Quarterly Chapter Meeting Minutes — Saturday, April 7, 2018 · 1:30 pm

Duarte Garage and Lincoln Highway Museum
Livermore, California

Introduction

Thanks to the Duarte Garage for having us here.

• 26 members present.
• Mark Tracy and Danielle Aloicius:
  • First time to an LHA meeting. Ron and Kathleen invited them.
  • They met on an adventure at the Western Terminus of the Lincoln Highway. One thing led to another and they are now engaged. The Lincoln Highway holds a personal connection for them and they are delighted to be here today.
• Approval of January meeting minutes
  • Motion to approve by Paul Gilger
  • Seconded by Myrna Johnston
  • Minutes approved

Officer, Staff and Committee Reports

State Director: Bob Dieterich

• Bob was unable to attend.
• Bob’s term is up during the national conference in New Jersey.
• Clarksville Day is on May 5 this year. Won’t be able to make it, so he turned it over to Joel to find someone to man the table, or Joel will do it himself. Joel has other duties that day. Neil will check his schedule. QT might be able to be there. Joel asked for emails if you are able to help.
• The board joined Jim Cassler’s tour for next year. The annual conference is in June.
• Forum: Kathy Franzwa has been editor but with the advancement of ALS cannot continue. Kay has put her name on the list of people to might take over Kathy’s duties. Jay and Kay will split the job.
• New national treasurer: Paul Schubert from Akron, Ohio. All the financial stuff goes to him. A new Ohio law requiring all nonprofits to register and pay a fee. Each state chapter has to pay this fee. We can fight with a lawyer. There were questions about the amount of the fees.
• Bob is willing to remove his name from State Director ballot as long as there is someone to take on the responsibilities of this job. He has graciously done this to allow Neil Rodrigues the opportunity to serve.
• Bill Von Tagen is running for at-large director — he deserves our support.

President: Joel Windmiller

• Joel sent reminder postcards with no returns.
• Military Convoy Team (8/11–9/14/2019): The Military Vehicle Preservation Association (MVPA) is finalizing all the route information. Convoy team is reaching out to clubs for someone to ride with the team to provide information on two-way radio to the convoy. If you are the person to be the liaison for the convoy, then you will not be able to do the two-week Lincoln Highway tour. We will bring it up in old business and make more decisions as the dates come forward.

Vice-President: Neil Rodrigues

• Stone bridge south of Strawberry on Highway 50: Neil contacted the U.S. Forest Service to no avail. Grant and Greg Gassman have offered to fix up the foundation, probably sometime in the fall. We don’t want to see it crumble. Anyone else who wants to be involved, let Neil know.

Treasurer: Grant Gassman

• Deposits: $252 from National
• Disbursement: $300 to Joel for meeting expenses
• Balance: Contact chapter for details

Secretary: Paulette Johnston

• A plaque was given to Myrna Johnston for stepping up as the secretary for the chapter.
• Paulette wanted to thank Neil Rodrigues for passing on the email for the Model T cars. Hal and Harvey from the Model T club came and gave a talk to 90 fourth-graders. Their talk included: family history about their cars, connection to the Dust Bowl and family migration to California, and the answering of questions from students. Both gentlemen were very generous and let the students walk around the cars and have a hands-on experience that will not be soon forgotten.

Gary Kinst: Traveler Newsletter, Historian

• The Traveler is moving along. He would love to have more stories. Please send emails/pictures.
• Lincoln Highway Today: Gary would like to start a series called My Lincoln Highway Trip. Send him a photograph with a small caption. Then people will see that the highway is still alive and ready to be explored. Keep the information in California.

Webmaster: Jimmy Lin

• Jimmy was unable to attend the meeting — the future father was occupied with other things on his plate. No report at this time.

Sign Committee Chair: Michael Kaelin

• Lodi people have all the signs. Waiting for them to get them all up.
• New sign in Tracy that was taken out by an accident has been replaced.

Speakers

• Gary: Presentation to the Daughters of the American Revolution

Coach tours/car cruises: Mark Hoffman

• There will be a Carson City tour in the fall. It will go up Highway 50 and return via I-80. Tentative plan is for October. There will be more information at the next meeting.

Old Business

100th Anniversary of the Pioneer Monument at Donner Memorial State Park — June 9

A rededication, centennial celebration, and restoration kickoff of the Pioneer Monument will start at 11, with family activities from 12 to 4. Afterwards, there will be a centennial fundraising gala for restoring the monument, which has suffered damage due to weather and time, from 5:30 to 9.

Clipper Gap concrete marker

• Joel has proposed giving the Clipper Gap marker to place along old Highway 40 in the Sierra Nevada mountains. This would be a great opportunity to put the marker on highway. The Boy Scouts would help Joel winterize the marker. After it is given to the state park, it would not be on the road, but would have to be in the fence line. It would face the road and be able to be seen from the road. Joel wants the chapter to be involved and be a part of these events.
• Neil’s thoughts: put it inside instead, so people can be educated about Lincoln Highway markers. If it is outside, then add a plaque with information about the Lincoln Highway. The state park would have some responsibility to take care of the marker and other informational placards that will be placed with the marker. Neil requested more information about the placement of the marker.
• Paul brought up the thought of giving the marker to the museum and not restore it. That would allow for the marker to be more historically accurate.
• There was a raise of hands for placement of the marker: 2 for outside 10 for inside. As a group we have decided to request that it is put inside. Then a replica can be made and be put outside along the road.

Lincoln Highway California brochures — Joel

Joel contacted Jim Cassler about a California brochure. He won’t charge us a layout fee. Price quote: 1000 would be $612. If we want to proceed with this, Gary is willing to help put panels together. Cassler will do the printing. Gary was asked to take this on due to his amazing job with the Traveler. The purpose of the brochure is to promote interest in the highway and to encourage people to get out and explore the Lincoln Highway.

Altamont Summit Garage clean-up — Sally

Sally Colvin Hoeprich could not attend the meeting. She contacted Adopt-a-Spot about the Altamont Pass Summit Garage. Unfortunately, this site is unavailable for adoption due to safety concerns. Waste Management is supposed to be cleaning up that area. When they do clean up, they use cones and flashing lights for safety. We thank Sally for her work on this item.

2019 Lincoln Highway Military Convoy Tour — Paul

This tour is being organized by Paul and other LHA folks and is unrelated to the MVPA tour. It leaves Washington, D.C. on September 1, 2019, then tours for 16 days, arriving in San Francisco on the evening of September 16.

New Business

Distribution of The Traveler — Gary and Paul

Paul would like to send The Traveler to the LHA archives at the University of Michigan. Electronic versions of The Traveler could go on the road. Contact historical societies that have their own electronic newsletter. We could share links with these organizations to get more of our history out to others and receive information about other historical items.

Kings Canyon Road walk — Ron Breedloven and Kathleen Jarvis

Ron and Kathleen will be walking Kings Canyon Road from the summit to Carson City in June. If you are interested in joining them, they will post more information.

Electric car trip — Walter Spector

100 years ago, there were a bunch of electric vehicles. There was even a 1914 Electric Vehicle Association of America (EVAA). Walter is looking for a route for an electric vehicles tour. Paul thought it an interesting idea, might be discussed in a future meeting.

Grant for signage

Nevada has applied for a grant from national for the expense of signs. Joel asked if we want to apply for a grant from National for signage in California. Discussion. Information on a previous grant will be researched.

Adjournment

• Motion to adjourn by Gary Kinst. Seconded by Greg Gassman.
• Meeting adjourned at 2:30pm.

Presentations

Will Bolton, curator of Duarte Garage: History of Naval Air Station Livermore, a World War II naval pilot training base, which later became the site of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Respectfully submitted
Paulette Johnston, Secretary

Edited by Joel Windmiller and James Lin