LOWER COLUMBIA CLASSIC CAR CLUB 1 8/9/2021

LOWER COLUMBIA CLASSIC CAR CLUB 1

8/9/2021

PRESIDENT DOUG GILLIES 503-468-0006 / VICE PRESIDENT JIM PURDY 503-458-5742 /

TREASURER BURT YOUNG 503-338-8719 / SECRETARY NICKI ANDREWS 360-642-3998 / BACKFIRE EDITOR ROSS GETCHELL

503-440-3291 / WEBMASTER ROBI NELSON 360-623-3816 [email protected]

I hope everyone is having a good summer as the weather

has been very nice and the tourist crowds aren’t too bad.

It’s been fun being able to drive the classics around and

getting back into the old routine. The gathering of car

enthusiasts at the county fair grounds, July 31 was well

attended by club members for an event put together on

short notice. Club member Tim O’Bryant helped organ-

ize it along with several others, which came together nice-

ly. They are thinking of making it an annual part of the

fair and if they do, it would be a fun day for the club to

participate in as a group.

A big “thank you” to Fred and Ann Mestrich for hosting

our July meeting at their home. Ann put on a great BBQ

chicken dinner as an added bonus, and everyone in at-

tendance enjoyed it. Our attendance cash drawing went

un-claimed for the third straight month and everyone who

is in for this month’s drawing is in line to win $75.00. So

come to the meeting feeling lucky! Our August meeting

will be held at Burt and Cindy Young’s, 673 SW Cedar

St., Warrenton, 7 pm on August 19. *Remember to bring

your chairs. We will be discussing the by-law changes

and possibly voting to adopt them. (All members re-

ceived copies last month and have had at least 30 days to

review the documents.)

Our membership has grown with 11 new members joining

us in the last couple of months. Membership chair Diane

Matthews is working on getting them all our club infor-

mation as soon as she can. As the Constitution and By-

laws are being revised, they will not be included in the

new member information and will be shared with all

members when approved. A big welcome to our new

members: Lee Cordner, JR and Sherrie Kelley, Bob and

Debbie Lennon, Randy Mosher, Dave and Christine

Warner, Jim and Randi Sharpe, and Joe Rees. Welcome

to the club! We look forward to seeing you at our meet-

ings and club events.

We still need 2 more volunteers to do security at the Rod

Run in Ocean Park in September. If you are interested

Fred Mestrich is heading it up, so call Fred or me (503-

468-0006) and find out what we need.

Another upcoming club event is the Inter-club picnic at

Bruceport Park on September 26. It’s an annual picnic

where we invite other clubs to attend. Ann Mestrich has

agreed to chair the committee so if you are interested in

helping with the cooking and serving, please let Ann

know.

As far as car shows go, I know quite a few of our mem-

bers are heading to the show in Joseph Oregon the week-

end of August 28-29. Another event closer to town on the

same weekend is in Shelton Wa. at the Old Iron Work

Park, sponsored by the Test of Time Car Club. More in-

formation on this show will be at the meeting on the 19th.

The club project Riviera is very close to being ready to

sell. Thanks to Fred leading the way, it is running pretty

well. However, we still need to address a potential mouse

nest on one side of the exhaust.

I hope everyone is feeling well and we look forward to

seeing you at our meeting or any other events. Doug

mailto:[email protected]


8/9/2021




July 15, 2021

The July 15, 2021 meeting of the Lower Columbia Classic car club was called order by President Doug Gil-

lies at 7:12 pm. A thank you went to Ann and Fred Mestrich for the great dinner this evening. The board

members were introduced - President Doug Gillies, Vice President Jim Purdy, Treasurer Burt Young, and

Secretary Nicki Andrews.

Visitors were Jim and Randi Sharpe.

Steve Jordan made a motion to accept the minutes of the June meeting as printed in the Backfire. Motion

seconded and passed.

Treasurer Bert Young gave the financial report.

Committee reports:

Sunshine - Judy Jordan reported that Ross and Patty Getchell are grandparents again. She also reported

on sending cards to several members.

Membership - Diane Matthews did not have anything to report.

Swap meet - Fred Mestrich reported that he will schedule a work party to go through the container.

50’s Cruise - Doug Gillies reported that we are on Camp Rilea’s calendar. Steve Jordan reported that the

artwork is ours. We need to go through our records to find the carried over sponsorships and entries.

Website - Robi Nelson needs pictures of our cars to post on the website.

Backfire - Ross Getchell reported that we need more sponsors.

Educational Outreach - progress is coming along on the Riviera. We discussed taking it to the Beach Bar-

ons Swap meet.

Old Business

We have received the contract from the Beach Barons for security at the Rod Run in September. We will be

paid $750 for working two nights - Friday night and Saturday night. Fred Mestrich reported that the Friday

night slots have been filled but he is in need of people to fill the Saturday night slots. See Fred if you are

interested in helping.

By-Law Revisions - The revisions have been handed out and mailed to all members. Voting to accept these

revisions will take place at the August meeting. There was some discussion.

Inter Club Picnic - Ann Mestrich reported that we have secured Bruceport Park for September 26th. Steve

Jordan will send out invitations to the different clubs. President Doug Gillies explained the picnic for the

newer members.

New Business

There will be a car show at the Astoria Fair grounds July 31st.

Car show in Rainier, Oregon August 1st.

Randy Mosher announced there will be a memorial for Barb Mosher Sunday August 1st at the county park

in Chinook, Washington from 1 - 4.

The August 19th Lower Columbia Car club meeting will be at Bert and Cindy Young’s in Warrenton.

Polk Riley spoke about a long sleeved black club t-shirt. If you are interested please contact him.

We were reminded about the ice cream social at Mike and Diane’s home July 18th at 1:00 pm.

Steve Jordan announced that he has a few club jackets.

Meeting adjourned at 8:05 pm.

Nicki Andrews

Secretary



8/9/2021




By Jim Wood

It's been about a year since I updated you

on Polk and Patricia Riley's '26 Model T

hot rod

build. These

things do go slow-

ly, especially when

getting parts in

this last year has

been difficult. So,

when you can't

buy one, you

make one. Fortu-

nately, Polk has

the skills to make

a lot of things to

put this Model T hot rod together. All the

major mechani-

cals have been

completed and

mainly the interior

is left to fin-

ish. Polk is also

using his carpen-

ter skills to fab

new flooring and

interior piec-

es. Polk has had

the help of a few

club guys, me, Bill

Cook, Jim Purdy, and Fred Mestrich.

Each has given not only their help, but al-

so knowledge and parts they had on

hand. Model T's

had wooden bows

with a canvas type

material cover for

a top. Bill has ex-

perience with this

type of top on

boats, so he and

Polk were able to

figure it out. Lots

of wooden pieces

from a kit that did

not fit didn’t

help. Fortunately, their woodworking

skills both Bill and

Polk possess has

proven great re-

sults. Jim Purdy

owns a Model T

and has a lot of

knowledge and in-

fo. Fred had ide-

as and talents to

which helped

greatly. Polk used

his art and printing

skills to make an

awesome headliner that may be the high-



8/9/2021




By Jim Wood

light of the

car. Guaran-

teed to make

you

smile. Like

most builds,

there are al-

ways those

design hur-

dles to over-

come. Polk

is only a

week or two

from being able to fire this old Ford up

and cruise his parking lot! Polk lets me

be a part of his project when I can and I'm

having a lot of fun. I can't give you a date

yet, but hopefully before the year is out,

we will see Polk and Patricia tooling

around town in their Tall T hot

rod.

Jim Wood



8/9/2021




FROM THE BACK SEAT “THE GAL’S PAGE”

“BETTER THAN A BLENDER” By Diane Matthews That’s what my good buddy, Kathie, said when Mike gave me rally car driving lessons for Christmas! Far be-yond that, it was my best gift, ever! If you don’t know me, I love fast! Downhill skiing, spinning down a moun-tain pass on my bike, cutting through rolling waves in my kayak, rafting the rapids of the Rogue River, any-thing that’s got a thrill or speed or both, wheeee . . . . count me in! So when Mike saw Jay Leno on TV, racing a hot little Subaru STI around a dirt and gravel course in Snoqualmie, WA, he thought, “It’s near us, Diane would love doing that, I won-der . . . “ And Christ-mas day, there it was, my official Dirt-Fish t-shirt and a certificate that read “Enjoy the experience. Wheeeeee!” You might have heard me, I was hooting and hollering and hugging Mike for dear life. July 11 was my lesson, the waiting was hard but gave me time to consider. I wasn’t worried but did realize I was not going to be the youngest student there! In fact, when he gave it to me that was the first thing I asked, would my age matter?!? Mike told them I’d be 75, not a problem, in fact they had some lady in her 80’s who came every year (I gotta meet her!) I counted the days till DirtFish. The lesson began with a 20 minute instruction and Q & A period. There were 9 students, 4 women (4!) and 5 men. Instructor Kevin gave us some pertinent driving tips. One that resonated with me was the 100% rule. You’re usually using at least two of these operations,

steering (cornering), braking or accelerating; sometimes all three. If the percentage of what you’re doing adds up to more than 100% (for instance, you’re applying about 40% brake and accelerating at 70%) you will find yourself either in the weeds, cone crushing or . . . yike! Session over, we grabbed our serious-looking helmets and headed outside to pick our instructors and get into the cars. My instructor was Sean. He turned out to be the most

patient, calm young man on the planet but when he drove? Well, it was like his tail was on fire!! Wheeee!!! He showed me how to get in through the roll cage, click into my safety harness and where my hel-met mic hooked into harness. Then he drove me once around the course (named The Bone Yard . . .?!?! ) He

took me through it at a “reasonable” speed but, at the first corner, I thought we were going to blast right through and miss it! My mind screamed “too fast, too fast” but believing Sean knew his stuff, I took my foot off the “floor brake” and relaxed. Whoopee! we flew through that corner and sped down the straightaway for the next one, I was in heaven!! Halfway through the course, the four cars regrouped, reversed direction to go back the other way. As we sat waiting for our turn, I asked Sean if he would be talking again about the cor-nering, braking, applying the gas, etc. He said yes, thank goodness because I hadn’t heard much over the wheee’s and wa-hoo’s! My gosh, what super fun!! Then it was my turn to drive. I reacquainted myself with a stick shift and off we went. Sean talked me through most of it. “Gas, brake, gas-gas-gas!, quarter



8/9/2021




turn, more steer, rally feet”. These were all aimed at me getting through the corners as quickly as possible and get on the gas as soon as pos-sible! The first few corners were a lot of learning and, though I hit no cones, I didn’t exactly light up the course. But once I figured out “rally feet”; left foot on the brake so you can use the gas at the same time (really?!?), I got faster in the turns. So fast that there was some fish-tailing out of a few corners but, wrong as that was, it was kinda fun too! I shared my car and instructor with another driver. While he drove, I was out of the car for a bit. This gave me time to take in all I’d been taught and watch the other students too. When my turn came again, I was much more aggressive and waited on braking till Sean told me, even though most of me was yelling , “Brake now! Brake now!” When I wait-ed, I really got to fly through the corner and though every instinct told me differently, came out right-side up and pointed down the course, heav-en!!! I did take out one candle (straight lane markers) but no cones! I was pretty proud of that but now I wonder if I pushed the limits enough!! Next time!! My lesson was nearly over but first the thrill ride. Sean took the wheel and we headed for another course. Roller coast-ers have nothing on this ride! Wow, we wheeeeeled (get it?) through turns throwing dirt and gravel clear to

Snoqualmie Falls, (I’m sure of it!). We started with a hell-bent-for-leather charge to the start, a 180 degree slide turn that put us at the exact start point, in other words; if there’d been a dime there, Sean would have stopped on it! From there we hauled down a path of brush and trees, behind old mill buildings (they were a blur!), and raced through a water hole, wheeee! As he drove me back to the office I asked if there were any

openings for 75 year-old women instructors? Sean actually seemed to consider it, “Why not, can’t hurt to ask”. Oh boy, getting paid to drive like that? WOW!! And here’s where I say how great it was to be treated equally by everyone I en-countered. No “woman-driver”, no rolled eyes at not getting the clutch quite right or that one time I skidded off course! Age didn’t matter either. They were very helpful but it was up to me to wriggle in and out of and handle the car. I’m sta-

tistically considered “elderly” (really!) and that comes with a whole grocery list of “don’ts” and “can’ts”. DirtFish never got the memo. You paid your money, you get the same as everyone else. You’re there to learn how to drive fast on a dirt/gravel course and they were going to teach you, period. And they did . . . wheeeee!!!! I know a DirtFish lesson is not everyone’s idea of “best gift ever” but, if it kinda tickles something in you, if your bucket list has room

for one more “must-do” think about rally driving, you’ll have the time of your life! ‘Way better than a blender!!!!!!

FROM THE BACK SEAT “THE GAL’S PAGE”



8/9/2021




Historical and/or Hysterical Pictures

Of LCCC Club Members, Friends, and Family

(ps: send in pictures of your fun times to The Backfire Editor and see them

posted here to share with everyone!)

Club

Meeting,

BBQ,

Birthday

All

Same

Night

Jim

Varner ‘s

Display

At

The

County

Fair



8/9/2021




FOR SALE LOT & ANNOUCEMENTS

BACKSEAT ARTICLES 2021

January-Dorothy Gillies, February-Patty Getchell, March-Judy Jordan, April-Dorothy Harmon, May- Valerie Purdy, June-Katie Scarborough, July-Sonia Wood, August-Diane Matthews, Sep-tember-Nicki Andrews, October-Lorraine Berard, Nov.-Kathy Sasso, Dec.-Melba O’Bryant

A sincere apology goes to Paul and Louise Kallstrom from me, Diane Matthews, membership chair. I inadvertently left them off the 2021 roster (am blaming my computer!) To reach them call me at 360-465-2320 and I will give you their phone number. They are still in the same place so, if you have an old roster, the address is the same. Again, I am so sorry Kallstroms.

Well Wishes, JIM PURDY & FAMILY, DEBBIE LAKE & FAMILY,

DOROTHY GILLIES, CAROL WEBSTER

Sending good wishes to all of you who I don’t know about, please let me know so I can send you a card if you need one. I think we can all use a little pick me up sometimes! Thanks, Judy

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS, JOE REES, JIM & RANDY SHARPE

I have a 1949 Chevrolet car engine, a 216 cid with a 3-speed trans. and a third member complete. I want to donate it to a club member for free or whatever they wish to donate to the club or charity of their choice, in our club’s name. It has 72,000 mile on all pieces and to my knowledge no rebuilds. When I got it, it was in the car and ran & drove fine but I just had to change it all out. ( more hp ). Anyway, I hope someone will save it from the scrapper. 503,791-3804 Ask for Bill

Mark September 26th down for Inter-club picnic. Same

location, Bruceport Park Washington, Covered area.



8/9/2021




STEPHEN GAYDOS 8/25

MAGGIE GIBSON 8/13

DOROTHY GILLIES 8/10

JO HENDRICKSON 8/8

JUDY JORDAN 8/4

RON LARSEN 8/2

DARRYL NIEMI 8/27

JIM PURDY 8/12

PATRICIA RILEY 8/12

MIKE SASSO 8/22

MARK STUNKARD 8/22

SUE STUNKARD 8/17

LINDA UPHOFF 8/20

LAURIE WILLEY 8/14

ATKINSON 8/15

CORKILL 8/28

GETCHELL 8/21

LAU 8/15

MARTIN 8/9


Documents

LOWER COLUMBIA CLASSIC CAR CLUB 1 8/9/2021