The June 2012 newsletter - Text Version
Updated 21-May-2013 ==== Copyright (c) 2013 Corvairs of New Mexico
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JUNE 2012 / VOLUME 38 / NUMBER 6 / ISSUE #441
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Tony Fiore Memorial Chapter Newsletter Award, First Place, 2005
Tony Fiore Memorial Chapter Newsletter Award, Third Place, 2010
EDITOR: Jim Pittman
NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, June 6th, 2012 at 7:00 PM
North Domingo Baca Multigenerational Center, Wyoming & Carmel NE
THIS MONTH:
Dues Due..............................................Membership Committee
New Members: Judy Jaramillo, Joan & Murray Bruskin....Membership Committee
"Air" Force President's Notes...................................John Wiker
May Meeting Minutes...............................................Art Gold
May Board Meeting Cancelled......................................Anonymous
The Few - The Proud - Museum Car Show Report...................Robert Gold
Reports on the 2012 Tri-State in Salida, Colorado..............Jim & Heula
Driving to Salida, or, How to go 100 miles out of your way in 3 easy steps
Day Two: What to do in Salida..........Day Three: A Great Corvair Car Show
Day Three: The Banquet.......................................Heula Pittman
Day Three: Awards and Statistics.............................Steve Goodman
Preview: Tri-State 2013 Cripple Creek, Colorado...............Patricia Fox
Journey into the Past: Car Council Meeting Report..............Robert Gold
Calendar.........................................................CNM Board
Treasury Report......................................Treasurer Robert Gold
Birthdates, Anniversary Dates...........................Sunshine Committee
Years Ago: 7, 14, 21, 28, 35.................................CNM Historian
COVER: Scenes at the Salida, CO Tri-State: Car Show, Giant 1917 Smokestack
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MEETING: First Wednesday of each month at 7:00 PM
North Domingo Baca Multigenerational Center, Wyoming & Carmel NE
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President: John Wiker 505-899-3076 wikerj63 @ yahoo.com
Vice-Pres: Pat Hall 505-620-5574 patandvickiehall @ q.com
Secretary: Art Gold 505-620-7434 rollerart @ gmail.com
Treasurer: Robert Gold 505-268-6878 beisbol30 @ msn.com
Board: Car Council: Mike Stickler 505-856-6993 sticorsa @ hotmail.com
Board: Merchandise: Vickie Hall 505-865-5574 patandvickiehall @ q.com
Board: Membership: Larry Yoffee 505-321-5909 corsa180 @ gmail.com
Board: Sunshine: Heula Pittman 505-275-2195 jimp @ unm.edu
Board: Newsletter: Jim Pittman 505-275-2195 jimp @ unm.edu
Board: Past Pres: Pat Hall 505-620-5574 patandvickiehall @ q.com
Board: Past Pres: Ray Trujillo 505-839-7436 ray @ bpsabq.com
Board: Past Pres: Mike Stickler 505-856-6993 sticorsa @ hotmail.com
Board: Past Pres: David Huntoon 505-281-9616 corvair66 @ aol.com
DUES: CNM: 12 months $25.00 -or- 26 months $ 50.00
CORSA: 12 months $45.00 -or- 26 months $ 90.00
CNM & CORSA: 12 months $70.00 -or- 26 months $140.00
CORSA's home page: http://www.corvair.org
Steve Gongora's page: http://www.corvair.org/chapters/chapter871
CNM's newsletters: http://www.unm.edu/~jimp
Larry Yoffee home page: http://www.corsaturbo180usa.weebly.com
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DUES DUE DATES FOR JUNE 2012
== DUE MAY = INACTIVE 25-JUN-2012:
2012.05 Jerry Goffe
== DUE JUN = INACTIVE 25-JUL-2012:
2012.06 Melba & Tommie J. Anderson
== DUE JUL = INACTIVE 25-AUG-2012:
2012.07 Anne & Geoffrey Johnson
2012.07 Tracey & John McMahan
== DUE AUG = INACTIVE 25-SEP-2012:
2012.08 Alan Gold
2012.08 Janet & Steve Johnson
2012.08 Nancy & Russ McDuffie
2012.08 Joel Nash
2012.08 Robert Philips
2012.08 Fred Riggs II
== EXPIRED = INACTIVE AS OF 25-APR-2012:
2011.12 Diane & A. John Pattison
2012.02 Kelly & Art Gold
Send your Dues to:
CNM Treasurer c/o Robert Gold
1301 Valencia NE
Albuquerque, NM 87110
Past due memberships will become inactive after a one-month grace period. The
Club will mail in your National Dues when you renew, if you send us the renewal
form from your CORSA Communique!
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CNM WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS
JUDY JARAMILLO just needed a place to park that Saturday morning. She
spotted an open space in our group of Corvairs and didn't hesitate to back right
in. She found herself in the middle of our Spring Fling Car Show! And her "new"
1966 500 Sedan fit right in. We know Judy will fit right in to our club, too.
She attended her first membership meeting and paid her CNM dues to make it
official. So, welcome Judy Jaramillo. We look forward to having you join us in
our club activities. - Larry Yoffee
JOAN & MURRAY BRUSKIN from Illinois have discovered CNM and have joined
us. They have a 1961 coupe with a pristine 140 engine and may drive out here for
the Balloon Fiesta Corvair Car Show. They also have a 1947 Packard, a 1960
Triumph TR-3A and a 1967 Sunbeam Alpine. Welcome to Joan and Murray! We hope to
see them here in October.
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"AIR" FORCE PRESIDENT'S NOTES
John Wiker
Thanks to all twenty-five people and five Corvairs that made the trip to Salida
last weekend. At the banquet we learned that Rocky Mountain CORSA had the top
number with 33 folks in attendance. We did really well to come in second place
in attendance. Congratulations to Tarmo Sutt who once again represented us well
by winning the Late Open category with his red '66.
Thanks to Tarmo, Ken Sturm, Tami Moore and Jim & Heula Pittman who formed a
caravan, thereby making sure my Corvair made it up there in one piece. Thanks to
Pat & Vickie Hall, Russ McDuffie and Larry Yoffee and, again, to Tarmo for
escorting me home. The only trouble I had was a slight leak in the Oil Pressure
Sender. That will be fixed once I can find a new one, and once school is out
next week. And I have to schedule around my summer job as a "Player Assistant"
at the UNM Championship Golf course on Mondays. There's no pay, but there's free
golf when I am not working. Tough job, but someone has to do it. I hope they
don't realize I'd actually pay them to work there. (Did the editor just sneak
that sentence in?) Anyway, come out and visit me at my dream job some time.
The next big CNM event for me is the Open House at the Multigenerational
Center on Saturday 9 June. Let's see how many Corvairs we can stuff into thier
lot that day!
Free food and drink have been mentioned? See you there!
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REGULAR MEETING MINUTES
5-2-2012
Art Gold
Meeting came to order at 7:04pm at North Domingo Baca Multicultural Center with
20 in attendance.
Officer Reports
John Wiker (President) told us how, in his job of substitute teacher, he was
called on to teach a class in aviation technology to second graders. He said it
went very well, especially in comparison to teaching a similar class to 9th
graders. John also thanked Larry Yoffee for his efforts at the car show at the
Target parking lot.
Pat Hall (Vice President) stated that he had items to be auctioned off at the
end of the meeting. He had a show of hands who is going to the Tri-State and who
is going up on Friday. Pat was asking who would like to caravan. Pat also
discussed a prospective member: Philip Weston from Santa Fe. Tarmo Sutt told us
that he was in First Grade when he met the Weston family and learned that they
drove Corvairs.
Robert Gold (Treasurer) stated that the club's account has $4,753.60.
Art Gold (Secretary) stated that he will do the bidding of the club.
Larry Yoffee (Membership) told us about a new prospective member who was present
as our visitor tonight: Judy Jaramillo. She attended the car show last weekend,
driving her rare 1966 500 Sedan which she found through Craig's List. John
called for all club members to introduce themselves to the new member. Larry
discussed the Communique, and the ad that he had placed about the October
Balloon Fiesta Corvair car show. He also mentioned that Berlinda told him that
the community center is approaching its first anniversary and they are planning
a celebration on Saturday June 9th. He suggested that CNM participate with a
Corvair car show. It would be from about 8:30 to about 1:00. Larry discussed the
Target car show, and how visible the show was with many people showing up to see
the cars.
Member Reports
Jim Pittman (Editor) stated that the deadline is Friday 5-25 for the newsletter.
Jim discussed the Communique's rules about membership. We have never "counted"
our membership by the number of individuals but rather by the number of
addresses or families, as seems to be the practice of CORSA. If we counted
spouses and interested children living at home, we'd have far more members than
the 49 currently listed on our membership roster! Someone having mentioned the
article in the recent Communique on Corvairs having trunk in front, engine in
back, he told a story about going on an SCCA rally to Chihuahua, Mexico. At the
border crossing between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez he learned from a Mexican
customs agent where the engine number was located on his 1966 Corsa!
Vickie Hall (Merchandise) stated that she received $10 for two Care and Feeding
Books, of which she gave to the treasurer. Buy a jacket patch!
Heula Pittman (Sunshine) stated that everything is rocking along. She reminded
the members that she is out to spread sunshine. Heula discussed the purpose of
the sunshine committee, and some of the activities that they help out.
Mike Stickler (Car Council) stated that the Museum Show will be on 5-20-12, and
will feature the 100 years of Chevrolet. Steve Gongora told us that the
application form is on his website. The council also would like to have a
luncheon to celebrate old cars in Los Lunas on 7-8-12. Mike told us that the All
Clubs Picnic had been scheduled for Isleta Lakes, but someone pointed out the
complete lack of shade there, so a search was on for a better location. Mike
said the Council was not worried that so far no club had volunteered to sponsor
and organize the picnic -- Council members know how to do this and would somehow
get it done.
New Business
The 50/50 winner was Tarmo Sutt, $10.50, to his great surprise.
Jim said there was no recent news about the June garage tour, and he'd contact
LeRoy Rogers for an update. See the Calendar for the latest.
Lube Lubert stated that PJ's Classic Stop (located at 61022 2nd St NW) will have
an open house on 5-12-12 from 10am until 2pm. The owner of the shop wants
down-to-earth Corvair people to attend. Lube also has extra fan belts - good to
have a spare for the Tri-State trip.
Steve Gongora talked about preparations for a garage tour to Los Alamos in
October. Details are not yet available.
John Wiker discussed the "sniff" test for the Activity Award. Robert said that
it is not a bad thing. Bill Reider stated that the current system does not work,
he did not like it. Dave Huntoon made a comment. There may be more discussion at
board meetings. Do you have an opinion on club awards? Let a Board member know!
Was there a conflict between the Center's anniversary car show on June 9th and
our Old Route 66 clean-up session for June? Jim later called Ollie Scheflow to
confirm that the clean-up should remain at 8:00 AM on June 2nd as previously
published in the Calendar.
Tri-State discussion
It is May 18th-20th at Salinas, Colorado. There will be an attempt to get a
caravan together on Thursday and another caravan on Friday. There was also an
announcement by Tarmo Sutt that he has an extra room available.
Finally, Pat Hall conducted a lively auction of items donated by Steve Gongora.
Meeting adjourned at 8:04pm.
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THE MAY 16TH BOARD MEETING WAS CANCELLED!
So, we didn't discuss:
May 18 The Tri-State
May 20 Albuquerque Museum Car Show
June 2 Old Route 66 Clean-up. Meet at the I-40 "Y" 8:00 AM
June 6 North Domingo Baca Center regular meeting
June 9 North Domingo Baca Center Anniversary Car Show
June 16 Garage tour organized by LeRoy Rogers
July 4 Santa Fe: Car Show on the Plaza - anyone interested?
July 4 Regular meeting postponed a week due to cleaning!
July 11 North Domingo Baca Center regular meeting
July 25 CORSA CONVENTION in Sturbridge, Massachusetts
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THE FEW - THE PROUD - THE MUSEUM CAR SHOW 2012
Robert Gold
As a scientist I'm always looking for the type of connection where one thing
can predict another thing. Sorta like a thunderstorm with greenish clouds can
predict a tornado in the area. (I learned that one growing up in St. Louis --
it's in tornado alley.) Keeping this in mind, I studied the relationship between
attendance at the Museum Car Show and attendance at the attendance at the
Tri-State. It's not hard to figure out the relationship: The more CNM'ers
attending the Tri-State, the fewer Corvairs there will be at the local car show.
That's a big reason why trophies are no longer awarded just for Corvairs at the
Museum show. The only time this relationship failed to work was when the
Tri-State took place here in Albuquerque and everyone entered this car show.
That was a memory worth cherishing.
Well folks, this year you must have had a real blast at the Tri-State, because
there were only four CNM'ers who displayed Corvairs at the local show. There
were also three other CNM'ers in attendance:
Sara Gold 1964 Monza (triple green!)
Javi Gold 1966 Corsa coupe
Anne Mae Gold 1965 Corsa convertible
Dave Huntoon 1961 8-Door "Library Van"
Others included: Art Gold (1964 El Camino) plus Robert and Alan Gold who just
came along for the ride. Fred Riggs came down from Las Vegas, NM to see the
show. For the record, the weather was wonderful today. The cars on display were
exceptional. I dare anyone not to be able to find a car that would "tickle their
fancy" at this show.
To sum things up -- For those of you who stay in town, please attend our show
next year!
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REPORTS ON THE 2012 TRI-STATE IN SALIDA, COLORADO
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 stop for
photos, they want to observe the scenic sights from afar. You are comfortable
driving seventy-five, they want to drive eighty. Someone takes a wrong turn, the
others stop to see what happened. 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
all headed north on US 285 through the northern New Mexico version of the Top of
the World. It was fun trying to catch photo opportunities 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 road
to Chama. Here I made 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 Mistake Number Two: I failed to be confident of my own
knowledge. Despite knowing perfectly well that there are only four possibilities
at Tres Piedras (Espanola, Taos, Antonito or 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, out of 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 would race to catch up to them and flash our lights
to get them to stop. Then we'd all turn around and go back to US 285. But this
was Mistake Number Three. Really, it is hopeless to expect to catch a 60-mph
group that has a five minute head start. Mathematically, you can't do it.
We tried anyway. We raced along US 64. I had forgotten what a curvy, uphill
highway 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 definitely 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 we realized 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 2003 Civic was speedy enough on the
curves and the downhills, on the uphills we could only manage what felt like 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, then turn northeast and
head for Antonito where we'll get back on US 285. The road from Chama to
Antonito is sort of parallel to the Cumbres & Toltec narrow-gauge railway. Hey,
maybe we'll even be able to 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 and continued
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
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
then east then south, 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 Suh-LIE-duh" 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 produce 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 up to the 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
always 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 drove east and found a place to look at the river
and waved to rafts below. We found a convenient Conoco station and filled up. We
went back to the motel. Many more Corvairs were there by now and there were
several old friends to talk to. We found Steve Goodman and helpers manning the
registration table. We registered.
DAY THREE: A MAGNIFICENT CAR SHOW
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.
We wander around, taking photos, meeting old friends, telling stories of Corvair
activities recent and long ago, asking for news of people who did not make it to
this event.
John Wiker sees a woman with a little boy admiring his car. "You want to sit in
it?" he asks, and opens the door so the little boy can get in the driver's seat.
"Grab the steering wheel," John says. The kid's expression is priceless.
"Want to sit in the trunk so your mother can get some pictures? The trunk is in
front, the engine is in the back," John explains. He lifts the kid into the
trunk, grabs his yellow-and-black bumblebee toy for a prop and lets the mother
make more photos. They leave happy. John always lets children sit in his car as
he explains the rear engine concept. For the finishing touch, John says, "And my
car has two rear engines!"
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 hardly easier. Picking the
best FC is a breeze, though, because for the first time in living memory a
Tri-State Corvair Show has not a single Forward Control. Amazing. I wander
around trying to make honest choices on the ballot. Only one choice is
unquestionably correct (maybe I'm prejudiced) so I do the best I can with the
others.
The car show gradually winds down. People leave to go to lunch or drive downtown
for shopping or to see the sights.
DAY THREE: THE BANQUET
Heula Pittman
In my opinion, one of the highlights of the Tri-State events each year is the
banquet. This was true this year with everyone coming together, enjoying a meal,
visiting and catching up with each other.
As we gathered at the door to the banquet room, Jim (a certified car nut) spent
five minutes taking pictures of a little red sports car. He said it was the
final version of the Pontiac Fiero. He proudly recalled that he wrote articles
for our newsletter back in January 1984 when the Fiero was introduced explaining
why (and why not) it was/wasn't a worthy successor to the Corvair.
When all were present Steve Goodman, as usual, did an excellent job emceeing the
event. He paid special attention to recognizing the folks who were instrumental
throughout the weekend at making sure everything worked out. Steve has done this
so many times, I'll bet he could do it in his sleep! We appreciate all his time
and energy and especially the trips he made to Salida to make everything work so
well. Those of us who have helped prepare for and conduct a Tri-State event know
just how much effort goes into it. Thanks, Steve!
Our tasty dinner was presented buffet-style and consisted of a choice of
entrees: barbecue brisket or pasta, a green salad, potatoes and bread. Dessert
was cookies and brownies. I understood that a keg of beer was in the banquet
room and anyone who wanted a sampling was welcome to it. For those of us who
preferred iced tea, that was available too.
The time came for the two Steves (Goodman & Gongora) to be recognized as the
only members who have attended every Tri-State since the first one in 1976 in
Montrose, Colorado. That's dedication and quite a record.
The host club, Rocky Mountain CORSA, won the attendance award, with 33 members
present. They took the attendance award back from Corvairs of New Mexico who won
last year at Red River.
Steve summarized the history of the Boydston Award (named for Saint Francis of
Corvair) and presented the 2012 Award to the Wilshire family for all they have
contributed over many years to their club and to Tri-State events. Laura and
Joan Wilshire accepted the award. Our congratulations to the Wilshire family.
The drawing for the last afghan Ruth Goodman made was done and John Hesco of
PPCC won it. We all missed Ruth's presence at this year's Tri-State, especially
because she had attended all previous Tri-States. I felt that she was there in
spirit as many of us exchanged and shared stories about her.
Steve's vivacious helper for the distribution of door prizes was seven-year-old
Neyla Olwine. She did an excellent job of calling out the numbers and then
presenting the prizes to the various members. Her father tells us that this is
her eighth, well, maybe her ninth, Tri-State. Is that a record-setter or what!
Thank you, Neyla.
Special thanks go to all who donated items for the door prizes.
The 50/50 drawing was won by Cheryl Halpin of RMC and the total came to $132.
Our congratulations go to Cheryl.
Patricia Fox, President of Pike's Peak Corvair Club, announced that the 2013
Tri-State would be held in Cripple Creek, Colorado. It was held there in 2004
and many of us remember it vividly. Patricia passed out flyers and encouraged
all of us to plan to attend, especially since it will be after school is out:
the first weekend of June, 2013!
Thanks to Steve Goodman and Rocky Mountain CORSA for a terrific "laid back"
weekend.
AWARDS AND STATISTICS
AWARDS:
Best Early Open: Dave Olwine...........1963 Spyder
Best Early Closed: Jean Olwine...........1963 Monza
Best Late Open: Tarmo Sutt............1966 Corsa
Best Late Closed: Larry Yoder...........1966 Corsa
Best Lakewood: Tim Shortle...........1962 Monza wagon
Best FC: There were no FCs this year
People's Choice: John Drage............1962 Monza convert
Longest Distance: John Hesco............Greybill, Wyoming
Hardship Award: There was no hardship this year
Attendance Award: Rocky Mountain CORSA, Denver
ATTENDANCE:
Rocky Mountain CORSA..........33
Pikes Peak Corvair Club.......21
Corvairs of New Mexico........24
Bonneville Corvair Club........2
Mid Continent Corvair Assoc....4
Ute Trails Car Club............2
CORVAIRS BY YEAR:
1960....1 1965...13
1961....1 1966....6
1962....5 1967....1
1963....2 1968....1
1964....4 1969..NONE
EARLY: 13 LATE: 21
TOTAL: There were 34 Corvairs on display
(Steve Goodman provided the details on this year's awards and statistics.)
DAY FOUR: DRIVING HOME
Not much to say about the trip home except that we left Salida at 4:30 AM and
arrived at home at 9:45 AM. In past years we dreaded driving into the summer sun
in the heat of early afternoon. We missed that this year! We had beautiful
weather, very little traffic. We drove 710 miles for a trip average of 40.7 MPG.
Thanks to all who attended and helped to make Tri-State Salida another great
Corvair weekend.
MAKE YOUR PLANS NOW
FOR
TRI-STATE 2013
CRIPPLE CREEK, COLORADO
MAY 31 - JUNE 1 - JUNE 2
THE DOUBLE EAGLE HOTEL & CASINO
DETAILS TO FOLLOW.
PATRICIA FOX, PRESIDENT
PIKES PEAK CORVAIR CLUB
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A JOURNEY INTO THE PAST
MAY 2012 CAR COUNCIL REPORT
Robert Gold
I'm now in my 30th year of Corvair mania in the Land of Enchantment. I've seen a
lot of things over the years, among them the rise in the status of Corvairs
among members of the car hobby. We got there because we have great cars and
because we have worked hard to obtain that recognition by participating in
numerous car events over the years.
So, at the most recent Car Council meeting Mike Stickler and I felt a bit of
deja vu. It seems that there is now a car group in town that is driving down the
same road we had to go down to gain car hobby respect. This time it's the low
rider community asking for that respect, and they're not happy about it. At the
meeting a representative made an impassioned plea to the mainstream car clubs
who currently control the Car Council to give them their own class at the annual
Museum Car Show. Currently they have been thrown in a "Specialty" class with
such cars as Jeeps and Military vehicles. Personally, I believe they deserve
their own class, since the low rider community has been a large presence in New
Mexico for a very long time. We'll see how this works out.
I will now get off my soapbox and tell you what went on at the meeting. Most
significantly, the Car Council is now officially a nonprofit institution. I've
known this about the car hobby for a long time. Any of you who have fixed up a
car know that there is very little profit to be made with our cars. For the Car
Council this fact is now official.
Next, Joyce Clements reported that the Museum Car Show was a success, in spite
of the fact that there weren't many Corvairs in attendance. There were about 370
cars on display. The show took in $3,490 and the special 100 years of Chevrolet
display had cars ranging from 1928 through 1968.
Everyone continues to rave about the council's web page. As of May 15 the site
had experienced over 100,000 hits. About 400 people per day visit the site. One
added feature of the webpage will be online voting for the upcoming Car Council
election.
The Car Council Treasurers reported that ****!!!!!/////????. That's about all I
can tell you about the report. Oh yes, he said we are in the black for the year.
There was a long discussion about the August 12 club picnic. It is now to be
held at Oak Flats picnic grounds off of old highway South 14. Note that South 14
is now called Highway 337. In a take it or leave it offer, Bob Agnew was put in
charge of the picnic. It will cost $5 per car to attend. That's really cheap
considering all the fun to be had at the picnic. We'll need to have at least one
CNM'er volunteer to serve on the committee to plan the event.
Don't forget that Sunday, July 15 is car appreciation day in New Mexico. The
Governor will make a proclamation and there will be celebrations throughout the
day moving along the Rio Grande from Santa Fe to Los Lunas. The event in
Albuquerque will be held at "Mild to Wild Customs. " These folks will be
supplying free food, so plan to attend. More details about the events can be
found on the NM Car Council web site.
One last thing, the council is making several changes to its bylaws in order to
comply with IRS regulations. One major area of change will be the rules
governing the issuance of checks and approval of expenditures. That's about all
I know.
Lastly, Dennis Siebert, the council president who resigned due to poor health is
not doing well. We signed a get well card for him at the meeting.
Well, that's it for this month.
-- Robert Gold
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
C O R V A I R S o f N E W M E X I C O C O M I N G E V E N T S
============================================================================
| June 2012 | July 2012 | August 2012 |
| Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa | Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa | Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa |
| 1 2 | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 | 1 2 3 4 |
| 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 | 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 | 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 |
| 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 | 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 | 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 |
| 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 | 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 | 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 |
| 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 | 29 30 31 | 26 27 28 29 30 31 |
============================================================================
Sat 2 Jun 8:00 AM Old Route 66 Clean-up -- Meet at the I-25 "triangle"
Wed 6 Jun 7:00 PM Meeting: NORTH DOMINGO BACA MULTIGENERATIONAL CENTER,
at the corner of Wyoming & Carmel, just north of Wyoming & Paseo del Norte NE
Wed 6 Jun After our meeting, we may go to the IHOP at 8100 Wyoming NE
Sat 9 Jun 10:00 or so -- NORTH DOMINGO BACA one year anniversary CAR SHOW!
Sat 16 Jun 11:00 AM The garage tour is pretty much set up. We will meet at
Denny's Restaurant located on the Northwest corner Menaul
and Candeleria at 11:00 AM for lunch.
From there we will go to visit three garages:
1) LeRoy Rogers, 11521 Versailles NE.
2) Art Leupold, 4500 Piedra Blanca Street NE.
3) Larry Blair, 7309 Luella Anne Street NE.
Art has a very nice collection of model "A" Fords. We visited
his garage several years ago. I thought a second trip was warranted.
What do LeRoy and Larry have? Well, Corvairs and other cars and
projects of interest.
For those who do not want lunch or care to meet at Denny's can go
straight to LeRoy's garage. It's about a half mile from the Denny's
Restaurant. We hope to be at LeRoy's garage by 12 Noon.
Sat 16 Jun Second Saturdays: Los Lunas "66 Cruise" starts in Bosque Farms at the
Wells Fargo Bank. 1:00 PM in Winter, 6:00 PM during Daylight Time.
Wed 20 Jun 5:00 PM Board Meeting: HIGHLAND SENIOR CENTER at 131 Monroe NE
Fri 22 Jun 9:00 PM July Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman
============================================================================
Wed 4 Jul EARLY! Pancake Breakfast - Car Show on the Plaza - Santa Fe
NOTE: We will not meet at North Domingo Baca on the FIRST Wednesday, July 4th,
because the Senior Centers will be closed for the July 4th holiday.
We will instead meet on the SECOND Wednesday, that is, July 11th.
Wed 11 Jul 7:00 PM Meeting: NORTH DOMINGO BACA MULTIGENERATIONAL CENTER,
at the corner of Wyoming & Carmel, just north of Wyoming & Paseo del Norte NE
Wed 11 Jul After our meeting, we may go to the IHOP at 8100 Wyoming NE
Sat 14 Jul Second Saturdays: Los Lunas "66 Cruise" starts in Bosque Farms at the
Wells Fargo Bank. 1:00 PM in Winter, 6:00 PM during Daylight Time.
Wed 18 Jul 5:00 PM Board Meeting: HIGHLAND SENIOR CENTER at 131 Monroe NE
Fri 20 Jul 9:00 PM August Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman
The Northeast Corvair Council (NECC) hosts the 2012 CORSA Convention
Wed 25-28 July 2012 CORSA CONVENTION! Sturbridge, Massachusetts
The Northeast Corvair Council (NECC) hosts the 2012 CORSA Convention
============================================================================
Wed 1 Aug 7:00 PM Meeting: NORTH DOMINGO BACA MULTIGENERATIONAL CENTER,
at the corner of Wyoming & Carmel, just north of Wyoming & Paseo del Norte NE
Wed 1 Aug After our meeting, we may go to the IHOP at 8100 Wyoming NE
Sat 4 Aug 8:00 AM Old Route 66 Clean-up -- Meet at the I-25 "triangle"
Sun 12 Aug ....... NMCCC Picnic -- Oak Flats on South 14 - more details later.
Sat 18 Aug Second Saturdays: Los Lunas "66 Cruise" starts in Bosque Farms at the
Wells Fargo Bank. 1:00 PM in Winter, 6:00 PM during Daylight Time.
Wed 15 Aug 5:00 PM Board Meeting: HIGHLAND SENIOR CENTER at 131 Monroe NE
Fri 24 Aug 9:00 PM September Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman
============================================================================
Sat 6 Oct 9:00 AM Old Route 66 Clean-up -- Meet at the I-25 "triangle"
October ...... Tour to Los Alamos ------ to be arranged
============================================================================
November ..... Great Fan Belt Toss & Swap Meet - Palm Springs, California
November ..... Bingo / Potluck / Auction ------ to be arranged
============================================================================
Sat 8 Dec 5:30 PM (tentative date) Christmas Party -- to be arranged
============================================================================
Tarmo Sutt suggested a tour to Glorietta (east of Santa Fe) to see a collection
of old guns, some as recent as The Great War of 1914-18. Is there any interest?
============================================================================
See the New Mexico Council of Car Clubs Web Site for more "NMCCC" activities:
========================= http://nmcarcouncil.net/ =========================
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TREASURY REPORT: 04-17-2012 to 05-22-2012 ROBERT GOLD
DATE CHECK# AMOUNT PAYEE DESCRIPTION
========== ==== ========= ============ ==============================
05/14/2012 +$178.00 Deposit Dues J. Jaramillo, J. Pittman,
$10.00 Merchandise,
Equipment auction, 50/50 raffle
05/22/2012 2124 -$ 45.00 Corsa Dues J. Jaramillo
ENDING BALANCE = $4,886.60
(Older reports are available on the web page under "Treasury")
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seven CNMers Celebrate Birthdays this month:
Larry Hickerson June 9
Sylvia Trujillo June 19
Jonathan Reider June 20
Bill Darcy June 23
Rita Gongora June 24
Heula Pittman June 24
Robert Gold June 30
Four CNM Couples Celebrate Anniversaries this month:
Carolyn & Dan Palmer June 5
Susanne & Larry Hickerson June 7
Heula & Jim Pittman June 8
Debra & Jon Anderson June 13
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
YEARS AGO IN JUNE
2005 - VOL 31
Nr. 6 - # 357
The cover showed Ruth Boydston's beautiful white early coupe. A photo by Bill
Reider showed moonlight at the Ouray, Colorado Tri-State. In May our meeting
place was still Galles Chevrolet. Mark Domzalski, on TDY for a few days, visited
us. Wendell reported $3,074.69 in the bank. We discussed going to a baseball
game as a group. We discussed the costs of mailing a paper newsletter and the
pros and cons of having it only online. There was a new version of CORSA's web
site. There were 15 Corvairs at the Sonic car show. Robert reported on the Car
Council meeting and the exotic cars to be seen there. John Dinsdale told about
driving through a New Mexico wind/dust storm and finding an alternate route
plagued only by a little snow.
Robert Gold reported on a simply fabulous Car Council/Museum car show with many
great cars, not a few of them Corvairs! Articles about the Ouray Tri-State came
from Bill Reider and Del Patten and there were many nice full-color photos.
1998 - VOL 24
Nr. 6 - # 273
Bill Reider's logo of our "Lakewood City" Tri-State event made the cover.
President Dennis ran our meeting. Recovering from surgeries were Sylvan, Rita's
mother Marie and Ollie Scheflow. New members were Ben & Joy Abeyta who owned a
1963 Coupe, a 1966 Monza coupe and a 1962 Loadside. Wendell reported our bank
balance as $8,205.35. Bill reported on the May 17th Car Council/Museum car show.
John McMahan had information on flag poles. We planned to install one at the
Boydstons' cabin. The State Fair wanted us back at their car show in September.
Paul Campbell reported on the Museum Car Show. His freshly painted blue late
model was there. Dennis Pleau provided several tech articles gleaned from the
Internet: Synthetic oil; Effects on aircraft engines (aluminum air-cooled heads)
of extreme cold temperatures; Adjustable ratio blower pulley; The Corvair
cooling fan's performance at different speeds. All of these tips were
contributed by Virtual Vairs' Rad Davis.
1991 - VOL 17
Nr. 6 - # 189
On the cover: a VLA radio telescope in its maintenance hangar. Jerry Goffe
reported on our tour to the VLA, one of the club's memorable tours! Our bank
account stood at $784. A new member was Terry Price. Sylvan was recovering from
a heart attack but came to the meeting anyway. For $244 we printed the first
batch of Bill Reider's Care & Feeding booklet and they looked great. We planned
a June dinner meeting at Charlie's Chiles. We planned to help with an All-Chevy
Show, something of a goodbye event for Ed Black Chevrolet. LeRoy asked members
to bring items for an auction. Francis called for designs for next year's
Tri-State jacket patch. LeRoy reported on this year's Tri-State in Gunnison,
Colorado. We had 21 people, but the Denver club beat us out with 41 in
attendance.
Steve Gongora's tech tip told of the greatly reduced solar influx he was getting
inside his 1966 Corsa since having 3M tinting film installed on the rear glass.
He recommended Bob at the Tint Factory if we wanted our Corvairs similarly
protected.
1984 - VOL 10
Nr. 6 - # 105
Our cover showed the "Lean Machine" which looked like a streamlined cross
between a tricycle and a motorcycle. Our funds stood at $249 and $249 was real
money back in those days. Sylvan sold Ten-Year-Anniversary patches to anyone who
was a CNM member in 1984. We planned a June tour to Alamogordo with a picnic at
White Sands and a tour of the Space Hall of Fame. George Morin's tech tip was,
replace your 1961-1963 car's motor mount with a 1964 motor mount, so you can
change your fan belt when it flips off while you are out on the road.
June 1977 - No Newsletter This Month.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
== END ==