President's Page March 2009

If you recall, in the February post, I mentioned about meeting up with folks formerly affiliated with our club. No sooner did that come out than I got an email from Ken Etmanski – using the nickname "Axle". He is now chief pilot with the helicopter firm in Calgary and besides raising a young family, he has gathered up four 1934 Pontiac hulks with plans to do a restoration into one good touring car. So the saga continues – all born back in the early days of our club. How many other second-generation stories might there be? Maybe this calls for a reunion!

We welcome new members – Dean and Anita Lapierre and their son Lucas – including their family of cars – a 1959 Ford Sunliner convertible and 1931 Model A Ford Tudor. Dean has demonstrated his musical prowess, playing with the Antique Car Tunes at the last meeting. There’s news also from Ed Wodzak who has acquired a 1958 Chevrolet convertible and maybe a 1957 Chevy too. Troutman’s Model A has all new upholstery installed by Bert Blok and once Lorne gets a new gas tank gasket in place, he and Myrna will be ready for spring-time touring. In our household, we can report that Mike Cuff has our ’71 Caddy all stripped to bare metal in most places and it’ll soon be ready for a new coat of Sea Mist turquoise paint. Phillip won’t be able to draw attention to the trunk lid now ha ha.

On a sad note, I regret having to pass on news of a former member who attended some of our meetings and tours in the '80s. Steve Broady passed away in Vancouver this month. He was national sales manager for Acme Seeley Ltd. that was headquartered in Renfrew in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Members will recall Steve’s huge Austin Princess Vanden Plas limousine, his Rover saloon and Jaguar and Spitfire - all significant British cars that he took great pride in restoring.

Our tours and other events are starting to take shape. For starters, there’s a roast beef dinner at Dore Bay following their annual meeting on April 18th. On May 2nd the annual Turkey Fry takes place there too. How about on Monday May 18th we will make our Victoria Day Calabogie to Clayton Tour winding up in Renfrew for a '50s-style drive-in supper at Odi's Kingburger. On Father’s Day, June 21st, we’re invited to display our cars at Heritage Manor and maybe offer some short drives to the older lads and ladies. June 22nd is Red Hatters‘50s Rock-n-Roll Night to be held at the Pembroke Legion. Fifties cars are requested. June 28th will be the Strawberry Social at the Champlain Trail Museum and tentatively, the Gananoque – 1000 Islands Tour will be offered in July. How about travelling down on Tuesday July 7th for a full moon arrival, staying overnight also on the 8th with a departure on Thursday the 9th? A block of rooms will be reserved at Glen Mill Inn and a 1000 Islands cruise will be part of the itinerary. This is a beautiful resort on the river.

The March meeting will be at Merrybells and Barclay is looking forward to our being there on the 4th. So we will see you at 6:00, ordering right away to be able to start our meeting as close to 7:00 as possible. As you know, the auction sale held after each meeting can be a good source of fun and funds. We are all sort of closet junkies and with a little forethought, we should be able to contribute to the cause while clearing out stuff that we really don’t need. Ladies – don’t hesitate to bring along non-car treasures too.

Dave Lemkay