"The Running Board"
Horseless Carraige Club of America

The President's Column

Greetings Members:
As I write this letter, I am thinking about the many good times our family has had over the past years with the HCCA. We have a great group of people and our club is experiencing some of the same things other car clubs are going through. We don't have very many active members anymore. We have a number of members that live further away, which is great, but doesn't help us for local tours.

It is my hope that our club will stay active and participate in our events. The National HCCA (www.hcca.org) has also started the nickel-era touring register (www.nickelregister.hcca.org) that includes original running or restored 1929 or earlier model "nickel era "automobiles capable of touring. This doesn't really affect us on a local level. Our club has taken the position of "bring what you have" (whatever year). It would be nice to see the older cars out from the 1940's and older. So as we get into our touring season let us get our cars out and have some fun.

The Model A Ford Club has invited us to join them on their outings. Their web site is www.fordmodela.org and you can click on events for their schedule. We are welcome to join them at anytime I also took the liberty to extend the invitation for them to join us. They will also Include our schedule of events with theirs. This will hopefully give us extra participants for our local events for both clubs. We will need to get them a list of our summer schedule as it falls into place.

As to the recent tour to Attester on May 12.....We were the only ones from our club that attended. We had a really nice time. The group was smaller than last year. I think there were about 8 cars. The Model A group had the majority in attendance. We had an excellent meal and a lot of fun visiting among the group. We did run into some rain on the way, but it quit when we got to Alcester. Not much else to tell but wish a few more could have attended.

Our next club gathering will take place July 1, hosted by John & Ethel Marshall. We will be meeting at Campbell Supply, east 10th at 1 PM. We will be touring to the home of Harold Geist. They really have a lot of 50's memorabilia dress the part and put on a nice time. They have a lot of old juke boxes and a malt shop as well as a roller rink and dance floor. They are really nice people and we will have a really good time. We will probably stop for a meal at the Pizza Ranch in Brandon before heading home.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Darlene Johnson for the many years of service to our club as the Running Board news editor, secretary/treasurer and Sunshine girl. We are looking for volunteers and input. We will continue to keep in touch with our members via e-mail. If you don't have e-mail, we will send a copy via postal service.

See you down the road,

HELLO:

The ''writing is on the wall '' or should I say computer, as web sites and blogs are replacing newsletters. Digital images are replacing print photos, and as technology changes, it is also hard to keep up with a publication design and programs that are to make things ''easier '' Easier is not always the case for some of us, including me. While I want to thank everyone who has supported THE RUNNING board for the past 23 1/2 years that I have put the paper together, it is time for me to step down and pass the pen, or should I say keyboard, to a new generation. When I started as editor I never thought I would be at it this many years, where did the time go?

Many clubs have gone to web sites that link many people with their club events. One of the best things about collecting are the friends that you make along the way. We have met some great people through the years with wonderful collections and marvelous tales to tell. I hope to see someone step up to the Running Board and take over spreading the news of our club and tales of our members wealth of information. I have included in this paper a Judging Score Sheet for HCCA Regional Group Publications. All newsletters are judged against themselves by Steve & Blanche Gordon, Thomasville, GA.

As the Sunshine Girl, I will also be giving that job up. It is so hard to find out this information but I will try to do my best.

• Marty Kruse has been undergoing radiation treatments for a benign tumor on the brain. Ralph Sunde has been having problems with his latest new replaced knee. It wants to give out on him so as a result he was unable to be a vender at the 49th Cal Johnson Swap Meet in Granite, IA.
• Heard by the way of a bird that Harriet Green got hit by a large tree limb and maybe fell, causing a lot of pain.
• R.L. and Lil Green stopped in a week ago and he seems to be doing good after his stroke.
• Janet Krause is still doing therapy on her left hand after her stroke in November.
• Perry Jacobson is doing treatments for a bladder cancer. We wish all these people a good recovery.
• By the way, Perry will be getting married on June 23 to Bonnie Dikoff in Mitchell.
• Cal and I have been busy getting our hardwood floors sanded This has meant a lot of Labor moving furniture into the car trailer.

We want to thank Larry Snuttjer for coming out to the Swap Meet and selling vendor buttons. It was rather sad to see Cal as the only vendor from our club but understand times change and the interest is no longer there.