Buick Club of America Portland Area Chapter Newsletter for December 2017 Director s Musings December has brought changes for everyone in the Portland Area Chapter. A new board has been elected for 2018 with all the great members from last year plus the addition of our great Buick friend and supporter Ken Schutt being elected to the position of corresponding secretary. Ken is a life-long Buick guy who participated in board meetings in 2017 in an advisory role. He has great ideas and his follow through makes sure things get done. It is also great to have Bill Montero - treasurer, Fred Rau vice director and Jack Wager secretary, back in their elected positions. Bob Hadlow is past director and Jack Gerstkemper is regional director. I am still director since I am writing this column. It is a privilege to be part of this board and to direct the chapter. We held a chapter meeting in late November and made plans for 2018. Many events and activities were added to the calendar and it is shaping up to be a great year. Fred Rau will be holding meetings and events in my absence throughout the winter. So look to the activities list for more info. The chapter dinner will be held in April Bill Montero is working on this event. We can always use more events so please think about what event you would like the group to get together for. Brenda and I have headed south to California and Arizona for the winter. Since we left on December 5 th we have had nothing but sunny days. It is always great to travel when the sun shines. We just spend the weekend with friends outside of Sacramento and are slowly making our way south. We will be seeing the Wackers in Palm Springs over the holidays and hope to see the Dietrichs in Arizona later. We will still get our Buick fix by visiting with these chapter members. We are keeping our eyes on the wild fires and trying to stay a long ways away. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! Sparky says Merry Christmas as well. Have a Merry Buick Christmas!
The ABC Islands by Jack Gerstkemper The approach of Christmas finds us 50 miles north of Venezuela on the tiny Dutch island of Bonaire. You might say we were blown here by Hurricane Maria. Because our family is scattered from Virginia to Arizona, our original holiday plans were to celebrate a family Thanksgiving in the Virgin Islands off the coast of Florida. We were still in the State of Washington when that nasty series of hurricanes hit the Northern Caribbean, blowing away our rented house along with the Virgin Islands' airport control tower. Undaunted, Barbara rescheduled a rendezvous for a family of seven in the Southern Caribbean, 500 miles south of the hurricane damage. We spent nine days with our family in Aruba before the poor blighters returned home to work. Barbara and I then set off on our own through Curacao and Bonaire. Our next stop is Trinidad. After Trinidad, we plan to "island hop" in a northerly direction until we run into that hurricane damage. It might be half past February before we return home. The "ABC Islands" of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao have been administered by the Kingdom of Holland since 1732. Pretty little Dutch girls run around the beaches in what passes for bathing suits down here. I'd send pictures, but they might not get past the censors. It's safer to talk about cars, so let's go there instead. Hyundai and Kia have captured the car market in the ABC Islands. A few Japanese cars sneak into the mix, but American cars are few and far between. We saw one late model Buick, but it flew off before I could find my camera. Two Model A's stood still long enough for me to take their pictures. In three weeks of travel down here, these two Model A's are the only "collector cars" I have seen. The lack of old cars is probably related to the salt air and rust. They buy throw-away Korean cars instead of proper American automobiles. But they still buy American when they need a reliable old Party Bus. The road conditions down here also contribute to the "throw-away-car" mentality. Roads deteriorate rapidly at the edge of town, as shown by our drive through a local National Park. It speaks volumes about the quality of 1950's and 1960's American cars that Cuba has been
able to preserve their old Buicks for 60 years. Cuba is definitely NOT in our travel plans, but I'll let you know if I find anything interesting in Trinidad. Until next time, remember; "Buicks were Built to be Driven". Jack and Barbara The Eagle Creek Fire and its effects on the Historic Columbia River Highway The recent Eagle Creek Fire has had some devastating effects on the Historic Columbia River Highway, east of Portland in the Columbia River Gorge. Members may recall from recent tours of this significant historic Oregon resource that it was the first scenic highway in the United States and is a National Historic Landmark. The fire burned out the western red cedar timber lining in the Oneonta Tunnel that the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration restored in 2009 as part of a project to create a safe parking area for visitors to Oneonta Gorge. (The Oregon State Highway Department had closed the tunnel in 1947 when it relocated the highway around Oneonta Bluff.) The photographs below depict the tunnel in 2009 at its rededication. One image shows members of local cycling groups and the public in force at the west tunnel portal. Another shows me driving through the tunnel in my 1949 Buick Super four-door sedan, which I have owned since 1978 (my first car!). What a spectacular day! Fast forward to September 2017, when the Eagle Creek Fire whipped through Oneonta Tunnel like a blowtorch one evening, burning out the timber lining in a heartbeat. ODOT and its partners hope to reline the tunnel and open it, again, to the public. Other damage near Shepperds Dell includes broken mortared masonry guard walls. However, one must look for bright spots in any tragedy. The heavy vegetation covering the nearby Bishop's Cap, an outcropping that once looked like a bishop's miter, is gone because of recent fire-related tree cutting and rock scaling to make the highway safe. Bishop's Cap is once again visible. It looks much like it did a hundred years ago at the highway's original dedication!
I look forward to once again guiding our Portland Area BCA chapter members along the Historic Columbia River Highway on a leisurely Saturday morning tour. Bob Hadlow, BCA No. 09395 Past Director, Portland Area Chapter of the BCA Disclaimer: I am writing this piece as a member of the Portland Area BCA Chapter and not as an employee of the Oregon Department of Transportation. If you ve already mailed yours in, THANK YOU. Dues are Due 2018 Chapter Dues Price remains at $15. Membership Form Portland Area Chapter Buick Club of America Names: Address: City:, State: Zip: Email: Phone: BCA Number: (Our charter requires that all chapter members maintian BCA membership Buick(s) owned Year and model Make $15.00 checks payable & mail to: Buick Club Portland Chapter P.O. Box 14224 Portland, OR. 97293
Activities Calendar for 2018 Dec 2017 Jan 23 Feb 10 Mar 27 April May 26 Jun 16 Jun 19-23 Jul 11 Jul 17 Aug 7 Aug? Sep? Bye Tuesday General membership and board meeting at 6:30PM. Portland Seafood. Valentine s Dinner. This will be fun. Contact: Fred and Leslie Rau General membership and board meeting. Duke Charpentier. Details TBA Annual Membership has its Privileges Banquet. Details are TBD. Bill Montero Regional Picnic at Ft. Borst Park, Centralia. Additional details to follow. Meeker Days/All Buick Open in Puyallup, WA. BCA National meet in Denver, CO. Buick Night at Beaches/PIR Game night at Fred and Leslie s. Don t miss this one. Timberline Tour. Contact: Fred Rau Chapter picnic details TBA Drive Tour with a historic flair? Contact: Bob Hadlow