Jacob Peterson, editor
(770-587-2916)

March 2004

Our members want to be informed about events, shows, swap meets, progress on your car, your latest acquisition (car or parts), and most importantly, you and your family and loved ones. Please send news to David Homoki (callmedh@mindspring.com), and we’ll publish it in the next issue.

Our club artist, Harold Mordt, has done it again. Mordt captured a collection of Classic Chevy items in a beautiful oil painting, which he donated to the club. As you can see, it features a ’57 Chevy hubcap surrounded by an AC oil filter box, a tail light lens, a shop manual, a magazine, a screwdriver, a polishing rag, and a ’57 tag. The club will have a silent auction to determine which lucky member becomes the proud owner of this “one-of-a-kind” painting by our very own Harold Mordt. Bids may be submitted to Bill Brown or Bob Bryant in writing or by e-mail at any time through the November meeting. The highest current bid will be announced in the newsletter and at the club meeting at the end of each quarter; i.e., March, June, and September. The picture will be presented to the highest bidder at the Christmas party. I’d like to express my sincere appreciation to Mordt for creating and donating this wonderful oil painting, and to both Sally and Harold for all they’ve done for the club over the many years they were active members. You’re the greatest!

5. Old Business – Cruise nights were discussed. John Hanson has a generator to use but needs someone to pick it up.

The DJ will be the same one as last year and the first cruise will be the first Saturday in April.

A discussion for other locations for cruise nights was conducted, and Jim Bolt suggested we use Andretti’s in Roswell. They have a large parking lot, food inside the building, and have approached the club about holding a cruise there. Chick-Fil-A was also suggested, but all agreed the clientele was not desirable.

President Bill Brown suggested the club come up with some new outings and activities.

The Moultrie car show is this weekend and several of the club members plan to attend.

Harold Mordt has given the club a beautiful painting. A motion was made by Dan Lelak and seconded by Jim Bolt to keep the painting within the club. A silent auction will decide the winner. All bids should be sent to Bill Brown who will give a report quarterly on the auction. The painting will be awarded to the highest bidder at the yearly Christmas party. Funds will go into the club treasury.

Jill Burkholder has requested a Classic Chevy to drive the bride and groom at a wedding on June 5 at Mt. Vernon Baptist Church in Sandy Springs. She is willing pay an appropriate fee for this service. Daytime phone: 404-591-1087. Fiancé’s (Matt) home phone is 770-792-1101.

We have a speaker lined up for the May meeting on May 6^th,2004. Dan Lucas of DLR (Dan and Carol Lucas Racing Team) will describe the trials and thrills of running an alcohol fuel dragster, which produces 3000 +/- horsepower and runs a quarter mile in less than 6 seconds at approximately 250 MPH.

Dan has been driving these wild cars for about 34 years. He and his wife, Carol, are co-owners of DLR. Carol is the team manager, Dan is the driver/tuner and Willie Gray is their crew chief. Dan’s Mom is in poor health and lives with them. If Carol can get away, she will accompany Dan and talk about her role on the team and at the track. You might be surprised at what all has to taken into account to squeeze all you can get out of one of these beasts!

DLR is donating two tickets to the Saturday events of the Southern National, held at Atlanta Drag way, Commerce, GA. Dates for this event are May 13 – 16. The tickets are “pit side” tickets, where you’ll have the range of the 600 – 750 teams as well as “sponsors row” with about 100 sponsors and their products!! The tickets represent an $80 value and will be given to a club member via a drawing at the May 6 meeting.

We want the largest crowd we’ve had in a long time to come hear DLR, so put this night on your calendar!

The weather forecast for Moultrie for this year’s Winter Swap Meet didn’t look very good. However, in all the years we’ve gone (twenty years, by my count), we’ve only had really bad weather twice. Well, this year make three times. At 6:30 Friday morning, it was raining and cold as we left town. Driving was difficult. It was hard to see the lane markers, other vehicles, and to change lanes safely. We were relieved to make it to the Jonesboro Cracker Barrel and get a hot breakfast. Sonny Mordt hooked up with Wayne Foshee and me in Atlanta, and joined us for breakfast. The weather was much better for the rest of the trip. As we went further south, the temperature rose from low 40’s in Atlanta to a very comfortable 71 in Moultrie. We arrived at Spence Field around noon. There were acres of vendors, parts, cars in the car corral, and people to talk to. So for the next few hours, we had a great time. Then the clouds began to roll in, and the air had that wet feeling that precedes a rainstorm. I connected with Wayne, and got out of there about 2:30. Sonny said he’d stay just a little longer. He did. He got wet. The rainstorm dropped enough rain to create small rivers running through Spence Field. They followed the path of least resistance without regard for Vendor spaces, expensive goods, or people.

This year, the Executive Inn where we usually stay is converting to a Best Western. In the process, they lost my reservations (made a year earlier), so we stayed at a Days Inn in Sylvester twenty-five miles away. Wayne, Sonny and I met up with John Crenshaw, the Borders (Chris and his dad), and John’s friend, Rick. Club member Jim Stacey stayed in one of our rooms there, too. However, he arrived later that evening, and we didn’t actually see him at all. We went to Eddie’s Truck Stop for supper. It’s a great steak and seafood place, according to the folks at the Days Inn. Well, I like the meals we’ve had in the past at the Western Sizzlin in Moultrie much better … and that’s putting it mildly. However, the good company and conversation made the evening quite enjoyable.

Saturday morning we met for breakfast at the Waffle House in Sylvester. The weather was cold and crisp, and the skies were clear. We thought we’d have a beautiful day, and hoped to make up for what we missed because of the rain on Friday. After breakfast and the twenty-five mile drive to Moultrie, we arrived at the Swap Meet and began our search for automotive treasures. It was too cold to enjoy at first, but clear skies and sunshine held the promise of a great day. However, the winds picked up considerably, making the chill factor too much for me. I had already seen all that vendors had to offer inside the hangers, out of the wind. But, I looked at it all again, hoping for warmer conditions before spending time outside. The winds did subside a little, and the weather became bearable around noon. Wayne and I stayed till about 3:00, and really enjoyed it. We both found a few dollars worth of minor items, but didn’t make any major purchases.

As usual, we ran into Glen and Kathy Barnett, Wally Bell, Tommy Bell, Gary Caruso, Mike Coyle, Larry Barnett and other long-time friends of the club, and spent a little time visiting with them. I wish I could tell you that I found a really great car in the car corral, or a fantastic deal on some Classic Chevy part. But this year, the story for me is about the weather, Sylvester, the meals, and spending time with friends. I’m looking forward to the Moultrie Swap Meet in November. The weather is usually a lot better.

TITLE:	MEMBER:
President	Bill Brown
Vice President	Bob Bryant
Secretary	Carol Lelak
Treasurer	George Blackshaw
Newsletter Editor	Jacob Peterson
Webmaster	Ed Brown