President’s Message
September 2008
We need to thank the Auotgraf Editors Jim and Kay Scott for the fantastic tour through the country side and wind farm near Bradford. What a fantastic turnout and if you went away hungry from the German Restaurant it wasn’t their fault. We have not had such a large turnout for some time so we kind of swamped the restaurant and staff. Thanks for your patience.
The club is celebrating many 50th wedding Anniversaries in the last two months, the Owens, the Lindles, the Klugers. What a milestone, CONGRATULATOINS. Thanks to all who volunteered for the Farmers Market on Saturday, they wanted 10 cars to display but since it rained hard our cars stayed tucked dry in their garages. Again the Cat Fish Jazz Picnic was wet and cool but the music was and the food were great.
Hope to see you at the Steak Fry in October.
Mary B.
AUGUST 2008
It was a warm day for our last tour. I had only been out of the hospital for a few days and was feeling no pain as my sister piloted our modern car behind a procession of antique autos. Having been house bound for a couple of weeks it was a beautiful summer drive. It is to bad that so many things have to go on with the same date. It had been a long time since my sister had anything to do with Antique Auto and she was amazed that we tour to such interesting places. Again there are many things going on but please try to join us for our drive to Bradford. I understand those who helped Larog’s celebrate their 100th Birthday also had a good day.
As you will read in the minutes, the club was asked to host a National Meet in 2010. The Board took it under advisement with much discussion. Much of the discussion focused on money and manpower. The vote was to host the National Meet and watch the budgeted money and with the urging that we all chip in so that one person does not feel pressured to do everything themselves. Jack Kirik again has graciously offered to be our meet chairman or maybe he was drafted, one of those.
Well here I sit; this is not what I had in mind for the summer. I need to thank all of you for your cards, Whitey’s certificates, and even dinner that was brought in while I’ve been down. This is truly a wonderful bunch of people that belong to this club. I also have to thank my son for exercising my Model T Ford up and down the street while I sit and watch out the window. Next year better be much different!
Mary B.
July 2008
President’s Message
Its’s 5:30 a.m. on the morning of the Annual Father’s Day Pancake Breakfast and I have never heard such a loud clap of thunder. Working for the Corps of Engineers that last thing the area or our breakfast needed was rain. Since this is a rain or shine event, I got dressed, checked my list twice and was debating whether to change the supplies to my modern car or take the Suburban. Just as I was about to do the transfer, the sun started shining and someone was certainly watching over us because it turned out to be a wonderful day. The crowds kept coming and so did the Antique cars. You have to really thank all the Board Members that flipped the pancakes, cooked the sausage and kept the drinks coming. Poor Kay Scott who mixed almost all of the pancake batter. I tried just a couple of batches and let me tell you she has more muscles.
Of course my big highlight was when my Model T Ford arrived. My son had been working steady getting it ready for its debut. Hopefully you all didn’t expect a restoration masterpiece, it’s just a plan Model T Ford restored in the early 60s and has driven all over the world.
Now the bad news, I just got mobile in my Antique Auto and fell while trimming some bushes last Monday the 30th. I have a plate and 7 screws to hold me together. My kids have always said that I was a bit screwy so now that confirms it. You will have to keep the club going while I’m under the weather. I know you can do it! I hear our Web Master is also recovering from surgery. We can have walker races, however right now I’m not very fast Happy Motoring.
Mary B
June 2008
President’s Message
What a beautiful day for our first Motoring Tour. Jan and john brewer again showed us the same of the jewels in the form of parks and cemeteries that we have in the Quad Cities. It was a relaxing and beautiful drive with the spring flowers in bloom. I had the pleasure of riding with Wayne Scherer in his Model A Coupe and it was a very enjoyable drive. I must admit that Wayne had a good ear when he determined that we had a cylinder down. After a quick stop in Lincoln Park and a little baling wire from Stu Etheridge we were back on the road with no other problems. Were following John Brewer in the ELCAR up the Fejerary Park Hill and I did have to put my head out the window because the cloud of smoke that projected from the pipe was a bit overwhelming. He indicated that he was fogging for mosquitoes. Tours are such great fun and this one was a great one to start off our Motoring Season. Great thanks to Jan and John Brewer for a great tour.While sitting in the Train Station at Galesburg waiting for the California Zephyr to take me to Colorado, I was looking through the Galesburg Visitors Guide and there on the front page was the was the Packard Taxi owned by Roger and Linda Lamm. Maybe we should see about getting at least a VELIE on our visitor’s Guide. Nice going Roger and Linda!
And now the Pancake Breakfast. We have moved to Memorial Field on the main roadway Rodman Avenue, by the tanks, where we have portable water and hopefully a more centralized location for all to meet at. The Board of Directors proudly presents the Breakfast but as you know, we are all getting up in age so it is getting more difficult. I am asking for membership help! If you have a few minutes or so to assist with pouring juice or milk, or even flipping a few pancakes or frying a few sausage, it would be greatly appreciated. I will be out of town the 2nd through the 6th but if you would give my cell phone a call 309-340-3266 and VOLUNTEER it certainly would help. We served over 180 last year and expect that number to grow with our expanded 182 paid membership. Please think about donating a few minutes of your time to help continue this great event.
Board Members I expect to see your bright and shiny faces at 7a.m. at Memorial Park so we can get ready for the crowd! Remember it is free to all who are WEARING YOUR BADGES! Next Board of Directors Meeting is on July 2nd in the Butterworth Dining room 7p.m.
We’ve started off with fantastic events and fun time, let’s keep up the momentum.
From the Editor
This will be our 6th newsletter that we have put out and I thought it might be time to say a few words. Kay and I are having a great time doing the Autograf and would like to thank the many members who have contributed stories, photos and helpful advice. Please keep up the good work! I would like to encourage members to send us information on events such as car shows. Swap meets, etc. that may be of interest to the Club.
We have two very big events this month. The first is our annual Fathers Day pancake breakfast. It is being held at a new location this year, the Rock Island Arsenal. We will be eating pancakes next to a display of Army tanks! (Think that may be a dream come true for some guys!) Details are listed below.
Our second event is actually a thank you to the folds at the Deer Wiman House for allowing the Club to use their facilities for our Board meeting and to have some of our winter events there.
The Club will have a car display at the June 22nd Blossoms at Butterworth event. We need to make sure we have a nice turn out of cars to let them know we appreciate what they do for our club. Please bring your car at 11:30. More details are listed below.
If some of you have never come out to one of the Clubs get togethers, you are missing a real HOOT. Besides seeing some of the areas finest and rear automobiles, we have some of the nicest and funniest members that will keep you entertained through out the event. I show some of the good times we have in the Autograf, but it is only a small sample of the good times the Club has when they let us out of our cages.
As you may have already noticed, I do like to take photos! In my youth, I had a black & white darkroom set up under the basement stairs of my parent’s house in Bettendorf. I would spend hours developing film and then enlarging the negatives to make photos. Times sure have changed. Now I can take a picture with a camera that has not film, stick the card into the computer and print out a photograph that is far superior then any one I was ever able to develop in my darkroom. (I still spend hours doing it tho, that hasn’t changed) Doing this newsletter gives me the chance to see and photograph some very nice cars and their owners and also play in my modern “darkroom”, 4 printers and Photoshop. A guy couldn’t ask for anything more.
See you at the fathers Day pancake breakfast.
Jim Scott
The Brewer Parks Tour 2008
Saturday, May 24th dawned as beautiful day! With the weather being so unpredictable this spring, we weren’t sure what to expect, and the weatherman haven’t exactly been right. So the Brewers lucked out with a great day to drive the old cars. Coffee and donuts ere waiting for us on the Davenport riverfront as about 30 cars turned out for the Park Tour. After visiting with one another and snacking on the goodies, we set out about 10a.m. with maps in hand. Our first park was Sunset Marina in Rock Island, so over the Centennial Bridge we went.
Then it was up the hill to Longview and over to Lincoln Park were several cars stopped for shady rest. Wayne Scherer had developed an electrical problem, but someone found a piece of wire and he was back in business. One by one we all took off again, this time to Riverside in Moline. Then down River Drive to Ben Butterworth Parkway before going back to rock Island to cross the Arsenal Bridge and head for Bettendorf, the next stop was Devils Glen were everyone pulled over again for a pit stop. We were to Duck Creek and then down Locust to Brady and on to Vanderveer Park before heading down Division to Ferjervary Park, the last park on our route.
It was a lovely day for the drive and the Brewers did a great job of planning out the route, Wonder how many time they drove it to get it right? We all eventually ended up at Hickory Grove Restaurant by 1:30 p.m. for a much needed lunch and liquid refreshments. A few members, who did not go on the drive, were waiting for us at the restaurant. All told, we had a great turnout with about 50 people coming out. Great Day!!
May 2008
President’s Message
Wonderful, relaxing, superb, superior, and every other word there is that could possibly describe the Bus Trip that we took to Indiana. We owe a very big thanks to Chuck and Sharon Hoaglund for such a wonderful time. It was made very clear that I must be related to Rodney Dangerfield because “I didn’t get no respect”. From picking up trash on the bus to being threatened when I asked everyone in the pool for their name tags to being the dead last table to go to the buffet in Shipshewanna. Former President Dick Sabbe sat at my table and he said the President used to go first! Let me tell you there was enough food for everyone and then some. And the Chocolate Pie was to die for…
Oh yes and then there were the most fantastic automobiles. I have never seen such vivid colors on all those Hudson’s. It was hard but this blue on blue with caning on the side with a velour interior just melted my heart. We found the Hoaglund name on a Velie trophy in LaPorte and it felt like old home week because the Velie on display used to belong to member Kenny Amundsen husband of current member Bernice and Norm Miller also got to visit with a car that he had in his possession at one time.
In Auburn its been reported that Joel Daly was seen behind the ropes checking out a Red 53 Chevy Pick Up like his at the Truck Museum. It was sure bark back there, oh that’s right I was holding the flash light. We had to make sure they weren’t hiding anything we shouldn’t miss in the dark!
Everything was just beyond words and everyone agreed that an annual bus trip should be in the plans. Get your suggestions in-there are lots of great places to see.
The Antique Autos outnumbered the British Cars at the First Baptist Church car show. Great going! I left dejected and came home to work on the Model T.
Mary “a.k.a. Rodney” Bartemeyer
April 2008
President’s Message
Wow! Did we have a crowd and fun at the March Pot Luck. The roar of the crowd at the Hot Wheel Races, the array of food at the pot luck table and best of all the 78 people that attended. We haven’t had a response like that for quite sometime. Thanks to the Drains,
The Hoagland’s, and Fred Bartemeyer Jr and the Fiero Raceway for a fantastic evening. FYI the Fiero Raceway signs were donated by Roger Lamm thanks Roger!
Not to be outdone, but we also picked up new members. A hearty welcome to Glen and Alice Kimbell, Harold and Agnes Adams, and Steve and Rita Cochran. I understand that the Cochran’s belonged a few years ago, welcome back.
Thanks to all the members who sympathized with me that I had not brought home my Dad’s 1926 Ford Model T Touring. Craig Beek had located it for me and my son and I had gone to look at it in January. Then winter hit. I waited, and waited, and waited and as most of you could tell at the pot luck JOICE!!!! It is home. It was filthy dirty, but now it has the shiniest old paint dents scraps etc in town. The motor turns, but until the fuel tank is cleaned out, my mechanic son says we won’t try to start it. Although I will wait again, it just feels right to have it back in the family. Thanks to all of you for your expert knowledge to get it back on the road.
We have been asked to think about hosting a Vintage tour in 2009. If anyone has been on an AACA Vintage Tour for cars 1927 and earlier, please give me a call. No one on the Board indicated that they have participated in one. The National is just in the asking stage, no decisions have been made. Let your thoughts be known.
Next up is our bus trip to Indiana. Chuck our tour master says the bus has only 5 Seats left. Let’s fill the bus. We’ve always had a great time on out bus trips and this one is an excellent opportunity to see lots of fantastic antiquities with great people. See you then
Mary B
March 2008
President’s Message
“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night”, yes if thought this quote also described the 36 members that attended the last show and tell. The weather continued to be awful but since most of us have cabin fever we evidently just needed to get out. We don’t have a policy regarding cancellation of meetings so here goes. I would call the TV stations so they can add it to their listing that scroll at the bottom of the screen. We never have had to do that for a meeting, but if we did, that would be where you would find it. Many thanks to J.S. Scotts, the Kerr’s, the Engstroms, and the Hazens, for the wonderful sweets and fresh fruit provided at Show ‘N’ Tell. They were delicious!
And now another tidbit from the National Meeting and dear to my heart. It has been shown that the Antique Auto Club has skipped to generations. They have tasked us to help a new generation get involved and love antique autos like we do. In an effort to do so they have membership options to assist youngsters. One is the Junior Membership up to age 15 for an annual $10.00 which gets them a quarterly newsletter, Wheels, button and name badge. The other is a Student Membership for those up age 25 for an annual $12.00 that gets them everything a regular member gets but at a reduced price. Many of us are getting up in years and I would hate to see the car hobby that we enjoy die with us. Lets make it fun for our kids, grand kids, or great grandkids. Even if there is the kid up the block that likes to hang around you garage, bring it up, they too can join the National and the Regional. Let them tag along, sit behind the wheel, or even take them for a ride. I truly believe the kids of today can’t appreciate what they have without experiencing what others didn’t.
Hope to see you at eh March Pot Luck- Get those Hot Wheels turned! The April trip is almost full so get your reservations to Chuck Hoaglund soon!
Mary Bartemeyer
On Tuesday, Feb. 26 the library at the Butterworth Center in Moline had a pretty good size crowd waiting for “Show and Tell” to begin. Mary Bartemeyer began with a book about Model T’s. (She is awaiting delivery of a Model T). Dick & Sandy Perry showed some interesting finds from Sandy’s parents home which they are going through. One item was an Oldsmobile self winding “car watch”. It took a special fitting on the steering wheel, so it would wind with every turn of the wheel. Unusual and very cool! Next Herb Doden showed us an old corn picker. He told us about how there used to be a Corn Picking Contest in Scott County every year. It was a very popular event and drew people from all over the country. Along with the contest there was a “Tin Can Derby” for Model T’s. But one year a car flipped over and the driver was killed, and so ended the Derby.
Jan Brewer displayed her collection of old straight razors John had found on E-bay. Did you know she is a Lincoln Barber College grad? Ron Gottschalk showed us many miscellaneous accessory items, such as tire irons, patch kits, grease guns and zirks, a kerosene car heater and even an old Denver Boot. Connie Bell had some calendar art to display, and offered it to anyone who would like the various pictures. Marcus Cunnick brought some wooded papier mache molds of a bunny, Santa and scarecrow. Next Chuck Hoaglund proudly displayed his collection of old car Script. He told us that before there were radiator badges, there was Script.
Which then led to Norm Miller’s display of radiator badges. Last year he brought quite a few to Show and Tell, this year he brought even more. Virginia tells us, that he has thousands of them, so I guess he won’t run out of new items to show us anytime soon, which is a very good thing. Norm is our very own automobile encyclopedia! Janice Drain showed us her collection of mostly United Airlines items, like her Stewardess Golden Book and Little Kittel flight bag. She told us the story of her first flight on United Airlines plane and how she decided then and there to be a stewardess when she grew up, and she did! New member Katie Schaefer brought along three Holy Cards, that belonged to her Grandmother.
After the last collection was shown and everyone had a chance to look everything over more closely and ask each person questions about their prized possessions, we all moved to the dining room to enjoy the treats brought by Angie Kerr, Mary Hazen, Charlene Enstrom and Kay Scott, and to visit with one another. We were all having such a good time, they almost had to throw us out since we were still there after our9:30 deadline.
February 2008
President’s Message
Philadelphia the City of Brotherly Love was th4e host of the 72nd National AACA Meeting. With 10 inches of snow the day before my flight, I was wondering if we would have a representative there. When I checked my flights on Wednesday of course one part was can celled, but after convincing the airline I needed to be there on Thursday they finally agreed. On Thursday at 4 a.m. my journey started. The first leg landed in Chicago and we couldn’t get off the plane because the stairs were frozen to the ground. After much to do the stairs come, but covered with snow. The pilot said they were not safe to use so we waited another 20 minutes for them to find a shovel to clear the snow. The nest flight was much better and Philadelphia was much warmer and with no snow. My son also flew, but with a different airlines but we met at the airport and caught a cab to the hotel. The first job was to hang our banner on the railing with the hundreds of others. We got in early enough that the banner was in a good vantage point for all to see.
The evening event was at the National Constitution Center where a Reception was held and where we got to see a live performance of “Let Freedom Ring”. This is where we first ran into Dick and Janet Kluger who flew in form Arizona. It was a live performance depicting the history that has taken place over the years, and then we had free rein to look throughout the center to the displays and watch history appear right in front of our eyes. The Reception was hosted the Gerrard Foundation and also featured a free bar and stupendous finger food. During the social hours we walked a bit down the plaza to the Liberty Bell and Constitution Hall without coats I might add. There was plenty of time for the Reception and our walk. After returning to the Hotel there was also a gathering in the hospitality room so it was a very long day.
Day two is where time flew. My first seminar at 8a.m. was the training for New Officers and Representatives. This gave me the background of what the National can do for us and what the National expects from us. We shared ideas and thoughts about our clubs and it really was a good session. Next we took time for breakfast. There wasn’t anything on the menu less that $11 but the food was good. There was also a little time for the trade show. Many clubs had booths advertising their upcoming meets and of course there were restorers, appraisers, storage, insurers, lifts and much more. Next up for me was the Newsletter seminar. Having written one for a couple years, I decided I’d find out what I should have been doing. Most of the seminar was on the problems that all were having putting their newsletter to deal with next year. The next seminar for the day was a seminar on Model T’s Yes I hope to be a Model T owner soon so it was time for my son and me to bone up on some of the problems and fixes that others have discovered. Them we set in on a CJE seminar.
Although we didn’t have enough points to participate, it was still a meeting of he minds to listen to. There was an hour or so the get your breath and then we were on to President’s Banquet. They went all out for us handing out pocket maps from 1995, letter openers, key chains and a decent banquet meal. Many of the clubs made donations to the Library and Museum and this was the medium where they were delivered.
After that the Auction to raise money for the Museum went into the night and the bids were above my income. Another late night!
Saturday again started at 8a.m. where we attended 2008 Judging School. After a few problems that we had here at our meet, I perked my ears up and brought up a few points that I thought needed to be discussed. For a few fleeting minutes I got to say hello to former Mississippi Valley President Tom Oliver. Then I was off to a seminar on how to encourage new memberships. They dwelled on how to encourage younger people to become involved in the hobby that we all love, you will be hearing more from me in the future on the points that they brought up. After that there was a box lunch to hurriedly eat before the next seminar on Wiring and Restorations. My son being the electrician in my family perked his ears up, and there were some new tips on restoration and keeping our antique cars on the road. Then we were off to the General Membership Meeting. After introduction all of the clubs and President that were represented, the old officers were introduced and a state of the club was presented. They indicated that this was one of the largest attendances of the Annual Meeting. Finally we had about 2 hours before the National Awards Banquet. We took out walking just to look at all the architecture that Philadelphia had to offer.
And now where the Mississippi Valley Region really shined! The Website and the Autograf won Certificates of Excellence, with the changes in both it would not surprise me if top awards are not in the future next year. One of the firs awards given was the AACA cut for the central region. Jim and Stephanie Sullivan were awarded this honor.
The 1909 Oakland was shown on one screen along with the Award on a separate screen.
What an honor for a beautiful car and owners from our club. Now most clubs would be honored to have one car and owner recognized but not the Mississippi Valley Region. One of the next awards was the HPOF 1930 and later for the central region and Dick and Janet Kluger were called to accept the award for their 1951 Plymouth. Again a picture of the original car on one side of the enormous screen and the picture of the award on the other. What great honors and congratulations to both the Klugers and the Sullivan’s Perhaps we will get to see their awards at on of the upcoming events? A grand ending to a wonderful and informative weekend!
Thanks for the great opportunity to represent the Region.
Mary BartemeyerNew Business
Trinity Health Center has requested 5 cars at several Farmer’s Markets to help draw people. The dates and locations would be September 10 form 2-5:30pm at HyVee, and two locations on September 13, from 8a.m. -12 at Moline Trinity Hospital parking lot and 8a.m.-12 at Curry Park Plaza across form United Township. It was decided to accept the invitation. Mary Bartemeyer volunteered to head up Saturday’s event and Franklin Bell will coordinate Wednesday’s events.
January
President’s Column
Well I certainly didn’t expect to be your next President. I would like to thank all who turned John Brewer and his nominating committee down leaving me as the last resort! This is a new position for me and I will need to call on all of you for support in the coming year. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a Tom Boy who grew up in the back seat of the 1926 Ford Model T Touring car. My folks Bill and Myrtle Bessant were member beginning in 1961 so I have grown up in this club. Although not affiliated with the club for a few years, my interest in Antique C=Autos has never subsided. I’m a hands on, greasy fingered member and I do as much of the upkeep and repair as I can with the invaluable assistance of my son. My pas has included many Antique and Special Auto and I currently have a fleet of General Motors old and new. I am looking forward to upcoming events and hope each one of you will participate and have fun. As we have shown with the National Meet we work well together and can have some fun along the way. Please take a look at the upcoming events and volunteer to help where you think you can.
I owe a great deal to our new Autograf Editors, Jim and Kay Scott and as you can tell a bit of a new format with color. They are writing, compiling, printing and mailing all for us at the same price as we were paying the printer for black and white. Please keep supporting them as you did me with your articles.
All of you worked very hard to make our National Meet a success and we made a great sum of money thanks to your efforts. As a way to say Thank You the club provided matching funds for the Stead Fry and the Annual Banquet. It would be nice if we could continue at that pace, but that’s not realistic. Enclosed for the general membership is a proposed budget for the upcoming years. We will be using the funds throughout the upcoming years and putting aside seed money for the next scheduled National Meet in 2012. There are amounts allocated for each month and if the money is not used during that month it will carry over for use at another event. This Board thinks this is a responsible way of using the money to it fullest. If anyone has any comments please let me or other Board Members know. We appreciate and value your input.
All Board Meetings are open to the general membership. We aren’t very entertaining but if you would like to see how decisions are made or have something to bring up we are all ears.
Our January event is a lunch meeting at Hickory Garden Restaurant at 12 noon. We will order off the menu, hold a brief meeting and then proceed to the Putnam Museum to view the Da Vinci as a painter he was also a mechanical genius for the time.
Many of his inventions are still in use today in our vehicles, helicopters and various other fields. You can attend as many of the functions as you with, the lunch, the Da Vinci exhibit or the entire Putnam museum. No reservations are necessary. Hope to see you there!
Fall Banquet Rock Island Arsenal Golf Club
Constance Bell, Marilyn Resetich and Jan Patting greeted members on their arrival Friday November 16th at the beautiful Arsenal Golf Club. Jan handed out the new rosters. A social hour from 6-7 started the evening. Diners had been given a choice of steak or orange roughy , since we didn’t hear any complaints, we assume everyone’s food was excellent, ours certainly was. We also had a choice of several desserts. Everyone who wanted a dessert was not disappointed.
The entertainment was by the Black Hawk College Ensemble Singers. They sang several old Christmas songs in several languages and ended their program with Amber Waves of Grain in honor of our troops serving overseas.
Following the entertainment, awards were presented. Jack Kirik was named Member of the Year. And was also recognized for his work as chairman of the National Meet. Jack them made an announcement, that we have been given the Central Division Grand National Meet for 2012!!
Outgoing President Franklin Bell presented each officer and board member with a gift of bamboo to thank them for their work and support while he served as President.
New officers were then announced: Mary Bartemeyer, President, Lois Frels will remain as Vice-President, Jan Brewer,, Secretary, Constance Bell will stay on as Treasurer.
New board members are Tony Drain and Marcus Cunnick; Sharon Hoagland will remain for another term. New newsletter editor Jam S. Scott was also introduced.
Then the fun began with a drawing for door prizes. Everyone had received a ticket at the door when they arrived. As each winner came up to claim their prize, they were asked to draw the next winner. There were so many gifts to choose from, no one went home empty handed.
The Perrys also had gifts for everyone present. The ladies received a lovely collector shoe by” Just the Right Shoe”. They were adorable and the ladies were busily comparing theirs to their table mates. The men received every nice black metal license plate frames and the hardware to attach them. Some guys event got more then one.
A good time was had by all. One table in particular, at the back of the room, seemed to be having an extraordinarily good time.
We would like to thank Lois Frels, Chair of this Fall Banquet, for a wonderful time.
Congratulations!
Jim Sullivan with his 1909 Oakland Touring and Richard (Dick) Kluger with his 1951 Plymouth 4 dr have won National Awards that will be presented at the Annual Meeting in February.
September 4-7, 2008 there will be a 100th Anniversary celebration of the Oakland Motor Car Company. The Oakland Homecoming will be held on the grounds of beautiful Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan.
This four day event is open to all Oakland and Pontiac production years, 1908-1932. We have registered the Oakland for this event. Jim Sullivan
Revolver
Starring John Brewer, Chuck Hoaglund and Alvin Elmore
Our region received information for LA movie producers, Tim McCarthy and Angela Sostre, that a film was going to be shot in Davenport and they needed period cars around 1927. After responding to Tim, he said filming would start Dec. 1st. that only give us a few weeks to find car owners who were willing to bring their period cars out rain or shine, day or night. (Snow and ice were never mentioned.) After they arrived, a week before shooting was set to begin; they looked at the cars that were available. They decided to use Chuck Hoaglund’s ’25 Franklin Coupe.
This movie, Revolver, is about a young man, “The Kid,” who wants to become famous and make money by doing a contract killing of a famous person. The person who is hiring and training him is Cooper. Cooper’s big boss, who orders the hit, is named Joe.
Revolver is based on the Hemmingway’s book, “The Killers.” Kirk Douglas once played in a version of this movie.
Dec. 1, the first day of filming, started at 6:30 am, involved the Velie and the Elcar in tow different locations in downtown Davenport. At the last location it started to sleet which froze on everything. By the time they were ready for the Elcar to be driven past the Velie, the streets were a sheet of ice. It offered an opportunity to get the Elcar in a power slide on 3rd street as I was rounding the block for another take. By the time they were done, Chuck had to slide home, with Sharon following, often stopping to scrape the windshield. We learned that there is a huge amount of time spent with each scene set up. They say a day of shooting will yield only 4 min. of actual time used in a given movie.
Dec. 4 involved the Velie and Nash on a country farm just west of LeClaire. They shot both cars with us driving them down the road and the Velie parked in a corn field as the actors were shooting their gnus at a scarecrow. Chuck loaded the Velie on my open car trailer and the crew mounted the camera to his passenger door. The actors were positioned in the Velie and we towed them down the road as they acted out their scripts making it appear on film as if they were doing the driving.
Dec. 6 and 7 involved the Franklin, Velie and Nash, in downtown Davenport for a “might shoot” which is form 5pm to 5am. On the 6th, after taking an hour to do what should have taken only a few min. dew to it snowing, Alvin and I, followed by Jan, headed down Telegraph Road thru 3 inches of fresh snow. What a sight that must have been to others watching two old cars as we headed down 3rd Street!!! There were many scene set ups with us dressed up to look like the characters for the driving shots both nights. These were very long, cold and boring nights of constant waiting around.
Dec8 and 9 involved the Belie in Muscatine, again with poor weather. Both days Chuck had to endure miserable conditions as Sharon patiently followed him from Moline to Muscatine and back.
Dec 10 they held a wrap up dinner at Granite City with everyone that was involved in the production. It was interesting to finally see the faces that were hidden behind their warm masks. I guess they are too used to LA temperatures. This was our first warm and relaxing time with them.
Dec 12 was dawn make up shoot, involving the Velie and Nash, by a barn just west of Wayne Schere’s place. After that I trailered the Nash back to the place west of LeClaire for driving shots with the actors inside the car as it was towed along the ice coated country side. This was the firs day that the sun had appeared during this entire experience.
They were all very appreciative of all our help and could not have made this movie start without these period cars. In 3 months we should be receiving copies of what they produced. It was an interesting experience but I believe we all agree that we will not be doing it in the winter again!!! John Brewer