Awards for Corvairs of New Mexico
Updated 24-Jun-2009 ==== Copyright (c) 2009 Corvairs of New Mexico
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CNM AWARDS
The following are PDF files that will open on your computer as viewable and
printable documents. You need Adobe Reader or equivalent to open these files.
Download The Ike Meissner Award Documentation:
http://www.unm.edu/~jimp/PDFs/Meissner.pdf
Download The Francis Boydston Award Documentation:
http://www.unm.edu/~jimp/PDFs/Boydston.pdf
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The IKE MEISSNER AWARD - Established 1987
01. 1987 Dec 2 Meissner Award: Bill Hector
02. 1988 Dec 7 Meissner Award: Jerry Goffe
03. 1989 Dec 6 Meissner Award: LeRoy Rogers
04. 1990 Dec 5 Meissner Award: Jim Pittman
05. 1991 Dec 4 Meissner Award: Sylvan Zuercher
06. 1992 Dec 2 Meissner Award: Bill Reider
07. 1993 Dec 1 Meissner Award: Steve Gongora
08. 1994 Dec 7 Meissner Award: Michael Stickler
09. 1995 Dec 9 Meissner Award: Charles Vertrees
10. 1996 Dec 7 Meissner Award: Debbie Pleau
11. 1997 Dec 6 Meissner Award: Mark Domzalski
12. 1998 Dec 6 Meissner Award: Wendell Walker
13. 1999 Dec 5 Meissner Award: Dennis Pleau
14. 2000 Dec 3 Meissner Award: Rita Gongora
15. 2001 Dec 2 Meissner Award: Oliver Scheflow
... 2002 (We moved the award from December to March)
16. 2003 Mar 9 Meissner Award: Anne Mae Gold
17. 2004 Mar 27 Meissner Award: Larry Blair
18. 2005 Mar 26 Meissner Award: Robert Gold
19. 2006 Mar 18 Meissner Award: Tarmo Sutt
20. 2007 Mar 10 Meissner Award: Dave Huntoon
21. 2008 Mar 15 Meissner Award: Heula Pittman
22. 2009 Mar 7 Meissner Award: Ray Trujillo
23. 2010 Meissner Award: . . . . . . . .
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The SAINT FRANCIS OF CORVAIR Award - Established by CNM 1998
01. 1998 May 6 Boydston Award: Jim Pittman CNM
02. 1999 Jun 2 Boydston Award: Kay & Tarmo Sutt CNM
03. 2000 May 3 Boydston Award: Sylvan Zuercher CNM
04. 2001 May 19 Boydston Award: Steve & Ruth Goodman RMC
05. 2002 May 18 Boydston Award: Steve & Rita Gongora CNM
06. 2003 May 31 Boydston Award: Bill Reider CNM
07. 2004 May 22 Boydston Award: Ben Benzel PPCC
08. 2005 May 21 Boydston Award: Wendell Walker CNM
09. 2006 Jun 3 Boydston Award: LeRoy Rogers CNM
10. 2007 May 19 Boydston Award: John Koll PPCC
11. 2008 May 17 Boydston Award: Debbie & Dennis Pleau CNM,PPCC
12. 2009 May 30 Boydston Award: Pat Hall CNM
13. 2010 May 22 Boydston Award: . . . .
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SPECIAL AWARDS - Awarded on Special Occasions
01. 2001 Oct 3 Special Award: Mark Domzalski - for service as CORSA president.
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THE IKE MEISSNER AWARD -by- Sylvan Zuercher
Ike Meissner Award
As approved by the Corvairs of New Mexico Board of Directors
October 20, 2004
The following is courtesy of Past President Sylvan Zuercher
IN MEMORIAM JOHN A. MEISSNER
Sylvan Zuercher
"Blessed are those with the Corvair hobby,
for they shall be allowed to get dirty."
Ike wrote those word in an article for our club newsletter entitled
"Hints Kinks Sense and Nonsense."
Ike was as unique to our club as is the Corvair.
He was enthusiastic in his approach to club activities, club members,
Corvair owners and to finding answers to Corvair car problems. He encouraged
many to keep, preserve and maintain his favorite car. This he did with
advice, trading or giving of parts and by sharing his knowledge.
He attended meetings and club activities under distance and weather
conditions and later his own physical condition that would have kept most
of the other members at home. Ike arrived on many a meeting night after a
session with dialysis when the meeting was nearly over, to share what he
could and I am sure for the fellowship of the members. I feel that his
overall outlook on life was the reason for such enthusiasm.
Ike was the author of many articles about the Corvair, and several were
published by CORSA. His sense of humor showed in these articles, such as his
account of Clyde and the 500. This was the story of his daily drive from
Santa Fe to Los Alamos and the competition he was getting from a driver
going the same route.
Ike's determination was evident several years ago during a Corvair fun run
near Montrose, Colorado. It seems he misread or missed some directions and
became somewhat lost. Eventually he was found, but upon learning he was
close to the finish line, he declined to be led there, saying that he would
find the way.
Ike's approach to Corvairs seems to have been: If it can be fixed or some
part can be made to work better, I'll find the way to do it.
While visiting Ike at the hospital two weeks ago, he told me that he just
had to find a way to get better. Maybe Ike found his way.
Blessed are we of the Corvair hobby who were privileged to know you and to
fellowship with you.
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SAINT FRANCIS OF CORVAIR -by- Jim Pittman
2009 June 05
The twenty-fifth "Tri-State Meet" was organized by Corvairs of New
Mexico and was held in Taos, New Mexico in May of this year. The last item on
the agenda at the banquet was the Francis Boydston Award presentation.
This year's award went to Pat Hall of our club. Pat lives in Los Lunas, NM and
is marvelously enthusiastic about Corvairs and has showed boundless support
for our club. He is currently serving his second term as our Vice-president.
At the Taos Tri-State Event on Saturday May 30th representatives from Corvairs
of New Mexico, Pikes Peak Corvair Club and Rocky Mountain CORSA met to discuss
the future of the Award.
We all agreed that we wanted the Award to continue. After discussing the pros
and cons of the way the Award has developed, we thought that it could best be
continued by having each club be responsible for the Award, using the criteria
and procedure they thought best, as each club took their turn at hosting the
Tri-State Event. In other words, the Award would no longer belong to CNM but
would be the responsibility of each club that participated in the Tri-State.
At the CNM general meeting on June 3rd this suggestion was explained and the
members present voted unanimously to adopt the plan.
Below are articles about the Award that have been previously published.
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HISTORY OF THE BOYDSTON AWARD
Jim Pittman
Corvairs of New Mexico was founded in April 1974 and Francis Boydston was one
of the founders. The club followed the trajectory of many Corvair clubs: We had
not existed before General Motors terminated the Corvair in early 1969 but many
of us had owned Corvairs for years and we wanted to get together with other
Corvair owners to help keep our cars alive for years to come. Our club
gradually coalesced into a robust organization with elected officers, monthly
meetings, a board of directors, a monthly newsletter, and activities such as
car shows, rallies, tours, tech sessions, swap meets and holiday banquets.
Those who were more experienced mechanics helped others learn how to work on
their cars and how to find parts.
As with any club, some members did more than their share to support the club.
In the early years, one of our faithful members was John "Ike" Meissner of
Los Alamos who rarely missed a meeting (driving his Greenbrier about 80 miles
one-way from Los Alamos to Albuquerque) and who was the man to see for parts
and mechanical how-to lore. Ike suffered from kidney disease but it didn't seem
to slow him down -- until one day when he apparently blacked out and had an
accident. When Ike died several of us thought it would be a good idea to honor
his memory by setting up an award, to be presented to the member each year who
best exemplified Ike's enthusiasm for and contributions to the club.
Over the years the club flourished, due to the dedication of a core group of
members and our good fortune that "enough" members had "enough" varied
interests and skills to tackle just about any chore needed to support our local
club and the national organization -- including putting on the very successful
1996 International CORSA Convention in Albuquerque. Francis Boydston served a
term as treasurer and another as president. Despite his affinity for 1964
models (the number of 1964 Corvairs he owned defies enumeration) he worked on
any and all Corvairs including Ultravans and always was a reliable source of
parts and mechanical knowledge. His support for the club, for CORSA and for
his favorite Corvair parts vendors was unceasing.
When Francis died in 1997 our sense of loss was intense and there was an
immediate thought of establishing another award. Should it replace the Meissner
Award, or should both continue? If both continued, how would we differentiate
them? We thought, since Francis was such an enthusiastic supporter of the
Tri-State meets, it would be appropriate to make the award at the Tri-State
each year, and we thought we would involve the Colorado clubs (Rocky Mountain
CORSA of Denver and Pikes Peak Corvair Club of Colorado Springs) in the award.
The first award was made in 1998 at the Tri-State Meet in Lake City, Colorado
and to my complete surprise I was the recipient. After recovering from
uncharacteristic speechlessness, I thought it appropriate to tell the "Saint
Francis of Corvair" story. Here is my article on the story as I told it in our
October 1997 newsletter:
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Saint Francis of Corvair: Francis Boydston 1923-1997
- by -
Jim Pittman
Enchanted Corvairs Newsletter - October 1997
Corvairs of New Mexico
Most of us knew Francis as one of the founding members of Corvairs of
New Mexico, a champion of 1964 Corvairs, a reference point for how-to-do
Corvair maintenance and repair, an unfailing source of Corvair parts,
and a friend. He is gone now and we no longer have him to call up to
find out how to do something, or to see if he has that special part we
need, or just to talk to (maybe I should say, "listen to") about Corvairs
in particular and the state of the world in general. Francis was a good
friend to me and was always generous with his time and knowledge. He used
to remark that the editor deserved special consideration, but the fact
is, he was equally generous to a lot of people, especially to members of
the Corvair Club.
At the wake the other night several people told of particular memories
they had of Francis. I kept waiting for somebody to tell the "Saint
Francis of Corvair" story but nobody did. I'm not the best qualified to
tell it, but someone should and it might as well be me. Here's hoping I
don't distort the facts too much.
The story is simple and illustrates the regard we all had for Francis.
Years ago we had a member who, I thought, wouldn't really get along with
Francis very well. He was an opinionated, irreverent, loud, brash person
who always set his own course without much regard for what others thought
of him. I'll call him "Bob" and he owned Corvairs and he heard about
Francis as "the man to see" to get parts or to find out how to do
mechanical repairs. Francis often remarked on Bob's blistering vocabulary,
but actually they became friends. Anytime Bob needed anything, Frances
would help him out; conversely, Bob did favors for Francis as well.
One day Bob went by Francis' place on a routine visit, to get a part
or find out how to do something, then went on his way to finish up his
project. That night Bob woke up at three in the morning and couldn't go
back to sleep. He lay in bed, thinking about how Francis, once again,
had so generously and effortlessly contributed to keeping another Corvair
alive and well. Bob was struck by the idea of our Club's "Saint Francis
of Corvair" and had an inspiration for an appropriate gift to show his
appreciation. He immediately got up in the middle of the night, went out
to the garage, found a large wooden panel, got out his new router and set
to work. He made a big plaque with the words "Saint Francis of Corvair"
in bold letters. He could hardly wait to finish it and take it to Francis.
Francis was of course flattered but accepted the plaque as his due. He
hung the plaque up in the garage for all to see, and of course when anyone
came by and remarked on it, he would tell the story about how Bob made the
plaque and presented it to him.
Many of us received more than our fair share of advice, parts,
fellowship, and, yes, criticism from Francis over the years. He was always
devoted to the well-being of the Club and always helped anyone who had any
kind of Corvair problem. The "Saint Francis of Corvair" plaque was a
symbol that all of us could see and acknowledge as very fitting to his
place in the community and in our Club.
Everything that we now have in our Club is the heritage and contribution
of many members over the years. We all have had some influence on the way
the Club has grown and flourished. We have been extraordinarily fortunate
in the particular mix of people and interests and skills we have had in
our Club over the years. If any one person was representative of the
spirit of Corvairs of New Mexico, it was Francis. We'll not soon forget him.
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As the "Great Western Fan Belt Toss and Swap Meet" is on a national level, our
"Tri-State Meets" have become a great tradition in the southern Rocky Mountain
area. Although two clubs in Colorado and one in New Mexico have taken turns
sponsoring these events, we always have plenty of people (and Corvairs) from
other states. We always have an outstanding car show and many of the superb
Corvairs (some almost completely stock, some impressively modified) are driven
hundreds of miles to the events. Corvairs that are "daily drivers" are well
represented. A key feature of the Tri-State Meets is the informal, laid-back
nature of the events. We can always count on a relaxed, late-spring vacation
with beautiful scenery and lots of Corvair enthusiasts to talk to. Francis
loved every Tri-State he attended, and most of our members and guests loved him
in return.
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