Quarterly Chapter Meeting Minutes — Saturday, July 9, 2016

Hotel Truckee
Truckee, California

Introduction

• Meeting called to order at 1:16 pm by President Joel Windmiller.
• Paul Gilger introduced Norm Saylor, who has been part of the Lincoln Highway Association and is a leader of the US Route 40 Association. Norm has a wonderful shop just past the flashing red light off Donner Pass Road as you head down toward Soda Springs. The shop is full of Highway 40, Donner Pass and Lincoln Highway memorabilia, and post cards. There is an ice cream shop and lattes. If you are headed west, it is well worth the stop.
• Norm reported all the white signs along Donner Summit were put up by the Donner Summit Historical Society. You can read about the history of the Donner Summit.
• Joel Windmiller welcomed and thanked everyone for coming to Truckee. We have a great turnout — 40 people have signed in. Visitors: Kathleen Jarvis and her husband.
• Minutes of the April meeting in San Leandro were reviewed. Paul Gilger moved to approve; Jimmy Lin seconded. Minutes approved.

Officer, Staff and Committee Reports

State Director: Bob Dieterich

• Joel reported Bob Dieterich is unable to join us today. An email from Bob reported Mary Ramsey Salazar sent word to Bob that her husband passed away. She plans to return and become involved with the chapter again.
• Clarksville is planning a 5K run for October 1, 2016, to be called the Historic Lincoln Highway Run. They want it to become an annual event.
• Joel has been asked to come to the board of directors of the Clarksville Historical Society to help plan this event. Will keep you posted on this event.

President: Joel Windmiller

• 281 cards were sent out. 4 were returned due to inaccurate addresses.
• Concrete markers are looking good, including the first two replicas we made with Boy Scout Nathan Balugay. Joel recognized Nathan and his mother, Michelle.

Vice-President: Neil Rodrigues

• Neil is still working with the National Automobile Museum in Reno, regarding the addition of Lincoln Highway information and souvenirs for their gift shop. He contacted Jim Cassler and is not sure whether he is receiving it. The museum has a new retail manager who is excited to have Lincoln Highway books and souvenirs. People from around the world are driving the Lincoln Highway and asking about books, information and souvenirs. It is a great place to have membership information available.
• Neil apologized for missing the last meeting and his presentation of the Henry Joy tour. He has put together a self-guided tour on a CD with text narration and a PowerPoint presentation you can get add your own photos to. He is selling them for $20.
• Neil reported he is mostly recovered from his motorcycle accident a year ago.

Treasurer: Grant Gassman

• We are still in the money. Contact the chapter for details. Donations from Paul Gilger and Sports Leisure total $450.00. We received $324.00 from National. Disbursements were $1,080.00 for Lincoln Highway signs and money for meeting supplies.
• We are the largest chapter, one or two members more than Iowa.

Secretary: Myrna Johnston

• Myrna thanked Joel for helping out with the minutes.

Gary Kinst: Traveler Newsletter, Historian

• Gary could not attend today. Joel reported that he sends greetings and hopes everyone is enjoying the latest issue of the Traveler. He did a tremendous job on the most recent issue, which was 33 pages long. He is always interested in interesting articles and photos about LH in California and Nevada.

Webmaster: Jimmy Lin

• Use of the LHA website is seasonal — it is low in the winter, spikes in the spring, then slowly goes back down, and spikes again the following spring.
• The LHA website traffic in 2016 has increased tremendously over 2015. For the second quarter of 2016, the number of sessions increased 17% year-over-year. Number of users increased 21%. There were 40,000 map sessions, 77% over this time last year.
• Most people enter our site through the map, not the homepage. The number of sessions that start with the map increased 86% year-over-year.
• Q2 2016 is the first time mobile has overtaken desktop, particularly in April and June. This may be because most of the website was optimized for mobile just last Christmas (the homepage and map were optimized in early 2015). Mobile is really taking off.
• Finally, social media keeps going up steadily without much direct effort. Facebook likes are up 19% YoY, Twitter up 17% YoY. 5% of Facebook likes are from outside the U.S.
• There are no stats available for the Nevada and California chapters; the stats collected are not accurate.

Sign Committee Chair: Michael Kaelin

• Michael not present. Joel presented.
• There are three signing projects in the chapter, two in the Central Valley and one by Bill Von Tagen here in Truckee.
• Galt is going splendidly. Michael met with city managers, the mayor, and Public Works on Tuesday about putting up signs. Joel has the signs, and they will be posted along Lincoln Way from Simmerhorn south to the Dry Creek bridge and county line, with an extra one at Church Street (which is a dead end) and G Street.
• Kevin Shavner is working with San Joaquin County to getting the section in unincorporated county land near Tracy and Lodi signed. Stockton has already been taken care of.
• Lathrop is a tag team between Michael and Kevin to get the signs.
• Kevin’s project is to get 30 signs along Lower Sacramento Road, Harlan Road, Manthey Road, and French Camp Road.
• Joel turned the floor over to Bill Von Tagen so he can give us an update on Truckee.
• Bill showed an example of the 20 Lincoln Highway signs going up from Glenshire Drive, and then along Donner Pass Road, within the Truckee city limits. The city has been great to work with. They put out a press release for the local Sierra Sun Newspaper.
• We are looking into a sponsorship program for people to contribute to the cost of the signs.
• Bill welcomed everyone to the Truckee. The Donner Memorial State Park visitor center has an exhibit on the Lincoln Highway. There is a Victory Highway Eagle in downtown. Next year Bill is planning a cross country trip in a 1959 Ranchero pulling a tent trailer, from San Francisco to Times Square.
• Joel Windmiller: Moved to purchase 50 additional signs from Sign-o-rama in Tracy, at $22 each, for a subtotal of $1,100. With $88 sales tax, the total cost is $1,188.00. That would bring the inventory up to 70 signs. Seconded by Bill Von Tagen. Motion passed.

Speakers

• No speakers to historical societies.

Coach tours/car cruises: Mark Hoffman Paul Gilger

• Mark Hoffman: Coach tour on Saturday, October 22, 2016 to Lake Tahoe and Reno. Itinerary to be announced next week.
• Paul Gilger: The San Diego Packard Club, led by Mark Burnside, is running a Lincoln Highway tour in California, from Friday, September 23 to Monday, September 26. Paul will be the tour guide.
  • Thursday: Pre-tour dinner in Burlingame. Stay at Holiday Inn Express
  • Friday: Start at the Western Terminus. Go to Blackhawk Museum, Duarte Garage, Altamont Pass, Elk Grove Stage Stop. Stay at Holiday Inn Express.
  • Saturday: Sacramento to Reno via US 50, El Dorado, Echo Summit. Lunch at Brothers Bar in Lake Tahoe, dinner at National Automobile Museum in Reno.
  • Sunday: Verdi, lunch at Donner Ski Ranch, dinner at California Auto Museum.
  • Monday: Sacramento to San Francisco via the Carquinez Bridge. Lunch on USS Hornet. Wrap up at Presidio golf course and Officer’s Club.
  • Registration closes about Sept. 1.

Old Business

• The plaque at the western terminus has faded; it turns out a problem with the paint. The labor costs for replacing the sign is $600. Folks in San Francisco are taking care of the mound of paperwork for the project. It is in process.
• Nothing new on Lathrop.
• Restoration of the Orangevale Bridge: work is being done on the understructure before the bridge is rebuilt. It may be a year to completion.
• A.T. Stephens and Hayward Area Historical Society: We are loaning a 1928 Lincoln Highway marker for a summer exhibit at the society. Joel will get it over to the exhibit when they determine the site.
• Paul Gilger recaps this year’s tour:
  • This year’s tour was different: National Road and two days on Route 66. There were seventy-five people and forty cars, including those from Canada and Australia. More than half the people had been on previous tours, ten people have been on last three tours. Repeat participants knew each other and could pick up conversations from the previous tour. We have been successful and everyone wants to do it.
  • The National Road was first road in the U.S. developed by the federal government. It was created to settle what is now the Midwest. It starts at Cumberland, Maryland, goes through through the Alleghenies, to Vandalia, Illinois. The oldest suspension bridge is on the route, in Wheeling, West Virginia. There was an unexpected trip to the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington, Pennsylvania, where they got to ride the Streetcar Named Desire.
• The 2019 car tour will start at the White House and follow the 100th anniversary of the U.S. Army Transcontinental Motor Convoy.
• The 2017 conference, the 25th anniversary of the revitalized Lincoln Highway Association, will be held in Denison, Iowa. The closest airport is Omaha, Nebraska.
• The 2017 car tour will be a joint tour with the Jefferson Highway Association.
  • There are members of both the LHA and JHA in Iowa, since Colo, Iowa is the intersection of the Jefferson and Lincoln Highways. (They are currently researching the route from New Orleans to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.)
  • The tour will be on the Jefferson Highway from Colo, Iowa; through Minnesota; and into Canada to Winnipeg, where the Jefferson Highway terminates. The tour will be relatively short, about 700 miles and five days.
  • There are lots of choices to the return to the U.S., including the Trans-Canada Highway, the Dixie Highway, and the Mackinac Bridge.

New Business

• The October chapter meeting will be held on Saturday, October 8, 2016 at Rancho Cordova City Hall. Rancho Cordova’s Lincoln Highway celebration will be on the next day.
• Leon Schegg gave a report on the Prosser and Stampede reservoirs. 70% of lower road bed of the Lincoln Highway alignment through the reservoirs were visible because of the drought. The roadbed from the south was underwater.
• Jim Bonar reported: Cindy Ainsworth is the new Nevada state director of the Lincoln Highway. The Nevada chapter is going well; Cindy has gotten the ball moving. They will have a tour at the end of the month around Reno to show new members. The placard at the Lincoln Highway abutments have been restored and repainted.
• Paul gave Jim credit for the 2011 National Conference at Lake Tahoe. Brian Suen, the National Vice-President, is a Nevada member.
• The LH signs at the summits on US 50 keep disappearing. The NDOT do not seem friendly to signs.

Adjournment

• Motion to adjourn Jimmy Lin. Neil Rodrigues seconded.
• Motion approved 2:27 pm.
• Jim Bonar gave his presentation, “Lincoln Highway Lecture 102”.

Respectfully submitted
Myrna Johnston, Secretary