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April Meeting Our April meeting will be held April 20, 2015 at Parkview Restaurant in Owego, New York. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 7:00PM. This meeting will be our dessert meeting with the members choosing and paying for a dessert and coffee, tea or de-calf. This meeting will be the opening to our summer and all the events we will hold this season. The attendance at this meeting will help to determine how full our summer will be. Remember we have the spring flea market and cruise in on April 12 before the
meeting. We will need several members to help with the running of this flea market.
cation.
We need personnel at the flea market to man two entry doors as well as the fiftyThe set up for the fifty and our booth. spring flea market is This event is one of on April 11 with only the three that help the need to rope off to finance our club a parking area for the so that we do not cruise in and the lohave to either raise cating of signs direct- dues or worse elimiing our vendors and nate events. spectators to the lo-
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Secretary's Report The March meeting was held on the 16th at the Tioga County Office Building in the conference room. The major portion of the meeting was a review of the winter flea market that we held on March 15th at the Cole Auction Building in Tioga Center. The vendor count was down a bit from last year with a total of 23 vendor spaces rented. Public attendance was also down from last year with about 259 persons through the door. Weather was a definite contributor to the lower counts but there were other factors that entered the picture. The parking lot was a concentration of ice and water that made access more than a little objectionable. Also as with last year there was a serious lack of proper restroom facilities, the women were permitted to use the indoor facilities until about noon but the men had a port-a-potty outside. A suggestion was made that we need to start a search for a better location for next year’s flea market. We also would do well to find a location that was less remote. Joe and Brett both were concerned that we need more support from the membership at our flea markets as the manpower needs are an issue. The spring flea market needs less set up help, but there is a more important need for help indoors as we have a larger attendance as well as more public entrances. This year’s spring flea market will donate some of the proceeds to the Binghamton Boys and Girls Club as the venue is owned by a major officer of their board. We of course make all donation decisions at our November or December meeting. Joe made the statement that he is looking at the possibility of planning a tour to the Hemmings Museum and Garage in Bennington Vt. this summer. Bob followed with the start of plans for a tour to Wellsboro, Pa and the “Little Grand Canyon” With at least two tours and two parades in the works we will once again have good summer of car events.
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Why Do We Do It? The reasons to own a collector car are as varied as the number of people who own one. Of course the uses are more limited. The public, unfortunately, now see the side of the collector car hobby where fully restored cars are taken to highly publicized auctions and traded for ridiculously high prices. The cars that go through these spectacles sadly might never be enjoyed by a driver but they do fill the purpose of reminding the public that the history of the Automobile is rich and essential. Museums are the main beneficiaries of the collector car auctions as they are the ultimate destination for these highly overpriced cars. Who in their right mind would dare to drive a
car they just paid a million dollars for on the Vestal Parkway? Those of us who own cars that can be driven might not have restored our prizes, but will make repairs and maintaining work so that we are able to enjoy the experience of driving the vehicles we grew up with. Some of our cars might be considered show cars, but they still are not considered to be so expensive that we dare not enjoy them on a warm and dry summer day. Our cars can be driven in a parade or to the local ice cream shop one day and on a three hour tour the next without fear that they might be destroyed by a stray bit of dust. Our cars are used in the manner that they were
conceived for, We drive them! The thing of it is that when we go out with our cars people notice. In 1957 how many people would have stopped and watched as a 1956 BelAir went by? When did it become a noteworthy event for a 1968 Mercury Montclair to pass by? Yes even a 1973 Volkswagen gets attention today. My purpose for writing this though is not to ask why we collect our cars, it is to help explain why it is needed for us to sponsor Flea Markets and Car Shows. Tioga Region, as do all car clubs, needs to have a set amount of funds to continue to operate. The cost of operation is tied to the cost of living. There is no way for us to plan for all our expenses in advance.
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WHY DO WE DO IT? (continued) The small amount of money we call dues are not enough for us to efficiently operate your club. As a result we need to look for other sources of income that will help us survive as the premier representative of The Antique Automobile Club of America in the Southern Tier. The Tradition of the car show is one that we began one year after the formation of Tioga Region! The car show both brings us funds to continue our existence, and is our main contact with the general public. We might attract some attention for Tioga Region when we participate in one of our tours to interesting locations
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within a one day drive from our homes, but the big draw is when we have more than a thousand people come to the car show! We also had a long standing tradition of sponsoring a winter flea market that had been eliminated by outside influences the year before I became your president. Five years ago we were able to revive the winter flea market although we were forced to be flexible in the selection of venues for this event. Last year due to the generosity of two business owners we expanded our flea market efforts to two markets with the addition of a spring flea market In the last three years due to the above listed fund raising efforts we have not only
been able to maintain the charitable donations that we traditionally have made but we have made the following improvements to our equipment. 1. We replaced the club’s dilapidated trailer with a modern and safe manufactured trailer which shows well on the show grounds as well as on the road. 2. We purchased several tables to replace those we had to beg, borrow, and steal for our information booth at the show. 3. We have replaced a large number of our signage that was showing its age.
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Why Do We Do It? (finish) 4. We also have purchased several tents to provide shelter for our members at the car show. 5.We are now in the process of purchasing several folding chairs to eliminate the need to borrow them from outside locations. Each year we are able to help recognize two outstanding students at BOCES with a small scholarship hoping to encourage them
to continue their dedi- the flood and the recation to the automo- cession although in a tive industry. very minor role. We also have been able to support the Boys and Girls Club of Owego each year with a sizeable donation that helps to keep the youth of our community on a healthy lifestyle instead of one that is destructive.
Yes, Tioga Region is our chance to meet with other people who share our interest in collector cars, but we also are an outstanding organization in the community for the relief of those in need.
We have also been able in the past few years to help those who were victims of
Why Do We Do It? Because We Can.
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Woodie Wagons A Taste of The Past!