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Hi 'ya folks, its me Enzo your favorite feline. As I paw this
out its getting very close to Hershey time. Of course by the time you read
this Hershey will be over. I hope that you had a great time and brought
home lots of goodies. My Oscar Mayer pedal car is in pretty good shape so
I don't need Mom and Dad to look for anything for me
The summer has gone fast this year, too much rain. Several
AACA Regions did come over to visit our garage this year. One day my mom
was walking with this nice lady AACA member when she yelled "ENZO!"
You need to formulate a strategy for everything that you do.
Plan things out. Know what to expect before it happens. I was sitting out
on the fence the other night Now since I like to give all of you, my AACA people friends, these little tips during the year. Here is one to protect yourself from nightmares like this happening to you. Have a strategy. Be prepared. If your car is going in the shop be specific about what you want done. Get an estimate of the costs wherever possible. Have the shop bill you every month or even every couple of weeks. Tell the shop owner if it gets to be too big a project for them to STOP and discuss the options with you. Paying a high labor rate is one thing. But be sure you are getting quality work and a fair count of the time. Paying for some mechanic to practice or take shots is not the answer. In the simplest terms make sure you and the shop have a clear understanding, preferably in writing, of just what each side expects from the other. Well thats it for this time folks. See you soon, and hey,
make Your pal
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By John Myer, Committee Chair |
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The AACA History Committee is gathering biographical information on all of the National AACA Past Presidents. There have been 53 National Presidents of our Club, 27 are still living at this writing, and 26 are now deceased. The History Committee has biographical reports on those Past Presidents who are living, but getting this sort of information on some of the very early AACA Presidents is becoming more difficult. This is where we ask your help! If you have some members in your local Region or Chapter that might have known or had information about these early Presidents, we would like to have them share this information with the Committee. Please put a note in your local Newsletter that we are looking for information on the following AACA Presidents: George Hughes 1939-40-41-43-44 S. Howard Brown 1953 J. Leonard Rinehart 1962 Edgar Rohr 1963-64 Ralph O. Majors 1965 Albert Whiting 1969 Information can be sent to the History Committee, AACA National Headquarters. Hershey, PA. Thanks for your help.
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By Terry Bond |
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It’s a well known fact that the AACA’s wonderful Museum and our superb Library and Research Center would not exist except through the generosity of our members, and our regions and chapters. The continued support of these organizations is necessary, and far from being an arm-twisting, this article is intended to give you some simple ideas on how you as a group, or as an individual can help. There are many ways a group can support our projects. Of course somebody has to win that Mustang-and you’ve got to buy a ticket to do that, but a lot of regions and chapters really do make a strong effort to sell large blocks of tickets each year. There has been sort of a “friendly competition” among our regions and chapters to do so. There are even some clubs with individual members who are busy selling those tickets at every opportunity – especially club events. Do you have a membership booth at your annual car show or swap meet? What a great opportunity to display a photo of the mustang and help get that winning ticket out there – plus, it helps to promote both the museum and the Library & Research Center – two very good reasons to belong to AACA! Several regions and chapters have chosen to designate the profits from one of their annual events (or a portion of them) to benefit the Museum and/or Library & Research Center. If you want something more to show for your contribution consider purchasing one of the paver blocks for the Museum, or taking advantage of one of the naming opportunities at the Library & Research Center. Many local clubs hold a 50/50 raffle at each of their monthly meetings and designate a portion of that to benefit AACA. It can add up to a hefty contribution at the end of the year! There are also many regions and chapters who have decided to honor deceased members by donating to the Museum or Library & Research Center. On an individual basis, there are many ways someone can become involved – naming opportunities and specially funded projects are two good possibilities. An example is the case where one of our members who felt strongly about the importance of the Museum’s educational mission and programs has helped us to fund a position for a full-time professional educator. I know also that the Library & Research Center would welcome financial assistance to help catalog and place reference materials on-line. I’m particularly proud of the AACA Regions and Chapters in Virginia. They came together many years ago to found the “Old Dominion Meet Association.” This non-governing body comprised of AACA Regions and Chapters hosts an AACA style meet annually, rotating it among member clubs. This year they have decided to challenge each other in raising a combined contribution to benefit the AACA Museum. There are a lot of ways to get involved – and it can be very simple and quite painless. The AACA is the world’s premier old car hobby organization and our Museum and Library & Research Center exist thanks to you our members and the regions and chapters to which you belong. Keep up the good work to ensure these fine organizations continue to grow and develop the kinds of services that will support you as members. Stay involved!
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this year. Though a
little bag of catnip is always appreciated. I wish I was going though. But
I'll be there in spirit. So if you were on the fence about buying
something I hope that you just took a deep breath and thought "what would
Enzo do??? then reached into your pocket, blew the dust off your wallet
and went for it. My Mom bought Dad a shirt with my picture on it for his
birthday. Actually though the picture is not nearly as adorable as I am.
I
guess she thought I was doing something bad. Hey, a cats got to be a cat ya know. Besides you know how goofy humans can be sometimes. Anyway the
lady looked up. She knew who Enzo was! Alas to be famous! I planned it
that way ya know. My friend Albert Felinestien calls it "Strategy" 
with Albert and our neighbor Kitty Longpaws.
Seems Kitty's dad had this little simple car he put away ten years ago. He
never drove it, though it ran good when he put it away. He just went into
his garage and looked at it figuring someday he would drive it
again. There was nothing wrong with it, just stale from sitting, getting
gummed up and needing the usual service after long term storage. Anyway
Kitty's dad often thought about getting the little car back in shape but
just never did. Then one day comes along a fellow Kittys dad sort of knew
that had a body shop. He tells him that he is looking to put on a mechanic
at the body shop and is looking for some work. Kittys dad says "well you
know you could take this here little car and get it road ready again." He
makes it clear that he is not looking to do a restoration, just a good
going over and figures since the man is soliciting him that he should save
a little money. He figures have the tank lined, clean or rebuild the carb,
send out the wheel cylinders, new battery and plugs, etc. Spend maybe
$2000 on the high side. Well three months go by without any meaningful
communication between the parties. Then in the fourth month the body shop
fellow calls and asks Kittys dad if he could send over two or three
thousand towards his bill! Kittys dad then asks rather astonished, "Well
how much is the total bill at this point?" The response was Well we're not
sure but something over $8000. Kittys dad says WHOA all stop! How could
this be? "Well our rate is $50 per hour" claims the body man. Arguments
follow on both sides, attorneys consulted and so on. The finality is that
in the end no one was happy. A settlement was reached for the monetary
amount. Quite a bit less than $8000 but still well over Kittys dad's
wildest imagination and you guessed it ! the little car still doesnt run!
your garage open to AACA regions to come over and see. Its a great
way to meet new friends and share your interests with others. Yet another
wonderful way to enjoy AACA. and remember when you come to my house....
catnip is always proper!
