Quarterly Chapter Meeting Minutes — Saturday, July 7, 2017

Auburn Alehouse
Auburn, California

Meeting called to order at 1:02pm by President Joel Windmiller, who welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Presentation

Our guest speaker was Mike Holmes. Joel presented him a book, Lincoln Highway Nevada by Gregory Franzwa and Jesse G. Peterson, for the Placer County Visitors Bureau. Mike Holmes talked about the history of Auburn Transportation. Lincoln Way was originally named East Street, then it was named Broad Street, Railroad Street, and Colfax Road before gaining its present name in 1915.

Introductions

• Cindy Ainsworth, Nevada Chapter President and State Director
• Nora and Chuck Elderton
• Buddy Chang Gest
• Kathleen Jarvis
• Sabina Von Sydow
• Marsha and Ken Freese

Approval of April 1, 2017 minutes

• Motion to approve by Grant Gassman
• Seconded by Gary Kinst
• Minutes approved

Officer, Staff and Committee Reports

State Director: Bob Dieterich

• Kay Shelton is still president of the National Lincoln Highway Association, for the sixth year.
• The Clarksville Region Historical Society will have another Fun Run. At the time of our meeting, it was scheduled for Saturday, October 8, 2017. It was later changed to Saturday, October 14. The run is 8K on the Pioneer Alignment of the Lincoln Highway. Our chapter will have a table set up with brochures and information.
• Clarksville Day in May was quite successful. About five thousand people showed up. Many visited the Lincoln Highway table. The table was monitored by State Director Bob & Adrienne Dieterich and Chapter President Joel Windmiller.
• There was a discussion of changing the October meeting to allow members to attend the Clarksville 8K Run and Walk. Gary Kinst moved to delay meeting time by one hour to attend the Clarksville Run. Seconded by Neil Rodrigues. Motion approved.

President: Joel Windmiller

• 331 reminder cards sent, only two returns. Total of 31 on sign-in-sheet.
• The concrete markers are in good shape. The only one he hasn’t checked is the one in San Francisco. If someone is in the area and finds that it needs attention, please report it to Joel.
• Joel and Neil attended the dedication of the restored Orangevale Bridge. Joel, one of the keynote speakers, gave a history of the Lincoln Highway. An old car parade and the heaviest fire engine safely crossed the bridge. The 1928 LH marker replica was installed at the bridge. Neil reported that residents were happy to have the bridge restored. It is used by both autos and bicycles. The original bridge was historically important to agriculture.

Vice-President: Neil Rodrigues

• Neil joined Joel on describing the Orangevale Bridge dedication. If any member is interested in photos taken at the dedication, contact Neil.

Treasurer: Grant Gassman

• Two check deposits: $190.00 and $124.00 from National.
• Distributions: $100.00 for Clarksville Day, and $200.00 for postage and printing for meeting reminder cards and P.O. box.

Secretary: Myrna Johnson

• No report.

Traveler Newsletter editor and Chapter historian: Gary Kinst

• A young man from Livermore doing research on Dublin Canyon wanted to know about some information Gary had found.
• Gary was contacted by the Daughters of the American Revolution to speak at a very nice church across from the University of the Pacific. They were interested in why there was a highway and its history. Gary presented a PowerPoint presentation filled with photos. It was scheduled for an hour, lasted an hour and half.

Sign Committee Chair: Michael Kaelin

• Tracy: the overpass on East 11th Street is 80% complete. Gary Kinst has described the placement of the LH plaques, obelisks, etc., on the overpass in The Traveler.
• Mike does not want to waste too many signs on parts of the LH that have been widened into multi-lane commercial boulevards with heavy traffic. They would suffice, however, as having directional value, say on the beginning and end of these widened urban segments.
• Banta: a bypass of Banta Road is being studied that will involve Grant Line Rd (LH), F St (LH) in Banta, and Banta Road (LH).

Webmaster: Jimmy Lin

• Traffic to the LHA web site is no longer growing year-over-year. Number of sessions in Q2 2017 is 37% lower than Q2 2016. Map sessions are down 48%. The drop is most pronounced in mobile (down 42%) and tablet (down 53%). (Desktop is down 24%). There are still spikes whenever the LH documentary is shown on PBS.
• The Traveler had 922 sessions in Q1 and 670 in Q2.

Speakers

• Joel spoke at the Orangevale Bridge dedication.
• Gary Kinst spoke to the Daughters of American Revolution.
• Michael Kaelin gave two speeches and a presentation in Lathrop.

Coach tours/car cruises: Mark Hoffman

• Mark was not present. Paul Gilger reported for Mark.
• One coach tour is planned for the last Saturday of September or the first Saturday in October. It will be the only trip. The plan is to go up Interstate 80 to Donner Pass and around Lake Tahoe and back on Highway 50. It will be a grand tour of the Sierras.

Old Business

Lodi signage: Kevin Shawver met with the Lodi city manager and the director of public works, and the signs were approved. The city said we should bring the signs and tell it where we want them.

Northwoods Tour: Paulette Johnston and Myrna went on the tour. She thought it was amazing. Paul’s directions were fantastic. They didn’t realize he did it all on computer. The Cassler family provided a great tour, meals and accommodations. Jim, Karen, Brian and Andy were always helpful. Highlights for them were the Spam Museum and standing in the headwaters of the Mississippi River. They had two extraordinary rangers who spoke to them about the Itasca State Park and the influence of the Jefferson Highway. Their research regarding the highway was thorough. They visited a hotel in the park, which in the 1920s was the endpoint for sociability runs (gatherings of drivers organized to drive the highway together).

New Business

Cindy Ainsworth, Nevada director and president of the Nevada chapter:

• Cindy presented a nicely done brochure for the Nevada chapter.
• The chapter is planning a road trip on August 26 and 27, from Fallon to Austin and Eureka, on State Route 722, returning on Highway 50. Historic tours planned in Austin and Eureka.

Adjournment

• Gary Kinst moved to adjourn, seconded by Neil Rodrigues.
• Meeting adjourned at 2:41 PM.

Road trip

Road trip to the 1915 Orangevale Bridge in Folsom.

Respectfully submitted
Myrna Johnston, Secretary

Edited by Joel Windmiller and Jimmy Lin.