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Fall Colours Tour/Poker Run 2016

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We  started our first adventure with the AMO+ Car Club by attending the Fall Colours Tour/Poker Run on October 1st 2016.

For those of you that don't already know, Mike and Gail Putz are my  uncle and aunt.  We purchased our 1969 Javelin from Mike and decided to join the club (Editor's Note:  was it a condition of the sale??  Hmm).

The day started at Ken & Roberta's house in Cameron. This was our first introduction to some of the other members of the club. Cameron was also the staring point of the event.  We were all given a sealed envelope with emergency contact numbers on the outside, and a list of questions to answer with directions for the ride. Roberta gave us all instruction on what to do with the envelope and the list. Pretty straight forward - follow the directions and answer the questions, and don't open the playing cards, and only open the map if you get lost. The ride through the country side would be approximately 2 hours.

So, off we went in five minute intervals. Mike Putz, Andy and myself were in one vehicle.  Andy and I looked for clues to the questions, and I gave Mike directions when to turn and where to stop to pick up the playing cards.

One of the questions was "the kings Pen" which turned out to be the tattoo parlour In Fenelon Falls called Kings Ink.  The answers to all the questions could be found along the route. Some were harder to spot than others. I have to admit we had to back track for one of the answers to the clue!

The ride was great and went through several towns - Cameron, Fenelon Falls, Kinmount, Norland then down Victoria Road to Elm Tree Road. Even though the day was a bit overcast, the colours were great and the scenic drive was awesome. What a perfect way to see the country side.

We ended the ride at Harm and Barb's place. This is where the poker cards and question sheets were handed in. There were prizes awarded for the best poker hand and the most correctly answered questions. The best poker hand was won by Joanne Legon  with a prize of $50.00. Most correctly answered questions went to Ken and Irene Perrier who won the frame with three colour sketches of Javelins.  No one was left out - everyone was a winner, everyone got a prize. Eight in total.

There was no lack of food since everyone contributed to the pot luck supper we had. What a feast.  At the end of the day, I would say a great time was had by all and  new friends were made. We  look forward to our next gathering we are able to attend.

Terry and Andy Baril

1969 Javelin Owners

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Here we grow again!

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Doug and Jenny Barker just left our farm this morning, after visiting to pick up a rear axle for his Spirit (sorry, can't remember what year). They are very excited to join our club - Doug has been passionate about AMCs for many years.  Harm and I have known him for years as well, seeing him at car shows around the Midland area.  In fact, Doug and I worked at the same hospital for years.  Jenny is a retired school secretary who runs a little antique business from their home.

Please welcome them the next time we have a get together (perhaps at the Fall Colours Tour?).

Classics on Kent 2016

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CLASSICS ON KENT – July 10, 2016 – by Jodee Scott

A bunch of us met and proceeded to the registration check in point at 8am Sunday morning.  Harm and Barb van der Veen had their Hornet S/C360, Ken Edwards was accompanied by Aunix Lockyear-Breen, Roberta’s grand-daughter in Ken’s AMX, Bonnie and Terry Forbes in their 1970 Ford Cyclone 429 – yes, I know, the odd man out – but being such good friends, we let them join our convoy! – John Vander Meulen in his AMX, and Marty and Sandy Davis in their Bricklin (which has lots of AMC parts in it so it counts).  I, of course, had my Ambassador and our club mascot Seymour the dragon accompanied me.  The kids wandering around with their parents loved him!

We got to park on the main street – haven’t done that in a few years and headed off to get registered.  During the day, we wandered around admiring the many wonderful vehicles on display.  My favourite was a Chev Impala called Poison Kandy although a close runner-up was the Berlina Coupe we spotted by the park.

Sandy and I saw a vehicle with a registration number of 479 so I figured there must have been close to 500 vehicles at the show and lots of spectators.  We stuck around for the awards presentation but no one in our club received any awards.  Ah, well, we really didn’t mind as just getting a chance to drive our cars and exhibit them at a show is enough for most of us.

It was a great day, the weather was very warm but the light breeze that sprung up from time to time gave welcomed relief.

The next event is the AMO International Convention – can’t wait!IMG_0627 IMG_0628 IMG_0629 IMG_0631 IMG_0644 IMG_0648 IMG_0671

Jodee’s Ambassador Featured in the Toronto Star

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I realize this article has been out for a while, but it dawned on me that I hadn't placed it on our own website.  We received permission from the Toronto Star to post this article on our website so I would like to send a big "thank you" to Jodee for writing the article for them and to the Star for providing the exposure for AMCs.  This is the scanned article from the actual newspaper of that day so I apologize for a couple of duplicate pictures.

And don't forget - if you have a special car story, the Star is always looking for contributions so don't be shy!

Ambassador article in Toronto Star September 5th, 2015

It’s amazing what they can do with soy beans!

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jeepRoberta Sommerville saw this article and thought our members might be interested in seeing it too:

Soybeans were discovered by the people of the Orient and were considered a poor man’s meat long before their nutritive value was quantified. Soybeans were not used for food in America until 1892, when they were used as substitute for coffee. At the beginning of the 20th century its cultivation spread rapidly in the USA. In 1924 production reached 135,000 tons. At the start of World War II, American soybean production topped 5 million tons, and its use as food for both humans and animals was widespread. However, the most remarkable achievements were in the industrial use of soya. Soya-based plastics were used in the construction of cars and aircrafts – both the steering wheel and the distributor head of the Jeep were cast in a plastic extract from soya.

 

Welcome to 2016

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As many of you know, Harm and I have been busy building our horse/hay barn.  We finally completed the structure on December 9th, a year to the day we brought home the last pieces of the barn. It was a great accomplishment but without the help of friends and family, would have been very difficult to achieve!  A few of our AMO+ family helped - Ken Edwards, Mike and Gail Putz, and Jodee Scott.  Although we still need to build stalls, etc. inside, we have decided to start that part of the project when the weather gets warmer and our energy levels have returned to normal.

Because of all this activity (as well as preparing Harm's shop for the winter and normal farm work), I have not been posting as much as I should have.  For that, I apologize.  I will try to do a better job this year and encourage each of you to provide me with an article in which others will be interested.  I know Ken Edwards is busy building Angelo's 1974 Javelin; Harm and I will be putting Babs' 1970 Trans Am Javelin together after too many years in process;  Mike and Harm have been working on his 1974 Javelin.  There must be many others who are working on their cars, if in no other capacity but to clean/buff/tweak!  Send me your stories and pictures, and I will post them.

We'll also be choosing a date for our next meeting which we traditionally use to plan for the coming year.  I appreciate that, despite numerous events scheduled for 2015, many of us were unable to attend many of them.  It seems to be a sign of our times - family commitments, work, health, lack of funds, etc.  There should be no guilt for the events that you cannot attend - just good times in getting your AMC out there for others to enjoy.

On a sad note, after many years of struggling physically, Sandy Davis' Mom, Mary Seymour, passed away on December 22nd.  On behalf of the club, flowers were sent to Sandy and Marty.  A loss at any time of year is hard, but it was especially tough before Christmas.  We hope they will be comforted by the many lovely memories and the friendship of their AMO+ family.

As in past years, resolutions are made and often discarded fairly quickly.  Whatever you decide to do to improve yourself, take baby steps so you don't overwhelm yourself.  Hang in there!

On behalf of Harm and I, we would like to wish each and every one of you a Happy New Year and we look forward to seeing more of you this year!

Barb van der Veen, Website Editor/Social Convenor

Italy Loves Old Cars Too

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Recently, Ken and Roberta visited Italy with Roberta's granddaughters (lucky girls!) and reported the following:

On a recent trip to Italy, somewhere in the Tuscan landscape, I see from my seat on the left side of the coach a car roof on the right side  which didn’t belong to a Fiat, Renault or Smart car.  The roof line was familiar to a 1949 Mercury. A glance down the aisle and we were coming up on a 1970 Challenger!  At our next stop for lunch, the parking lot had many more examples of American iron.  I cruised the lot and snapped these pictures of classic iron.

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How’s It Going, Eh?

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Just a quick note to remind everyone to check out all the areas of this website.  I've been adding posts, changing a few details, honouring our past President and good friend, Glenn McDonald and his wife Marsha Dennis.  I've added a public page which briefly describes the club, how to become a member, the types of events we attend, etc.  It's not intended to be active recruitment - just to let people know there are other options out there and perhaps our club might suit their expectations.

As well, the forum is up and running, gaining a little momentum in comments at this point.  Eventually, we hope members can use it to post whatever they have for sale, need to buy/trade or just need some advice on a technical issue.  If there's another topic(s) of burning interest, please let me know as Website Editor and I'll start a new topic.  It's all for fun and information-sharing.

Enjoy the rest of the summer!

Barb van der Veen, Website Editor/Social Convenor

harmsbarbie@rogers.com

 

Congratulations, Dave and Donna Nalepa!

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The Easter Bunny brought Dave and Donna Nalepa are very special gift - a new granddaughter!  Although we don't know the important details (e.g., weight, length, name), Dave suggested that she be called EB.  Amazingly, the parents rejected his very thoughtful input!  Here's to all the grandparents out there - hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend with family.  And, if you weren't able to get together with your families, you were able to spend some time with treasured friends!

Barb van der Veen, Newsletter/Website Editor

Spring Planning Meeting – March 21st, 2015

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On March 21st, 2015, we'll be having our first meeting of the New Year at the home of our President, Jodee Scott:

630 Parkhill Road West, PH3, Peterborough.  Just in case you need more specific directions, please contact her at:  705-874-0828.

Expect to arrive by 1:00 p.m. with the meeting to begin promptly at 1:30 p.m.

After the meeting, we have our 'social' time.  Jodee will be cooking a ham, it's BYOB and Gail Putz has kindly agreed to orchestrate contributions for the pot luck dinner.  Please contact Gail via her email address:  gputz@bell.net and she'll let you know what's needed.

We have also invited two of the executive from Northern Ramblers to attend this meeting.  They would like to have a discussion about the possible co-ordination of events.

Please plan to attend this important planning meeting!!

Barb van der Veen, Website Editor