Mercedes Benz Club of America MNMB Section Finds a Way During Covid 19 Pandemic

There’s no doubt the Covid 19 Pandemic has changed the daily lives of every American, we’ve been cooped up for weeks trying to figure out what’s next. As car lovers and car club members, we’ve watched event calendars empty with every new cancellation. Luckily, we can still take our cars out for a Spring cruise while practicing responsible social distancing guidelines. Some of my friends in Minneapolis, members of the MNMB Section of the Mercedes Benz Club of America, decided they’d try to hold their club’s ‘first Wednesday of the Month’ get together at the Lion’s Tap Restaurant in Eden Prairie, MN, pandemic or no pandemic.

25+ Year Club Tradition

The Lion’s Tap Restaurant in Eden Prairie, MN has been hosting members of the MNMB Section for burgers and fries on the first Wednesday of the month for over 25 years. It’s the club’s longest running, regularly scheduled event.

The rules were simple… arrive at the parking lot of the Lion’s Tap in your Mercedes, bring folding chairs, set them up at least 6 feet apart from other club members, order the usual ‘burger and fries’ as take out from the restaurant and catch up with old Mercedes friends and make some new ones.

Nobody was quite sure what kind of turn out there would be on Wednesday evening the 6th of May, the fact that the weather was beautiful, high 60s with puffy clouds in the sky, couldn’t hurt. Once everyone arrived there were about 15 cars in the parking lot along with their occupants enjoying burgers and long awaited car conversation… even if they might have had to raise their voices to talk to the people 6 feet away. 25+ people, this was the largest turn out for the Lion’s Tap Wednesday evening event ever. It’s usually attended by a core group of about 10 -14.

New Members Turned Out

The real bonus, an impromptu car show! Club members brought cars ranging from a 1957 300 SL roadster and a 1970 280 SL to much newer cars including a very nice 1999 12 cylinder W140 S class and a 2009 S 63 AMG sedan. There was a 280 SEL 4.5 from the early 70s, a 1991 R129 300 SL (with manual transmission!) and even a Mercedes B class, a B 200 originally purchased by a club member in Canada and a very nice SLK in dark blue with a good looking red pinstripe.

While some attendees were long time Mercedes Benz Club members and regulars at this monthly event, at least 4 car’s worth of people were newer club members and for all of them, this was their first time attending the monthly Lion’s Tap event.

Minnesota doesn’t have mandatory mask orders in place (unlike New York, where I am, where you cannot enter a business without one, by executive order) but some club members chose to wear them anyway. Everyone was respectful of each other’s space and was very aware of appropriate social distancing measures that needed to be taken.

It seems that Mercedes Club members, like the rest of the country’s car community, are hungry to get out with their cars and car club friends and it seems like it can be done responsibly if appropriate precautions are taken. Maybe this Spring and Summer won’t be wasted inside after all.