos.

But it didn’t last—we came to an abrupt halt and had to reverse direction, due to an accident or something up ahead. Il Giro tour leader Guilherme Bonatto found an alternative route (a very pleasant one at that), but before long it happened again—we came to another interruption south of Hollis and had to reverse direction, this time due to a runners’ race! The first attempt to go around it didn’t work too well, and we ended up having to loop to the east. To make up lost time and lost prime roads, we did some miles on trafficky Routes 3 and 101A. Guilherme then connected us back to the planned route on South Merrimack Road. We zipped along some nice country back roads for the journey into Peterborough, where we arrived significantly later than planned. So much for our regimented schedule!

In Peterborough, we were met by many more Alfisti, mainly those living in the northern part of our region. In all, we had over twenty Alfas on our tour! We wandered around town for a bit, and got reacquainted with some Alfa friends we hadn’t seen in a while. Then we shoved off on a loop west around Dublin Lake, which was abbreviated somewhat in order to get back on schedule. It was tough to all stay together in and around downtown Peterborough, and indeed we got split up into two or three factions for a while, but ultimately we regrouped for the drive northward toward Henniker, our destination for lunch.

Daniel’s Restaurant & Pub is located right on a river near the center of Henniker—in fact, our group took over their entire outdoor deck for lunch. Who would have thought that an October day in the middle of New Hampshire could be so pleasant? We were joined at Daniel’s by yet a few more Alfisti, and all enjoyed a fine lunch, the perfect weather, and each other’s company.

After strolling back to our cars, we engaged in an impromptu photo op, resulting in our cover shot, for one thing. Then the engines sprung back into life, and the sweet-sounding and great-looking caravan pushed further north.

About half of the group toured north on 114 and 103 onto 103B and down into Sunapee Harbor, on the west side of the lake. There was time for coffee, ice cream, and shopping at this charming lake post, where the weather was more like August.

Although it’s always a treat to see significant Alfa Romeos such as Ven Fonte’s 6C2500 on display at such venues as Tutto Italiano, it’s simply wonderful to see them out on the road, being used as they were intended. Ven reports that, despite its size, the 6C2500 is actually a pleasure to drive, thanks in no small part to its advanced design for the day that included independent rear suspension. It’s also a pleasure to be out there on the road with it, watching it move and listening to its lovely song. We hope that Ven and crew enjoyed the tour as much as the rest of us enjoyed having them among us, and that they’ll be joining us many times in the future.

Seeing the string of Alfas springing down the esses of Abbot Hill on Gage Road west of Wilton during the Capitolo AM, then around Dublin Lake, and toward the end on the "Alfa Road" that is Route 103B makes us wish that we could do it all again and again. (Click here for PDF files of all the routes of Il Giro IV, should you feel like driving them again.) Or, if you can wait for that, we will have Giro V next year—the 5th anniversary edition—mark your calendars for Saturday, October 4th, 2008.

Our thanks go to Guilherme & Barbara Bonatto and John & Peggy Percival, who once again provided our club with a scenic, fun, well-planned and -executed autumn motor tour. And Barbara, you now have us convinced—God is Brazilian! (Well, American and Italian and all other nationalities too, but He is for sure an Alfista……)

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	Alfas in every direction! This is one of the spots where the road was blocked off and we had to turn around
	Rob & Joyce Rizzo and their GTV came over from Long Island to join the tour
	Alfas from the ‘50s through the ‘90s!
	This would be your view if you were the passenger in a 6C2500
	Our Il Giro Del Monadnock hosts, Barbara & Guilherme Bonatto on the ends and John & Peggy Percival in the center, relaxing on the deck of Daniel’s Restaurant
	Another view of the gems that graced our tour, parked for lunch in Henniker
	Ven Fonte (second from left) and his friends and family pose between his two fine Alfa Romeos
	A wide assortment of Alfas fill the parking lot of Daniel’s Restaurant and Pub in Henniker
	Winding our way along a country road
	Mark Ziburis and his ‘92 Spider buzz by a gazebo in Sunapee, far north of his home in Connecticut