The President s Corner

Transcription

1 July 2016 Volume 41 Issue 7 The President s Corner In June we met at the Birkinbine's Shop in Temple, Georgia. Mikey is a great host and we got to see his Corvair, a late model coupe. In addition to Mikey's Corvair there were several others at this meeting. It's so good to see Corvairs at a Club meeting. On my drive to Temple it occurred to me that Corvair Atlanta should consider giving an award for the member who most often drives their Corvair to Club meetings. Hands Down, Dan Terry would win this award every year. In fact, I cannot recall a CAI meeting where Dan did NOT drive his 1966 Corsa. It's been an awkward situation for me as president of the Club, who does not drive a Corvair to meetings. However, June was different my 1965 Monza made the trip to Temple and back home without incident. Also at the June meeting we had a discussion of how to fund the Club's charitable contributions. This is an important and ongoing discussion, to which Club members have made valuable suggestions. Corvair Atlanta is organized as a 501-C-(3) Charitable Organization. As such, it is my belief that the Club should engage in some form(s) of charitable activities. I am grateful to those members who have called this to my attention and provided suggestions of how to fulfill this goal. The results are in for Spring-Fest 2016 and it was quite a good year for the Clubs. Spring-Fest never ceases to amaze me but I know it takes a tremendous amount of work to make it a success. Much of that success is due to the dedicated effort of those who; prepare & serve the food, collect door prizes, sell raffle tickets and manage the events. So I want to recognize just a few members who make that dedicated effort, and have done so for many years; Jeannette Rudolph and Wanda Cook for all the excellent food they prepare and provide, Paula Hilderbrand and Joan Law for their work of collecting door prizes and selling raffle tickets & Tee shirts. Of course, here are many others, from all the Clubs, who deserve our thanks for their efforts on behalf of the Clubs. Thank You! Car Show of the Month - July Car Show of the Month in Marietta, Georgia. It is called C.A.N.D.O. which stands for College Achievement Needs Dedication and Optimism. It is a Car and Bike Show/ Cruise at Jim Miller Park Saturday, July 16 from 10AM until 2 PM. Info: 123cando.com

2 Meeting Minutes The Saturday, June 18th CAI Club meeting was hosted by Robert and Amy Burkinbine. Robert's father, David, also assisted. Lunch was served at noon. The grilled hamburgers and hot dogs were great with plenty of potato salad, chips and drinks. We appreciated Jeanette Rudolph bringing some great homemade brownies to share. Thank you Robert, Amy and David. Attending the meeting were: Bill and Jeannette Rudolph Wanda Cook Dan Terry Lanny Milbrandt Al Hilderbrand Nolan Grant Kelly Parker Tom Constantine Robert, Mikey Burkinbine Guest and co-host: David Burkinbine Thanks to the Burkinbine's for Hosting this month s meeting. Tom Constantine called the meeting to order promptly at 1 PM. We debated whether to get a larger cooker. There will be more discussion but Al Hilderbrand suggested we sell the smaller cooker we have and purchase a larger one that will be more effective for our needs. There was some discussion about how to use our funds. Tom and Nolan Grant suggested we use funds to help promote the Club so we could try to get more members. Nolan suggested we encourage people to bring a guest to meetings. Al Hilderbrand suggested that we need to do a better job of recognizing and thanking those members that do much of the work for the Club in making sure we have successful events like Springfest. Al also mentioned that we are out of the regular plastic name tags. Trying to maintain making them is very expensive, about $12.50 per badge. Therefore, in the future we will give name tags like the ones we gave in Helen at Springfest. Jeannette mentioned that Liz Armor may donate to the club Chuck's old Name Tag machine. The August CAI meeting will not be at Keith and Sharon Burkingstock's home in Fayetteville as planned. Al Hilderbrand will send out an asking if anyone wants to volunteer to host the August meeting. If there are no volunteers then we will have the August meeting at Al's & Paula's house in Cumming. The Christmas dinner this year will be where it was last year, at the Old Ivy Clubhouse in Atlanta. Wanda Cook volunteered to provide a large box for toy donations for Toys for Tots. It was discussed that we should have chicken and a meat to choose from on the Christmas dinner menu. (Continued on Pg 6) 2

3 Calendars Recurring Events Date / Time First Sunday of each month 8am-11am Saturdays: March 7, April 4, May 9, June 6, July 4, August 1, September 5, October 3, November 7, December 5 Vendor set-up 7am, gates open to the public at 8:30 Description Caffine and Octane Perimeter Mall 4400 Ashford-Dunwoody Rd Dunwoody, GA North East Georgia Swap Meet Atlanta Dragway Commerce, GA Scheduled Events Date / Time Saturday, July 16, am-2pm Saturday, August 13, am-3pm Sunday, August 14, 2016 Time TBD August 16, 2016 is Georgia DOT s 100th birthday. We re celebrating all year long with statewide events for the public. Please join us as we explore GDOT s evolution from humble beginnings to the age of intelligent transportation. Description ** Car Show of the Month ** College Achievement Needs Dedication and Optimism Jim Miller Park, Marietta, GA Info: 123cando.com 8 th Annual I-Car Rockin Car Show 2102 Old Hwy 41 NW Kennesaw, GA Call Mike ( ) or Gerry ( ) for info Your Car Club is invited to participate in our celebration! THEME: Celebrating a Century OPEN TO: Interested Car Clubs around the state DATE: Anticipated for the weekend of August 14, 2016 LOCATION: Various locations across the state CONTACT: Aleta Edwards at AEdwards@dot.ga.gov Also, be sure to visit GDOT s new Centennial webpage where you can view old photos, maps, publications and historical documents. Start your Centennial journey at 3

4 Member Submissions More Corvair (Mis)adventures By: Dan Terry This story is about what happens when four teenagers who think they know everything get together for a pseudo rally. In the summer of 1963, two of us, my friend Ted and I, were working for a large wholesale and retail toy company in Atlanta for the summer. One of the toys in stock was a set of kids CB walkee-talkees. They sold for about $ dollars. We devised a way to borrow a set for the weekend so we could try them out. To do this, we planned a time-distance rally. The route started in Atlanta and ended at Brasstown Bald, at 4784 ft., the tallest peak in Georgia. We only had two cars on this rally. My parent's door Monza (Palomar Red with Black interior, 102 Hp. engine and four speed) and a 1959 VW bug driven by friends Jon and Don. We left Atlanta in the morning and preceded to follow our route. We were several minutes apart, so we were unable to see each other. The trip to the top of Brasstown Bald was uneventful, and I do not remember who won the rally. We had sandwiches for lunch, looked at the beautiful scenery and started for home. That's when the fun began. We started down the mountain with the VW in the lead. When we reached the main road, GA Hwy. 180, we made the decision to turn in the opposite direction take a dirt road back to the main highway. There had been some major roadwork in progress as the state was going to pave it. As we started down the dirt road, it began to rain very hard. We were making good progress along the dirt road. After we had driven approximately a mile, we met a very muddy 4 wheel drive stake bed truck with some very mud covered people riding in the truck bed. They yelled to us to turn around and that we couldn't get through the road. Our reply was something to the effect that we have rear engine cars that we can go anywhere and wouldn't have any trouble. We traveled about another mile. The VW was over a hill and out of sight. I heard on the CB walkee-talkee that the VW was stuck. I realized that the Monza was also stuck. I got out to check the car and discovered that the floor pan was resting on the road and I was standing in mud above my ankles. So there we sat with one heavy thunder shower after another rolling up the valley. (continued Pg 5) 4

5 Member Submissions When the rain slacked up, my friends in the VW noticed a small house of in the distance. They walked over to the house and knocked on the door. An old farmer answered the door. They asked him if he had a tractor to help pull us out. He did not, but said that Barney Brown who lived down the road had one. He was nice enough to call Barney who said he would come up directly to try to help us. We probably waited for nearly an hour, while storm after storm brought more heavy rain to the valley. Finally, we heard the sounds of Barney's tractor coming up the hill. First he hooked up to the VW and pulled him down the hill a short distance. Then he came back for the Monza. He pulled me out of the mud and told me to drive down the hill. I made it as far as I could and became bogged down again in the mud. While Barney was helping my friend Jon with his VW, I decided to wait outside the car since it was so hot and humid. When I opened the door, muddy water started to flow into the Monza. The water was above the door sills. I closed the door as fast as possible and decided to sit in the car. In a few minutes Barney pulled up with his tractor and pulled me through the deep mud puddle. After he had the Monza on hard ground, he told me to go as fast as I could and take the single lane road to the left. He said it would take me back to US 129 and on to Blairsville. We got in our cars and headed down the narrow, curvy road toward Blairsville. Most of the time we were not in sight of each other. When I tried to shift to second, I found that it was nowhere to be found. We got on our CB walkee-talkee to tell Jon in the VW that we were stuck in first gear. But there was no response. I was blowing the horn hoping he could hear it. Finally, I found second and picked up speed. All of a sudden, I came around a curve and there is the VW stopped in the middle of the one lane dirt road waiting for us. All I could do is squeeze over to the edge of the road and yell out the window I found second gear! as I passed the VW. We traveled into Blairsville looking for a gas station that was open and had a lift. After all, this was Sunday in We found a small station that had a pit. The owner said we could use it. I drove the Monza onto the tracks, which must have been made for trucks as the wheels of the Corvair on both sides were barely on the inside edge of the tracks. With some trial and error we were able to adjust the shift rod so that all four speeds and reverse were working. The trip back to Atlanta was uneventful. We made a stop at Ted's house to wash the cars, so as not to alarm our parents. When we finished, the driveway was covered with red Georgia clay. We learned some lessons that day. Rear engine cars do have great traction, but there are limitations and that it doesn't help when the mud is so deep that the floor pan is resting on the ground. And there are some great folks living in the Georgia mountains. 5

6 Classified Ads Jeannette Rudolph suggested that when there is a death in a Club member's immediate family we should send a $100 flower arrangement to the grieving family. She said she would also send a sympathy card. Jeannette also suggested that we get a sheet of metal to place in our cooker to allow food to cook slower and reduce the chance of food being burnt. The meeting was adjourned at 2 PM. Saturday, November 5, am 3pm Ace Hardware Classic Cruise-in 4300 Buford Drive (Hwy 20), Buford, GA $10 Cruising contribution $25 Judging contribution (optional) Facebook.com/ssacehardware or bufordaceclassiccarshow.com 6

7 Classified Ads I m looking for an engine lid for my 1964 Corvair Monza convertible (pictured below) to replace one that s rusting. Any help you or your friends can give will be much appreciated. Jim Brams, jimbrams@att.net, Commercial Advertising Rates Ad Size 1 Issue 6 Issues 12 Issues Business Card $5.00 $27.00 $50.00 ¼ Page $7.50 $42.00 $75.00 ½ Page $12.00 $60.00 $ Advertising Policies Classified advertisements should be sent to the Newsletter Editor by or US Mail. Please type or print legibly if sending by US Mail. Classified advertising is always free to paid members of Corvair Atlanta, and $5 per listing for nonmembers. Corvairs and Corvair-related items will be listed for free at the discretion of Corvair Atlanta. Classified advertisements will typically run in no more than two issues. 7

8 About Us 2015 Meeting Schedule Date Location and Details January 9, 2016 SpringFest Planning Clay Grant s house February 20, 2016 Nolan and Anne Grant s house, Cumming, GA March 19, 2016 Spring swap meet at Rudulph s house, Conyers, GA (lunch provided) April 22-23, 2016 SpringFest (no regular meeting) May 21, 2016 Earl and Lindy Lively s house in Watkinsville, GA June 18, 2016 Birkinbine s house, Temple, GA (lunch provided) July 12-16, 2016 CORSA Convention, Springfield, IL (no regular meeting) August 20, 2016 ** Note change ** September 17, 2016 Joint club picnic Indian Springs Park, Forsyth, GA (lunch provided) October 22, 2016 Perry Fair and Maggie Valley (no regular meeting) November 19, 2016 Election meeting at Hilderbrand s house, Dawsonville, GA (lunch provided) December 11, 2016 Christmas party (location TBD) Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are at 1pm and lunch is NOT provided. Lunch meetings begin at 12pm. Guests are always encouraged to bring their own chairs. President Vice President Secretary Treasurer Director Director Director Director Editor The Drive Train Tom Constantine (corvair_1965_monza@yahoo.com) Robert Birkinbine (dabirk@comcast.net) Nolan Grant (nolan@grantphoto.com) Al Hilderbrand (hilderbrandal@aol.com) Bill Rudolph (vairbilly@aol.com) Tom Rabb (tomrabb@att.net) Jack Allison (l5two@aol.com) Dan Terry (dterry8123@aol.com) John O Harra (john.oharra@live.com) 8