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

President's Page February 2009

You never know who you’re going to meet that has a connection to old cars and in this case the ACCP. Skiing last weekend at Pakenham with Addie, I happened to go to the cafeteria for a snack wearing my new black ACCP hat. A gregarious fellow behind the counter piped up after seeing the hat to say: “my Dad belonged to the Model A Ford Club in Pembroke”, saying that he was Robbie Rantz, Bob’s son. For those of you a bit longer in the tooth, you will have fond memories of the Rantz family in their Model A on early tours and Road-A-Os. I gave Bob a call and he says that he has had some thoughts about the club and that he and Pauline will see about maybe attending the February meeting.

So “hats off” once again to Wayne Brohart for renewing our club identity with the snazzy black caps – as I have said before, we benefit from our calling cards in the form of the Flying Quail, the web site, our vehicles (with window decals) and our jackets and hats.


Congratulations to Don and Myrna Stresman who “hands-down” won the activity award for 2008. With perfect attendance at meetings and on club tours, the handsome plaque is theirs to showcase for the year. There were many others who had respectable scores and clearly, that is the mark of a healthy club. Thanks to you all for your commitment and participation. We look forward to a fun-filled and rewarding year to come.

So far this new year, we have attended the Dore Bay Country Club Spaghetti Feast and the old fashioned horse-drawn sleigh ride at Schmidts. The Antique Car Tunes have had a jam or two and the Risto delivery wagon restoration project is underway. Ahead on the calendar, we have prospects of some great tours! Already we have chatted about a summer tour to Ganaoque to tour the Thousand Islands. I would like also to suggest a day-long loop through Calabogie to Middleville, returning after a picnic lunch back through Pakenham to Burnstown and home via Renfrew. We could visit interesting sites, including the marble mine near Clayton, the historic Mill of Kintail, the waterfront park and the Waba Museum at White Lake and maybe early supper in Renfrew at Odie’s Kingburger that has that old drive-in atmosphere – this could be a great photo session too. Bring you ideas to the meetings and we can fine tune the details and lock in dates.

We have been asked by the Heritage Manor to consider bringing our vehicles on Father’s Day to assemble an impromptu afternoon car show. They feel that our presence there would be well received by the seniors, especially the men-folk, to be able to mingle and meet members and reminisce about their cars of yesterday. Of course, Father’s Day is a family affair for us all, but maybe in giving a little, we reap much larger rewards… we can talk about this at the meeting, as well as other suggestions you will have for tours.

Dave Lemkay

Presidents Page January 2009

By the time this is published in January issue of The Flying Quail, we will have ushered in the New Year, although it was necessary to write it ahead of Christmas to meet the deadline.

I will start by expressing our sadness at the passing of our good friend and longstanding member Calvin TerMarsch. We all have grieved during this season and we offer our condolences to Joan and the family, Wayne & Shelley, Wendy and Phillip, Dean & Dianna and the grandchildren. Cal’s passing leaves a space in our club family that will never be filled. However, we can be happy knowing that he really enjoyed the tours that he was able to participate in this past year – the Champlain Trail Museum car show, the tour to Norway Bay in the red Buick, driving his Pontiac to Hugli’s for ice cream and finally the Colour Tour to Calabogie in October. This was Cal’s last run in his prized yellow Chieftain convertible.

Looking ahead to the New Year, our first event will be the Spaghetti Feast at the Dore Bay Country Club on the afternoon end early evening of Saturday January 24th. This has been a successful supper for a few years – serving up a hot and spicy specialty of DBCC chef Bruce Plummer. The Antique Car Tunes can likely have a jam session too with some of the regulars at Dore Bay. We will get a headcount at the meeting.

Speaking of meeting (and food) our January meeting will be held starting 7:00 p.m. Wednesday the 7th at the Shady Nook Hall. We discussed making this a pot luck affair with snacks for after the meeting also taking advantage of their coffee urn and to patronize the bar. At this meeting, we will need make a change to the bylaws to properly address the new “honorary member” status for our folks who have reached the age of 80 with suitable tenure in the club, as already bestowed on Ernie and Diane Murdoch.

I wish also to express our thanks to Barclay O’Reilly for graciously agreeing to cancel the Christmas dinner we had planned at Merrybells. He was also a good friend of Cal and was the first to recognize the need to forego the event in light of Cal’s passing.

To conclude, there have been chats over the past month and I am pleased to say that your executive is prepared to carry on through the second year of our mandate. We are committed to managing for another successful year of tours and shows and camaraderie with our vintage vehicles. We trust that you too are looking forward to an exciting 2009.

Dave Lemkay

Tribute to Calvin TerMarsch

Cal, as he was affectionately known to most was a member of the ACCP for over 40 years. Over time, he was president and longstanding treasurer of our club. As well, Cal was our wise counsel on all matters – serious and fun. In earlier years Cal was involved in the larger old car community with the National Association of Antique Automobile Clubs of Canada and the Craven Automobile Museum in Toronto.

Cal, Joan and the family were ardent participants in all the club functions with Wayne, Wendy and Dean all growing up in the ACCP family. The TerMarsch clan will be remembered for gracious hosting of BBQs at Lake Dore and the start-up of almost all our club tours at their Boundary Road office year after year. Shell products were always included in the cache of prizes at the Road-A-Os and other events, kindly donated for the cause. The gallery of club-related pictures and mementos in Cal’s office speaks volumes.

Old car enthusiasts in Pembroke and at a distance knew Cal for his professional approach to restoration of distinctive vehicles. Cal was an astute dealer and a friendly face at Hershey, Carlisle and Barrie over many years. In the TerMarsch garages would be found at one time or another the 1931 Ford AA Shell tanker truck, the 1931 Model A Ford Roadster, 1934 Dodge sedan, 1935 Ford model 48 sedan, 1936 Chevrolet sedan, 1967 Mustang GT, 1964 Chevelle Malibu convertible, 1965 Buick Skylark convertible and the prized 1953 Pontiac Chieftain convertible. His last trip in the yellow Pontiac was on ACCP’s Calabogie Colour Tour.

We will miss our friend Cal and in keeping with his style, will keep our club well mannered and engaged in the community as we enjoy touring in our vintage vehicles.

President's Page December 2008

The December meeting – wow – we’re closing off 2008 – but what a fine year!

Our 45th Anniversary Year started off with some significant changes, new Flying Quail covers, courtesy of Mark Kulas, noted Pembroke artist and graphic designer and the ACCP web site thanks to science educator Wayne Campbell. They’re good friends.

Our calendar of events reads like an excursion company prospectus: Upper Canada Village Lights Tour, Dore Bay Spaghetti Feast, Schmidt’s (moonlit) Sleigh Ride, Studebaker Drivers’ Club visit, Supples’ Landing Appreciation Dinner, Timber Crib Inspection at Shaws, Champlain Trail Museum car show and ACCC Rideau Lakes visit, Upper Canada camping trip, Forester’s Falls Canada Day, President’s Summer Sizzle Tour, Beachburg Fair and Portage du Fort and Marion Hill car shows, Hugli’s Ice Cream Tour, Renfrew County Plowing Match, Popkie Sawmill Benefit Car Show, Ocktoberfest at Ladysmith, Dore Bay Pig Roast, and the Colour Tour to Calabogie. That’s so far… and then there’s the Christmas Dinners and parade(s).

The club acquired a number of new items including: handsome window decals, new 45th anniversary coffee mugs, new-style club hats, a new musical troupe “The Antique Car Tunes”, also a restoration project with the Risto delivery wagon and the new club mascot car (but we still haven’t seen Brian Black’s new bicycle). We welcomed new members: Wally & Ann Cochrane, John Chaput & Leanne VanBavel, Ellsworth & Shirley Mullen, Claude & Marie Fortin, John & Gail Hanson and our new honourary membership couple, Ernie & Diane Murdoch. Ryan Parcher often attends and is welcome at our meetings too.

Our cover pages cars included: Coulas’1946 Dodge, Dan Hewitt’s 1930 Ford Model A roadster, Rolfe’s 1953 Military Jeep and ¼ ton trailer, Videto’s 1961 VW “Buggy”, Troutman’s 1975 Chevrolet Caprice Classic, Cochrane’s 1990 VW Cabriolet chick magnet ;~)), TerMarsch’s 1953 Pontiac Chieftain convertible, Roy’s 1946 Chevrolet Stylemaster, Priebe’s 1968 Ford, the “Brohart Bomber” outhouse racer, and this month, Troutman’s 1928 Model A Ford Tudor.

Our meetings have been held at some of our favourite haunts, including Merrybells Pub & Restaurant, Shanloon Chinese Restaurant, Bishop Smith H.S., Shady Nook Community Hall, The Sands on Golden Lake, Pembroke Waterfront Park and the Champlain Trail Museum.

With this report card, we are pleased to have your confidence going forward into the second year of our two-year term. Speaking on behalf of the executive, I want to thank each of you for your enthusiastic participation – stepping up to the plate to chair projects, plan and conduct tours and to keep our meetings and publication interesting and fun.

Sincerely,

Dave Lemkay

President's Page November 2008

Welcome to Fall – By the time you read this there will be Halloween candy either coming or going, depending on which side of the 31st you’re on, or maybe depending on whether you shell out or have anyone in the household to whom your neighbours have shelled out. At our house, it’s a bit of both – lots of treats on hand, often in excess of demand and, as well, Addie and her friends do the rounds in the village.

In club speak; most of us will be preparing vehicles for winter storage as we swing into a different mode of club activity. Meetings will revert back to dinner format at your choice of restaurants. For starters, we meet this month (November 5th) at Merrybells and will have a chance to see how Barclay has renovated his new digs “Barclay’s Too”

We had a couple of great tours in October that nicely wrap up our touring year. The traditional Oktoberfest at Ladysmith QC was, once again, well attended by ACCP. A new twist this year was the “running of the outhouses” along the main street in advance of the parade. Wayne Brohart is to be commended on his engineering prowess, designing and building “The Flying Quail” racing outhouse. He and yours truly propelled the cute replica vehicle (complete with Aoogah horn) while Addie piloted from inside. We can boast that we’re number two, after being duped by the number ones with their roadside quaff at the half-way mark. Already we have a duping strategy figured out for the 2009 challenge. “The Flying Quail” will be the club’s new mascot car in the Christmas Parade.

The Calabogie Colour Tour on October 18th was well attended with 32 fun & friendly folk in 13 vintage cars, trucks and vans. The sun shone as we toured from Pembroke past Shady Nook and Lake Dore, through Shaw Woods, Kelly’s Corners, Douglas, Hyndford, Balaclava and Dacre to the DACA Centre where Bob Colterman graciously opened the facility for our convenience. From there, we headed towards Mount St. Patrick, past Ferguson and Calabogie Lakes to Polly’s L’il Shanty. The fare and service was first rate.

This fall, our project to restore the museum’s Risto delivery wagon is well underway with an energetic team led by Lorne Troutman. Come to the meeting to get a first-hand report on the progress so far. This is turning out to be a great opportunity for club camaraderie during the non-driving period and between regular events. There’s even been a road tour to Bryson QC in search of wheels. Looking forward to the Christmas Season, two holiday soirées are scheduled: Graham’s “old car buffs dinner & dance” will be held December 12th at The Catering Hall. The ACCP Christmas Banquet is set for Saturday December 13th at Merrybells. Details elsewhere in the Quail.

As you know, club bylaw changes this summer allow us to simplify election of officers. The new two-year term means we forego nominations at the November 2008 meeting and elections in December. This extension of mandate was agreed upon to add a dimension of continuity to the roll-out of our events and to streamline business and banking.

Dave Lemkay
President

President's Page October 2008

I remember starting into this year’s day-timer thinking that there were so many blank pages off into the months of the spring and summer and way out into the fall. Well, thumbing into October’s pages and beyond to enter upcoming appointments, it’s amazing how quickly this year has flown past. Let’s hope that ACCP’s entry in the Oktoberfest Outhouse Race is fast too! Wayne Brohart agrees that we should name it "The Flying Quail".

There’s no doubt that the rest of 2008 will fly right past too. So while we can, let’s enjoy our fall colour events – The Apple Orchard & Pig Roast Tour to Dore Bay Country Club will be history, then it’s Oktoberfest at Ladysmith QC on the 5th and next our Calabogie Colour Tour to Polly’s L'il Shanty for dinner on the 18th. October’s meeting is once again at the Champlain Trail Museum, but in November we will resume our dinner meeting format, maybe checking out Barclay’s new eatery.

It was good to see members enjoying the Renfrew County Plowing Match. Stanley’s Model T fitted right in as he gave rides around the field. Dan Hewitt’s newly acquired McCormick-Deering tractor pulling Don Stresman’s “wide & narrow” stone plow nicely contrasted the politicians’ plowing competition. In addition to McCauley’s Dodge, Videto’s Thames, Mullen’s Buick, Boire’s Oldsmobile, Stresman's Jeep and Lemkay’s Cadillac, former members Jim Shier brought his 1950 Pontiac and Percy Schizkoske advised that he’s restoring an older VW Beetle. Wayne Goldberg introduced Croskery family relatives who are keeping the old hit & miss tractor from Marmora running. The Plowman’s Association was most generous in waiving the entry fee and providing a plaque and a voucher to be applied to an on-site purchase (something I forgot to use). A note of thanks has gone out to Ron Jaremkow, who extended the invitation to ACCP at the last meeting.

At the October meeting, Lorne Troutman will outline plans for the restoration project of the Risto delivery wagon. Already Ralph Lemke has prepared the birch lumber. We will be able to examine the relic inside in the museum workshop area. I must mention that Troutmans have acquired a 1928 Model A Ford Tudor while in New Brunswick this summer. Looking ahead, we resolved at the September meeting that we will revert back to having an ACCP Christmas Shine Banquet – likely tied with the TerMarsch company dinner, once again at Barclay’s.

See you at the meeting. Don’t forget the auction sale items - you know you’ve got some. On that note, there’s a sequel to the Cadillac continental kit sale of last year. (Jeff Videto to report).

Dave & Delores Lemkay