Hail from the Chief
By Trish Bargman
Well at this rate the year will be over in no time. It seemslike I just did September’s newsletter. As I sit here and write this it issnowing outside, it’s too warm to stick and add up but it is snowing. We weregoing to go for a ride today, but it’s snowing. Summer and Indian summer are over; soon the cars will be put into hibernation for thewinter. I still hope that we can get one more ride, one more Arby’s, and onemore Scotty’s. I will be gone this weekend, but if someone wants to lead adrive please do. If in two weeks we catch a good day wecan try again. So put a ?? on your calendar for Saturday the 13th orSunday the 14th.
Friday morning we did the DARE drive-the- kids-to-school.What fun it is to see the joy on the kids’ faces that have earned theprivilege, and their fellow students as they arrive in the Corvettes. Thank you to everyone whoparticipated. Wayne,thank you for putting this project together again and the use of your car evenif you couldn’t be there.
As I look at the membership list I see that a couple peopledon’t have an email address listed. If you have an address we would be able toget information to you that you may now be missing because there is not time tocall when things come up at the last minute.
We had a nice drive and picnic after a false start. We hadplan A and had to switch to plan B, but it really turned out quite nice. Wetook back roads, had a cookie and milk break, then on to WarmRiver to feed the fish, around Mesa Falls,and back to Beaver Dick Park on more back roads for chicken and many goodsalads and cookies.
Our September meeting was at Big Jud’s inArcher. We gave Jud his sponsor shirt and thank you note, had good burgers, andtried to talk about “show” business. We really didn’t have enough people thereto make the decisions that need to be made so we will try again this month.This month we really need to make some decisions, so try to be there if at allpossible. You can also contact me and I will voice any concerns, or ideas thatyou might have. Everyone’s concerns will be taken into account before a vote istaken. So speak up, or hold your peace.
Our next meeting is at Craigo’s on 17thin Idaho Fallson Thursday night the 11th, 7:00
pm. I am looking at October 2007, no brain fade thistime. There are a couple of things that we need to cover at the meeting. Firstthing is our Wild West Vette Fest, will we try one in Idaho Falls next year, and stay with our every-other-year plan in West Yellowstone. We need to discuss how much to spend onour Families at Christmas program this year, and when to do theshopping. We need to set the date and time for our Christmas party. We hadpretty much decided that we would have it at the Stockman’s Restaurant,so we will have it there unless someone has a new place in mind that could holdus. I did stop there on the way home from the DARE drive to give them a sponsorshirt and made a tentative reservation for December 8th. The datesare already filling up. We have $4,500 in our license plate fund, should we dosomething with it now or let it keep building until spring?
Our up coming things to remember are:
- Arby’s Thursday the 4th
- Regular monthly meeting at Craigo’s, 7:00pm the 11th.
- Possible drive the 13th or 14th. Details to be announced
- Scotty’s Thursday the 18th
- 37th Annual Montana Big Sky Corvette Meet, May 23, 24, and 25
See you at Craigo’s.
Happy Birthday
October
Wanda Pincock 3
Wendy Farmer 6
Wanda Hughes 12
Barbara Bell 13
Wayne Campbell 15
Dennis Peterson 20
Jeff Staffon 22
DID YOU KNOW
ByEgon
Lots of times when you take you vehicle into a service shop ordealership they tell you all the things that you need done besides an oilchange.
1. Engine flush - $100 to $200. If you have been changing your oil as you need to, with today’s modern oils,that flush should not be needed.
2. Fuel-injector cleaning - $150 to$200. If the “check engine light” is not on, and the vehicle seems to performok, just add a bottle of Techron with the next fill up.
3. Oil additive - $5 to $15. Mostall oil manufactures tell us,” If our oil needed it, we would have added itbefore you get the oil”.
4. Gas saving devices - $10 to $500.You are the best gas saver. Don’t be a “hot-rodder” -- make easy starts andwatch your highway speed. If the devices worked as well as the peddlers say,why would not the manufactures’ use them so they can brag how cheep the brand Xcar runs on a gallon of gas.
5. Long-life antifreeze - $4 to $30 agallon. I have written on this before. Don’t mix GM Dex-Cool with otherbrands. Change at the manufacture’s recommend time frame.
6. Brake fluid - $30 to $250. This isprobably the most overlooked fluid in the vehicle. Why, because if the brakeswork, fluid must be ok. Brake fluid goes bad, and also picks up dirt andmoisture in the system. Not changing the fluid in a vehicle with anti-lockbrakes is asking for repair costs big time.
The other day I was thinking ofvehicles of the past, the 50’s in particular and the accessories that they had.A few that came to mind are as follows. Cadies and Olds had a few thatwere interesting.
Today we call them cruise controls; then theywere called speed minders. You set a pointer on the speedometer at the maxspeed you wanted to travel and if you went beyond that, a beep beep was herdtelling you to slow down.
Another was an automatic headlight dimmer. Asa car approached and you had your lights on bright, it would dim them for you.Now everybody runs with the clear fog lights on all the time.
Olds in the late 50’s advertised that you nolonger had to lub their car. Oh boy, what would Jiffy Lub say to that?
Studebaker in the late 40’s had what theycalled a “hill holder”. That meant that if you had to start the car on a hill,you pushed the brake in along with the clutch and the brake stayed on until youlet the clutch out.
It has only in the last few years thatyou could set the temperature you want (cool or hot) inside the car and thatwas what you got. Back many years ago you just had a manual heat control. Ohyes you can select different temperatures for each side of the car now – onefor the driver and one for passenger.
How far have the manufactures come?Connie’s new car turns the windshield wipers on automatically when it starts torain and turns them off when there’s no rain. The steering wheel is heated tokeep her hands warm in the winter, and the seat heats and “cools” as youdesire. What a car world we live in. I have no idea as to the future.