President's Message As I set down to put together my message for the newsletter, I was hoping it was time to get the Model A our of winter storage. Instead, as I look out of the window, it looks more like mid winter than it does the beginning of spring. We have had some hints of spring the last few days, but today isn t one of them. So back to dreaming of spring and going through the Model A magazines hoping that the time isn t too far away. Checking the calendar reminds me that all the spring and summer events that are being planned will soon be underway. This months meeting should be right in line for everyone to brush up on their preparations for getting their toys out and roadworthy for the year. I would like to take this time to remind everyone about the change of the meeting time. Remember that we will be meeting now at 6:30. We are going to have treats before the meeting this month so be sure to get there on time!!! There is more information about this later in the newsletter. I would like to thank everyone who helped with the spring swap meet in Lincoln. With everyone s help it made the job go much faster and easier. In addition the weather cooperated this year. With hopes for a great year ahead, I had better close and hope that I see you all at the meeting, Happy Model A ing Lee Hendrix Meadowlark Model A Ford Club, Omaha, NE April 2011 Special Points of Interest: Calendar Events Mens Fashions Birthdays and Anniversaries Table of Contents President s Message 1 Activities 2,3 Event Details 3,6,7 Calendar 4 Mens Fashions 8 Advertisers 9 Membership Info 10 Birthdy/Anniversary 7 Important meeting changes for April: April s meeting will be on the 16th New time of 6:30 pm
March Activity Reports Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition On March 12, twenty three Meadowlark members ventured to Omaha s Durham Museum for the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition With Malice Toward None. Some of the memorabilia on display included the bible used at Lincoln s First Inauguration, a chair from Lincoln s law office, many letters and documents, and the contents of Lincoln s pockets upon his death including a five-dollar Confederate note. After viewing the exhibit some of the members stopped by the Model A display which was donated by former Meadowlark member and was maintained by the club for several years. Following the museum members met in the Old Market at Spaghetti Works to discuss the exhibit and enjoy pasta. By Vicki Heeren Those pictured by the Model A are El Gertner, Don Graves, Millie Jankowski, Ed Jankowski, Janet Graves, Don Noodell, Vicki Heeren, 2 of Gertner s grandchildren, Roland Kunz, Lee Hendrix, Elaine Blecha, Mary Denker, Larry Blecha, and Sherri Kunz. Other Meadowlarks who attended by didn t get in the photo were Bob and Mary McKinney, John Mabry, and Dot Gertner. The museum has added an explanatory sign at the Model A, as shown at the right. Unfortunately, they wrote Restored by the Meadowlark Model A Club, which is not very accurate because the Model A is not restored. The Board will be seeing if we can get this statement corrected. The Durham Museum has lots of fun activities for kids of all ages. The kids in this photo are Dot Gertner, her two grandchildren, plus another young man. By Janet Graves 2
March Activities cont. March 12, 2011 20 Meadowlark Model A members toured the President Lincoln exhibit at the Durham Museum. It was a very informative exhibit which presented an abundant amount of original documents regarding the actions and history of President Lincoln. Our self- guided tour took approximately 2.5 hours and we could have easily spent all day. The exhibit left one with a appreciation as to why President Lincoln was and still is such a popular President. After the tour we adjourned to the Spaghetti Works in the old market for a delicious lunch. March 19, 2011 8 Meadowlark Model A members had lunch at Jason's deli at 70th and Dodge Sts. After lunch we went to the Omaha Community Playhouse for a back stage tour. The Omaha Playhouse is the largest such entity in the Untied States - quite a proud ranking for Omaha. The tour was very interesting. The playhouse was originally on 40th and Dodge St, moved to 40th and Davenport St. and then to its present location at 68th and Cass St. Henry Fonda and Elaine Jabenis were in plays of the past. They still raise and lower curtains and settings with ropes and counterweights, they make all the costumes for the plays, they have a shoe collection that would make Amelda's collection look small, they have all sorts of makeup stuff like wigs, hats, eyelashes, jewelry, ties, eyeglasses and padding for all the places it is needed. They have 34 paid staff and all others are volunteers, approximately 1000, to include the actors and orchestra. One would never guess just what all goes into a play. Knowing that all the actors and orchestra are volunteers gives one a greater appreciation for them. Car Council Swap Meet Eleven of our club members, and one brother in-law got up really early on March 6 th so that they could be at the Lancaster Event Center in Lincoln, NE by 6:00 a.m.. They directed traffic and parked cars until about 9:00a.m. and nearly single handedly took care of all the parking at the meet. This work will get the club two shares of the swap meet profit. They were a major factor in the success of the meet. The Car Council sold all the vendor spaces, and also collected $5,559.68 in cash and 4,933 lbs. of food for the Lincoln Food Bank. A special thank you to the following members who gave so much of themselves to support the club and it s commitment to the car council: Don & Karen Noodell, Ed & Millie Jankowski, Lee Hendrix, El Gertner, John Mabry, Bruce Rima, and his brother in-law, Mary & Howard Denker, and Doug Heeren. Up Coming Event Details June 19th, 2011 The Henry Doorly Zoo has contacted our club to help them celebrate an event called ZOOM. They would like as many cars as we can get there from our club on Sunday, June 19. This is the day after the Benson Ford Show. The times are from 8:15 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. The basic concept of the event is to focus on different types of vehicles-and will also tie into the speed of the animals ( example: A Cheetah can run up to 70 mph ). I'm not sure where that places the Model A!!! They want to place cars among the exhibits and will escort us into place before the Zoo opens. You can then stay with your car, or go throughout the zoo until 3:00 pm, when they will escort us out to go home. This will be an excellent opportunity to put our cars on display for the public to see. I encourage as many members as possible to take advantage of this as possible. 3 Upcoming details cont. page 6
April 2011 * see more info in letter Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Bernie Taulborg s car collection tour* 17 Board Mtg: Don Graves 14515 White Deer Lane, Omaha, NE 24 18 19 20 21 Eat Out: Sam s Italian Villa, Council Bluffs* Regular Mtg: 6:30 Douglas Cty Health Center 22 23 25 26 27 28 29 30 May 1st: Pancake breakfast & tour to fish hatchery* April 16 April 16 April 21 May 1 May 14 May 19 May 29 June 5-11 June 16 June 18 June 19 July 29-31 Tour of Bernie Taulborg s Auto Collection* Regular Meeting 6:30 pm NOTE SPECIAL DATE (Not our usual second Saturday) Eat out at Sam s Italian Villa in Council Bluffs* Pancake Breakfast & Tour to Fish Hatchery* Highway Pickup 10:00am meet at Cubby s, 15625 C w Hadan Dr., Bennington, NE Piccolo s more details to follow Lofte Theatre the play is Leaving Iowa* Plain Ol A s Regional Model A Meet in Overland Park, Kansas See information and registration form at http://www.plainolas.com/2011.html Shirley s Diner 5325 S 139th Plaza, Omaha, NE Omaha Ford Show in Benson - 25th year that the Meadowlarks have sponsored this show Be sure to bring your A or any other Ford-manufactured vehicle and join the fun Henry Doorly Zoo car display - all day* Tour to LeMars, IA and the Plymouth County Fair 4
Tech Talk Talk At the March meeting, Don Graves gave a demonstration on transmission towers and various styles of emergency brake handles. At the end of the Tech Talk Dale Jergensen and Greg Bowden get a better look at one of the towers. Submitted by Vicki Heeren The Tech Talk at the April meeting will include suggestions on what needs to be done to your favorite Model A before tour season begins. We will also cover the two types of seals available for Model A transmissions, which will cure possible leak problems. A listing of what should be carried as spare parts and tools will also be available. Submitted by Don Graves Ladies Activity: The ladies will have the opportunity to make a May basket at the April meeting. Please bring a glue gun, if you have one. If you have some May Day or Easter décor that you would like to show off, bring that, too. March EAT-OUT at the Brazenhead Pub We had a great group at the March eat-out. The Brazenhead has a wonderful, classy little room that we had all to ourselves. It is so nice when everyone who signs up shows up. April EAT-OUT at Sam s Italian Villa April 21 at 6:45PM It is right on the North side of Broadway (HWY 6) at 33 rd St. If you like a preview, see http:// www.samsitalianvillacb.com/ Sam s has much more than Italian food. There is a Chicken Dinner for $12.95 and a Meatball Sub for $7.75. The Thursday night special is Salisbury Steak for $7.95. If you plan to join us for a fun dinner, PLEASE sign up at the meeting or call Don Graves (402-453-7166). Tentative plans for the next few eat-outs -- May: Piccolo Pete s; June: Shirley s Diner; July: Pizza Ranch. 5
Up Coming Event Details cont. Tour to Bernie Taulborg s Car Collection April 16 th is a tour you won t want to miss. This time will be the last chance for most of us to see Bernie Taulborg s car collection because the majority of it is being moved out-state. Several of our members have visited this great collection, but it is always a treat because each time we go, we see something we missed the last time. Plan to attend this tour you won t be sorry you did. Bernie Taulborg's superlative collection of over 150 automobiles (all in running condition) and thousands of items of memorabilia distributed throughout eight buildings of a former dairy (or hog, depending upon the source) farm. We plan to meet at 10AM at the Harley Davidson dealership parking lot at 174 th & Maple. We need to arrive at Taulborg s in one group, so please be at the meeting place on time. Also, please bring a few $$ to put in the jar for Bernie s favorite charity. If you have questions, please call Don Graves (402-453-7166). PLEASE sign up at the meeting or call Don to tell him you will be joining the tour. It probably won t be a surprise, but following the tour, we will have lunch at a near-by restaurant. THE LOFTE COMMUNITY THEATRE Plan on having a good laugh. One of this year's outings is going to be a comedy by the name of LEAVING IOWA. It's about a middle-aged writer who returns home to Iowa and decides to finally take his father's ashes to his childhood home. But when he discovers Grandma's house is now a grocery store, he begins traveling across Iowa searching for a proper resting place for his father. This father and son road trip shifts from the present to his memories of the annual, torturous vacations of his childhood. Sound like fun?? We are planning this outing for Sunday, May 29th at 2:00 p.m. You can purchase your tickets by calling the theater at 402-234-2553. The cost of a ticket is $17.00. Tickets can be mailed for an additional charge of $1.50, or they can hold them at the theater for you. We are planning to eat at the Cedar Creek Steakhouse after the play. Any questions call Mary Denker at 402-333-1393 Treats Coming this next meeting-- Root Beer Floats. Come to the meeting as we are going to have root beer floats but they will be PRIOR to the meeting instead of afterwards. We have no way of keeping ice cream cold which prompted the change to before the meeting. Plan on getting there a few minutes early. 6
Up Coming Event Details cont. Unlimited Pancakes and Tour to Fish Hatchery Our current weather doesn't inspire you to go outside, but the nice weather is not that far off and your board is already planning new fun activities. So mark your calendars for the 1st of May when we are going to have our traditional Pancake Breakfast at Chalco Lake in the covered shelter at the northwest side of the lake. We will be serving breakfast from 10:00 to 11:00 am. Following a delicious breakfast of unlimited pancakes and sausage we will be touring over to the Aksarben Fish Hatchery. A beautiful and interesting park that we have not visited in some years. Make sure you sign up at the meeting so that enough food will be provided for all. We don't want to repeat the experience of last year. Howard Denker New Feature: Birthday and Anniversary April Day Name Event 4 Rich Stern Birthday 13 Tony Hartenhoff Birthday 17 Charlie Earnest Birthday 24 Roland Kunz Birthday 26 Millie Jankowski Birthday 26 Roger Olsen Birthday 29 McKinneys Anniversary 29 Dick Knapp Birthday May Day Name Event 12 Mabrys Anniversary 17 Roger Sebeneicher Birthday 22 Rose Wanek Birthday 27 Knapps Anniversary 28 Greg Bowden Birthday 28 Denkers Anniversary 30 Nadine Schmid Birthday 31 Lee Cramer Birthday From the Editor: As I put the newsletter together, I am looking out at a 70 degree morning. I am adding more project by the day, or parts catalog that I am glancing through. I think that I had better get some ordering done, as I have to have the parts for a while before the spirit moves me to actually work on them. It is much more fun to drive the car in my mind. I would like some humor (jokes), and you can hand them to me at a meeting, mail or email them to me. I would like to add some tech articles. If you have any ideas, suggestions, or articles, get with me, and I will publish them in the newsletter. Please contact me at dwjerg@gmail.com if you have any ideas for upcoming newsletters or phone me on 402-949-0521. Dale Cook Books available: The Fast Forward gym in Omaha has professionally produced cookbooks available. This gym is dedicated to people with disabilities. The cost is $10.00 / each and 100% of the money goes to the gym. The money provides scholarships anyone with a disability can exercise in a nonthreatening environment. Lee Hendrix will have books available at the April meeting or call Carol Hendrix @ 402-895-2432 7
Men s Model A Era Fashions The Meadowlark library has a great booklet called Men s Era Fashions: 1928-1931. If you want to know how to look really dapper, you should check it out. I have summarized a few points here. The material for men s suits was woolworsted or serge, which was a lighter weight in the summer. The catalog photo shows some pretty fancy patterns in that material! Notice that those pants in the middle are labeled Jazz Pants. Double-breasted suits were very popular. Vests were popular, too, but not for summer wear, which is probably why none are shown here. Also, they were usually not worn with double-breasted suits. Lapels were wide and often notched as shown here. As shown in the catalog, trousers usually had cuffs. The width of the pant leg at the cuff varied from 19 inches in 1928 to as wide as 22 inches in 1931. According to my source, zippers were first used in men s clothing in the early 1930 s. Before that, the pant fly would have been fastened with buttons. Makes me wonder if the men might have taken longer at a potty stop than the women in those days! I can t help but think about starching and ironing when I look at those shirts, especially the broadcloth ones. Several are described as rayon silk and silk pongee. I can imagine the perspiration stains on those in the summertime. I couldn t help but notice the pink and lavender shirts. Notice that some of the shirts are not shown with collars. Some shirts had detachable collars in these years. Maybe that cut down on the laundry chores. Little boys clothes looked more suitable for summer. I doubt that we would get little boys today to wear these clothes, but then the washing and ironing these doesn t look like much fun either. from Summer 1928 Apparel Sale Catalog http://www.costumes.org/history/100pages/1928cat1.htm There is lots more about men s era fashions in the booklet in the library. It was published by MAFCA in 1987. Be sure to see Mary McKinney, our librarian, to check it out. Janet Graves 8
Volume 43, Issue 3 Please support our advertisers: DON V Insurance. Your Local J. C. TAYLOR and HAGERTY IN- 224 North Main SURANCE Fremont Nebraska AGENT 68025 402-721-7910 LOW COST INSURANCE FOR YOUR A www.donvinsurance.com C&C Monogram and Embroidery Quality Computerized Monograms & Embroidery 2315 Lincoln Road Bellevue 291-9390 C&C Tailor Shop Men s and Ladies Alterations Military Uniform Specialists Shizuko Chase & Verl A. Chase Jr. Owners NEW PARTS Come to the "Best in the Midwest" for your new Model 'T' and 'A' parts. See us for mechanical parts, books, accessories, sheet metal, fenders, roadster bodies, pickup beds, wood kits, and original style bolt kits. We have a 120-page, all 'T' catalog and a 173-page, all 'A' catalog. Send for your copy or pick one up at the store. Daily U.P.S. service, Master Card, VISA, or COD Have quite a bunch of surplus stuff in the garage yet. If you are looking for something for your "A", let me know. I just might have it. No lists - ask for what you want and I'll look for it and let you know. Frank Cooper 2300 College Dr. Blair, NE. 68008 Shawna & Bill Devin BIRDHAVEN VINTAGE AUTO SUPPLY 3515 West 88 th St. North, Colfax, IA 50054 Phone 515-674-3949 Toll free 866-302-3673 Fax 515-674-9028 Sat. April 30th & Sun. May 1st: Estate Sale, 1305 Ave K, Council Bluffs, IA 8:00am to 6:00pm 1921 Model T (not running), and a large assortment of parts for Model A s and T s. Many antiques, new and old tools, cash only. Call Delmar Bunch for details 712-322-0770 9
Monthly meetings are at the Douglas County Health Center. See map and directions below. This is the official publication of the Meadowlark Chapter of the Model A Restorers Club (MARC) and the Model A Ford Club of America (MAFCA). This monthly newsletter is mailed to members, prospective members, and editors of similar publications. Its purpose is to keep you informed about what has taken place and to remind you of future activities. Members may publish at no cost, ads for items wanted, for sale, or trade. They are also invited to submit technical Model A information and other interesting tidbits. Material should reach the editor by the last Saturday of the month. MONTLHY MEETINGS: Second Saturday of each month (except January) at 7:30PM at the Douglas County Health Center in the Town Hall. 42 nd & Woolworth Ave. 2011 Officers President Lee Hendrix 402-895-2432 VP/ Pres. Don Graves 402-453-7166 Secretary Vicki Heeren 712-533-6183 Treasurer Mary Denker 402-333-1393 2011 Board Members Steve Anderson 402-932-1401 Ed Jankowski 402-558-7679 Sherri Kunz 402-493-2211 Doug Heeren 712-533-6183 Howard Denker 402-333-1393 Membership dues for the Meadowlark Club are $24.00 per year prorated monthly for new members. Membership in one of the national clubs is required. You may join both national clubs if you wish. MAFCA dues are $40.00 per year and MARC dues are $38.00 per year. Prospective Members: Please call Membership Chairman, Don Graves, (402-453-7166) for more information. Club web address: http://meadowlarks.omahaneb.org Club web master: Janet Graves 402-453-7166