BIG SKY AUTO CLUB MEETING MINUTES
AUGUST 7, 2006
Present: Don Conley; Leo Wall; Dave Shaw; Wally and Margie Duchscher; Louie, Cathy, and Mark Dielman; Tom and Mary Kellar
Minutes of the July 3, 2006, meeting were read and approved. No treasurer's report.
ACTIVITIES:
September 4, 2:00 PM, Picnic and meeting at the Duchschers'. Cathy will call the Hi-Line club members.
Wally and Margie - hamburgers and have pop left over from our last event
Tom and Mary - hot dogs
Leo - buns
All others - desserts and salads
Everyone - bring chairs
August activities:
Hot August Nights in Plentywood at the Sunset Drive-in. Open to all vehicles.
August 12 - Polson car show
August 13 - Chester Tour - meet at 8:00 at Atrium. Dave will provide the bus, picnic at Chester Park
August 19 - Fall tour (September 8-10) deadline. State Invitational Car Show at Manhattan.
OLD BUSINESS:
Don has new windshield for his Overland. He said they did a beautiful job.
Louie talked about going to Kalispell and Butte (fuel pump). They attended the State Oddfellows picnic.
Leo has been harvesting.
The Shaws were at the Flathead for their son's wedding blessing and some sailing.
Wally and Margie went to Minnesota. On the return trip, he purchased a 1948 Lincoln Continental Cabralle in North Dakota. He also saved a '55 Cadillac Fleetwood and a '81 Cadillac Berretta from crushing.
Tom's been busy with a concrete slab for his shop.
The tour of MAFB air museum is schedule for September 26. Tom will finalize plans and get in touch with club members.
Dave has put the July Times on the website. We discussed the access to the website and if a password would be needed to read minutes. No one thought that would be necessary. No one wanted their e-mail address or list of cars on the website, and Mark has an unlisted phone number that he doesn't want shared.
Havre Festival Days are September 15-17.
We discussed a steak fry for club members to be held sometime in early October or perhaps October 15.
NEW BUSINESS:
Dave asked about putting the minutes on the website so the absent club members would know what's going on. No one opposed the idea.
Send in your corrections for the roster.
We discussed the privacy issue for the roster and the cost of its publication and mailing (over $12,000). It seems this could be spent on other things, like tours. Many state members are concerned with the privacy issue mainly regarding what cars they have.
Meeting adjourned.
Submitted by Mary Kellar
BIG SKY AUTO CLUB MEETING MINUTES
OCTOBER 2, 2006
Present: Don Conley, Leo Wall, Dave and Kris Shaw, Louie and Cathy Dielman, Rod and Bonnie Reitan, Garry and Dianne Visser, Tom and Mary Kellar (Guests: Ann Shaw, Larry and Becky Coleman)
As the club picnic was held in lieu of the September meeting, there was no formal meeting with minutes taken. The picnic was held on September 4 at the Duchscher farm. The food was great and all had a good time.
Minutes of the August 7, 2006, meeting were read and approved. No treasurer's report.
Tom introduced Larry and Becky Coleman from Florida who recently moved to Havre for the summer. They purchased the Castle and with extensive remodeling, restored it to its former grandeur. Larry spoke briefly about their car clubs in Florida.
OLD BUSINESS:
Louie, Cathy and Mark were in Dillon for the state's fall tour. Louie reported everything went off well, other than they could have used more help in directing traffice when the tour to Bannack took place. He said all the buildings in Bannack were opened for the tour group, and that the event was good. Viggo Anderson took the hard-luck trophey home (a little trouble with the Dillon law enforcement agency). The spring 2007 tour will be in Great Falls and the fall 2007 tour in Bozeman.
The MAFB museum tour was canceled until some time in the future because the museum is only open on weekdays. The curator did tell Tom he could schedule a tour for our club at a later date. We'll keep this on our future activity list.
Our club expedition to Chester was canceled due to Don Raunig's inability to conduct the tour at that time. He still would like our club to come to Chester and tour his and Joe Fenger's buildings. After some discussion, this activity was put on hold until spring.
October 15 was the date picked for the steak fry in the Bears Paw. We will meet at noon in the library's parking lot. The club will buy steaks; Don will make a pot of his delicious beans; Vissers will bring a grill and spuds (baked and potato salad); Tom and Mary, hot dogs and relish dish; Leo, buns & chips; Shaws, desserts; everyone else, either salad or desserts.
Don brought in pictures of the Hot August Nights in Plentywood and the Iola, Wisconsin, Old Car weekend which included a military car show (included tanks, artillery, etc.)
Steve and Marvin represented our club at the Festival Days parade, with Steve driving his fuel truck and Marvin his Model A. The car show was canceled but the teen car show was held with only a few entries.
Mary questioned whether it was a good idea to put the meeting minutes on the website before they were read and approved at the next meeting. Tom brought up the fact that most of the time, there were no corrections to the minutes, but if there were, we could put those corrections on the website also. So, having the minutes accessible to all club members soon after the meeting would be beneficial to all those interested.
Garry wore a prototype vest he had made up at Master Sports. The cost to sew our crest on the vest was $15 and the vest itself was $30. Each member would have to pay extra if they wanted their car, name, or whatever, on the front of the vest. The club voted on the crest selected with the addition of the word "Havre" which would then read "Big Sky Auto Club Havre, Montana" on the back with a mountain range in the background. We discussed conformity with the jackets or vests, and decided it would be best if all were the same color and crest. Blue was the color of choice.
NEW BUSINESS:
Election of new officers for 2007.
Tom questioned if the club needed three people for the positions of secretary, treasurer, and reporter or if one person could take care of it all. It was decided that we should have a secretary/treasurer and a reporter. In order to get people who wouldn't feel put upon by voting them in as an officer, Tom asked for volunteers. Garry Visser agreed to be the reporter and also the one to call other members with reminders of meetings and special events. Dianne Visser volunteered to be the secretary/treasurer (in Dianne's absence, Mary Kellar to fill in), Dave Shaw the vice president, and Tom Kellar the president. Directors will be Tom Kellar and Louie Dielman. A vote was taken with all in agreement and no dissention.
Tom brought up our holiday activities. Since all those who attended the dinner put on by Sam Clawsen at the Masonic Temple thoroughly enjoyed themselves, we discussed having our Christmas meeting/dinner there on December 4. Tom will check with Sam and also with Wolfers if the temple isn't available. Rodney would like decorations. Valentine's Day would then be at Wolfers if we go to Masonic Temple in December. We will set a date at our next meeting for our Christmas Lights tour.
Dues are now due: $20/single, $25/couple or family. There were no increases for the coming year, and Dianne is available to accept the dues as the new treasurer.
The report is due October 28 to the state along with the list of officers and directors.
The new officers will take over during the November 6 meeting.
Meeting adjourned.
Submitted by Mary Kellar
Minutes for the November 6th, 2006 Meeting
The meeting was attended by:
Dave, Kris, Craig and Dylan Shaw
Rodney and Bonnie Reitan
Wally and Marge Duchscher
Tom and Mary Kellar
Lewis, Catherine and Mark Dielman
Don Conley
Garry and Dianne Visser
Dave Swallow
Dianne Visser read the minutes of the last meeting. They were approved as
read.
The current balance in the checking account is $314.67.
Old Business:
Tom reminded everyone that the annual membership dues are to paid to the
tresurer as soon as possible.
There was a discussion about how to attract new members and how to bring the old members back to the club. The following suggestions were made: we put an ad in the newspaper, we phone old members to see if they are still interested in being part of the club, we advertise in Big Sandy and Chinook to attract people from there, we give applications to people we know who are interested in old cars and we post our e-mail address on the web page.
NO ACTION
Tom brought up the possibility of everyone reading the Antique and Classic Times on line. This would be in order to save on the cost of publishing the magazine. There is a ballot in the fall issue of the magazine, which gives us the opportunity to voice your opinion on this matter. Everyone is encouraged to fill out the ballot and send it in.
Wally reported on the Steak Fry that was held on October 15th at the Railroaders picnic area in the Bears Paw. Wally reported that it was a very enjoyable day, Tom went out early and got everything ready for us, the weather was great, the fellowship was wonderful, the steaks were cooked to perfection by Garry and Mark but most of all the horseshoes was the most exciting. Dave and Wally are currently the club champs, defeating Tom and Leo. Tom brought a puzzle of multiple car bits, to the picnic and everyone enjoyed trying to figure out what kinds of cars they were. We had a fun conversation about Dylan's car, and Mary was proud to say that she taught Marge how to roast marshmallows.
The club costs for the picnic were $109.43 and it was agreed by the members to pay this amount to Tom as he paid for the groceries at the IGA.
November Activities:
There is to be a Lutefisk and Meatball Dinner in Joplin on November 12th from 12 to 3 PM. Anyone interested in going could call Tom and Mary.
The parade of lights is to be held in Chinook on Friday, November 24th.
After some discussion it was decided that we should go as a group and decorate a few cars for the parade.
ACTION: Garry to call all members.
After much discussion it was decided to enter one of Wally's old cars and, Garry and Dianne's Fairlane, both to be pulled on flatbeds. We also thought it would be a good idea to have banners on the doors of the trucks pulling the cars to advertise our club.
It was decided that the decorating will be done at Duchschers on Monday, November 20th and Tuesday the 21st, to begin at 6:30PM and we will decide what to do at that time.
ACTION: Garry to phone all members.
Christmas Party:
The party is going to be held at the Masonic Temple on Monday, December 4th at 5:30PM. We will be having prime rib and turkey at the cost of $10.00 per plate.
ACTION: Garry will call all members and have a head count in to Tom by November 15th.
Some of the members have shown an interest in decorating for the party and they are encouraged to show up at the Masonic Hall on Friday December 1st at 5:30PM if you are interested in helping out.
Tour of Lights:
We will be touring town again this year in Dave's bus on Friday, December 15th at 5:30PM. Everyone is to meet at Tom and Mary's house at 5:30 for pizza. After the tour they will serve hot chocolate, cider and desserts.
Caroling and camaraderie will conclude the evenings festivities.
ACTION: Garry to phone all members.
ACTION: Ladies to bring desserts.
New Business:
Big Sandy will be having their Parade of Lights on Saturday, December 16th.
It was decided by all the members to invite the members of the Hi-Line Antique Motor Club to our Christmas party.
ACTION: Cathy Dielman will contact the members and have a head count to Garry by November 15th.
Show and Tell:
Wally brought in several items that he had purchased at an auction sale, post cards from 1910, 1911, and 1913, a military payment coupon from WW1 worth 5 cents, and two issues of Automotive Digest for 1938 and 1935.
Dylan told us about the old car he recently purchased, a 1985 Audi 4000 Quatro.
Tom told us about his Chrysler woes.
Don was happy to report that he was able to get a seal for his Cadillac.
Mark told us about an R12 recycling machine he had just purchased.
Dave Swallow brought in pictures of his Model T's.
Rodney reported that he purchased a dolly trailer.
Meeting was adjourned at 9:15 PM.
January, 2007 Meeting
The Big Sky Auto Club monthly meeting was held on January 8th. at the
library. The members present enjoyed a potluck meal prior to the start of
the meeting.
Members Present:
Dave Shaw
Tom and Mary Keller
Dave Swallow
Mark Dielman
Lewis and Catherine Dielman
Chuck Dees
Wally and Marge Duchscher
Leo Wall
Garry Visser
President Tom Keller called the meeting to order and introduced two new
members Chuck and Mary Lou Dees and Dave Stephenson. Tom welcomed them to
the group and advised them of the friendly shenanigans' that happen within
the club.
As the December meeting was the annual Christmas Party there was no month of
December minutes to review. The minutes of the November meeting were read
and reviewed. A correction to the minutes identified that the Dylan Shaw's
car was at the picnic and not Craig Shaw's. The minutes were approved with
the correction.
Business arising from the minutes:
The treasurer's report was given. The current balance is $330.74 and the
only outstanding bill is to the library. New member deposits will be made.
There are still a few outstanding membership dues. An update on the unpaid
dues will be reported on at the next meeting in February.
Tom reported on the Parade of lights that was held in Chinook on November
25th. He reported on how it was such a good time for some of the members to
get together to decorate two cars with lights. The first night was spent at
Wally's discussing a number of different ideas and finally working out a
plan on how to decorate Wally's 25 Dodge Brother's Touring Car. The
decorations were completed and we met again at Garry's on the second night
to work on his decorations. The majority of Garry's were completed and the
final product looked so good that we met again at Wally's on the third night
to redo Wally's car. Wally really didn't want to redo his car but Tom was
persuasive enough in the early hours of the second night to convince him it
needed to be done. The fourth night was spent doing the fine tuning and
power hook-ups and finishing the club signs for each car. The preparation
for the parade had lots of stories both good and bad but the results were
well worth it. The president himself said that we had the two best floats in
the parade. It turned out to be a great club activity and a good time was
had by all.
Cathy Dielman reported on the Big Sandy Parade of lights. The club didn't
have any vehicles in the parade but it was a good show anyway.
Mark Dielman reported on the Christmas party and reported that it was a
great time and a lot of fun. The Masonic Lodge setting for the party was
excellent and the food could not have been better.
Dave Shaw reported on the Christmas light tour and the fellow sight seeing
enthusiasts he picked up around the tour in the old bus. A good fun time was
had by everyone, good Pizza, beautiful lights and decorations, good
camaraderie, fine transportation, great sweets and hot drinks, and excellent
singing and caroling,
Correspondence:
Tom received a note from Jim Monger at the Bozeman Club inviting us all to
the Fall Tour.
Tom reviewed the message from Don Stephens from the Skunk Wagon Club re: the
Spring Tour. He mentioned how registration was to be in advance with no
walk-ons. The tour is to start in Choteau on Friday, Tour to Great Falls
with stops in between, on Saturday, awards on Saturday night and the General
Meeting on Sunday morning.
New Business:
Happy Birthday greetings to Lewis Dielman and Mary Keller. Tom polled the
crowd for other birthday dates.
The activity planned for this month is the High Line Christmas party to be
held in Inverness on January 14th. @ 18:30 hours. A head count showed that
approximately 10 people from the club would be going. Wally really wanted to
go but as luck would have it he'll be in Phoenix at the Barrette Jackson
auction.
The next activity for the club will be the Valentine's supper on February
14th. to be held at Wolfers Diner. Garry will call to get a head count and a
preferred meal choice. Mary will look after the decorations.
There were some lengthy discussions on inviting guests to our club
functions. The major issues centered on the commitment for the costs of the
activities. It was agreed that guests are always welcome and that the
individual club members are responsible for their invited guest costs. Once
the invited guests have committed they should be held accountable for their
own costs. Should a problem result the extra costs must be covered equally
by the members present. Further discussion was held on asking regular guests
to the club functions to become members of the club. A decision was agreed
upon to present application forms to the regular guests in an effort to
persuade them to join the club.
Tom displayed some uncanny talent as he quoted out loud about a couple of
interesting topics from the Rocky Boy Newspaper and Tricia's Trader. Some
great humor, made better, by the commentator.
Tom asked for any new activities that we might plan on. Dave Shaw mentioned
that he has a video of the Fort Benton history and that he was willing to
show it to the club members. March the 19th. at the Atrium was decided as
the time and place for the showing. Wally suggested we take a trip to the
Ophiem Museum in the spring. Mark mentioned the Antique Show in Great Falls
on January 19th & 20th and the Maggie at the 4 Season's arena in Great Falls
January 18th - 20th.
A review of the work in progress on vehicles was completed. Most everyone
had something on the go. The Dielman's commented on their major project, Leo
has a new project to add chrome wheels to and Tom and Chuck are deep into
the frame up on Chucks' corvette. Wally trumped everyone with the high
praise he put on his wife for finding a 63 Buick Skylark Convertible that he
has added to his collection.
Show-N-Tell saw Wally showing off a mail out catalogue he received for
Christmas. The 1938 catalogue was of parts and equipment available from the
H. Earl Clack Company of Havre. Included in the catalogue was an authentic
blank order form. "Good Stuff"
Next meeting February 5th. at the library. Meeting adjourned.
February 5th, 2007
The February meeting of the Big Sky Auto Club began with another delicious
pot luck dinner. The meeting was called to order by our President Tom Kellar
at 7:20 PM.
Those in attendance were:
Tom & Mary Kellar
Wally & Marge Duchscher
Garry &Dianne Visser
Chuck Dees
David Stevenson
Wilbur Scheresky
Mark Dielman
Cathy & Lewis Dielman
Dave & Chris Shaw
Rodney & Bonnie Reitan
Leo Wall
Joe Pruys
The minutes of the January meeting were read by Garry. Wally made a
correction, his car that was in the Parade of Lights was a '25 Dodge
Brothers Touring Car. The correction was so noted and will be changed in the
January minutes.
The minutes were accepted as read.
Treasurer's Report: to date we have $259.24 in the bank with no outstanding bills.
The membership was reviewed and to date we have 28 paid members.
Tom pointed out that the Times has a ballot at the front to be filled out by
members who would like to receive the Times via e-mail. He encouraged all
members to do so as the cost of the magazine is very high.
Tom thanked Garry for the Club News that was posted in the Times.
Correspondence: Tom received a thank you from the library for our donation
of $100.
Old Business:
Rodney asked about an inverter that he loaned to someone for the parade of
lights. Garry said he had it and would return it.
Dave found a dodge key in his bus after the lights tour. Wally said it was
his and Dave will make sure he gets it.
Wally gave a detailed report on his trip to the Barrett Jackson Sale. He
reported that it was a first class sale and encouraged all members to go if
they had the chance. He reported that he bought some tile for his display
area that is very easy to install and very easy to keep clean. He bought a
1930 Buick at the sale. Wally then proceeded to tell us about the 1960
convertible Cadillac that was auctioned off. The car had belonged to Pamela
Anderson and the buyer paid $105,000 and got a hug of a lifetime from
Pamela.
Wally was definitely more interested in the owner than the car.
Chris reported on the Inverness Christmas party that was held on January
14th. There were 26 people in attendance and they all celebrated Lewis'
birthday. They discussed the Museum in Rudyard, which sounds like a good
place to tour.
Happy Birthday wishes were extended to Joe Pruys.
Tom reported that the Coleman's called from Florida and they will be back to
Havre in May. He continued to tell us that the Coleman's bought a '56 Chev
Convertible and they were given a '66 Mustang by a neighbor, which they
really didn't want. Some club members expressed interest in the Mustang if
he would give it to them.
Rodney reported on a new project that he has undertaken: he is a volunteer
for the Mission Aviation Fellowship and has been using telemetry equipment.
He has been asked by Shell Equator to develop a telemetry system for them.
He explained a little bit about the system and expressed his enjoyment in
working with the system.
Our Valentine Party will be held on Wednesday, February 14th at Wolfers
Diner. We will have a choice of Prime Rib, Chicken or Fish. The members were
polled and 15 want Prime Rib, 3 want Fish and 2 want Chicken. Garry is to
call the members not in attendance. The Hi-Line Club is invited and Cathy
will call them and get their menu choices and call Garry by Friday.
New Business:
Activities: A discussion was held about places we could tour. The
Interpretive Center, the Air Museum in Great Falls, the Fly In, a possible
work bee on a car, were some of the suggestions.
Leo reported that his newest project is almost done.
Mark reported that he bought a ton with a snow plow.
Tom reported that he attended a library committee meeting about The Big
Read, a project that the Library has taken on.
The project is based on the book, The Grapes of Wrath. People are encouraged to read the book and to become involved in
the activities that are to be held throughout the month of March. One
activity is the presentation of the movie, The Grapes of Wrath, it will be
shown free of charge, the first weekend in March, at the MSU Technology
Building. All activities are designed to give the public an opportunity to
view artifacts and to experience the depression era. The books are
available at the Library and through members of the committee. A pamphlet is
available, giving details of the March activities.
Tom is in charge of the Machinery, Auto, and Fashion Show and asked for
assistance from anyone who would be interested. It is to be held on March
10th and 11th.
Tom asked if anyone would like any additional activities for March and it
was said that March is pretty full with all the Big Read activities.
April's activity will be the Swap Meet in Great Falls, April 27th - 29th.
The details are in The Times.
Our next meeting is on March 5th, 2007 at 6:30 Pm in the Library.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 PM.