July 2014 Issue #257 President s Chatter Lori Boutot Directions to the Meeting From Bristol- Take Rt. 6, after McDonalds, you will see Chute Gates Restaurant on the right. Take a left onto Town Hill Road toward the Terryville Fair Grounds. Go one mile and Bob and Lori Boutot s house is on the left, number 235. From Route 8- Take exit 39 onto Rt. 6 toward Terryville. At Chute Gates Restaurant take a right onto Town Hill Road. Bob and Lori Boutot s house is one mile on the left, number 235. Editor s Note: If anyone has items for sale, just email them to me and I will be glad to post them in the newsletter. Our newsletter has a wide range of exposure being on the internet. Please email your requests by the 15th of the month. Also, articles are always appreciated. cabrioletdave@yahoo.com
Minutes of Northwestern CT A s Meeting Tues., June 24, 2014 - Terryville, CT Meeting Called to Order at 7:31 pm by President Lori Boutot. Guests: None Secretaries Report: At May's meeting there was no quorum; therefore no secretary's report. Since there was no quorum, they worked on Lori's Sport Coupe and got it running. Treasurer s Report: Not available. Membership: 45 paid members. Video Library: This is an extensive library, plenty to choose from - available to members to loan. Cheers: A Card was sent to Nick Nesci; recent back operation. Apparel: Garments still available; see Lori to order. Old Business The Vineyard tour was cancelled because of not enough participants. New Business Dave and Carol Habersang were guests of a Model A Club in Queen City, NC. They have their meetings in restaurants. Over the course of a year they visit several restaurants. They welcomed Dave and Carol and had an exchange of ideas. MAFCA has a booklet of Car Games. Perhaps we could do some of these at our picnic. License Plate toppers presented by Dave. Discussion about cost set-ups and number of units needed. The only position for them would be on the front plate. Banner: 5' x 3' silk screened approx $85. More work needs to be done before it's ordered. Final design and colors to be determined. Newsletter: The present folded and stapled unit often gets mutilated in the postal handling equipment. The reason is because the open (stapled edge) is the problem. To solve this, as others have done, is arrange only the cover sheet so that the folded edge is at the bottom and the staples are at the top. Tours: July 27 - Redo of tour by the Boutots August 10 th Club Picnic at Boutots Sept. 12 14th New England Meet; Long Island Sept. 28 th Norman Rockwell Tour - Dan Chanko Oct. 12 - Ct Jr. Republic Car Show - Goshen Dec. 6th - Christmas Party - site not chosen yet Adjourned at 8:33pm Respectfully submitted, Nick Nesci, Secretary Technical: Nick brought in 2 separate arbors especially made for this purpose. These can be on loan if you need to turn brake drums. It's not recommended to turn steel drums the usual way because there is not enough steel there to begin with. If they become too thin, heat will distort them and that's worse. Cast iron drums can be trued up using these arbors. Attendance for June meeting: Lori Boutot Bob Boutot Rick Fattibene Carol Habersang Ben Bereza Nick Nesci Jay Reynolds Archie Bardwell Charlie Dickinson Dick Wells Bert Serra Mike Serra Bob Watley Sr. Dave Habersang Attendance for May meeting: Lori Boutot Bob Boutot Rick Fattibene Jay Reynolds Dick Wells Don Bruno Archie Bardwell
July Tour by Bob and Lori Boutot A River Runs Thru It Drive the Beautiful Farmington River area Harwinton - Bakerville - New Hartford - East Hartland - Pleasant Valley - Riverton - Collinsville - Unionville - Bristol and a private tour of Village Cabinet Shop Sunday, July 27, 2014 Meet at: Terryville McDonalds on Route 6 in Terryville Toru Departs: 9:00 a.m. Lunch at Kizl's Restaurant
A Summer Trip in my Model A Ford By: Letha Smith Highland Park, New Jersey When my friend Helen and I told everyone that we were going West in the summer of 1930, our families were worried and the neighbors were flat-out!scandalized. The idea of two girls going off alone like that! Helen was 18, and I was 24. I d just put a down payment on a $600 Ford Model A, and we planned to drive to California to visit Helen s relatives. On June 13, Friday the 13th, we drove out of Shinglehouse, Pennsylvania, loaded down with a gas stove, folding table, food boxes that were bolted to the running boards, a burlap bag filled with canned goods, and draw curtains for the windows. What heady excitement we felt, alone on the open road, free to roam the West at will! We were thrilled to fly in the face of convention. We were pioneers! We d show the folks back home we could take care of ourselves! Economy was our watchword. All we really had to buy was milk, bread and fruit. Gas was just 8 cents a gallon, and Helen became adept at servicing the car while I fixed most of our meals. Camping in the Car We stopped at municipal campgrounds to use the kitchen and showers. When we were ready to sleep, the Ford s divided front seats converted into our beds. We stashed the stove and provisions under the car, drew the curtains and locked the doors. Our adventure was going pretty well until we reached Carroll, Iowa. There, a car shot out from a side street and smashed into the front door, shattering the glass and destroying a food box. My heart sank. So ends our adventure, I thought. The folks back home were right. Not so, said Helen. We ll get the car fixed and go on. We found a repair man named Tony who fixed the door and built a new food box all for $30. We lost our canned foods that day, too. We d tied the bag to the rear bumper, and the bottom wore through. That night at our campground, we overheard a truck driver chuckling about something odd he d seen a trail of smashed canned goods strewn along the road. Helena and I had to laugh, and the next day our spirits soared even higher as we took to the road again. Sleeping in Splendor Yellowstone was the high point of our trip. Camping in a grove of trees on the shore of
Yellowstone Lake, we slept under four blankets to keep warm. Nonetheless, we had to tear ourselves away from the idyllic spot, where friendly bears roamed and the fish measured up to 18 inches long. We rolled south to Salt Lake City, Utah and into the desert. Here gas was priced at an exorbitant 12 cents a gallon, and we were forced to take cabins at $1.50 a night! On to Lake Tahoe, Truckee Pass and Sacramento. We continued through the world s largest peach and apricot orchards, where we bough giant baskets of fruit for 10 cents. At Yosemite, we spread our blankets over soft pine needles and slept beneath the giant sequoias and a blanket of stars. Farther south, in California, Helen s relatives treated us to concerts, picnics, beach parties, museums and a lovely overnight trip to Catalina Island. On July 30, we began the trip back home to Pennsylvania. It was a cool evening when we reached the Grand Canyon, which surely is the world s most sublime sight. Our second morning there, we were on a mule, heading into the canyon. We had pictures taken of us dangling our feet over the brink of a 1,100-foot drop to the river. That ll shake up our folks, Helen said. After the Grand Canyon, the rest of the trip was pretty tame. We just wanted to get home! On Aug. 17, we drove into Potter County, Pennsylvania. The daring wanderers of the West were welcomed home at last.