Hope to see you all there!

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San Jacinto Region Vintage Chevrolet Club of America May 2014 Volume 25 Issue 5 Director: Cathy Sweet (979) 236-0792 catherinesweet@ymail.com Board Members: Asst.

com) Treasurer: Chip Sweet (979) 236-0792 sweet.chip@yahoo.com 2016 Gary Groschke (garychevelle396@gmail.com) Membership: Cathy Sweet (979) 233-1600 catherinesweet@ymail.

1 San Jacinto Region Vintage Chevrolet Club of America May 2014 Volume 25 Issue 5 Director: Cathy Sweet (979) catherinesweet@ymail.com Board Members: Asst. Dir: Bob Kelly (281) bobkelly1948@gmail.com 2014 Ron Holter (rpholter@gmail.com) Secretary: Sheila Bradford (281) sheilabradford@swbell.net 2015 Brad Boyer (bboyer@lonestarprestress.com) Treasurer: Chip Sweet (979) sweet.chip@yahoo.com 2016 Gary Groschke (garychevelle396@gmail.com) Membership: Cathy Sweet (979) catherinesweet@ymail.com Committee Chairs: Activities: Bryan Felt (832) b.felt@sbcglobal.net Swap Meet James Blanton Editor: Phil McGraw (979) philip7306@att.net Area 6 Joint Tour Carolyn Couch Website: Bob Kelly (281) bobkelly1948@gmail.com Auto Rama Gary Groschke Facebook: Krista Jordan (281) kjophotography@yahoo.com Christmas Party Trish Felt Meetings: First Monday Night except as noted. 6:30PM Eat and Socialize 7:30 Meeting. The May meeting is at the SJR Annual Spring BBQ. Come One, Come All to the VCCA San Jacinto Region s Annual Spring BBQ Saturday May 17, 2014 Everyone is invited to the Annual Spring Picnic on Saturday May 17 th at Billy Kelly and Donna Hines wonderful home, party and show grounds. They will have wonderful BBQ and all the fixins, music..just bring your vintage Chevrolet to show, a side dish or dessert and your lawn chairs and be prepared to have a great time! Where: Billy and Donna s home Beinhorn Houston, TX When: We usually gather around NOON to view and chat about our cars and to meet and greet. The food is usually served at 1:00 PM Come and have a GREAT time! Hope to see you all there! Page 1

2 Secretary s Reports (Sheila Bradford) MINUTES OF THE MARCH 29, 2014 MEETING After enjoying a delicious feast of catfish which took Mike and Richard Conroy 2 days to catch, plus enjoying all the side dishes and desserts provided by participants, Cathy Sweet (Director) called the meeting to order. Once again the Conroys were given a huge thank you for hosting the Fish Fry in Onalaska for the 2 nd year in a row. Cathy remarked that we now have 63 members in our San Jacinto Region and that our 12 newest members were listed in the most recent Generator and Distributor. Our Valve Clad-d-der Editor Phil Mc Graw will send them our most recent newsletter by snail mail. That way, they will know about our next meeting on May 17 th, the Memorial Bar-B-Que at the home of Billy Kelly. Cathy briefly updated us on the Swap Meet. In spite of the weather, many of the vendors were very happy. Thanks to those who helped getting the golf carts organized, people and parts moved through the grounds in the soggy conditions. Over 100 people accepted the invitation to dinner celebrating our 25 year history of the Swap Meet at Trader s Village and had a good time. A more detailed report will be available at a future meeting. At the conclusion of our meeting, Jerry Bingham s name was draw for the attendance award, but he was not present to win. We were reminded that the annual Burton Barn Party will not be held this year because the 17 th Southern Spring Tour in Bowling Green, KY begins the same weekend. Attendance at the March 29 th Meeting: Mike Conroy, Richard Conroy, Malcolm Crawford, Megan Crawford, Phil McGraw, Betty Leininger, Bob & Carolyn Couch, Ron & Linda Holter, Bill & Sheila Bradford, Anita Bradford, Renee Clark, Patrick Lindquist, Ray & Carolyn Pierson, Jeremy & Amanda May Davis (Paul s guest), Hans & Ann Rasch, Bob Kelly, Chip & Cathy Sweet, John Stathakos, Rudy Alberth and Guest, Clay & Judy Perrine. Respectfully Submitted, Sheila Bradford (Region Secretary) 2014 ACTIVITIES The Mike and Richard Conroy Fish Fry on Lake Livingston! The clouds parted, the sun appeared, and a caravan of 16 cars led by Brian and Trish Felt departed 1 hour late. Page 2

3 Brian & Trish Felt 40 A cool! start with lots of cars. Patrick & Terri Lindquist 54 Paul Deschazo & May 55 Bob Kelly 54 Ray & Carolyn Pierson 53 Page 3

4 Anita, Sheila, & Bill Bradford 70 Cathy & Chip Sweet 70 On the way to the picnic we stopped at Mr. Sam Houston statue. The VCCA at its best! Three generations of Piersons & one awesome 1954 Page 4

AN APPALACHIAN ADVENTURE VCCA ROAD TRIP 2014 April 6-12, 2014 Article & Photos by Carolyn Couch & Cathy Sweet The cars at Biltmore Mansion Cathy Sweet On Sunday afternoon, 19 VCCA members with 9

5 AN APPALACHIAN ADVENTURE VCCA ROAD TRIP 2014 April 6-12, 2014 Article & Photos by Carolyn Couch & Cathy Sweet The cars at Biltmore Mansion Cathy Sweet On Sunday afternoon, 19 VCCA members with 9 Chevrolets ( ) met at the Sleep Inn in Concord, NC. There were 6 states represented: Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina and Texas. Most of the folks went on the early tour to Retro Design in Concord followed by dinner at the Bonfire Bar and Grill. Page 5

Day 1- Monday During the night a front blew in and we awoke to cold and rain. We were on the road early in spite of the weather traveling to Mooresville, NC and touring the Penske Racing Shop.

Getting to this shop, we made our first u-turn of the trip; in fact, it took two u-turns to get there. Their racing team was also at the Texas Speedway.

6 Day 1- Monday During the night a front blew in and we awoke to cold and rain. We were on the road early in spite of the weather traveling to Mooresville, NC and touring the Penske Racing Shop. Their team won the race that weekend at the Texas Speedway. From Penske, it was on to Huntersville NC to tour the Joe Gibbs Racing shop. Getting to this shop, we made our first u-turn of the trip; in fact, it took two u-turns to get there. Their racing team was also at the Texas Speedway. We toured the whole floor and it was very interesting to see how the cars are put together or repaired. Our last stop of the day was the Steele Automotive Rubber Factory in Denver, NC. This company makes all kinds of rubber gaskets and stops for any model/year of car. Steele kindly provided us with a delicious lunch and tour of the facilities. Everyone that wanted a catalog of items made for a specific model/year were given a copy for their own cars. One of our Chevys was having problems with his headlights. He stopped by a Chevrolet dealer to see if they could repair it. They were unable to find the problem. We all decided that it was because they couldn t hook it up to a computer to diagnose the problem. We proceeded to Hickory, NC for our dinner and hotel. Day2 Tuesday Tuesday dawned early with clear weather, but still quite cool. Our first stop of the day was Allen Hoffman s Vending Machine Collection in Granite Falls, NC. This was an amazing collection of soda vending machines of all vintages. It was a warehouse completely full of soda memorabilia. There was barely enough room to walk down the narrow aisles as the owner gave us a guided tour. From Granite Falls, we traveled to Blowing Rock, NC and entered the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Blue Ridge Parkway was started in the 1930 s as a Depression Public Works project and took a half century to complete. The north end begins at Gettysburg, VA and proceeds through VA and NC to the south end at Cherokee, NC. Upon entering the Parkway, it is like entering a totally different world. We traveled 53 miles on a two lane road through pristine woodlands. The redbud and dogwood were in full bloom. Old Fort, NC was our quick lunch stop and then we got back on the Blue Ridge Parkway traveling to the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitors Center. At the center, we watched an interesting movie and viewed the exhibits. The Page 6

day s touring was completed with a visit to the Folk Art Center which exhibits traditional and contemporary crafts of the Appalachian. The day ended in Asheville, NC with an Italian dinner and hotel.

7 day s touring was completed with a visit to the Folk Art Center which exhibits traditional and contemporary crafts of the Appalachian. The day ended in Asheville, NC with an Italian dinner and hotel. Day 3 Wednesday This morning began with a short drive to enter the gates of the Biltmore Estate. We were able to park our cars in front of the mansion for picture taking and were asked to leave there while touring the mansion. Biltmore House was built over a period of 6 years on 125,000 acres in the late 1800 s by George Vanderbilt. The house officially opened on Christmas Eve Biltmore House is the largest private residence in America. It has 4 acres of floor space in the four story house. It has 250 rooms, including 33 family and guest bedrooms and 43 bathrooms. All of the latest conveniences were included, such as central heat, electricity, indoor plumbing, fire alarms, mechanical refrigerators, generator and elevator. The elevator still operates today with the same motor (DC). The first floor included a winter garden, billiard room, banquet room to seat 40, breakfast room, salon, music room, tapestry gallery and library containing 10,000+ volumes. The original elevator takes you up to second floor or you can climb the beautiful curving staircase. The second and third floors included Mr. Vanderbilt s bedroom, family sitting room, Mrs. Vanderbilt s bedroom as well as numerous guest bedrooms/baths, bachelor quarters, smoking room and gun room. The basement was fascinating and included a bowling alley, gym, swimming pool, 3 kitchens, 2 pantries, walk in refrigerator, main laundry and drying room, servants dining room and bedrooms. Outside were the Italian garden, shrub garden, spring garden, walled rose garden and azalea garden as well as a conservatory. After a rather cool, picnic lunch, we continued to tour the grounds exhibits and winery. Upon leaving the Biltmore Estate, we traveled to Maggie Valley, NC for the night. Page 7

Day 4 Thursday Leaving the hotel, we traveled a short distance to the Wheels Thru Time Museum in Maggie Valley. This was a very interesting 2 story motorcycle museum.

Some of us climbed the 9 story tower for better views of the surrounding area while others shopped for souvniers. Our noon stop was in Cherokee, NC for the Cherokee Museum.

Following lunch, we toured the museum. Leaving Cherokee, we crossed the state line between NC and TN. This was the beginning of the 11 mile long drive known as the Tail of the Dragon.

8 Day 4 Thursday Leaving the hotel, we traveled a short distance to the Wheels Thru Time Museum in Maggie Valley. This was a very interesting 2 story motorcycle museum. The TV program What s in the Barn? originates from here. We were met by the museum owner, Dale Walksler, who gave us a guided tour. Leaving Maggie Valley, we stopped at the Saco Tower/Gift Shop. Some of us climbed the 9 story tower for better views of the surrounding area while others shopped for souvniers. Our noon stop was in Cherokee, NC for the Cherokee Museum. We were treated to a typical Cherokee lunch of grilled, chicken, pinto beans and hominy, turnip greens, bean bread with grease and blackberry dumpling with ice cream. Following lunch, we toured the museum. Leaving Cherokee, we crossed the state line between NC and TN. This was the beginning of the 11 mile long drive known as the Tail of the Dragon. This 11 mile drive is a narrow 2 lane road including 318 curves. We joined the motorcycles and racing cars as they traversed the roadway. Quite exciting!!! Our stop for the night was Alcon, TN for hotel and dinner at the 50 s dinner. Where did everyone go? Harry & Barb Gigous 57 Page 8

Day 5 Friday We traveled to Oak Ridge, TN and the Y-12 History Center with a few u-turns. One member of the group missed the last u-turn and passed through the wrong gate.

9 Day 5 Friday We traveled to Oak Ridge, TN and the Y-12 History Center with a few u-turns. One member of the group missed the last u-turn and passed through the wrong gate. He almost did not get out and we thought that we might have to rescue him from prison. We viewed a movie about how Y-12 started and the building of the Oak Ridge complex. The movie was followed by a guided tour of the history center, showing how the atomic bomb was developed. The second stop in Oak Ridge was the American Museum of Science and Energy. This museum had an excellent pictorial history of Oak Ridge. After a cruise-in lunch at Sonic, we proceeded to the Oak Ridge National Lab. Another member of our group had a problem entering because of the dog traveling with them. After much consideration, it was determined that the poodle would not be a breach of security and they were allowed in. We were given a guided tour of the original reactor. Friday night was spent in Oak Ridge. We ended the tour with dinner and awards. Saturday morning, everyone said their good byes and headed for home. Good travels!!! SEE YOU ON THE NEXT TOUR. Editor s Epilog Thanks to Carolyn Couch and Cathy Sweet for the article and pictures. Hillbilly mower, 0 to 50 mph in 5 sec. Carolyn Couch Page 9

10 Carolyn Couch Wrecked motorcycle parts from the Tail of the Dragon Carolyn Couch One of 10 gazillion acres of flowers at the Biltmore. Page 10

The Valve Clad-d-der

The Valve Clad-d-der San Jacinto Region Vintage Chevrolet Club of America May 2013 Volume 24 Issue 5 Director: Cathy Sweet (979) 236-0792 catherinesweet@ymail.com Board Members: Asst. Dir: Bob Kelly (281)