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General Meetings are held the third Friday of the month (except June and December) 7:30 p.m. at the Clements Center, 1580 Yarrow St., Lakewood, Colo. |
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jim Huff, President MAFCC
An update from the president:
May 5, 2020 - The Board had their first video Board meeting Friday. It was so great to be able to see everybody and talk face to face (Wish you all could have been there! More on that later). We decided that it is still prudent to limit our exposure and have decided to cancel or postpone all June events. The cancelled events include the Just For Lunch Bunch, Pinochle, the Old Farts Lunch and the WW2 Ball. Stills in the Hills has been postponed until September 12 and we are still waiting to hear the status of the Concourse d’elegance car show (June 14). We have decided to postpone the club picnic until July (yes I am aware it is a June tradition to celebrate the founding of the Club, I do appreciate tradition and am disappointed that we must break it this year. But I don’t want people to have to choose between tradition and their health and would like as many to be able to attend as possible. So just as some celebrate Christmas in July, this year we will celebrate June in July). Currently the “Safer at Home Guidelines" mandate that public parks be closed, which is causing some difficulty in locating a place to hold it. We are looking for a venue and date and will let you know as soon as we decide (webpage, Quail, email, Facebook and phone). We decided to postpone the Spring Fling until next year (it will be designed around a speakeasy theme and will be a different and exciting event!). If you have not received a membership card for 2020 yet, Sam Ewing has prepared your cards and we are looking at ways to get them to you (either by stapling them to your Quail or by mailing them directly). He also distributed the new member addendum to the 2019 Roster in the May Quail - please cut it out and staple it in to your roster until we decide the fate of the 2020 Roster. We are also considering being the host club for the MAFCA National Awards Banquet in November of 2021. We will be polling the club for approval during our phone tree calling this week. Additionally plans for the High Country Regional Tour in 2023 have begun and we will be identifying our volunteer needs in the next few months. And now for some good news! We have been discussing the possibility of a social distancing tour for a couple months. We want to comply with the stay at home directives, but it looks like we should be able to do this later in May. John Gonder is talking with the Executive Director of Historic Denver about a drive through tour of the historic Denver Country Club neighborhood. It will just be a tour, no lunch or get together so make sure your CB’s are working. We are looking at the morning of Saturday, May 23. Watch the website for more details. Also, since our Zoom videoconferencing Board meeting went pretty good we are going to try a club Zoom meeting on Friday, May 15 at 7:00. I haven’t done a meeting with a large group, but I think it might be worth a try. (If you haven’t done a Zoom meeting before I suggest you try one with someone you know who has done one first - feel free to call me). We will send the link in an email two days before the event (May 13), so you can just click on it to sign in. You can connect with a smartphone, tablet or computer (the computer will need a camera and microphone to be seen and heard, but not if you just want to watch). And finally above all, keep safe and healthy. So far we have not heard of any infections in the club, thank goodness! If any of you have any needs, please let me or a member of the Board know. Keep calling each other, perhaps someone you don’t know and introduce yourself. We have a wonderful group of caring, interesting, unique people, keep close during this extended time of separation.
Jim Huff
President
May 5, 2020 - The Board had their first video Board meeting Friday. It was so great to be able to see everybody and talk face to face (Wish you all could have been there! More on that later). We decided that it is still prudent to limit our exposure and have decided to cancel or postpone all June events. The cancelled events include the Just For Lunch Bunch, Pinochle, the Old Farts Lunch and the WW2 Ball. Stills in the Hills has been postponed until September 12 and we are still waiting to hear the status of the Concourse d’elegance car show (June 14). We have decided to postpone the club picnic until July (yes I am aware it is a June tradition to celebrate the founding of the Club, I do appreciate tradition and am disappointed that we must break it this year. But I don’t want people to have to choose between tradition and their health and would like as many to be able to attend as possible. So just as some celebrate Christmas in July, this year we will celebrate June in July). Currently the “Safer at Home Guidelines" mandate that public parks be closed, which is causing some difficulty in locating a place to hold it. We are looking for a venue and date and will let you know as soon as we decide (webpage, Quail, email, Facebook and phone). We decided to postpone the Spring Fling until next year (it will be designed around a speakeasy theme and will be a different and exciting event!). If you have not received a membership card for 2020 yet, Sam Ewing has prepared your cards and we are looking at ways to get them to you (either by stapling them to your Quail or by mailing them directly). He also distributed the new member addendum to the 2019 Roster in the May Quail - please cut it out and staple it in to your roster until we decide the fate of the 2020 Roster. We are also considering being the host club for the MAFCA National Awards Banquet in November of 2021. We will be polling the club for approval during our phone tree calling this week. Additionally plans for the High Country Regional Tour in 2023 have begun and we will be identifying our volunteer needs in the next few months. And now for some good news! We have been discussing the possibility of a social distancing tour for a couple months. We want to comply with the stay at home directives, but it looks like we should be able to do this later in May. John Gonder is talking with the Executive Director of Historic Denver about a drive through tour of the historic Denver Country Club neighborhood. It will just be a tour, no lunch or get together so make sure your CB’s are working. We are looking at the morning of Saturday, May 23. Watch the website for more details. Also, since our Zoom videoconferencing Board meeting went pretty good we are going to try a club Zoom meeting on Friday, May 15 at 7:00. I haven’t done a meeting with a large group, but I think it might be worth a try. (If you haven’t done a Zoom meeting before I suggest you try one with someone you know who has done one first - feel free to call me). We will send the link in an email two days before the event (May 13), so you can just click on it to sign in. You can connect with a smartphone, tablet or computer (the computer will need a camera and microphone to be seen and heard, but not if you just want to watch). And finally above all, keep safe and healthy. So far we have not heard of any infections in the club, thank goodness! If any of you have any needs, please let me or a member of the Board know. Keep calling each other, perhaps someone you don’t know and introduce yourself. We have a wonderful group of caring, interesting, unique people, keep close during this extended time of separation.
Jim Huff
President
COMING EVENTS - 2020
note: due to coronovirus epidemic, all events in red have been cancelled
note: due to coronovirus epidemic, all events in red have been cancelled
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September
5 Arvada Harvest Parade 6-12 Australia Tour (postponed) 7 Louisville Parade & Picnic 11 Board Meeting 12 Stills in the Hills 18 General Meeting 19 Tour (TBD) 24 Old Farts Lunch October 9 Board Meeting 10-11 Fall Colors Tour - Estes Park 16 General Meeting 17 Pumpkin Tour 22 Old Farts Lunch 24 Tombstone Taxi Service November 7 Women’s Fashion Seminar 11 Veterans Day Parade – Longmont 13 Board Meeting 15 Bunco 20 General Meeting 21 Turkey Trot Tour 26 Old Farts Lunch December 11 Board Meeting 13 Christmas Party (No General Meeting) 26 Lariat Loop Tour 2021 January 31 Inaugural Dinner March 21-28 Australia Tour 28-April 4 New Zealand Rally June 20-25 MAFCA National Tour North Conway, NH 2023 June 11-17 MAFCC High Country Tour |
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Based on reported mileage, the Model A Ford Club of Colorado has driven more than THREE MILLION MILES since the Milestone Program was established...and it has driven more than 2.5 TIMES THE DISTANCE TO THE MOON since the inception of the MAFCA mileage program. |
Keep it safe
By Travis Easter
Overdrives, synchronized transmissions, high-compression heads, or higher geared differentials are allowing our old cars to keep up with traffic on modern roads. With the addition of turn signals, LED tail lights, seat belts, and not to mention cup holders, the Model-A’s are more enjoyable to drive. Unless you are an absolute purist of course.
However, outside of the car is a different story. I want to highlight a few things that will keep us safe on our many tours this year.
● Maintain extra distance between yourself and the vehicles around you. This is especially important with me-chanical brake cars as stopping dis-tances are much higher in these vehicles.
● Tour preparation (Brakes, Engine Oil, Transmission Fluid, Greased U-Joint, Diff Oil, Lube the water pump, chassis lube points, water level in the radiator, pack and adjust front wheel bearings, ignition components, tire pressure, headlights, and the horn.
● Spare parts, jack, (& make sure your spare tire has air) and safety equipment.
You are probably thinking, why is Travis going on about this? Well, great question. Safety…yours - mine - and everyone around us, simple as that. While on our last tour, I was last in the line-up (drove a modern) and noticed a few things that concerned me. We had to pull over on some roads, with faster traffic, due to issues with cars. While this isn’t a big deal, getting back on the road and up to speed posed some challenges. Multiple times. So, a few safety suggestions:
1. When a tour begins, we need to establish a “Sweep Vehicle”, and their job is to assist any vehicle having problems. All other vehicles should continue to a same place to wait for the other vehicles to catch up, such as a parking lot. The rest of us can pull off at the next exit, or where safe to do so. There are many capable shade-tree mechanics in our club that are capable of the simple side-of-the-road fixes. Make sure you look at the traffic before you get out of your car.
2. For longer tours, maybe break into smaller groups to avoid the traffic light problem that we often face.
3. The tour leader, is the tour leader.
4. Let’s make sure we communicate on those CB’s.
GENERAL TOUR INFORMATION
●CB radios will be used to advise of any unscheduled information such as break-downs, or road conditions. CBs are turned to channel 14.
●As we travel, try to keep the car behind you in sight. This will help to keep the group together.
●When a turn is made, ensure the car behind you sees you turn. Please wait to ensure the group behind you knows where we have turned, and can follow the route.
●Highway speeds will be approximately 50 mph (climbs permitting) by the tour leader’s speedometer.
●If you have trouble, someone will stop with you. Notify the tour leader via CB. The tour leader may pull the tour off and wait or continue to the next stop. Everyone need not stop to assist. The designated “Sweep Vehicle” will stop to assist, and advise the Tour Leader.
●Leave enough spacing between the cars to allow modern traffic to pass safely. Don’t “bunch up”.
●If you leave the group or have to make an unscheduled stop (for sightseeing, photo shoots, etc.); please let someone know so we don’t lose you along the way.
●If you are driving a modern car, please drive behind the “A’s” in the tour.
Overdrives, synchronized transmissions, high-compression heads, or higher geared differentials are allowing our old cars to keep up with traffic on modern roads. With the addition of turn signals, LED tail lights, seat belts, and not to mention cup holders, the Model-A’s are more enjoyable to drive. Unless you are an absolute purist of course.
However, outside of the car is a different story. I want to highlight a few things that will keep us safe on our many tours this year.
● Maintain extra distance between yourself and the vehicles around you. This is especially important with me-chanical brake cars as stopping dis-tances are much higher in these vehicles.
● Tour preparation (Brakes, Engine Oil, Transmission Fluid, Greased U-Joint, Diff Oil, Lube the water pump, chassis lube points, water level in the radiator, pack and adjust front wheel bearings, ignition components, tire pressure, headlights, and the horn.
● Spare parts, jack, (& make sure your spare tire has air) and safety equipment.
You are probably thinking, why is Travis going on about this? Well, great question. Safety…yours - mine - and everyone around us, simple as that. While on our last tour, I was last in the line-up (drove a modern) and noticed a few things that concerned me. We had to pull over on some roads, with faster traffic, due to issues with cars. While this isn’t a big deal, getting back on the road and up to speed posed some challenges. Multiple times. So, a few safety suggestions:
1. When a tour begins, we need to establish a “Sweep Vehicle”, and their job is to assist any vehicle having problems. All other vehicles should continue to a same place to wait for the other vehicles to catch up, such as a parking lot. The rest of us can pull off at the next exit, or where safe to do so. There are many capable shade-tree mechanics in our club that are capable of the simple side-of-the-road fixes. Make sure you look at the traffic before you get out of your car.
2. For longer tours, maybe break into smaller groups to avoid the traffic light problem that we often face.
3. The tour leader, is the tour leader.
4. Let’s make sure we communicate on those CB’s.
GENERAL TOUR INFORMATION
●CB radios will be used to advise of any unscheduled information such as break-downs, or road conditions. CBs are turned to channel 14.
●As we travel, try to keep the car behind you in sight. This will help to keep the group together.
●When a turn is made, ensure the car behind you sees you turn. Please wait to ensure the group behind you knows where we have turned, and can follow the route.
●Highway speeds will be approximately 50 mph (climbs permitting) by the tour leader’s speedometer.
●If you have trouble, someone will stop with you. Notify the tour leader via CB. The tour leader may pull the tour off and wait or continue to the next stop. Everyone need not stop to assist. The designated “Sweep Vehicle” will stop to assist, and advise the Tour Leader.
●Leave enough spacing between the cars to allow modern traffic to pass safely. Don’t “bunch up”.
●If you leave the group or have to make an unscheduled stop (for sightseeing, photo shoots, etc.); please let someone know so we don’t lose you along the way.
●If you are driving a modern car, please drive behind the “A’s” in the tour.