Bill Brown presenting trophy to Stan
1st Award Winner
Russ Dolbear & Fred Schmoyer
"Trophy Love"
Nancy Schmoyer
George Lake
Footnote: President's Message page is a "throw-back" to the original T-Bird Times newsletter.
MILES DRIVEN AWARD
Trophy Award History
The idea for a ”most miles driven” trophy began back in 2006. Then VCTC President, Fred Schmoyer thought it would be fun to have a friendly competition to promote driving of our classics. Our trophy was designed and crafted by club members George Lake and Fred Schmoyer.
Mileage is tracked for Classic Tbirds driven to club events simply by noting the mileage from member’s home to the club meeting location using Google Maps. The noted mileage is doubled to create a round-trip total and then tabulated. The club member who travels the most miles for the year has their name placed on the trophy and is awarded The Trophy for a year.
CURRENT TROPHY HOLDER
Some of you may be thinking about hosting a club event but are hesitant because you haven’t done it before or have concerns about organizing it. If that’s the case, no worries…it’s relatively easy to plan, there are no hard-and-fast requirements, and other club members will answer questions, provide advice, or help you plan. There are a few considerations to make things go smoothly and create the environment for an enjoyable social experience for club members.
Usually, plan for guests to arrive by 11:30 with things kicking off at 12:00. It’s best if there is a dedicated/designated parking area for those driving classic and retro TBirds. If meeting at a restaurant, the business management can often help identify and reserve a suitable area. When weather cooperates, we can have 10 or more classics at the event. Hosts should plan to arrive a bit early to confirm plans with the restaurant and direct parking.
For planning, usually 20-40 members attend our monthly events. The host will be required to provide the basic details such as who, what, where, when, and RSVP information to the club secretary for posting to the club web site. The club secretary will then post and send event notice to all members. This notification needs to be posted as soon as details are available. Ideally, the meeting would be held in a room large enough to seat everyone comfortably. If in a restaurant, it’s best (though not required) if the area is separated in some way from other customers to facilitate group discussion and business.
Since the pandemic some venues have started charging a room or service fee. In this case, VCTC will provide hosts with up to $150.00 to offset the cost of these room/service fees. These funds cannot be used for alcoholic beverages.
Options for lunch can vary depending on the venue. Regardless of choice, hosts should talk to restaurant management to inform them of the overall plan and coordinate necessary details. Ordering and paying individually from the standard menu is one option. If going this route, it’s best to coordinate with restaurant management to make ordering and serving go smoothly without excessive delay. Selecting menu items in advance or catering a buffet line is another possibility. Another option depending on the venue is to determine/provide the main course and have attendees contribute to the meal by bringing a dish to share. Generally, try to keep costs for lunch about $25 per person. Meeting hosts can collect lunch fees from guests as they arrive or guests can pay checks individually after lunch, depending on which option was used.
At the meeting site, you can expect the club President to discuss the plan and manage timing to briefly conduct VCTC business and make any pertinent announcements prior to serving lunch. This business generally takes less than 15 minutes. When complete, lunch is served and expect the rest of the day to go smoothly as the servers do their thing and attendees can continue mixing, meeting and eating.
As an after-lunch option, consider if there are additional activities available at or near the meeting location which can be visited following lunch. While not required, this can provide opportunities for attendees to visit places they otherwise would not have known about. Previous examples include wineries, car/tractor museums, botanical gardens, and various historic sites. These can be set up as group activities or merely offered as information for those who might want to check it out.
Please consider if you have a great restaurant or unique idea for hosting an upcoming event. We are always looking for new places we haven’t visited before.
TIPS FOR HOSTING AN EVENT
** Tips for Hosting **
See Below President's Message
Classic Thunderbird Club International Chapter #36
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
RECENT PHOTOS
PHOTOS
ARCHIVED PHOTOS
PRESIDENT
VICE PRESIDENT
TREASURER
Bill Brown
J. Brown
Eric Best
SECRETARY
ACTIVITIES
CHAPLAINS
Stan Hostetler
Linda Twilley
Brenda Morrison / Carrie Hillman
EVENTS CALENDAR
Bill Brown & Stan Hostetler
Bill is a multiple winner (4 times)
and has the highest mileage total!
** If you are interested in hosting a monthly club meeting, contact ** Activities Coordinator, Linda Twilley (email: lctwilley821@aol.com )
President’s Report January 2023
WOW! What a great start to 2023. We held our January meeting on Saturday the 14th with 29 members in attendance. Even with the bitter cold wind there were 6 Classics and 7 Retros decorating Ceasare’s Restaurante parking lot. This meeting was our annual business meeting and all reports from the board members were good news. Stan Hostetler read the meeting minutes from the 2022 business meeting. Eric Best reported on the club finances. We are sound and it appears we will have almost the same number of paid memberships as 2022. Activities Coordinator, Linda Twilley, reported we had volunteers for all but three months for 2023. At this point in 2022 we only had 5 months with hosts signed up, so this was a truly good sign. The business meeting was concluded with the announcement of Miles Driven Trophy. I’m proud to announce that Stan and Lee Hostetler are the winners for 2022 with 786 miles driven. Good job Stan and Lee and I hope this will inspire more members to drive their birds to the club meetings.
This is the final notice for dues for 2023. Please, if you have not already sent your dues in to Eric, do so by February 28th which is our cutoff date.
Currently we have only two months remaining open on the calendar. The months of March, and December still need hosts. If you are interested in hosting, please contact Linda Twilley, Activities Coordinator, at: lctwilley821@aol.com.
I know some VCTC members are planning to attend the CTCI Southeast Region 4 Touring Convention which will be held October 25-29, 2023 at The Villages, Florida. I received a phone call from the CTCI Region 4 Director, Charlie Henley, informing me that this convention will be opened up to Retro Birds to be included in the judging phase. With the inclusion of Retro Birds, I hope some of our members with Retros will sign up for this fun event. If you are interested in attending let me know.
AACA 87th Annual Convention is coming to town February 9-11, 2023. It will be held at the DOUBLETREE by Hilton, 50 Kingsmill Road Williamsburg, VA. There are multiple events that might interest you that include seminars, trade shows, and a National Judging School. You will be able to find the schedule of events and registration forms on our web page in January. J. Brown will have a limited number of free membership passes that can be used when paying your registration fee. Please contact J. Brown if you are interested. His email is: designgroupoffice@aol.com.
Speaking of AACA events, I would like to put in a word about the Fredericksburg AACA show Saturday, June 3rd. This has been a tradition for VCTC for 20+ years and it is our only overnighter. J. Brown always puts on a great show and the Richard Johnston Inn is a beautiful place to spend an evening. I hope you will consider supporting the show if not overnight at least joint us at the car show and let’s bring home the club participation trophy again this year.
Here is a tidbit for the month of January concerning the history of the Ford Thunderbirds:
1953- The Chevy Corvette appears at the GM Motorama in NYC leading the kickoff of the Engineering Phase for the Ford Sports Car (Thunderbird)
1/29/2002- the 10,000th Retro Bird built
As always, I’m looking forward to seeing all of you at the Indian Fields Tavern February 25th, and remember,
IT’S ALL ABOUT FUN X 3! Bill Brown
SAVE THE FOLLOWING DATES!
April 22 Hosted by Paul Treolo
October 25-29, 2023 CTCI Southeast Region 4 Touring Convention
(at The Villages, FL)
February 9-11 AACA 87th Annual Convention Williamsburg, VA
Click on the following links for Convention Brochure and Registration form
May 13 Hosted by George Siecko
June 3 AACA Car Show in Fredericksburg Hosted by Connie & J. Brown
July 15 Hosted by Nancy & Steve Wigley
August 19 Hosted by Linda Twiley & Len Alexander
September 16 Hosted by Lynn & Ron Padrick
October 14 Hosted by Carrie & Lynn Hillman
November Hosted by Brenda & Tom Morrison
March (Open)
December (Open)
February 25 Hosted by Peggysue & Charlie Ford @ Indian Fields Tavern
in Charles City More information coming soon!
The Davidson's April 2009
The Most Tbirds at a Club Event 20 Classics & 4 Retros
Thunderbird Appreciation Day 2019
Chesterfield
November 2020
www.vaclassictbirdclub.com
Photo taken at Graves Mt. Lodge Syria, VA 2008
CLUB EVENTS
OTHER EVENTS
Note: Click on photos to enlarge and see more.
PAST AWARD WINNERS
2007 Alice & Russ Dolbear
2008 Alice & Russ Dolbear
2009 Linda & Bill Brown
2010 Linda & Bill Brown
2011 Peg & Gene Marianetti
2012 Sue & Steve Patterson
2013 Nancy & Fred Schmoyer
2014 Carrie & Lynn Hillman
2015 Nancy & Fred Schmoyer
2016 Linda & Bill Brown
2017 Peg & Gene Marianetti
2018 Paula & Eric Best
2019 Lee & Stan Hostetler
2020 Defered - pandemic2021 Linda & Bill Brown 510
2022 Lee & Stan Hostetler 786
Dedicated to the enjoyment, restoration, and preservation of the Classic Thunderbirds 1955,1956, and 1957
miles
1252
1050
2064
1222
1346
1276
1116
1068
946
1300
1030
1112
1126