Jan 14, 2005 A belated Happy New to all; Well past time for a catch-up newsletter, as I have not written one since November! Since the last newsletter, the club participated in the Parade of Lights (Santa Claus parade for the politically incorrect). We had 3 vehicles entered -- Earl and Vicky's Red Dakota, Ron and Joan's AMX, and yours truly with his King Cobra (looking good from a distance). Ross Noble rode along with Rick, and Ron had Drew's daughter and her friend with him. After the parade, we went back to Mike and Naomi's for pizza and Cokes. With the exception of Gloria, who insisted on DIET PEPSI (in joke -- Naomi will get it). The next event was our Christmas dinner, which was well attended, and much enjoyed. We had 29 members, Naomi's Mom and Dad, and 2 guests: Buck Matiowsky and his wife. The Salvation Army received the toys and food items, as well as a cheque for $500.00. Not bad for saying Grace! In fact, we opened a short, official meeting at the dinner, for the purpose of proposing a motion to donate the $500.00 to the Sally Ann. The meeting opened, the motion was proposed, seconded, discussed (not), voted upon, passed; and the meeting was closed. Sort of like-Gone in 60 Seconds! We held our first meeting of the New Year on Thursday Jan. 6, 2005, with 11 members in attendance. We started out with a round table discussion of last fall's events, then went into the question of which charities to support this year. We figure we have about $1500.00 to disperse, and tabled the matter until our February meeting. This will give us a chance to get an up-to-date Treasurer's Report, and allow some time for the members to think about their charities. Some suggestions were made, including the Women's Shelter, the Hospital, the Fellowship Centre, etc. Also mentioned was the young boy from Kenora with very serious heart problems. This is being looked into, and will be explored next month. We talked about Carfest (which will be on Sunday, July 31). All the usual contentious issues came up, as they always seem to. Pete mentioned that he is involved in a special work project that is taking up much of his spare time; so this will be the year of the committee! We hope to form committees to look after each aspect of Carfest; thus spreading the work load amongst many, and reducing the time spent (hopefully) by any one individual. This will need discussion in February also. Meantime -- think about how and where you can help. We discussed a spring barbecue -- maybe even March? TBA We also discussed the purchase of a low power transmitter for Carfest. This would replace the loudspeaker system, as each car could tune in to our frequency, and pick up our broadcast. We think this would be superior, as even the most remote cars would have good quality audio! This spring, the terms of office of our Vice-President, and Treasurer, expire. If any changes are anticipated, now is the time to start thinking about it. Grant has indicated that he will stand for re-election, but Chris has not been asked, as he was unable to attend the January meeting. Hopefully, he will also volunteer for another term. Well, I think that's about it! See you on the Streets (peeking over the snow banks) Rick P.S. my project King Cobra is coming along. I'll get pictures to Randy soon. The car has had it's body work done, but there is "some assembly required". I have the 9" differential ready to go in, the gas tank is in, the dash and wiring, clutch cable, brake booster, etc. are in, and the new windshield is on order! ============================================================ Mar 1, 2005 Hello to all; Last night's meeting was well attended, with 12 members present. Unfortunately, Peter missed the meeting, so Rick stepped in to chair the proceedings. After reading the minutes from last month, we proceeded on with the election for the positions of Vice-President and Treasurer. As Chris Dexter agreed to stand for another 2 year term, and since no other candidates appeared anxiously in the wings, Chris was re-elected by a unanimous show of hands. The position of V.P was contested, with Grant standing for re-election, and Mike Godding nominated to run also. On a show of hands, Mike was elected as our new Vice-President. Our congratulations to Mike. I know we will enjoy working with him. A big Thank You is due to Grant Carlson for his past work on the club's behalf; and his unique input; especially in dealing with the Harbourfest Committee, and Tourism officials! Chris Dexter submitted the Treasurer's Report for 2004, which is officially attached to the minutes of last night's meeting, should anyone wish to see it. We ended the year with a balance of $4067.24, with one outstanding (but stale-dated) cheque to the Canadian Street Rod Association in the amount of $75.00. Our net income after expenses last year was $1058.48. As of the end of February, our bank balance is $3978.04. We still have not finalised our charity giving, but will do so at next month's meeting. We have traditionally liked to start our season with about $2000 - $2500 available. Ron Delorme has approached his daughter, (Uptown Cafe) who is happy to hang pictures of club rides. As Ron returned these pictures to the individual owners, you are welcome to drop them in "Uptown". We discussed club activities and events for the coming season, and the enthusiasm was obvious. Hopefully, we'll have better weather, and will be able to do a few more cruises and displays in different locales. Some suggestions were Minaki, Sioux Narrows, Dryden, and of course Vermilion Bay. We had a committee report from our web site guys. The site is up and running, improving all the time, and includes a classified section. Check it out at http://www.kenoraclassiccarclub.ca/ Contact Randy or Bill Richards to list your items. Next month, we need to firm up our committees so as to handle Carfest in a way that gives everyone a chance to enjoy the show. We propose 2 shifts for those committees who actively work the show (just about everybody), with time off for good behaviour! -- and biffy breaks. Please give some thought to both the structure of the committees, and your involvement, as we really need to finalise this soon. Pray for Rain, Rick ============================================================ April 7, 2005 Hello to all, and I hope everyone is enjoying this great spring weather! Our regular meeting was held last Thursday, and it was a busy one. We had 17 members in attendance -- a great turnout -- and we signed up two new members. Welcome to Chuck Tyrell and Lorne Whiting-Purvis. It's good to have you join, and we hope you enjoy the club. The meeting was quite long, as we had quite a bit on the agenda. We finally settled our charity giving; with a $500.00 cheque going to the boy with the serious heart problem. The proposed new categories for this year's Carfest were presented, and accepted. We will have 20 categories, with a new one for Stock Imports, all years. This will take the Volkswagens and MGs and other fine cars away from the "American Muscle", and they will no longer feel so intimidated. Thus, they will be able to display their much more "sophisticated" styling and engineering. (Hey -- I only write what I hear, and not necessarily what I think!) The membership was informed of a whopping increase in the cost of our liability insurance -- it is now $850.00 plus tax = $918.00. This is a disappointment, but we are stuck with it. In spite of this, the members voted to hold the line on the cost of registration for Carfest (which seemed the obvious place to recover it), at $15.00 pre-registration and members, and $20.00 day of show. With the departure of Grant from the position of VP, the executive decided that it was time for the club to have it's own permanent address, and has rented a post box, for a cost of $104.00 per year, plus a one-time key deposit of $23.00. The membership backed up this decision on a show of hands. Our new address is: Kenora Classic Car Club PO Box 616 Kenora, ON P9N 3X6 Rick (me) gave a short rundown on a Harbourfest Board Meeting which he attended on the club's behalf. We have a few areas of mutual interest, the important one being our allotted area, and this will remain unchanged, except for possibly giving up about 50 feet of grass, if they bring in inflatable rides for the kids. Buck informed Harbourfest that the LOWISSA (sailboats) will be assembling in the harbour, and starting out at 10:00 AM Sunday morning. He proposed to haul the Coney Island walking bridge over, and tie it up along the shore for the sailboats to use. Looks like it will be very busy out front of us until they get away. John Karwacki has volunteered to look into a low power transmitter for Carfest, and has already found a couple on eBay, at reasonable cost. We have engaged John for the show this year, Rock 'N Roll will live Forever! Next month's meeting will be on Thursday, May 5, and we have tentatively set the next night, Friday, May 6 as our first show 'n shine, at KFC. The members have expressed a clear wish to move around this year, with many suggestions for locations, including the Log Cabin, A&W, Harbourfront, Piston Ring, Walmart parking lot (already approved), etc. Last month, the club sent a sympathy card and a commemorative tree sapling to Linda McGeachy after her Mother passed away. Linda has responded with a nice Thank You note, and her card has been entered in the club correspondence file. The web site is getting a lot of hits, and classifieds are free, so list your stuff! There are many weekend events coming up, and these will be posted on the web site for you to see. Pellatt, on the long weekend (Sunday, May 22) is the first, followed by Atikokan on the following weekend (May 27 -- 29). Our nominees for Kenora's Volunteer Appreciation Day are Al Sutherland and Linda McGeachy. Congratulations to you both. Your willing help through the years deserves this recognition. Whew! That's it for now. See you on the Streets, Rick ============================================================ May 6, 2005 Spring is finally here, after a false start, and it is nice to feel the warmth. Shop doors open, fire allowed to go out, and great old cars finally seeing the light of day! Couldn't be better. Our meeting last night saw 15 members out, with Chris Dexter's Corvair the only classic in attendance. Mike and Naomi arrived in their new Volkswagen convertible -- Very Nice. The meeting went quickly -- at least the "official" part. We have finally written a cheque for Brandon Shapland, the boy with the very serious heart problem. Peter was there to chair the meeting, and catch up on everything. We decided to postpone our first Show 'N Shine until next Friday, as no one seems to be quite ready. Bill Richards is going to check with Randy Nickel, of Quiznos, and see if we can start out there next week. An interesting discussion evolved after the official meeting. Arising from the idea of alternating locations for Friday Show 'N Shines, it quickly grew into a philosophical round-table session about the direction of the club. Everyone present seemed to have good ideas, but we seem unable to transcend our established format of an official meeting once a month, plus our Friday night static display and, of course, Carfest. The consensus of opinion would seem to be that we need to change things. Most people feel -- and I hope that I have got the sense of this correct -- that our meetings have become bland and spend too much time dealing with the mundane details of Carfest. Some suggestions were to have How-To workshops, hold meetings in different members garages and shops, do a drive as well as a static display on Fridays (starting out or finishing off at an agreeable place to have coffee, or a bite to eat), etc. There was a lot of enthusiasm, and I throw out a challenge to the membership to build on this, and not to let it go! We really do need to nail down the standing committees, and allow them to work independently, so as to free up our meetings for more important "car stuff". We have set up the committees for Parking, Registration, Trophies and Awards, Prize Solicitation, and T-shirt sales. Volunteers are needed everywhere. Can you help? See you on the Streets, Rick ============================================================ June 6, 2005 Hello to all, Well, here it is, June 6 already, and summer does not seem set to appear. The weather has not peaked one's enthusiasm for car shows and cruises. In spite of this, we have now had 4 Friday night show 'n shines, with good attendance, depending on the wet stuff. The new format of changing locations seems to be working out OK, although it must be hard for those without emails to figure it out! The tech night at John Karwacki's garage was attended by 6 or 7 of us, and was interesting in that I have once again realised how little I know. Judging by the confused looks on some other faces, I'm not the Lone Ranger. Thanks again to Chris Dexter for his excellent tutelage. We need to repeat it. Last Thursday's meeting was well attended, with 15 members out. The big news is that a motion was passed to join the National Association of Antique Automobile Clubs of Canada Corporation -- (NAAACCC). This will cost us $3.00 /member, but, as this is the organisation that represents our hobby to the various levels of government, and lobbies on our behalf, it seems well worth the money. Planning for Carfest is coming along, but too much work is falling to too few people. Our idea of forming committees is great in principle, but if YOU don't volunteer to do YOUR bit, no committees or anything else will work. Here is a list of the committees, with names of volunteers attached: PARKING Chair: (open) Members: Al Sutherland, Randy Hanstead, John Edwards, Mark Sissons, Richard Parent REGISTRATION Chair: Rick Lovelace Members: Judy Lovelace, Mike Godding, Lorne Whiting-Purvis, Randy Hanstead, Susan Bonkowski AWARDS Chair: Peter Olson Members: Rick Lovelace PRIZES Chair: (open) Members: Ross Noble, Rick Lovelace T-SHIRTS Chair: Vicki Cory Members: Earl Cory, Mike Tooke ENTERTAINMENT Chair: (open) Members: Naomi Stephenson, John Karwacki You will note that too many of the committees have no chairperson. This, of course, means that nothing is being done. It is not enough to just show up at Carfest, and put in a shift. There is too much prep to be done, and someone needs to do it. We all seem to want better plaques, better prizes, more BBQ's, more events,etc., but too few members are volunteering to make it happen. As a result, we will be going with the same plaques as last year, and likely the same dash plaques. The lead time to make significant changes is now too short. Perhaps it is time to re-evaluate the whole Carfest thing. If it is too much work, and the club as a whole no longer wishes to present it, then -- Please -- let your executive know. There are some very notable exceptions to the foregoing statement, and to those people, I apologise for making you endure this rant. Personally, I think that Carfest is very worthwhile, and has become a premier event for the old car fraternity; an event that really showcases Kenora, and our club. It has become an integral part of Harbourfest, and gives our club a credibility and status that we would not otherwise have. Enough for now, Rick ============================================================ August 7, 2005 Hello to All, Since we have rescheduled the August meeting, I thought I would get this out before too much of the month slips by. Our web site details several events that the club has attended recently, but the big one is Carfest, of course. I have had several compliments from people around town, and a few emails from people who attended. With one exception, the consensus is that we did a great job. One participant sent me a bit of a scorcher, but after a few emails back and forth, even he has said that, overall, it was a great show! More on that at the meeting. I believe that we have "raised the bar" on Carfest. Already, we're talking about next year. I happened to meet a few interested people in the Uptown Cafe, and had an impromptu brainstorming session about how we could build and improve the show. There were some really good ideas thrown out, which I will share with the club over our next few meetings. I have also come to realise that Carfest is not the central motivating factor for many of our members. I believe we need to change the way we deal with Carfest, and remove it from the regular agenda; identify those members who wish to get involved; and those who wish only to volunteer on day of show; and further -- to not pressure those who wish to have nothing to do with it. A lot of discussion needs to take place on this, of course, but bringing it all out in the open is where it has to start. A representative of Totem Lodge approached us to come down there for a Show 'N Shine one afternoon and evening this summer. I wonder if we might be able to do that on a Friday? Who would be interested in this? Please let me know. This Wednesday is the 3rd A&W Carhop day, again from 3:00 PM until 7:00 PM, so bring your "passports", and come on out. We have two new members in the last while. Welcome to Jeff Smith ('57 Chev 210) and Mike Christopher from Bemidji, Minn. We're happy to have you join us! I'll do an update after the meeting this coming Thursday, 7:00 PM, at the Comfort Inn. We have not decided where to go this coming Friday -- any suggestions? See you on the Streets, Rick ============================================================ September 2, 2005 The September meeting was held last night, with only 8 members in attendance. With Carfest behind us, and after many good Friday night events, it's possible that people are getting a little stale with club events. As three of the executive were in attendance, and 5 other members; old business was dealt with quickly. We have received the resignation of Mike Godding as Vice-President, due to his move away. While Mike is still returning to Kenora to work, he feels unable to continue as VP, as he can't count on attending or participating. With the departure of Mike and Naomi, we have lost two good, energetic members,who have both done much for the club, and they will be missed. A discussion started on the health and condition of the club. This has been precipitated by the lack of enthusiasm that seems to be creeping in to club activities and events -- or lack thereof. This year's Carfest highlighted a big problem within the club. Not enough people want to take on any responsibility or volunteer for jobs. We need to change that. Last spring, we had a good discussion about how we could improve. I remember some of the suggestions being to have more cruises, go different places, hold tech nights,hold fewer formal meetings, etc., etc. etc. None of these things have come to pass, with the notable exception of a tech night at John Karwacki's shop. The results of the discussion follow: Proposed that -- we drop formal meetings in the summer, when we are active with our show 'N Shines. Proposed that -- we change the show 'N Shines to a week night instead of Friday night. Proposed that -- we change our meetings into tech nights, movie nights, cruise nights, whatever -- just get away from the boring format that we currently have in place! Proposed that -- most business can be handled by an executive committee, who report to the membership at large as required, and not less than once a year-- at an Annual General Meeting -- at which the executive is elected, and major committee reports are presented. Proposed that -- we take Carfest out of Car Club. Carfest sucks all the energy out of this club, and uses up all the enthusiastic members, with no one left who is willing or able to look beyond it, and organise fun stuff. We could distance Carfest by forming a standing committee for this event, which is becoming bigger all the time. The committee would be responsible for Carfest entirely, and would report to the club as necessary, and would operate separately from the routine business of the club. The committee would look to the club for guidance, and for volunteers to help on show day. We did not have enough club members volunteer this year. If it had not been for Piston Ring, and their people, we may very well have had a disaster on our hands. I think our members get worn out with hearing about Carfest, and with the amount of energy it consumes. Proposed that -- the club develop a "Mission Statement", as much as I dislike using that kind of corporate babble! We need to define what it is we want from the club, and develop some guidelines and by-laws to ensure we move in that direction. This year, we have tried participating in special events -- M & M charity BBQ, A&W carhop days, etc. What do you think about these things? Is this what you want the club to do? Do you see the club as having a role in partnering with service clubs, and other non-profit organisations? Charity organisations? Just car stuff? At last night's meeting, we decided to air all of these proposals next month. October is "crunch time". The meeting will take place on Thursday, October 6th, at the usual boring time and place. Be there, and voice your opinion. This is your chance to make change happen. One more thing. The Christmas party needs to be organised, and we need to decide if we will pay for it, or subsidise it. Last year we paid the whole thing. Our annual membership fee is $25.00, and the cost of the Xmas dinner was $22.00 per person. The consensus of opinion last night was that we should not pay the whole shot, but subsidise the dinner to the level of $10.00 per person. This too, needs to be talked over and approved by the membership. "nuff said", Rick ============================================================ October 11, 2005 Well, we've had a beautiful fall, and as I write this (Tuesday @ 7:30 AM), it looks like another great day. I've enjoyed a few good rides in my cars, and have really enjoyed being able to work outside, or even in the shop with all doors wide open. Let's hope it continues on. Last Thursday's meeting was attended by 10 members, and went on quite late, until 8:30. Chris Dexter gave the Treasurer's report, and we currently have (round figures) $5400.00 in the bank, with all this years bills paid. This will give us enough to start the New Year out in a healthy fashion, and cover most Carfest expenses. We did decide to form a Carfest committee, and several members volunteered to help out. We hope to start out much earlier than in previous years, as we now have the cash to accumulate awards earlier. The committee will report it's progress to the general membership as required. John Karwacki (Johnny K, for those who haven't made the connection) has agreed to take on the position of "Activities Director", and we will be hearing from him soon, I'm sure. The Christmas Party this year is to be held at the Travelodge on Saturday, November 26, at 6:00 PM. Please bring an unwrapped toy or food item, to be given to the Salvation Army. The cost has yet to be settled, but will be in the area of $22.00 per person. There was unanimous agreement at the meeting that we would subsidise the cost, and the club will pay $10.00 for each member and 1 guest, bringing the price down to about $12.00. Please mark this on your calendars, and let me know how many will be attending, as we need to give the hotel a close estimate. Another change that we considered was to drop formal meetings in the summer. As we have a weekly show 'N Shine, it seems redundant to hold meetings, when we could be out in our cars. we have also decided to change the night of the weekly show 'N Shine to a weeknight (Tues., Wed., Thurs. -- not decided) to stay away from the weekend, and help space out activities. We are all very happy with the web site, but there is more that we can do, and the web committee will be working on this. You can participate by sending Randy any new pics -- especially of projects, etc. or by writing up a good description, and becoming the feature vehicle of the month. We also polled for a new Vice-President, but there were no takers. That pretty much covers the current events. Your feedback is invited, and welcome. I get very little in the way of ideas or constructive criticism from these newsletters, but it is always welcome. It is your club! See you on the Streets (for a little longer, anyway) Rick ============================================================ November 4, 2005 Exciting News At last night's meeting, which was attended by 9 members, we discussed the Christmas Party; (which far too many of you have not responded to) and we decided to push back the time to accommodate the Santa Claus Parade, which is now scheduled for the same day. We did this because we have decided to enter a float in the parade! Last year, we decorated 2 cars, and several people turned out to help, and to ride along. It was a good time. Both cars, however, were standard transmission, and we were having to ride the clutch. What we have decided to do is put the classic on a trailer, and decorate the truck, trailer and classic car. If you would like your car to be the one -- let us know. We can offer free pick-up and delivery! The event would look like this: 1:00 PM -- pick up the classic 1:30 - 3:00 PM -- decorate 3:00 PM -- drive to marshalling area 6:30 PM -- park float 6:45 PM -- cocktails 7:15 PM -- dinner Sunday AM -- strip decorations and return the classic End of Event The Christmas Party will cost $15.00 per person. The club is subsidising $10.00 per person, as the cost is just under $25.00 a plate. As in past years, an unwrapped toy or canned food item to the value of $10.00 is appreciated. Please respond by next Tuesday, as we need to let the Travelodge know the numbers. Also, please let me know if you are coming out for the parade. It promises to be a lot of fun. At the meeting we also decided to donate $1000.00 to charity this year. Rick the scrooge got overruled, and that's just fine. We have chosen the Miracle Marathon and Salvation Army as our charities, both worthy causes. Routine business was also discussed, and these will be in the official minutes. Hope to hear from you, Rick ============================================================ November 29, 2005 The executive has decided not to hold meetings in December or January. We will resume in February. Last Saturday's Christmas Dinner, and the Santa Claus parade beforehand was a lot of fun, with 24 of us sitting down to dinner. We donated quite a few nice gifts to the Salvation Army, and Val and Gloria pass on their sincere Thank You, along with their regrets that they could not attend the party. Gloria just recently had knee surgery, and is recovering. I will continue to send out information and emails, as they come in. On behalf of Pete, Chris and myself, may I take this opportunity to wish everyone a good Christmas, and the very best in the New Year. Rick P.S. We have one more pleasant chore for the year. We will be presenting cheques of $500.00 each to the Salvation Army, and to the Miracle Marathon. This will be co-ordinated with Johnny K, and will be done live on 89.5 -- Mix FM (how's that for a plug, Johnny K?) Anyone who wishes to be the presenter -- let me know ASAP