Annual GBMAFC Christmas Party - December 9, 2018

The annual GBMAFC Christmas party was held at the Olive Grove Restaurant on Sunday, December 9th, 2018. It was a cold day and only one Model A showed up driven by our in-trepid club president Dave McLeish and his 'copilot' Laurie. I can personally attest to the fact that he wore two pairs of socks to keep his shoeless feet from freezing! As for the rest of us I think we made a wise choice to 'go modern'.

The musical duo of Jason and the Gee strings serenaded about 65 of us with songs from the past while we mingled and listened to the entertainment. Dave, with Marian Kortisses' assistance, presented the Tom Kortisses Memorial Award to a most deserving Betty Fisher.

Photos

Fall Workshop - November 10, 2018

A big THANK YOU to Scotty and Jeanette for hosting our 2018 Fall Workshop on Saturday, November 10, at their "Once in a Blue Moon Farm." The club is very fortunate to have two excellent facilities to hold workshops: Bill Bonas' garage and Scotty and Jeanette's farm.

A special thanks goes out to Warren Zuker of the Hub City A's for his excellent steering column rebuild presentation. It was both incredibly informative and very entertaining! He covered everything from A to Z in about four hours!

And another big thank you to Dave Sturges for setting up his carburetor flow testing unit! I know for a fact it has helped my carburetor perform better, and now Kenny Godfrey and others can say so as well!

There were many other projects going on throughout the day including frame riveting by our new member Jim Kortisses, Tom's brother. Welcome Jim!

All in all, the workshop was a very productive and enjoyable day for the 35 to 40 Model A enthusiasts from three Model A clubs: the GBMAFC, the Hub City A's, and the Susquehanna Valley A's.

Photos

Brighton Gardens of Columbia - October 19, 2018

On October 19, 2018, a group of kindhearted Model A folks got together to visit the Brighton Gardens of Columbia Assisted Living facility to show our cars and speak with interested residents.

As background, this impromptu group responded to a request from Sheila Kiana, Activities and Volunteer Coordinator for Brighton Gardens, who was hoping to arrange a small antique car show for the residents of the facility. About two weeks prior, Sheila spotted a neighbor of mine, Jim Reed, driving his 1957 Chevrolet Bel-Air in the neighborhood of the assisted living facility. Sheila, who was in her car, followed him to his destination so she could ask him if he knew anyone else with an antique car as she was looking for a group of antique cars to visit the Assisted Living facility. My neighbor told Sheila that he did indeed know someone (Yours Truly), after which he promptly came to my house (since he knows I have many friends with antique cars) to see if I and any of my friends might be interest-ed in visiting Brighton Gardens.

Well, of course we were! Bud Carroll, Butch Cornes, Milt Hartig, Dave Kehne, Steve Meyer, Dave Sturges, and I had the time to make this visit driving our Model A's, along with my neighbor who drove his 1957 Chevy, and I coordinated the details with everyone about a week beforehand.

Photos

Southwestern Pennsylvania - Sept 19-21, 2018

WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAIN TOUR POSTPONED 'TIL FURTHER NOTICE!!

Hurricane Florence was coming through West Virginia like a freight train on the loose! Weather conditions were going to be horrible on Monday and Tuesday, and traveling conditions for folks driving from the south and the east were going to be treacherous on Saturday and Sunday. The organizers absolutely made the right call to insure the safety of all.

After some discussion over the weekend, six of us decided to travel to southwestern Pennsylvania later in the week. By Wednesday the skies were going to clear and we still had the time available for a Model A trip. It was far enough north to escape the ravaging effects of Florence and yet still had mountains and plenty of attractions, so we embarked on the Consolation Trip to Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Photos

Annual Car Show - September 8, 2018

Despite forecasted rain, the crowds were diminished due to the weather but the intrepid GBMAFC showed up with 15 cars and about 22 people. And then about noon it started: Steady rain for about the next two hours. Well, we didn't want to leave in the pouring rain, so we took a tour of the Almshouse adjacent to the pavilion and wandered through the exhibits next door. By then it was about 2 o'clock and the rain had slowed down enough for us to climb back into our drenched cars and head home. All the cars started right up and as far as I know everyone made it home safely and without incident. Thank goodness there was only a 15% chance of rain all day. I wouldn't want to be out driving if it was 100%!

Photos

Club Picnic - August 18, 2018

Jeanette and Scotty hosted the Greater Baltimore Model A Ford Club's Annual picnic again this year at their "Once in a Blue Moon Farm". Even with the rain forecasted, we had 13 Model A cars and trucks driven to the farm through the rolling countryside of northern Maryland.
A fun day for our members and their families. We had quite a few guests join us this year. One even became a new member of the Club! A well attended club event with over 70 people this year. Everyone enjoyed visiting and trading Model A stories, sharing maintenance tips and making plans for providing more assistance to each other in the upcoming weeks!
The Silent Auction had members trying to outbid each other for great items that were donated. It raised $564 for the club. Everyone took the opportunity to admire Jeanette and Scotty's cars, bikes, and related collections.

Photos

Mission BBQ - July 14, 2018

Eight Model A's and fourteen members of the club met at the Mission BBQ in Laurel, Maryland on July 14 for lunch. At twelve noon every day Mission BBQ plays the national anthem. Everyone in the restaurant, including the employees, stopped what they were doing and stood at attention as our national anthem was played. It was very moving and a big part of the Mission BBQ ethos. After lunch we divided into three groups and reconvened at the Montpelier Mansion on the other side of Laurel.
The mansion was built between 1781 and 1785 by Major Thomas Snowden and his wife, Anne Ridgley Snowden. In the late 18th century Thomas Snowden was an important landowner in Prince George's County. He owned over 9000 acres at one time, but now only the house and 70 acres remain of what once was a large plantation with an array of outbuildings.

Photos

Youth Outreach - May 11, 2018

On May 11, three club members visited an Elementary School in Howard County, Maryland. The purpose of this school visit was to talk with second graders in the Gifted and Talented curriculum (or so we thought).
When we arrived at the school, the teacher asked if we would be willing to show the cars to the entire second grade. Seems word of our visit had leaked out to all of the second graders. Naturally, we agreed.
We spent about fifteen minutes in the classroom talking about the Ford Motor Company and the moving assembly line before going outside to look over three Model A Fords. The other second graders came out afterward, and we very briefly showed them the cars and made some comparisons to modern cars.
Club members who attended were Steve Meyer with his 1929 Fordor, Jon Miller and his 1931 Slant Windshield Fordor, and Dave Sturges with his 1928 Special Coupe. After school we traveled to the Dandelion Bakery and Bistro for a very enjoyable lunch.

Photos

Landis Valley Village Tour - June 9, 2018

It's all about weather, weather, and weather - especially when it comes to driving your 'A'. Well, the weather forecast for Saturday, June 9, was absolutely threatening. Nothing worse than the threat of 80% thunderstorms all day, right? So no surprise when all of us, except for one lone courageous soul, decided to drive to the Landis Valley in our modern cars. As it turned out we saw nary a drop of rain all day. Oh, well, better safe than sorry!
This trip was planned and coordinated by Kenny and Nancy Godfrey. They did a super job and our hats are off to them.

Thanks, Ken and Nancy, for spearheading a great trip!!

Photos

Northern Virginia Tour - May 18 - 20, 2018

We left on a 3-day tour of Northern Virginia Friday, May 18 to Sunday, May 20, The forecast called for rain all weekend!
Friday, May 18:
After lunch at the General Store in Aldie, we crossed the swollen Potomac to Virginia. We then traveled to Oatlands for a tour of an old southern plantation home. From we went to the private museum of Jim and Edna Cross. They had a variety of different classic cars in great restored condition and lots of memorabilia they have collected over the years. We motored down Route 50 the drizzly rain changed to torrential downpours and visibility came close to zero. We also had to run a gauntlet of traffic lights. I was never so grateful Jim Cross and visitors for the walkie talkies and the cell phone as I was at that moment for keeping our little caravan together. After dinner we went back to the hotel to get ready for another exciting day!

On Saturday morning, May 19, we awoke to cloudy skies and an improving forecast. After breakfast we travelled modern to the Udvar-Hazy Airand Space Museum around the corner from the hotel. We saw the key projects: the Martin B26 Marauder, named 'Flak-Bait' which flew 207 missions in WW II, the 100-year-old wooden biplane that had been repaired with apple crates from Wisconsin. From there he turned us over to Al who did a fantastic job of telling us highlights about the shuttle Discovery, the Enola Gay, and the ultimate spy plane, the SR-71 Blackbird. We saw many other aircraft as well, such as the Sopwith Camel made famous by Snoopy, the infamous Cobra Attack Helicopter, and the fighter jets of WW II. We had dinner at the Lone Star restaurant where we met up with Dave and Laurie McLeish who had driven through DC in their Model A across the Chain Bridge, having to stop once to fill their radiator due to overheating.The picnic at Oak Hill was on for the next day.

Photos

MARC Membership and National Meets - April, 2018

Following by Betty Fisher - Trip to MARC National Meet in Branson, MO:
Dick and I went to the MARC National Meet in Branson. I actually took my laptop along, deluding myself with thoughts that I might do some work on the newsletter in the evenings or other slow times. It didn't happen.

I had always wanted to go to Branson, specifically because I wanted to see the Andy Williams Christmas Show, but somehow I never got there (there's always plenty of time, you know) and then Andy Williams died. No Andy, no more time. And to top it all off, our hotel (the Radisson) was right next to the Moon River Theater. But no Andy .

The weather in Branson was blisteringly hot. Most days were 98 or 99 degrees with very high humidity (it was like trying to breathe underwater), and to get anywhere you had to go either uphill or downhill. I don't think there's a flat road in the whole town but then, it is in the Ozark Mountains, so what can you expect. We trailered our '29 Business Coupe to Branson, but it was so excruciatingly hot we only used it once or twice. We don't do heat as well as we used to.

We were looking forward to getting home to more moderate temperatures, but instead the weather when we got home was much like it was in Branson - hot and muggy. It's a bit better now, but I'm still content to stay inside, where it's cooler, and work on the newsletter.



16 photos are included in the PDF: Ohio Road Trip by Steve Meyer April 2018

Youth Outreach - May 4, 2018

On May 4, several club members visited Glenelg Country School located in Howard County, Maryland. Our audience for the visit was the entire 8th-grade history class of about 65 students. The students are studying the U.S. Industrial Revolution and the Gilded Age.
We had put together a short slide presentation of the Ford assembly line and talked about the Ford manufacturing philosophy to assemble near the points of distribution as opposed to how automobile manufacturers generally assemble vehicles at one or two U.S. assembly plants and then transport the finished cars to the point of sale.
After the slide show we went outside to show the students the Model A's and talked about the many differences in automobiles of today.
We had the students in small groups to look over the cars. The students were allowed to get into the cars and see how small they are compared to modern cars. A good number of questions were generated by the students about the car controls.
Jon Miller had attended the school for a short period of time and took some of the club members on a tour of the former manor house where he attended classes.
Our group then traveled to a local eatery to do what most Model A folks love to do, and that is eat and chat about our great hobby.
Thanks to the following members who came out for the school visit: Butch Cornes, Bud Carroll, Ron Fayer, Don Keller, Steve Meyer, Jon Miller, Raymond Ray, and Scotty and Jeanette Scott.
We will probably be doing a return visit to Glenelg Country School next year.


Photo

Bill Bonas's Workshop - April 28, 2018

Saturday, April 28, was a beautiful spring day to drive to Bill Bonas's garage to work on our Model A's. Approximately twenty of us showed up between 9 AM and 12 PM to work on our cars and get them ready for the driving season. Some of us desperately needed to do repairs after the long and grueling drive to and from Ohio.
We adjusted headlights, did tune-ups, tightened front ends, and did lube jobs. Cars went up and down the lifts most of the morning.
Needless to say, Dave Sturges was everywhere lending a helping hand and providing his technical guidance and expertise. In between all the hard work we shared lots of camaraderie and good food! I can safely say everyone went home happy!
Hats off to Bill and Carol for sharing their garage and for providing an excellent lunch for our club members! I, for one, can't wait 'til next year!

Photos

Ohio Road Trip - April, 2018

This is the story of five intrepid adventurers and their Model A's. Their goal was to attend a MARC Membership meet in distant Ohio in mid-April. The challenge was to cross the Alleghany Mountains in uncertain weather, not just once but twice, in their vintage cars! The following stories herein describe what they did at the meet, the people they met on the journey, and the many challenges they faced driving old Fords across the mountains! Let the journey begin. Ohio Road Trip Story April 2018 (PDF)

Photos

Lunch at Captain Bender's - March 17, 2018

On Saint Patrick's Day, Saturday, March 17, eleven of us from the GBMAFC met up with five members of the Hub City A's and had lunch in downtown Sharpsburg at Captain Bender's Tavern. After lunch we traveled to the Washington County Rural Heritage Museum to learn about the history of Washington County. Our GBMAFC entourage included ten GBMAFC members and six Hub City folks. Almost all came in Model A's.

Photos

Annapolis Maritime Museum - January 13, 2018

On Saturday, January 13, twelve of us met at the Annapolis Maritime Museum in the sleepy little town of Eastport next to Annapolis. We all arrived in modern cars as no one dared drive their Model A in the frigid weather and though lingering salt piles. Don and Linda Keller; Jeff and Lisa Whitsett, their daughter Jacqui, and Jeff's father Ronald; Harvey and Laura Hack; Butch Cornes and his daughter Kim; and Susan and I gathered inside where it was warm and listened to the docent describe the buildings' long history.

Photos