October and November tour News

We will remember 2007 as a spectacular year for fall touring.  The foliage remained colorful through most of November and the weekend weather was unusually pleasant.  As a result our participation for the three day tour of the Whitesburg area and the tour of Casey County was much greater than expected.  Our tour leaders put a lot of time and effort into preparing these activities and it is rewarding to see such a positive response from the participants.
Bill Bates and John Blair guided us thorough some of their old stomping grounds in the mountains bordering Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. The stories of their adventures growing up there added to our understanding and appreciation for this naturally beautiful
Area of our country. It was promoted as a driving tour and it certainly was.  However we also experienced a lot of interesting points of interest along the way, the coal mining museum in Benham for example.  Henry Ford was not the only tycoon who realized the value of owning the raw materials used to manufacture a finished product.  The International Harvester Company purchased the coal in the mountains surrounding Benham and created a company town focused on moving this source of energy north to their manufacturing plants.  In the process they brought improved education housing, health care and job opportunities to a community lacking those things.  The museum does a good job of showing the positive and negative aspects of living and working in a community created for the benefit of an industrial corporation.
Our October tour of the Black Mountain area was not only a great scenic drive but also a good opportunity for expanding confidence in our cars capabilities.  Although the A Model  was engineered for roads worse than anything we traveled, understandably many are reluctant to drive them up and down long, steep twisting, mountain roads.  If a car has a weakness it will probably become apparent here.  Most of us don’t remember to do preventive maintenance like we should, so when someone on the tour discovers a problem, all the other drivers try to recall the last time they checked their car.  Wrenches suddenly appear all around.  No one wants to have car trouble on a tour but it is a great learning experience when it happens.  Very seldom is it something that can’t be repaired in a little while, at least good enough to limp home.  Unfortunately, Judy and Walter Brumfield experienced one of those rare occasions and had to trailer their coupe back.  To make matters worse, Walter’s foot slipped off the edge of the trailer while loading the car, resulting in a broken bone in his foot.  That combination would sour most folks on touring in an old car but they were back with smiles for the November tour to Casey County.  As new members, the Brumfields were surprised and impressed by how much help and support they received during their difficulties and the amount of concern expressed for Walter’s recovery.  Walter says the foot and the coupe will be ready for a Model A ride soon and he and Judy are looking forward to more trips next year.

Intending not to lose anyone in the rural area, Carl Goodwin created a shopping map for our Amish country tour.  It made for a very pleasant drive as everyone was able to come and go as they pleased.  Watching the the 2 dozen A Models going back and froth on the farm roads and refueling at a country store made it feel like a Saturday seventy-five years ago, at least until you paid for the gas.
The Casey County trip finished a great year of touring.  We put many miles on the old cars, saw a lot of interesting things and met several nice folks along the way.  The members who worked on putting activities together should be very p0roud of the results.  Soon plans will be made for 2008 activities, and you will have a chance to bring a bunch of A models to your area.  We’re an easy group to please.  As long as the road leads to food most will be ready to travel and after a few hours in a Model A, all food tastes good and any reason to stop and stretch is a great point of interest.  We won’t wear out our welcome.  As soon as bellies are full and bladders are empty you’ll hear the call of the aoogah horn and the old cars will quickly disappear, leaving only a trace of motor oil as evidence of the visit.  If you know the whereabouts of the area’s deepest sink hole or the site of an unusually large tree stump, chances are your Model A buddies would be interest.

President’s Report

Thanks to Billie Bates and John Blair for a fabulous fall tour.  If you like to drive you’re a, tour more interesting sites of Kentucky history and visit with ‘A Model’ buddies then this was the tour for you. Oh, and by the way we ate well also!  In case you missed it, we probably will redo a portion of it at a future date.  We just had too many great things to do and just ran out of daylight.
Besides John and Billie, special thanks to Don Tolliver for his generosity at the Friday lunch stop for our traveling party.  The Tollivers’ were very gracious hosts while we were in their hometown.
Also a big thanks to Carl and Ramona Goodwin for all the good planning on the Casey County trip.  It was a great day of Model A touring.
We welcome our new members Terry and Donna Meek from Richmond.  They are proud owners of a 1931 Deluxe Coupe.

Eldon Reeves Saunders June 3, 1925 – November 28, 2007
Our club lost a good friend last week.  New members may not have had the pleasure of meeting Reeves, his health for the last couple of years prevented him from participating in club events, but he and his wife Glendora were very active members for several years.  Most of us will remember him in his White Model A hat behind the wheel of a beautiful blue Model A roadster.  His son Lonnie and daughter-in law Kitty are also club members and accompanied Reeves and Glendora on a lot of good tours over the years.  He enjoyed sharing his old cars with others and was a favorite of the kids at the church day care.  They loved to explore the inside of the Model A and blow the aoogha horn.  As a tribute many friends brought their old cars for the funeral procession.  That would have pleased him.  As his pastor said, Reeves loved the Lord, his family, friends and anything to do with old cars.
We will keep Glendora and the family in our prayers as they grieve.  We hope they will continue to stay connected to all their friends in our club.  We’ve shared many good times and created some wonderful memories and will endure for years to come.

Christmas dinner is this Saturday December 8th, 2007
Come celebrate the holidays with your Model A buddies Saturday Dec. 8th at Southern Hills Baptist Church, 3408 Clays Mill Road.  (Take Man O War to Clays Mill ad turn toward downtown, the church is on the right.)  Lunch is planned for 12:30 but the doors will be open at 11:00 if you would like to come early and visit.  The club will furnish the meat, bread, coffee and tea.  You’re invited to bring your favorite side dish or dessert.  If you can’t cook bring along a couple of jugs of soft drinks to share with the non coffee and tea drinkers.
Make sure you try on the new club jackets for a good fit.  The club will pay half the purchase price for members who order before the end of January.  Following lunch we’ll enjoy a silent auction.  Look around the house and garage for something your Model A friends might be willing to spend a few bucks on and bring it to the auction.  Everyone enjoys taking part in the bidding and the proceeds from the auction help us meet club expenses.  Treasurer Gene Swisher will be on hand to run the auction.  He will also accept your club dues for 2008 if you would like to save e a stamp and the aggravation of mailing them later in the year.  It will include election of officers and discussion of hosting a national MARC meet in a few years. 

Don’t miss this great time of fellowship, especially if you haven’t attended a club activity lately, this will be a great opportunity to catch up.  If you enjoy eating and talking about old cars you’ll have a wonderful time.

Happy November Birthdays
Kenton Brake, Carl Goodwin, Pearl Looney, Lee Baker, Nancy Swisher, John Blair, Burt Nation, Betty Spurlock, Ray McCoy, Joan Webb, John Yates

Happy December Birthday
Tammy Godbey, Jim Barnes, Janet Boggess, Jerry Kelly, Raymond Tutor, Tom Blanck, , Nancy Butler, Diana Hanks, Bill Bates, Martha Baker, Gail Wickersham, John Gabriel