Tri-State Meets - News and History
Updated 21-May-2012 ==== Copyright (c) 2012 Corvairs of New Mexico
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Map Showing All Tri-State Locations, 1976 to Present
Summary of All Tri-State Events, 1976 to Present
2012 Tri-State Report, Salida, Colorado
2011 Tri-State Report, Red River, New Mexico
2010 Tri-State Report, Canon City, Colorado
2009 Tri-State Report, Taos, New Mexico
2008 Tri-State Report, Pagosa Springs
2007 Tri-State Report, Monte Vista
Photos from Several Tri-State Events
History of Tri-State Events by Steve Gongora
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
MAP SHOWING ALL TRI-STATE LOCATIONS, 1976 TO PRESENT
Click for larger map.
<"BACK TO TOP">
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
SUMMARY OF TRI-STATE EVENTS, 1976 TO PRESENT
List of Tri-State Meets with some attendance figures and other details.
==== ================= | SPONSOR WINNER | === HOW MANY ATTENDED? == | ======
YEAR LOCATION | CLUB CLUB | CNM RMC PPCC UTAH OTHER | TOTAL
==== ================= | ======= ====== | ==== ==== ==== ==== ===== | ======
1976 Montrose CO | RMC (?) ? | - - - - - | -
1986 Montrose CO | CNM CNM | 25 16 9 - 12 | 62
1987 Ouray CO | RMC (?) ? | - - - - - | -
1988 Canon City CO | PPCC ? | - - - - - | -
1989 Red River NM | CNM CNM | - - - - - | -
1990 Durango CO | RMC RMC ? | - - - - - | -
1991 Gunnison CO | PPCC RMC | 21 41 14 - 11 | 87
1992 Las Vegas NM | CNM CNM | 56 35 12 - - | 103
1993 Alamosa CO | RMC RMC ? | - - - - - | -
1994 Pagosa Springs CO | PPCC RMC | 24 27 19 - - | 70
1995 Red River NM | CNM CNM ? | - - - - - | -
1996 Montrose CO | RMC RMC ? | - - - - - | -
1997 Gunnison CO | PPCC ? | - - - - - | -
1998 Lake City CO | CNM CNM | 39 36 12 - 24 | 111
1999 Salida CO | RMC RMC | - - - - - | -
2000 Albuquerque NM | CNM CNM | 55 42 11 - 8 | 116
2001 Manitu Springs CO | PPCC RMC | 27 48 39 - 5 | 119
2002 Grand Junction CO | RMC RMC | 17 39 17 - 29 | 102
2003 Raton NM | CNM CNM | 41 25 31 - - | 97
2004 Cripple Creek CO | PPCC PPCC | 18 34 42 - 13 | 107
2005 Ouray CO | RMC RMC | 18 39 33 - - | 90
2006 Montrose CO | CNM CNM | 37 28 29 - 12 | 106
2007 Monte Vista CO | PPCC RMC | 16 29 24 - 5 | 74
2008 Pagosa Springs CO | RMC RMC | 15 46 25 - 18 | 104
2009 Taos NM | CNM CNM | 42 37 18 7 18 | 122
2010 Canon City CO | PPCC RMC | 17 37 30 4 21 | 109
2011 Red River NM | CNM CNM | 38 24 20 2 14 | 98
2012 Salida CO | RMC RMC | ? ? ? ? ? | ?
2013 Cripple Creek, CO | PPCC - | - - - - - | -
2014 ? | CNM ? - | - - - - - | -
2015 ? | RMC ? - | - - - - - | -
2016 ? | PPCC ? [maybe we'll go to Montrose, Colorado again?]
2017 ? | CNM ? - | - - - - - | -
2018 ? | RMC ? - | - - - - - | -
===============================================================================
<"BACK TO TOP">
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
REPORTS ON 2012 TRI-STATE -- SPONSORED BY ROCKY MOUNTAIN CORSA.
DAY ONE: DRIVING TO SALIDA, OR,
HOW TO GO NINETY MILES OUT OF YOUR WAY IN THREE EASY STEPS
Jim Pittman
We always say, when preparing to go to a Tri-State, no, we won't caravan. You
always travel slower in a caravan. You want to leave at seven, they want to
leave at eight. You don't need this gas station, they need to get gas here. You
want to keep on driving, they want to stop for lunch. You really need a potty
stop now, they don't need to stop for another half hour. You want to observe the
scenic sights from afar, they want to stop for photos. You are comfortable
driving seventy-five, they want to drive ninety. You take a wrong turn, they
slow down or stop to see what happened to you. In a caravan everyone travels at
the lowest speed prevailing on each leg of the trip, and a slowdown by one is
a slowdown for all.
But this year it seemed appropriate to make an exception. John Wiker was driving
his mellow yellow 1966 Corsa and Tarmo Sutt was trailering his still-brand-new
1966 turbo Corsa (24 miles on the engine?!) and a meeting at the Chevron station
in Pojoaque at 9:00 AM was proposed. Who could turn down the chance to drive six
hours in the company of two bright and shiny 1966 Corvairs? We agreed to be
there.
We left Albuquerque at about 7:20 and went via Tijeras, Madrid, Cerrillos and
the NM 599 bypass around Santa Fe. We arrived in Pojoaque pretty much on time.
We soon saw the Wiker yellow coupe approaching. By the time John had filled up
with gas and checked the oil the bright red truck towing the even brighter red
Corsa convertible was pulling into the station. Soon the white Huyndai SUV chase
car pulled in. Conversation and photo sessions followed. While this was time not
productively used driving down the road, the day was young, we were happy to get
a few more photographs of the Corvairs, and we needed to compare notes on how to
get through Espanola without taking a wrong turn. Tarmo said he knew how, so we
all followed his lead. He made all the tricky turns perfectly and soon we were
headed north on US 285 through the northern New Mexico version of the top of the
world. It was fun trying to catch photo ops along the road where both Corvairs
were visible and there was nice scenery in the background.
We approached Tres Piedras, a wide spot in the road in the middle of nowhere at
the very top of the world. The red truck and the yellow Corvair and the white
pit crew vehicle pulled into the left turn lane. What the heck?! That's the way
to go to Chama. Here I made BIG MISTAKE NUMBER ONE: I failed to follow them
through the turn and flash my lights to signal them to pull over to tell me what
they were doing. Then I made BIG MISTAKE NUMBER TWO as I failed to be confident
of my own knowledge. Despite knowing perfectly well that there are only four
possibilities at Tres Piedras (south is Espanola, east is Taos, north is
Antonito and west is Tierra Amarilla) we pulled over and stopped to consult the
map. Yep, the map verifies that I was right. But now the caravan is long gone,
nowhere in sight. What to do?
There were several possible options at this point. OPTION ONE was to call them
on our mobile phone. But on top of the world there's no mobile phone service.
OPTION TWO was to abandon the caravan and just head north to Antonito by
ourselves, then proceed to Alamosa and Salida. But, once you are in a caravan,
you can't just quit it with no explanation. OPTION THREE was to assume they must
have taken the wrong turn by mistake. Well, then, it was up to us to catch up to
them, point out their mistake and help them fix it.
We took the third option. We'd race to catch up to them and flash our lights to
get them to stop. But picking this option was making BIG MISTAKE NUMBER THREE.
Really, it's hopeless to expect to catch a 60-mph group that has a five minute
head start. Mathematically, you just can't do it.
We tried anyway. Along US 64 we raced. I had forgotten what a curvy, uphill road
it is out of Tres Piedras heading west, but we made the best time we could. It
was a long way before we could see a fairly straight stretch far enough ahead to
see that we could NOT see a three-vehicle red-yellow-white caravan. Drat! They
must be going really fast. We tried the mobile phone from time to time. There
were no Verizon bars, there was no Verizon signal. The answer to the "Can you
hear me now?" question was clearly, NO.
Eventually it sunk into my thick skull that there was no way we were going to
raise them by phone and there was no way we were going to catch up by speeding
around the curves. (Did I mention that, while the curves and the downhills were
speedy, on uphill sections the Civic slowed down to a modest crawl.) We were by
now, we thought, much too far along this road to consider turning back. We had
to face up to the realization that we had served ourselves up a big juicy lemon.
And there's not much to do with a big, juicy lemon other than make lemonade.
I went into rationalization mode. Look, I said, here we are on one of the
prettiest highways in the country. It's green springtime up here, the aspens are
just leafing out and just beautiful. The weather is perfect. There's little
traffic. The car is running okay. We just should relax and enjoy the scenery.
We'll go on to Tierra Amarilla, turn north to Chama, turn northeast on NM 17 and
CO 17 to go to Antonito and get back on US 285 there. The two Route 17s go from
Chama to Antonito sort of parallel to the Cumbres & Toltec narrow-gauge railway,
at least part of the way. Hey, maybe we'll even see the train!
So that's what we did. We drove through miles of beautiful scenery, passed
through Tierra Amarilla without incident, looked over Chama with a thought of
how it would work out as the site for the 2014 Tri-State, saluted the train
station as we went by, crossed over the railroad tracks several times (didn't
see the train, though) and stopped for photos at the Cumbres Pass train station.
Eventually we arrived in Antonito where we picked up US 285 again.
Somewhere along the way we were able to get Tarmo on the mobile phone and learn
that they simply turned west at Tres Piedras to make a potty stop at a ranger
station they knew about, and then they got right back on US 285 headed north.
By now they were in Alamosa and had stopped for lunch. Well, we did not know
about the ranger station and we didn't see them as we went by. We told him we'd
be getting into Salida a couple of hours behind them and not to worry about us.
By the time we got to Alamosa our estimated six hours driving time from
Albuquerque to Salida were all used up. My budgeted energy level was totally
depleted. We made the rest of the trip on automatic pilot. We eventually got to
Salida pretty much exhausted. But, old friends were there, several nice Corvairs
were to be seen and our spirits rose to the occasion -- at least temporarily.
So, Day One, we arrived safely at the Tri-State. Two more days to get rested and
then we'll have another six-hour drive back home to look forward to.
DAY TWO: WHAT TO SEE IN SALIDA
Jim Pittman
Friday morning and we are still tired out from the drive yesterday. Heula is
able to go to the motel lobby for breakfast but I'm still trying to get some
sleep. Finally I drink some coffee and eat a banana and begin to feel maybe half
human. I decide although it's late in the day (8:15 is "late in the day" to me)
I should go for a walk and maybe find the Arkansas river. I head west then north
but never find a way to get to the river. I finally ask someone riding by on a
bicycle who points to a building half a mile away and says he thinks you can get
to the river from there. I say, "Maybe on my next walk." He says, "Welcome to
Sa-LIE-da" which I suppose is the preferred pronunciation hereabouts. I go back
to the motel for another half-cup of coffee and some more sleep.
By noon or so I seem to have recovered enough energy to suggest we drive around
a little, then fill up with gas so we won't have to fill up on our way out of
town on Sunday. We drive toward the building landmark the bicycle man pointed
out yesterday but we see no way to get to the river from there. So we drive on
through town and out into the country. As we are admiring the snowy mountains in
all directions I see a tall smokestack off to the left and spot a brown sign by
the side of the road, "Historical Site." We follow the sign to a turnoff, see
another sign, and approach the smokestack. By now it is apparent it is HUGE and
I can't remember being able to get so close to such a thing before. We drive up
to the base of this monster and park in its shade. We get out and look UP and UP
and UP some more, and there's the most amazing illusion that the thing is
falling on us! I could hardly stand to look at it! And the closer you are to the
base, the harder it is to look up at it. I can't remember ever seeing such a
powerful illusion. Maybe the slowly moving clouds enhance the illusion. Photos
simply don't give a hint of the feeling you have standing near this gigantic
ancient artifact and looking UP and UP and UP and seeing all those bricks just
eager to fall at you! Turns out this smokestack was built in 1917 as part of an
ore smelter and was only in use for a few years. Several other smokestacks that
were part of the smelting complex in the 1920s have long ago been demolished,
but this one remains, its condition and long-term future questionable.
Who could have built this thing, brick by brick by thousandth and millionth and
hundred millionth brick. Who could climb the iron rungs set as a ladder in the
south side, reaching to the top? Not me. I could never do that.
We left the smokestack ruins and drove around for awhile, marveling at the lush
grass, green trees, rocks in fields everywhere, acres of cattle, irrigation
pipes stretching over fields, ranch-sized farms, those snow-tinged mountains
looming in the distance. We thought we'd drive up to the gazebo or whatever it
was at the top of a little mountain but never found the right road. (LeRoy
Rogers reported that he did find the right road and drove up there, and the view
was spectacular!) We found a convenient Conoco station and filled up. We went
back to the motel. Many more Corvairs are there now, many old friends to talk
to. We register.
DAY THREE: A MAGNIFICENT CORVAIR CAR SHOW
Jim Pittman
On Saturday morning there is steadily increasing activity as all find breakfast
and clean up their cars (there was a nasty dust storm around midnight) and move
them to the east side of the motel parking lot. President John Wiker asks how
the numbers compare to earlier Tri-States. We have 33 today. I go to look in my
briefcase for last year's Red River report and find that we had 34 registered
Corvairs. One more Corvair arrives! Now we have 34 here today.
Anyone seriously trying to make a fair comparison of the cars to vote on as best
early open, best early closed, best late open and best late closed has a real
chore on their hands. Picking the best Lakewood is a little easier. Picking the
best FC is a breeze, though -- for the first time in living memory a Tri-State
Corvair Show has not a single Forward Control. Amazing.
DAY THREE: THE BANQUET
Jim Pittman
AWARDS
Best Early Closed:
Best Early Open:
Best Late Closed:
Best Late Open:
Best Lakewood:
Best FC:
People's Choice:
Longest Distance:
Hardship Award:
Attendance: Rocky Mountain CORSA
FRANCIS BOYDSTON AWARD: the Wilshire Family, Joan & Laura
NEXT YEAR
Pikes Peak Corvair Club will sponsor the 2013 Tri-State at Cripple Creek
Look for more details as they become available.
DAY FOUR: DRIVING HOME
... to be continued ...
############################################################################
<"BACK TO TOP">
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
2011 RED RIVER TRI-STATE REPORT
Jim & Heula Pittman
The 2011 Tri-State was held in Red River, New Mexico, June 3-4-5
Our Hotel: Lifts West, Phone: 800-221-1859 Liftswest@hotmail.com
Lifts West's Virtual room tour: http://www.liftswest.com
Brenda Stickler email: tounce66 @ msn.com phone: 505-856-6993
Robert L. Gold email: beisbol30 @ msn.com phone: 505-268-6878
THU 2 JUNE -- Leave Albuquerque, Mile 0, about 08:10 AM.
Take I-40 east, then "The Turquoise Trail" via Madrid to Santa Fe.
Take the NM 599 bypass around Santa Fe.
Mile 129, 10:44 AM, stop at the Rio Grande Gorge overlook south of Taos.
Mile 139, 11:10 AM, stop for gas in Taos
Mile 173, 11:59 AM, stop near the Chevron Molybdenum mine
Mile 179, 12:30 PM, arrive at Lifts West, Red, River
Meet & greet other early arrivals. Plan registration, banquet setup
FRI 2 JUNE -- register several of the early arrivals.
12:00 noon - registration officially starts.
SAT 3 JUNE
6:30 to 8:30 AM - continue registration
9:00 AM - Tri-State Car Show starts
6:00 PM - banquet, crossword, door prizes, food, awards
Attendance Award: CORVAIRS OF NEW MEXICO
Hard Luck Award: Joan Wilshire -- exploded spare tire!
Boydston Award: Chuck Vertrees of CNM
NEXT YEAR'S TRI-STATE
Steve Goodman said that Rocky Mountain will sponsor,
and it will probably be at Gunnison, possibly at Salida.
CAR SHOW AWARDS:
Best Early: 1962 Monza Sedan Paul & Pat Campbell PPCC
Best Late: 1966 Corsa Conv turbo Tarmo Sutt CNM
Best Custom: 1965 Corsa Coupe, 327-V8 Garrie Fox PPCC, RMC
Best FC: 1962 Rampside Steve Gongora CNM
Best of Show: 1966 Corsa Conv turbo Tarmo Sutt CNM
SUN 4 JUNE -- say goodbye and depart Lifts West
Mile 179, 08:45 AM, drive around Red River
Mile 181, 09:00 AM, take NM 578 scenic loop
Mile 193, 09:45 AM, leave Red River on NM 32
Eagle Nest, Angel fire, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Taos
Mile 286, 11:55 AM, Espanola
Mile 381, 1:50 PM, arrive Albuquerque
MORE DETAILS AND SOME STATISTICS
REGISTRATIONS BY CLUB:
CNM 38
RMC 24 Other: MID-CONTINENT & HEART OF AMERICA 1
PPCC 20 Bonneville 2
OTHER 8 CORSA OREGON 2
Unaff. 8 Ute Trails 3
==========
TOTAL 98
CARS IN TRI-STATE CAR SHOW:
BY CLUB:
RMC 10
PPCC 9
CNM 8
nonaff. 3
BONNEVILLE 1
WASHINGTON 1
Ute Trails 1
==========================
TOTAL 33
BY STATE:
Colorado 20
New Mexico 10
Washington 1
Utah 1
Wyoming 1
BY YEAR:
1960 1
1961 2
1962 4
1963 4
1964 4
1965 8
1966 6
1967 2
1968 2
1969 0
BY BODY TYPE:
Conv 13
Coupes 10
Sedans 4
Wagon 3
FC 2
Other 1
BY COLOR:
Red 13
White 6
Gold 4
Aqua 3
Green 2
Yellow 2
Black 1
Blue 1
Maroon 1
=======
More on the Red River 2011 Tri-State
Taos Enchanted Circle Tour Suggestion
<"BACK TO TOP">
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
2010 CANON CITY TRI-STATE REPORT
Jim & Heula Pittman
THU 20 MAY --- Leaving the 1965 Monza at home, we are on the road in our Brand-X
by 7 AM or so. Drive up North 14 via Madrid. Take the bypass loop to the west of
Santa Fe. Have a lot of traffic congestion and some road construction near Espanola.
Somewhere south of Tres Piedras we have our first glimpses of Colorado snow-clad
mountains, not to mention the snowy mountains near Taos. We are amazed to see an
Air Force B-1 bomber swoop by us. It disappears at low altitude and high speed,
headed north paralleling the Rio Grande gorge. Well, it is perfect weather and a
perfect place to be flying in a high-performance airplane.
At Alamosa we decide to take a short cut on Colorado 17 near the Great Sand Dunes
National Monument instead of going around US 285 through Monte Vista and Saguache.
It turns out to be a straight, smooth road with little traffic. We reach Salida at
about 1 PM and head east on US 50. Beautiful road, river alongside, railroad next
to the river. We start seeing hundreds of gondola coal cars parked on the railroad
right-of-way. Can not figure that out. In storage? Abandoned? Waiting to be joined
up into the world's longest coal train? No explanation was found.
Arrive Canon City, find Quality Inn, check in. In our room by 2:15 PM. Our first
sighting of a Corvair: nice early maroon coupe parks next to our car. The first of
many to come. Spend rest of day visiting with friends.
FRI 21 MAY --- Nice breakfast at the hotel. Talk to a few other early risers. Here
is Dave Olwine who had the nice red 1963 Spyder convertible at Monte Vista. Yep,
it's here again this year! Destined to win the early convertible category.
We think we'll drive around town a little, scout the locations of the car show and
our banquet, go see the Royal Gorge bridge. Wow, Canon City is bigger than we
thought! We think we find the highway leading to Royal Gorge, but it takes us
instead to the train station. Photos of old black locomotive and brightly painted
modern (well, maybe 1950s) passenger cars and diesel locomotive. Take another
street and come upon a huge cemetery, nice stone wall, nice trees, beautifully
maintained. Would like to wander through it reading the strange names. No time
for that today.
Back to the main street, then ten miles west on US 50, then turn south at the
signs. No problem finding Buckskin Joe's. Continue on curvy, hilly little road
through the woods to the Royal Gorge bridge site. A busy commercial enterprise!
We see a couple of parked Corvairs and a few fifties cars, probably part of the
large Canon City car show. We find a vantage point to see the bridge. It looks
like an expensive bridge that doesn't go anywhere. Later we learn it was built
in 1929. We don't find out why it was built.
Back at the hotel we find that many more Corvairs have arrived. Talk to our
friends at registration. Walk the parking lot taking photos of nice Corvairs.
The early model "trailer" was a big hit! We also get a thrill to see a beautiful
yellow 4.2 Jaguar XK-E. Drive east 100 yards to a steak house for dinner.
SAT 22 MAY --- All the car show folks prepare their cars for an 8:30 departure.
There are many cars in town for another car show so the streets are filled with
seldom-seen, bright shiny vehicles. Drive out to Florence and walk along the
street admiring the Corvairs. How could anyone pick a "best" from this group?
Take time off for lunch, then more walking, more photos. Drive around Florence
a bit. Here's a Colorado Corvair that didn't get into the car show. On the way
north toward US 50, see a field with a dozen llamas. They are out of place here
in this semi-desert, but somehow seem to fit in. Back to the hotel.
The wind is picking up. We get ready to go to dinner. The wind is worse, but we
get to Buckskin Joe's, no problem. We find what almost looks like a working old
west movie set -- all you'd need to do is take down the "touristy" signs, add
John Wayne and Slim Pickins, and you'd have most of what you'd need to shoot a
movie. Did I say shooting? The Buckskin Joe staff stage a couple of "ole west"
shootouts for our pleasure. We can easily see that 1880s gunfighters would have
a problem keeping their pants pressed and their boots polished. Not to mention
keeping those pesky bullet holes out of their vests. These gunfighters seem to
be mere boys -- then I think, a lot of the real 1880s cowboys were mere boys.
In 1880 those shootin' irons on their hips would not have been cap guns! Maybe
in this harsh country, not many lived to die of old age.
Corvairs appear on Buckskin Joe's main street. Line up and park for photos. The
wind continues. Time for a few more photos and then it's time for dinner.
Everyone finds a seat somewhere and the dinner arrives. Steve Goodman is master
of ceremonies and tells us his interpretation of the history of Tri-State events.
He introduces the Saint Francis of Corvair Award and presents this year's plaque
to PPCC's Garrie Fox. Speech time. Heula announces next year's Tri-State: to be
sponsored by CNM in Red River, New Mexico. The crowd approves. Well, we have
been their twice before with great success.
Time for awards for the car show. (Details will become available in the DRIPLINE
and DENVAIR NEWS newsletters.) Fifty-fifty prize, door prizes, raffle for Ruth's
afghan. After the ceremonies, all thank the staff for their hard work and the
Corvair people start driving out.
SUN 23 MAY --- We pack everything and load up the car. Need to get an early start
for fear that the wind will pick up before we get home and we'll have to drive in
blowing dust. We go back for one more breakfast with early-rising friends. Drive
east on US 50 into the sunrise. How to go back? Should we take the safe, dull and
boring I-25 freeway, or go west through the mountains to Questa? We turn off on
US 160 to go to Ft Garland, but either the road signs are bad or I miss them, so
we end up back on I-25, heading south.
Okay, we could turn west on US 64 after Raton to get to Questa. We do. We find
there is a very very long straight stretch until we get to Cimmaron (we saw many
pronghorn along the way) then we find some very very curvy, hilly stretches on
the way to Eagle Nest, Angle Fire and Taos. Get gas in Taos, same place as last
year. By now we are really tired and just want to get on home.
Forget about the scenery, just drive! This time we don't stop to watch the rafts
on the Rio Grande. As we get closer to Espanola there's all that congestion and
road construction again, but this time it's Sunday traffic, crowded but not so
rushed. It seems ages and eons later (actually it is only about 2:15 PM) when we
roll up to our door.
We are safely back home after attending another great Tri-State!
Here's our count of CNMers at the Tri-State:
1. Ruth Boydston
2. Rita Gongora
3. Steve Gongora
4. Pat Hall (brought 1964 Spyder coupe)
5. Vickie Hall
6. Heula Pittman
7. Jim Pittman
8. Emma Rogers
9. LeRoy Rogers
10. Bill Reider
11. Lee Reider
12. Ollie Scheflow
13. Wendell Walker (brought 1964 Monza convertible)
14. Amanda: Ruth's granddaughter
15. Bernadette: Steve & Rita's daughter
16. Kim Patten: Former member
17. Sherry: Ruth's daughter
Here's a list of all who attended:
CANON CITY TRI-STATE ATTENDANCE
CLUB NAME HOW MANY
==== ============================= ========
CNM Boydston, Ruth 1 plus 2 guests
PPCC Campbell, Paul 2
PPCC Darnell, Darren 1 plus 1 guest
RMC Dinsdale, John 4
RMC Drage, John 1
PPCC Ehrman, Warren 1
PPCC Fox, Garrie 2 (also RMC)
PPCC Frantz, Peter 2 plus 2 guests
PPCC Gilbert, Bob 2
CNM Gongora, Steve & Rita 2 plus 1 guest
PPCC Goodman, Steve 2 (also RMC)
RMC Grippen, Tom 1
BCC Gwyther, Bruce 2 Bonneville Corvair Club, Utah
CNM Hall, Pat 2
RMC Halpin, Edward 3
PPCC Hesco, Marilyn & John 2 plus 2 guests (Graybull, Wyoming)
? Jess, Robert 2 Grand Junction
PPCC Koll, John 2
? Mahlum, Marshall 1
RMC Miller, Marcus & Debbie 2 plus 2 Children
? Mindenhall, Rich & wife 2 Grand Junction
PPCC Neal, John 2
PPCC Neal, Larry 1
RMC Nelson, Earl 2
RMC Nielsen, Dale 1
? Norris, Dexter 2
? Olsen, Lee 1 Kansas
RMC Olwine, Dave 2 plus 1 Child
? Pfeiffer, Roger V. 1 Inland Empire Corvair Club, California
? Pierce, William 2
CNM Pittman, James 2
CNM Reider, Bill 2
RMC Riblett, Charles 2
CNM Rogers, Leroy 2
CNM Scheflow, Oliver 1
RMC Schubert, Scheryl 2
RMC Seyforth, Paul 2
PPCC Shields, Kermit 2
RMC Shortle, Timothy 2 plus 1 guest
BCC Stowell, Charles 2 Bonneville Corvair Club, Utah
CNM Walker, Wendell 1 plus 1 guest
PPCC Westerfield, Kelly 2
RMC Williams, Jim 1 plus 1 guest (Cheyenne, Wyoming)
PPCC Wilshire, Joan & Laura 2 (also RMC)
RMC Yoder, Larry 1
? Zetterman, Bob 1
NONE Langlois, Dave & Mona 2 (from Albuquerque, not a club member)
NONE Staeben, William & Cheryl 2 (winners of Late Open class)
CANON CITY TRI-STATE ATTENDANCE BY CLUB:
RMC : TOTAL = 32 not counting children or guests (6 also PPCC)
PPCC : TOTAL = 25 not counting children or guests (6 also RMC)
CNM : TOTAL = 13 not counting children or guests
BCC : TOTAL = 4 not counting children or guests
OTHER: TOTAL = 16 not counting children or guests (another club, or no club)
REGISTERED BUT UNABLE TO ATTEND:
RMC Duncan, Bud & Linda 2 (Did Not Attend)
? Mattics, Bill 2 (Cancelled)
? Strecker, Julie & Bernie 2 (Cancelled - Funeral)
CNM Sutt, Tarmo & Kay & student 2 + 1 guest (Cancelled)
The DENVAIR NEWS (Rocky Mountain CORSA) and the DRIPLINE (Pikes Peak Corvair
Club) and ENCHANTED CORVAIRS (Corvairs of New mexico) newsletters for June
have reports on the Canon City Tri-State.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
STATISTICS (gleaned from the DENVAIR NEWS and the Pikes Peak DRIPLINE):
REGISTRATION NUMBER OF HOW MANY HOW MANY TOTAL NUMBER
CLUB FORMS FILED CARS ADULTS GUESTS OF PEOPLE
============ ============ ========= ======== ======== ============
RMC 21 ? 32 5 37
PPCC 14 ? 25 5 30
CNM 10 2 13 4 17
Grand Junction 2 ? 4 4
Bonneville 2 ? 4 4
California 1 ? 1 1
Kansas 1 ? 1 1
Ute Trails 1 ?
Other ? ? 15 15
============ === === === === ====
TOTALS 52 44 95 14 109
AWARDS:
Best of Show George & Carolyn Evans (silver 1966 Corsa coupe V-8)
Early coupe Ed Halpin (it's a red 1960) PPCC & RMC
Late coupe Dale Nielsen RMC
Early Sedan Paul & Pat Campbell PPCC
Late Sedan John & Deborah Dinsdale RMC & CNM
Early convert Dave & brenna Olwine (that red 1963 Spyder) RMC
Late Convert Bill Staeben PPCC
1962 Rampside Jerry & Betty Seale (Eckert, Colorado)
Longest Drive John & Marilyn Hesco PPCC (Greybull, Wyoming)
Hard Luck (not awarded this year)
BOYDSTON AWARD: Garrie Fox Pikes Peak Corvair Club
ATTENDANCE AWARD: Rocky Mountain CORSA, Denver
<"BACK TO TOP">
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
2009 TRI-STATE REPORT - 29-30-31 MAY - TAOS, NEW MEXICO
Jim & Heula Pittman - Corvairs of New Mexico
Attendees registered and including family members: 122
(At least four people showed up who did not fill out a registration form.)
REGISTRATION NUMBER OF HOW MANY HOW MANY TOTAL NUMBER
CLUB FORMS FILED CARS ADULTS CHILDREN OF PEOPLE
============ ============ ========= ======== ======== ============
Bonneville 4 4 7 0 7
CNM 21 12 38 4 42
PPCC 11 9 18 0 18
RMC 21 15 35 2 37
Unaffiliated 9 0 14 4 18
============ === === === === ====
TOTALS 66 40 112 10 122
CLUBS REPRESENTED, BY REGISTRATION:
CNM 21
BONNEVILLE 4
PPCC 11
RMC 21
CLUBS REPRESENTED, BY NUMBER OF PEOPLE (note: several belong to multiple clubs):
BONNEVILLE 7
CNM 42
PPCC 18
RMC 37
NO CLUB: 18
CLUBS REPRESENTED, BY STATE:
CALIFORNIA 6
COLORADO: 59
NEW MEXICO: 54
UTAH: 7
TOTAL CORVAIRS IN THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE CAR SHOW: 40
CARS BY YEAR:
1961 1
1962 4
1963 5
1964 8
1965 10
1966 9
1968 2
1969 1
VEHICLES BY MODEL:
500 2
Corsa 10
Corvan 1
Monza 23
Spyder 3
Rampside 1
VEHICLES BY BODY TYPE:
Early Open 7
Early Closed 9
Late Open 11
Late Closed 11
Forward Control 2
AWARDS:
EARLY OPEN John Drage RMC #13 1962 Monza convertible
EARLY CLOSED Paul Campbell PPCC #27 1962 Monza sedan
LATE OPEN Wayne Broadhead Bonneville #33 1965 Corsa convertible
LATE CLOSED Dale Nielsen RMC #26 1965 Monza coupe
FORWARD CONTROL Timothy Shortle RMC #35 1963 Rampside
BEST OVERALL Dale Nielsen RMC #26 1965 Monza coupe
MOST ORIGINAL John Neal PPCC #30 1964 Spyder convertible
LONG DISTANCE C. Vee Stowell Bonneville #37 1963 Monza convert Perry, UT
HARD LUCK Russ McDuffie CNM #21 1965 Corsa convertible
PEOPLE'S CHOICE Rich Mendenhall RMC #09 1964 Monza coupe
BOYDSTON AWARD: Pat Hall Corvairs of New Mexico
Next Year's Tri-State will be held in Canon City, Colorado, May 21-22-23, 2010.
Sponsored by Pikes Peak Corvair Club, Colorado Springs, CO.
Thanks to Steve Goodman for helping us verify the car information.
The PDF report on the Taos Tri-State is no longer available on-line. If you
want a copy, let me know and I will e-mail it to you. It is about 8 MB.
<"BACK TO TOP">
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
2008 TRI-STATE REPORT - 16-17-18 MAY - PAGOSA SPRINGS
Laura Wilshire -- Rocky Mountain Corsa
Attendees registered and including family members: 100
(Note: I did a recount and at the banquet I mentioned 96 people
had registered, but I forgot a last minute spouse and kids.)
Clubs Represented, by registration:
RMC 22
PPCC 13
CNM 8
AHCOA 4
N. VIRGINIA 1
TIJUANA CLUB 2
Clubs Represented, by number of people: (note: several belong to multiple clubs):
RMC 46
PPCC 25
CNM 15
CACTUS CORVAIR 2
AHCOA 4
N. VIRGINIA CC 1
NO CLUB: 11
Number of People Attending by State:
COLORADO: 71
NEW MEXICO: 21
WYOMING: 4
KANSAS: 2
MISSIOURI: 2
(NOTE: The member from N. Virginia is now in Silver City N.M.)
Total Corvairs in the People's Choice Car Show: 36
(plus 1 local car parked across the street)
AWARDS:
PEOPLE'S CHOICE WINNER: Daniel Mendoza 1968 500 Coupe Prowler Orange
BEST EARLY CONVERTIBLE: Dave Olwine 1963 Spyder Convt. Red
BEST EARLY COUPE: Jean Olwine 1963 Monza Coupe Maroon
BEST LATE CONVERTIBLE: Darren Darnell 1966 Monza Convt. Blue
BEST LATE COUPE: Larry Yoder 1966 Corsa Coupe Red
BEST F/C OR WAGON: Tim Shortle 1963 Rampside Truck White w/Red stripe
BEST OF SHOW: Dave Olwine 1963 Spyder Convertible Red
Traveling Trophy for most club participation was presented to Rocky Mountain
Corsa with 46 members and was accepted by RMC President, Larry Yoder.
The Francis Boydston Award was presented by Steve Gongora & Ruth Boydston of
CNM. It was awarded to Dennis & Debbie Pleau. Debbie & Dennis were members
of CNM for several years, then members of PPCC. Debbie passed away last
summer. Ruth Boydston accepted on Dennis Pleau's behalf.
Long Distance Award: John & Marilyn Hesco from Greybull, Wyoming with 765
Corvair miles driven. The award was $50.
The 50/50 cash award went to Bob Jess of Grand Junction, CO.
Ruth Goodman's handmade afghan was won by Pat Campbell of PPCC.
Kids' Candy jar was won by Jesus Hernandez.
The Tijuana Club inducted new member Earl Nelson of Ault, CO!
The Hard Luck Award was presented by Steve Goodman and won by Bob & Carol
Strobl of Grand Junction, CO who had vapor lock problems on their trip over
in their black 1964 Monza Convertible.
Brenda Stickler of CNM announced that the Tri-State 2009 event will be held
in Taos, New Mexico on May 29-30-31, 2009.
<"BACK TO TOP">
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
2007 TRI-STATE REPORT, MONTE VISTA, COLORADO
Jim Pittman / statistics by Steve Goodman
Our 2007 Tri-State Meet in Monte Vista, Colorado was another success although
CNM was under-represented, and in fact overall attendance was down. Several of
us traveled in our Brand-X vehicles, leaving our Corvairs at home.
Friday found us arriving at the Movie Manor Best Western (two miles west of
town) and registering and walking around to look at all the Corvairs. In the
evening many of us went in town in search of congenial restaurants or other
places of interest.
Saturday morning found many owners up early to shine their Corvairs and parade
to the park for the show. Here's a list of the cars at the show, in the order
that they were lined up:
Nr YEAR MODEL BODY DESCRIPTION OWNER CLUB
== ==== ============ ====== ============= ================ ==========
06 1968 Monza coupe red Ruth Goodman PPCC/RMC
22 1965 Corsa coupe white (V-8) Garrie Fox PPCC
19 1962 Monza conv. white John Hesco PPCC
12 1965 Monza sedan light blue Ernie Pyle RMC/PPCC
11 1965 Corsa conv. yellow Ray Trujillo CNM
17 1962 Monza conv. red Jerry Gertison RMC
13 1962 Monza conv. turquoise John Drage RMC
08 1963 Monza conv. purple Bau Klomp RMC
18 1962 Monza conv. red Bud Duncan RMC
21 1962 Monza sedan light green Paul Campbell PPCC
16 1962 Monza coupe beige Ben Benzel PPCC
09 1963 Monza Spyder conv. red Dave Olwine RMC
10 1964 Monza sedan white Jean Olwine RMC
20 1968 Monza conv. yellow Kermit Shields joined PPCC
01 1968 500 coupe bronze-red Danny Mendoza joined PPCC
07 1966 Corsa coupe extremely RED Larry Yoder RMC
14 1964 Monza conv. maroon John Koll PPCC
15 1964 Monza sedan gold/brown Warren Erhmann PPCC
03 1964 Monza coupe light blue Michael Wiltrout PPCC
04 1966 Corsa coupe yellow/black Miles Wiltrout PPCC
__ 1963 Monza coupe light blue local owner -
23 1966 Corsa coupe white Steve Gongora CNM
__ 1964 Monza Spyder conv. maroon local owner -
02 1963 Greenbrier F.C. white/red Dennis Pleau PPCC/RMC
05 1965 Monza conv. red Jon Anderson PPCC
__ 1966 Corsa conv. blue Tim Paulson -
__ 1965 Monza sedan white Mac McFadden, Alamosa
__ 1963 Monza coupe white Dave Langlois, Albuquerque
Class winners were:
Early coupe # 16 1962 Monza Ben Benzel PPCC
Early open # 09 1963 Spyder Dave Olwine RMC
Early sedan # 10 1964 Monza Jean Olwine RMC
Late coupe # 01 1968 500 Danny Mendoza joined PPCC
Late open # 11 1965 Corsa Ray Trujillo CNM
Late sedan # 12 1965 Monza Ernie Pyle RMC/PPCC
FC # 02 1963 Greenbrier Dennis Pleau PPCC/RMC
Steve thought there'd be no need for a Hard Luck Award, but at the last minute
Dennis Pleau secured the award by having fuel pump failure in his Greenbrier.
Fortunately a spare was located (thanks, Jon) and Dennis installed it in record
time. The only other problem we know of was the cloud of smoke from Wendell
Walker's RX-7 that scared everyone in Antonito and led to the deployment of two
fire trucks. It apparently was just some spilled oil.
The long distance award went to John Hesco of the Pikes Peak club who drove to
Monte Vista from Greybull, Wyoming, 700 miles each way.
Year breakdown for the cars registered for the show:
1962 = 7 vehicles
1963 = 2 vehicles
1964 = 4 vehicles
1965 = 3 vehicles
1966 = 4 vehicles
1968 = 2 vehicles
We had 74 folks registered for the banquet and the Rocky Mountain club took back
the plaque for most members attending. Here are the numbers:
RMC = 29 = Attendance Award
PPCC = 24
CNM = 16
Non-club = 5
After the car show many of us went into town to check out antique shops or drove
east through Alamosa to visit the Great Sand Dunes. We don't know if anyone
found the alligator farm. Some of us treated our sunburn, downloaded photos from
our cameras to our computers or wandered around to talk Corvair lore with our
friends. There was a lot of "How do you do that?" and "Why did you do that?" and
"That looks like a neat idea!" to be heard through the afternoon. At least one
local Corvair owner came by to get advice on fixing up her "new" car.
About 6:00 PM we all gathered at the restaurant. At the buffet we found the line
long and the food good. We had lots of door prizes. Laura Wilshire won the
afghan donated by Ruth Goodman. Debbie Pleau won the 50/50 prize of $108. LeRoy
won the diorama Corvair display. CNM presented the Saint Francis of Corvair
Award for 2007 to John Koll of the Pikes Peak Club. Ruth Boydston received the
Plaque with the names of all the recipients of the award from 1998 through 2007.
During the banquet there was an early summer thunderstorm with lots of rain and
some hail, and the restaurant staff were deployed to set pans under several
leaks! Hopefully no one was dripped on badly enough to call for another hard
luck award. Another point of interest at the banquet: the newsletter editors
were honored for their dedication to their craft. It was well acknowledged that
communications are a very important part of any organization.
Debbie & Dennis Pleau told us that they will soon be moving from Colorado to the
Sacramento area in California. While they will no doubt continue to be active in
CORSA and in local Corvair affairs in their new home, they will leave a big gap
in the ranks of the Colorado and New Mexico clubs.
Jim observed that once again Steve and Ruth Goodman did a terrific job of
organizing and running a relaxed and enjoyable gathering of Corvairs and Corvair
people. Steve said the facilities were good with excellent cooperation from the
town. Quite a few local people came to see the car show -- there were 127
ballots cast for People's Choice. Jim was amazed at the number and quality of
all the early model Corvairs from Colorado, many of them daily drivers. How many
of us "Brand-X" owners resolved to go back home and do the chores needed to make
our Corvairs look better and run better so we can drive them to the Tri-State
next year?
Laura Wilshire told us that next year the Tri-State Meet will be hosted by Rocky
Mountain CORSA of Denver in Pagosa Springs, Colorado in May. This is just up the
road from Chama so plan now to attend! Rocky Mountain has won the attendance
record far too many times and Pikes Peak will be especially keen to win it next
year!
Again, a big thanks to Ruth & Steve Goodman for all their excellent efforts to
make this a great Tri-State! -- Jim
<"BACK TO TOP">
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
PHOTOS FROM TRI-STATE MEETS:
2008 Tri-State Meet
2009 Tri-State Meet
2010 Tri-State Meet
2011 Tri-State Meet
2012 Tri-State Meet
<"BACK TO TOP">
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
THE FOLLOWING HISTORY OF THE TRI-STATE MEETS WAS WRITTEN BY STEVE GONGORA.
IT APPEARED IN OUR 1999 SPECIAL 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF THE NEWSLETTER.
TRI-STATE MEETS
Steve Gongora
It has been so long since the first Tri-State Meet that I don't remember who was
responsible for putting the first one together. I'm sure Sylvan Zuercher had a
major part in starting this thing. I remember that our Club wanted to expand our
contact with other Corvair clubs in the area, and with the help of the CORSA
directory we made contacts with people in the neighboring states of Utah and
Colorado. The main contact in Colorado was Leo Ford, a retired FBI agent. He did
much of the organizing in Montrose, Colorado at the first event. He arranged the
dinner and the fun tour around the town of Montrose and south to Ouray. He drove
his orange and black "Nader Hater" Corvair.
Our CNM entourage included myself, Jack Sellers, Andy Ciupryk and Sylvan and
Opal Zuercher. David Langlois, along with his brother and father, trailered a
mid-engine Corvair up to Colorado. This particular mid-engine was put together
at our shop, House of Covers, on Central back in 1975. It was a beautiful piece
of work. Jack and Andy traveled with me in my 1965 Corsa. (This car is still
alive and well and is a daily driver in the capable hands of Bill Reider, who
gave it a unique silver-and-black color scheme.)
This trip was going to be the farthest that I had traveled in my Corvair. Since
I had Jack with me, I wasn't very worried because he was a Corvair mechanic. In
fact, he rented space at our old shop so he could work on cars, including
Corvairs.
The meet itself was fantastic because you saw how other clubs conducted their
business, and we could learn from their experiences how to make our own Club
flourish. The event was also a way to buy and trade parts. Andy was able to
purchase a brand new set of Corvair mag wheels out of the box at the first meet.
You've got to remember that this was 1976. New Corvair items were easier to find
back then. You have to look a little harder to find the same treasures today.
Another aspect of the Tri-State events was an opportunity to see some great
cars. The first meet brought on an inspiration for my car. Bill Woodman came
from Colorado in a late-model Corvair. What Bill had done was install BMW 2002
seats in place of the traditional bucket seats. The look and feel was perfect
for the Corvair. As soon as I got back to Albuquerque, the hunt was on for the
BMW seats. These seats are still in the car that Bill Reider drives today.
Woodman had other nice modifications to his car. He placed the battery in the
trunk, installed mag wheels, and put black trim on the headlight bezels.
The Tri-State took a ten-year hiatus after the first meet for reasons unknown to
me. When the aspect of resurrecting the event came up, I was all for it. The
Tri-State originally included Utah, but in 1986 they did not have a strong
enough response to carry on. Colorado Springs and Denver took the ball and ran
with it. So up until now the "Tri-State" has been made up of CNM, Pikes Peak
Corvair Club, and Rocky Mountain CORSA in Denver. The hosting of the event is
rotated among each of the participating clubs. The meets have been a great way
to experience the scenery of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. The
small towns always open their arms to the clubs and everyone has a great time.
Finally, the meet has become something of a rivalry between Steve and Ruth
Goodman and the Gongora family. We are the only members who have attended every
one of the Tri-state meets since the beginning. Now it has become a drive for me
to continue this friendly competition. It is always a highlight of the year to
be able to attend the meets with my family and see the enthusiasm of all those
who come from different states and different Corvair clubs. Everyone looks
forward to seeing you from year to year. It is amazing to me the way the longest
distance traveled to each Tri-State seems to get longer every year.
-- Steve Gongora
<"BACK TO TOP">
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
=[END]=
Click for larger map.
<"BACK TO TOP">