Back Road Notes

By Jack Armstrong

What a show of enthusiasm by New Hampshire members of the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA)!! Last August there was a meeting of about 30 people to discuss the idea of forming an AACA Region in New Hampshire.

Following that, people thought about it and discussed the idea with others. Then, 150 follow-up letters were mailed to New Hampshire AACA members in December. Over 70 responses by Jan. 10th brought in well over 100 signatures of people wanting to belong to the GRANITE REGION of AACA.

Equally impressive to the dynamic response is the diversity of the prospective members with regard to their ages, automobile types and years, and also their favored car activities. There is a foundation here for an active and interesting organization.

The Region formation proposal was completed and presented to the AACA Board of Directors at the February, 2003 AACA Annual Meeting. The charter was granted. (By then the new region had 132 members.) This is good timing as it gives us time to plan activities for the upcoming spring, summer and fall car seasons.

A very special thanks goes out to Jack Griffiths who, as Secretary/Treasurer of the new Region, handled all the correspondence preparation, mailing, receiving of applications and coordination with the AACA Headquarters. He created the complete package and forwarded it to ‘National’ for consideration by the AACA Board.

Votes of gratitude also go to others who have agreed to serve the new region: Jonathan James, Vice President; Carol Hoagland, News Correspondent and Gary Rondeau, Executive Board Member at Large. Now that the Region is ‘official’, this group will plan some near-term activities and contact all members through the premier issue of this newsletter.

Jonathan , Jack G., Carol, Gary and I are available for any thoughts you might have for making this Region successful while providing a fun time with antique cars. Congratulations, again on your enthusiasm!

Best Wishes for Happy Motoring in this New Year!

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Treasurer's Message: Expenses & Dues

by Jack Griffiths

The response from New Hampshire AACA members to form the Granite Region of AACA has been outstanding and gratifying. Over 80 replies for a total membership of 136 names has gotten the chapter off to a great start.

From the outset, one of the major goals in forming this *club* was to have lots of fun with less emphasis on judging and formality and more emphasis on driving, show/shines and touring.

Another objective is to keep costs (dues) low because there are many clubs from which to choose and for some, resources can be limited. Unfortunately however, with any club there are necessary expenses, primarily for disseminating information to region members. Postage, envelopes, printing, and events all cost money. Therefore, in order to continue its growth, the Granite Region of AACA must develop a reserve account, or a treasury, for expenses.

Your Executive Board has established the annual dues at a modest $15 per household. Given the excellent response in forming the region, these dues should provide the club with sufficient reserves to publish the quarterly newsletter and sponsor various club activities. For the cost of a tank of gas or a pair of movie tickets, you can keep the Granite Region *rolling along*.

If you are able to contribute more to help build the Granite Region*s reserve account, please indicate the amount on the reply coupon and send it along.

Dues in this first year of operation should be mailed in as soon as possible to establish the *club* and launch the newsletter. Thereafter, dues will be payable by May 1st each year. New members joining by March in any year will be considered paid until May of the following year.

Please mail your check payable to: Granite Region----AACA and send it to:

The Executive Board thanks you in advance.

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2003 Annual Meeting of AACA

by Jack Armstrong

The AACA Annual Meeting was held February 6-8 in Philadelphia at the Wyndham Hotel. This was the 67th annual meeting and I believe, the 38th time at the Wyndham. The highlight of the actual annual meeting, of course, was receiving the certificate for the GRANITE REGION. It was noted that this was the first time a region or chapter has been established in New Hampshire. National membership was reported to be 61,732.

The hotel lobby and balcony railing were well adorned with Region and Chapter banners. Hopefully, next year there will be one from the Granite Region prominently displayed. Trade exhibits were set up for vendors offering antique car parts, accessories and services. Two booths of local interest were the John Moir A-Z car collection booth and the Sweet Chariots radio broadcast booth. I was interviewed by the Sweet Chariots emcee for broadcast at a later time.

Seminars were offered all day Friday and Saturday. There were about 45 topics, lasting about one and one half hours each, covering items like "determining authenticity of an antique car", "legislative items affecting the hobby", "planning for Regional tours and shows", "steps to ease the restoration process", "cooling & electrical systems", "tires and rims", "tops & upholstery", "model T Fords", and a session on "the internet & the old car hobby". Judging schools were offered on "judging in general", and specifics on judging Model A's, Mustangs, 55-57 Chevy's & brass era cars". An excellent slide presentation and discussion was presented on the A-Z collection by our own John Moir and Dave Steinman of Vermont.

Other NH AACA members at the Meeting were: Gordon "Fuzzy" Matson of Concord, Andy Daubenspeck of Lebanon, plus Joseph and Maureen Morgan of Windham. Perhaps there were others whose names I didn't come across. I'm sure everyone enjoyed the meeting and, hopefully, we'll have a larger representation next year.

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!! Early Notice - - Mark Your Calendars Now!!

The FIRST ANNUAL MEETING

of the

Granite Region of AACA

will be held:

Saturday, May 31, 2003

at Jack and Pat Armstrong's home

300 Meredith Neck Road,

Meredith, NH 03253

RAIN or SHINE event

Drive Your Antique Car, if possible

Brief Meeting Box Lunch

Cars, Cars, Cars

Be sure to come

Schedule: After member arrival, a BRIEF Region annual meeting will be held at Noon to elect officers and bring everyone up to date on Region progress, events, etc. The meeting will be followed by lunch and fun.

Format: A Box Lunch with beverage can be ordered for $8.00. Pay at meeting.

Plus: Car Talk and Tire Kicking - check out those cars driven over by members as well as Jack's collection of cars in the barn. The more the merrier. We look forward to seeing you there. Please RSVP so Pat and Jack will know how many are coming. Also, let them know if you would like a Box Lunch. Many thanks!!

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2003-2004 List of Officers

President: Jack Armstrong 279-0996

Jcarbarn@aol.com

Vice-President: Jonathan James 279-8603

Secy/Treas: Jack Griffiths 472-4990

jackdgriffiths@hotmail.com

Exec. Bd. Member at Large: Gary Rondeau 644-7238

syncroring@attbi.com

Newsletter: Carol Hoagland 253-7600

Lnchoagland@cyberportal.net

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Spring Dust Off...

...became

Winter Brush Off

Mother Nature played another trick on us for the April 5th Spring Dust-Off, Shine and Show, which was to be held at the home of Jack and Sue Griffiths in Bedford, NH. More than 30 members indicated their plans to attend the first official gathering of Granite Region enthusiasts, but the weather gods had other things in mind.

The forecast was shaky all week with showers expected for Saturday, the 5th. However, the cold air from Canada settled in during Thursday night and we awoke Friday the 4th with anywhere from three to five inches of snow on the ground. Schools were closed all over the state. The prediction was for another two to four inches on Saturday, combined with freezing rain and sleet.

Regrettably, the event was cancelled, and Jack made numerous phone calls and sent emails to those planning to attend. Some funny replies came back including Willy Carlson who said he’d be eating finger sandwiches for a month. Likewise Russ Neumann wanted to know what to do with his bucket of 3-bean salad. Sincere apologies go to those who did not get the word of the cancellation.

We have learned much from this experience. First, next year’s Spring Dust-Off will probably be held in August, right after the winter snow melt and just ahead of hurricane season. Second, Granite Region members are the nicest and most understanding people in New Hampshire.

It is always difficult to plan an event like this one, and much thanks goes out to those who planned to attend and accepted the cancellation with typical humor and a ‘wait till next year’ attitude.

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A member of the Granite Region must be a member of the Antique Automobile Club of America.

The newsletter, The Granite Banner, is to be published quarterly with issues in March, June, September, and December.

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