idea driven by one of our members, vice presi-clubs.hemmings.com/lccc/pdf/2020...

LOWER COLUMBIA CLASSIC CAR CLUB 1

2/9/2020

PRESIDENT DOUG GILLIES 503-468-0006 / VICE PRESIDENT DARRYL NIEMI 503-861-0484 /

TREASURER BURT YOUNG 503-338-8719 / SECRETARY LINDA UPHOFF 360-777-3737 / BACKFIRE EDITOR ROSS GETCHELL

503-440-3291 / WEBMASTER ROBI NELSON 360-623-3896 [email protected]

January came to an end with the opening of the new Warrenton High School Vocational Center. The school district held an open house January 30 at 6 pm. Our club was well represented with about 15 members in attendance. It is a very nice building but the big surprise is when you get inside. It is being equipped with a large amount of equipment that has been donated by many different community companies. All of the items given to the program have a nice plaque on them. The compressor that we donated is locat-ed up in the loft. They received welders, welding masks, tables, jackets, welding station separa-tion walls, gloves, 2 two-post lifts, a plasma cut-ting cutting table and plasma cutter, tools, tool boxes, battery powered drills, chargers, and all the accessories, and that is just the shop ar-ea. There are also two classrooms on the main floor with a large loft over them. The loft will be used for robotics and electronics.

This program is a continuation of a vision and

idea driven by one of our members, Vice Presi-dent Darryl Niemi. Darryl has spent many years planning, organizing, and teaching our communi-ty's young people. His vision was started hoping to spark an interest in vocational education. It has grown from a few students to a program of over 80 with a waiting list and talk of expanding the building to include a wood shops barn where he started it. Great Job Darryl!

In the same direction, our Educational Out-reach Committee has been approached by Clatsop Community College's MERTS auto pro-gram with a request for us to purchase another diagnostic scanner. We should know by the next meeting what it is and what has been decid-ed.

Changing gears, the March 14 Swap Meet is picking up speed. Reservations for exhibit hall tables, and arena spaces are coming in fast. If you need a space call Dorothy at 503-468-0006 as we are approaching 90 reserved spaces out of 125 available spots. A sign up sheet for vol-unteers help on Friday March 13, and for Satur-day, March 14 will be at the February 20 meet-ing. If you can't make the meeting, but would like to help, call Fred or Dorothy and they will gladly sign you up. Any and all help is greatly appreciated, as are donations to the club sales booth.

There are many projects going on in mem-bers shops this winter that have me interested in how they turn out. Fred's 56 Chev wagon, Mike and Diane Matthews re paint of their 65 Pontiac "LeMoms" and the next idea from the mind of Jim Purdy that started out as a pile of swapmeet parts and will resemble a T-Bucket of some sort.

I hope you are able to get your classic out and drive it soon. Keep the shiny side up and the dirty side down.

President Doug Gillies

mailto:[email protected]


2/9/2020




Lower Columbia Classics Minutes from January General meeting

The regular meeting of Lower Columbia Classics Car Club was held on January 16, 2020 at 7 p.m. at

Steve and Judy Jordan's shop, 35232 Helligso Lane, Astoria, Oregon. President Doug Gillies, Vice

President Darryl Niemi, Secretary Linda Uphoff were present. Treasurer Burt Young was absent. 16

members were present including officers. No visitors or new members at tonight's meeting. It was

moved and seconded to accept the minutes as printed in the January Backfire. The motion was carried.

No financial report Burt absent.

Sunshine Committee Judy said cards were sent to Steve & Gretchen, Ernie & Judy, Barb N., Lori P. Will

send to Ann M. and birthday card to Cliff E. Carrie Hall and Mark Alphonse donated the potato salad for

the picnic so thank you card will be sent to them. Dorothy G. is donating funds to buy more cards for the

Club.

No Membership report Diane absent.

Swap Meet Fred has mailed out fliers. About 25% of the tables are rented. Advertising in Longview,

Tillamook (5 newspapers), and Oregonian. First meeting was 2 weeks ago. Those putting fliers at car

shops, etc, can do that now and in about 2 weeks, all other locations.

50s Cruise Jul said things coming together. Will be a meeting on January 21, 2020 at Steve's shop at 2

pm. Jul will meet with Tina Bigelow on Thursday, January 23.

No Website report Robi absent. Members need to contact her to remove or add cars on website.

Newsletter Ross. Everything went well. Please get items to him in a timely manner.

Auto Program at Warrenton HS Darryl announced an Open House on January 30, 2020 from 6 to 8

pm. There are now 3 morning classes for welding and 3 afternoon classes for auto shop. Approximately

80 students plus waiting list. They purchased an air compressor which the Club will pay for that at the

Open House. They have new books, equipment, lifts working, and 4 or 5 booths active.

MERTS Oliver said nothing happening at this time.

Historical Patti advised that she and Cindy will continue to do this work.

Correspondence was read to members by Secretary, Linda Uphoff. Club will have a sign-up sheet for

volunteers to plan Social Events for the year. See Judy.

Old Business included discussion of Christmas Party; Ann & Judy will help Jul in 2020. A motion was

made to give a donation to the Longshore Coffee Fund for use of their facility for Christmas party. Mo-

tion seconded and carried. Will be paid out of Christmas fund. Jul advised that the ladies shelter got no

leftovers because there was a shortage of food but a donation was given to them.

New Business Diane has no revenue to pay for expenses but funds from printing can be used. Carryo-

vers in budget as written in by-laws not in compliance with State. Constitution needs to read that we

need a former officer as a 5th person for tie-breaker in votes by Exec Board. Those will be amended in

the By-Laws. Steve will help with that. This will be discussed at next Exec Board meeting.

Dorothy put an ad in the Backfire for feed bags to make tote bags to sell at Swap Meet for $3. Profits

donated to school programs. Judy would like members to sign up for yearly list for bringing treats to the

general meetings. Drawing was done but Michael was absent. Let it ride until next meeting.

Meeting was adjourned at 7:38 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by Linda Uphoff, Secretary



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2/9/2020




Ramblin `Round With Steve



2/9/2020




By Jim Wood

This month's story is about my experience at three major auto

auctions. Every mid January Scottsdale Arizona hosts five or six

major collector car auctions. Last year I went to the Barrett-Jackson

Auction and looked at eighteen hundred cars for sale. A wide varie-

ty but not so many foreign cars. This year I was able to return to

Scottsdale and see three different auctions. No I'm not some

wealthy guy that goes around the country to big car auctions. I hap-

pen to be lucky enough to have a brother-in-law that lives there and

knows how much Sonia and I are into cars. We don't see the actual

auctions, we go before the auctions and see all the cars on dis-

play. Kind of like a car show on steroids. After several hours of

looking at automotive perfection you start to suffer from sensory

overload. Pretty soon it takes a lot to impress me or get my atten-

tion. The three shows I went to were Russo and Steele, Gooding

and Company and Sotheby's. The majority of cars at these auctions

were European and Supercars. Prices ranged from the low 100k to

10 million dollars! Seems like the older the exotic cars were, the

more expensive they got. There were also some perfect examples

of American luxury cars from the '30s to the '50s. Big beautiful

Packards, Cadillacs and Buicks. I saw a few our club cars repre-

sented there also. I saw two examples of Steve Jordan's '54 Skylark

convertible. Also an exact replica of Steve's '55 convertible. Same

two-tone blue with a dark blue top. This car was slated to sell for

80k-100k. There was a 1930 Model A they expected to get 20-

25k for. Fred is probably thinking " good luck with that." Saw a

beautiful '57 Ford, same year as the one Ross G is putting together

now. Also saw a '67 Camaro like Bill Cook's, expecting to sell for

150k. Some of you folks might want to check on the value of your

cars, you may be surprised. The only cars missing from these

shows were the Hot Rods. That's a different kind of show. If you

ever get a chance to go to Scottsdale during this time I'm sure you

will enjoy yourself. Every parking lot you go to, even Safeway, is a



2/9/2020




By Jim Wood

like an exotic car show. It was a lot of fun and even though I wasn't

a buyer I enjoyed seeing cars I've never seen before.

Also I saw some really cool car sculptures for sale at Sotheby's by

one time Astorian Stanley Wanless. Mr. Wanless is a world-

renowned sculptor that used to teach here at Clatsop Community

College. His works in the area include the famous Lewis and Clark

statue in Seaside's turn-around. Stan lives out side of Salt Lake

City now and some of his automotive sculptures can be seen in

Dave Kindig's showroom. I saw them on an episode of Kindig's

show. Stan and Polk Riley are good friends that keep in touch with

each other. Maybe some day I'll get a chance to meet him. I'm

going to bring a couple brochures I got at the auctions to our next

meeting in February. You can check them out if you wish, they're

kind of interesting. Until next month AMF.



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FROM THE BACK SEAT “THE GAL’S PAGE”

“Like Herding Cats” By Diane Matthews

That’s what our fearless leader replied when this writ-er asked him what stood out about our trip. Can’t you just feel the love?! And so begins the story of our 2 1/2 week journey to Kool Deadwood Nites, in Deadwood, S. Dakota with the adventures, fun, camaraderie, trials and spectacular scenery along the way. It starts with Ross and Steve. While the rest of us watched and prayed for snow, they used last winter to plan, plot and reserve an August journey to Deadwood, S. Dakota. Those of us who signed on, Patty and Ross Getchell, Jul Grandbois, Doug and Dorothy Gil-lies, Ralph Jackson, Ste-ve and Judy Jordan, Fred and Ann Mestrich, Jim and Katie Scarborough and Mike and I, were in for a treat. Ross and Steve rule as travel guides! Armed with a 3-ring binder of itinerary, maps, daily points of interest and reservations (See? I told you they were good!), we met up along the road to Walla Walla, our first night’s stay. By lunch we were all together, setting up eats from Dorothy and Doug’s deli wagon and enjoying our first of many picnics along the way. I think we can all still hear Dorothy calling, “sandwiches?!”. The plan was to keep our mileage fairly low, 350 miles or less, and follow the “blue roads” steering clear of the interstates whenever possible. We roomed in as many “Mom and Pop” style motels as we could. There were Best Westerns and Marriott’s for sure but mostly we were in cozy motels, usually with accommodating conci-erges at the desk. Day 1 of my journal begins in high expectation with . . . “And we’re off”! Everyone in the group was excited. Mike and I, the “new kids” of the club, were looking for-ward to knowing other members better. The S. Dakota natives, Ralph, Steve and Judy, were happy going home

again. Doug and Dorothy, looking at traveling more in future, planned on learning the ropes from seasoned travelers. All of us were eager to see many sights as we traveled to famous and/or out of the way places like Virginia City, MT; Cody, WY; Sheridan, WY; Hill City, S.D and Spearfish, S.D. It turns out that, while sight-seeing the likes of Yel-lowstone, Glacier National Park, Crazy Horse Monu-ment, Little Bighorn Battle National Monument, Devil’s Tower and Mt. Rushmore; WE were also the sight! At any small town, rest/fuel/lunch stop or point of interest,

people took pictures, just looked or asked the questions all of us who drive classic cars know: “what year?”, “what make?”, “what engine?”, “how long have you had it?”, “you’re going where, from where?!”, all the usuals. Even when we didn’t stop, we often drew onlookers who waved, whistled, gawked and cell-phoned as our parade of classics

passed by. Always smiles, all around. Are you getting a feel for it? We had a ball!! Day 3 ended in Virginia City, MT. Most of us stayed in the Alder Gulch Inn, (Google it) an old hotel with lots of atmosphere and old west charm. The whole town was like that! The wooden gutters and down spouts stood out to me, they would have lasted about 2 months in Washington! But I digress. Virginia City has a park full of big trees, picnic tables and is perfect for hot, weary trav-elers who just happen to have a pickup stocked with food and a barbecue. Whenever I think about our trip highlights, that picnic comes to mind and as I asked members their favorites, Virginia City and the barbecue picnic is a standout memory. We relaxed, recapped the day and started to realize what a good group we had going. Jim and Katie had a cabin in Nevada City that was affiliated with the Alder Gulch Inn. They gave us a tour next morning as we chowed down on wonderful break-



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fast croissants. Their room was beautiful and comfy but the best features were the cactus on the roof! No lie! We said good-bye to Jim and Katie there and the rest of us headed to Cody, WY by way of Yellowstone, keeping an eye peeled for bison. Yellowstone in August is crowded, even on a hot Tuesday, so we picnicked, sight-seed (is that a word?), then hit the road, right into park road con-struction, yike! A few miles of mud and gravel lay be-tween us and the east exit. We gulped, waited at the flagger, then rumbled through. I would have loved to hear those con-struction people as we “paraded” past. Wonder how many thought we were nuts. (LE MOMS’s mud lasted till the Spearfish car wash). Again, no bison but a big horn sheep ram with his harem shared our road as we left Yellowstone, cool! Finally, Spearfish Lodge, 4 nights in one place and Dead-wood a few miles away. While there, we barbecued din-ner on the lodge grounds by the creek. We found Chey-enne Crossing for some dinners and breakfasts and won-derful Indian tacos! Patty loved the scenic beauty of Spearfish Canyon and the comfortable Spearfish lodge, I think we all agreed. Ralph had some good fishing stories to tell about the canyon, he was home. Judy and Steve were home again too, Judy says she’d forgotten how beautiful the Black Hills were. Settled in, we were all ea-ger to get to Kool Deadwood Nites. Sometimes all the good planning in the world can’t fix a poorly done event so I’ll not dwell on it. But, no worries, our intrepid crew powered right through and had a good time. The day Fred and Ann drove from Deadwood to the lodge, as the rains began and his top wouldn’t raise might not have been a highlight. But Ross and Patty made up

for that when the owner of Ross’s car from ten years ago happened by at the car show and asked where he’d gotten it, he did not recognize it from the basket case it had been! He was very impressed with the quality of the finished product. And, to underline that, next day Ross was delighted to accept a trophy for his 56 Crown Victo-ria!! Wow, there were a lot of very nice cars in that show, we all celebrated!

A short drive from Spearfish got us to Hill City, S.D. This is where the sight-seeing began in ear-nest. Mt. Rushmore, the Profile, Iron Mountain Road, Cus-ter State Park, Ft. Hayes dinner show (where Fred rode the bison!) and Crazy Horse Monument. At the Lantern Inn, the owners made us feel at home and the breakfasts were great! Our first night we had one of

Mike’s favorite moments. Thunder, lightening and heavy rain came up after dinner. Everyone sat out on our porch-es and ooh’d and ahh’d as the lightening jumped from cloud to cloud or flashed down in forks, definitely not our NW kind of thunderstorm. Wonderful to see, even better shared with our friends! We took advantage of as much as we could in the 3 day stay. The men got their “car guy” fix at the Hot Rod Institute while we women enjoyed shops in Hill City! At Rushmore it rained but now we have photos of the presi-dents’ either crying, sweating or with runny noses, a look I’ve never seen before! The Iron Mountain Road drive has to be experienced, I can’t describe it, but I sure am glad LE MOMS handles as well as she does and that Mike upgrad-ed the brakes! I did get a great picture of Steve and Judy going through one of the tunnels though! Our drive through Custer State Park was bisonless. How can some-thing that big hide so well? Crazy Horse Monument (Jul’s favorite) even partially done, amazed with it’s size. An

Continued from page 7



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experience I’d love to repeat was the Alpine Haus, where you can have anything you like so long as it’s filet mignon, fantastic! And Hill City is where Judy met a little boy who thought her car was a real boat! Maybe the continental kit fooled him?! Leaving Hill City was sad but the open road and the elu-sive bison beckoned. Next stop, Devil’s Tower and Sheri-dan, WY. I’m not sure but I think Dorothy may have more pictures of prairie dogs than the Devil’s Tower, I see the appeal though, prairie dogs are more active (and way cuter) than that tower. After leaving Sheridan we visited The Battle of Little Big-horn Monument. I didn’t think it would be my thing but found so much to see. It was impres-sive, I’d recommend it if you’re in the area. But don’t expect bison! Fred and Ann left us there and went to visit relatives. Ann said a sign at the next rest stop made her want to come back to us, it said, “Stay on sidewalk, watch for snakes.” We would have welcomed them with open arms! That night we stayed in Livingston, MT. Mike, Ross and Dorothy entertained by playing a hot game of volleyball in the pool! Next day there were no scenic stops, just a day of miles getting us one day closer to Glacier Natl. park and the Road to the Sun. Since we’d never been there, Mike and I looked forward to it, especially the Road to the Sun. Ahhh, people make plans and the gods chuckle. About 30 mi. outside of Shelby, MT our rear wheel bearing (the ONLY part on LE MOMS that wasn’t new!) died. While the smoke cleared, everybody waited with us, discussing our options. Then Doug and Dorothy stayed while the rest went on to Shelby. We called AAA and Angie with her tow-truck hauled us safely into town. Long story short, the rest of the journey, for us, was in the back seat of Dorothy and Doug’s (bless ‘em) pick-up with LE MOMS on a U-Haul car trailer. If you knew how I feel about people with their “trailer queens” you’d laugh! But by the time we reached WA, she was so dirty and dusty from the road she looked more like a barn find, a very classy barn find! Oh and if you ever need a driver who can park a long trailer anywhere, and I mean ANYWHERE! Doug’s your man, the care he took of our car was special. We are so lucky!

Glacier was beautiful but no one drove the Road to the Sun, maybe next time. On the way to Kalispell we finally saw bison, at the Blackfoot Bison Reserve, go figure! Then a night in Spokane and we were in Ellensburg, our last night together. Dinner was special at the Red Horse Cafe. We gals duded up in our Kool Deadwood Nites bling, the guys, duded up in . . . uhh, clothes!! We lined up outside for a

girls’ then a boys’ team picture. They’re in the scrapbook, look ‘em up, we had had a ball, it shows!!! Next morning, Dorothy and Doug, Mike and I, left early, we’d needed to drop my car home and take the trailer back to Astoria so I don't know all the adventures the crew had before home, you’ll have to ask them. A word about Steve’s comment that titled this article. Being leader to a line of 5 to 7 cars, plus

a car trailer, requires logistics that are not always available on the fly. Just entering a gas station with so many cars requires forethought, not to mention the detours that were engineered by persons who weren’t exactly top of their class. These situations resulted in what I came to call our “magical mystery” tours. As the leader trying to get a bunch of old cars and a pick-up with a “trailer queen” back to Oregon/Washington in one piece, I completely under-stand Steve’s comment. All road captain’s would agree, I’m sure! Though Kool Deadwood Nites was the objective of our journey, it was not the highlight we’d imagined, (too many people, too little town; think Hood-to-Coast Seaside times 10!). But, as the saying goes, it’s the journey that matters. In the case of our trip, our intrepid crew emphasized to me over and over another element enhancing the journey . . . the camaraderie. What an amazingly fun, positive, loving collection of people we were. In 2 1/2 weeks of cancelled rooms, leaking gas caps, faulty ignition switches, gas gauges on “E”, smoking engines, the occasional “magical mystery” tour, blown fuses and broken cars; if there were grumbles and frowns, I missed them. No matter where the next trip goes, sign Mike and me up, we wouldn’t miss it!!! Diane Matthews

Continued from page 8



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2/9/2020




FOR SALE LOT & ANNOUCEMENTS

BACKSEAT ARTICLES 2020

January –Carol Webster, February-Diane Matthews, March-Linda Uphoff, April-Judy Jordan,

May-Sara Meyer, June-Jul Grandbois, July-Patty Getchell, August-Dorothy Harmon, Septem-

ber-Marion Ralston, October-Gail Penuel, November- Dorothy Harmon,

FOR SALE!!

700R4 TRANSMISSION 650.00

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

BURT YOUNG @ 503-338-8719

Wanted: Clean, undamaged "Feed Bags" the 35-50 lb. bags usually used for Chicken and large animal grains. These bags make great recycled "multi-purpose bags" and hold up well. My plan is to make as many over-size bags as I can to sell at the Swap Meet. Profits will go to the Warrenton High/Clatsop CC programs. If you have clean empty feed bags, give me a call and we can arrange a pick-up. Thanks for your help with this pro-ject! Dorothy Gillies, 503-468-0006.

FOR SALE 1955 FORD PICK UP AND A FORD VAN WITH A 302 ENGINE AND AOD TRAN.

BUY THE PACKAGE FOR 2,000.00 CALL JON 503-728-3562

Cards were sent to—-Ann Mestrich, Dave Getchell, Mark Welch, Bill Cook and Darlene Langlo.

Thank you was sent to Mark and Kari for their donation of pota-to salad for the picnic in memory of Larry and Martha Hall.

For all of you who I don’t know about, we are sending good thoughts your way!!!



2/9/2020




BILL COOK 2/19

DAVID FRAUMENI 2/21

GRETCHEN GAYDOS 2/22

MIKE MATTHEWS 2/28

MELBA O'BRYANT 2/20

STEPHANIE WELSH 2/1

VICKI REECE 2/21

JUDY TONTZ 2/24

MARLENE VANDERPOOL 2/1

BARBI ENGLAND 2/2

GAIL PENUEL 2/17

ACORD 2/23

GAYDOS 2/16



2/9/2020




LOWER COLUMBIA CLASSIC’S CAR CLUB

P.O. BOX 1259

ASTORIA, OREGON 97103

BACKFIRE

LOWER

COLUMBIA

CLASSIC’S


idea driven by one of our members, vice presi-clubs.hemmings.com/lccc/pdf/2020...

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