Volume 47, Issue 2

Meadowlark Model A Ford Club, Omaha, NE Contents: Upcoming Events

Eat-out

Tractor Museum Tour Boone Iowa Tour

More Upcoming Events Door County WI Tour

Greenfield Iowa Tour Past Events

Banquet

Eat-out at Azteca Indoor Air Show

2015 Committees

Barney’s First Model A Member News Ads

I am honored to serve as your

president for 2015. I purchased my

first Model A over 34 years ago

(has it really been that long al-

ready?). Thanks to many of you, I

have had more fun, driven more

Model A miles, and learned more

about the Model A since joining the

Meadowlarks six years ago than in

the previous 28 years com-

bined. You have elected a fantas-

tic and energetic group to serve

with me as officers and board

members this year. We are al-

ready working hard to schedule events

and activities that give you the opportunity

to have fun and drive your Model A. The

key word is opportunity. I encourage

each of you to make the choice

to participate in your club's activities as

your own schedule allows. If you have a

suggestion for a group activity, or any-

thing else regarding the club, please don't

hesitate to mention it to myself or any of-

ficer or board member. We will discuss

your concerns or ideas at the next board

meeting, and give you feedback. I look

forward to an exciting and eventful year.

See you down the road,

Greg Bowden

President's Message

February 2015

Hen’s Nest First Hen's Nest of the new year. Lets put our thinking caps on. Nancy and I thought we would talk about some things we can do for this year. Would like to come up with some ideas that would bring more Ladies to the meetings. So hope fully we can come up with some great ideas and maybe put a schedule together for the up coming meetings. Maybe some crafts, speakers, games and etc.

If you know of some one who could do a demo or you want to do a demo for us let us know. If you are unable to come to the meeting and have some idea's please give us a call or send an email. Nancy Hanshaw 1-402-423-4448 vghanshaw@aol.com Anne Krueger 402 393-8274 akru@cox.net Hope to see you at the next meeting. Nancy and Anne

TECH TALK for February

The Tech Talk following the February meeting will be on front floor boards of the Model A. We will check out the differences through the four year period and see what attachments the boards had. DG

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Treats for the February Meeting: Melody Grigsby and Suzanne Earnest Please sign up for the up-coming meetings. Sign up sheet will be at the February Meeting. Denkers are missing a butter knife that they brought for treats at the December meeting.

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Volume 47, Issue 2 Upcoming Events

Upcoming Activities — Mark your calendar

Feb. 6 & 7 Wichita Swap Meet http://www.wichitaas.com/swapmeet/swapmeet.html Feb. 14 General Meeting Feb. 20 (FRIDAY) Eat out at Buccaneer Bay (see below) Feb. 21 Board Meeting 5PM followed by Bunco Party with Soup Supper (see below) Feb. 28 Tour to Tractor Museum and Quilt Museum in Lincoln (see page 3) March 14 General Meeting March 8 ENWI Car Council Swap Meet in Lincoln March 15 Bowling at Wildcat Lanes, Papillion, followed by Board Meeting (more next month) March 19 Eat out at Brazen Head Irish Pub April 11 Highway Pickup April 11 General Meeting April 17 (FRIDAY) Eat out at Twisted Tail Steakhouse — Regularly scheduled meetings and Eat-outs not added below May 17 Tour to Alpacas of the Heartland May 31 Breakfast Picnic July 18 Gretna Parade August 29 Club Picnic Big events this summer: June 6 Skills, Grilles, and Grills Car Show at Gretna High School June 8-12 2015 Regional Meet in NW Missouri (see page 3) August 16 Vintage Wheels at the Fort Car Show Tentative dates for summer tours and events: June 25-28 Tour to Boone, Iowa (see page 3) July ?? Possible Tour to Door County, Wisconsin (8-12 days) (see page 6) July 30-Aug. 2 Tour to Greenfield, Iowa (see page 6)

Eat out at Bay Hills Golf Club at Buccaneer Bay

February 20, 2015 6:30PM Ken Grigsby has been raving about the Prime Rib

at this place, so we are going to try it out. Peek at

the menu at http://www.bayhillsgolfclub.com/facilities/

and then scroll down to ‘View Menu.’ Other en-

trees, sandwiches, and salads are available also.

Ken says it’s a very casual place and also has an ex-

tensive bar.

Take HWY 75 south from Omaha, turn RIGHT on

Bay Road (just south of the Platter River). Turn

RIGHT on Buccaneer Blvd. The Bay Hills Golf Club is

at 3200 Buccaneer Blvd.

Be sure to sign up or let Ken Grigsby (402-296-

3690) know if you will be attending.

BUNCO PARTY & SOUP SUPPER February 21, 2015

Supper around 6:30PM Bunco starts around 7:30PM at the Douglas County Health Cen-

ter. This promises to be another great time. A sign-up sheet will be at the February general meeting for you to sign up and indicate the dish you wish to bring. Prizes will be awarded to the top Bunko performers and the biggest losers. If you change your plans or don’t sign up at the meeting, please contact Greg Bowden (402-210-9146).

February Board Meeting 5PM on Feb. 21 at Douglas County Health Center Town Hall

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Volume 47, Issue 2 Upcoming Events

Tractors, Quilts, and Ice Cream Tour February 28, 2015 Go back to School for a day. Join us for a field trip to the University of Nebraska Lincoln East Campus. We will be taking a tour of The Larson Test and Power Tractor Museum and the International Quilt Study Center and Museum. We will have lunch and recess at the UNL Dairy Store. We will also be taking a tour of the Dairy Store where they will show us how they make cheese and ice cream. We will meet at The Flying J’s Truck Stop (exit 432) South West Corner at I-80 and Hwy 31 (Nebraska Crossing Exit) At 8:45 to Depart at 9:00 AM. Contact John Leddy (402) 706-8140 for questions or more Information. Please sign up at the meeting or let John know if you plan to attend. Tractors: Suggested donation of $3.00 per person Quilts: $6.00 per person or $12.00 per family http://tractormuseum.unl.edu/ http://dairystore.unl.edu/ http://www.quiltstudy.org/visit/ PS: If it’s a nice day and you decide to drive your ‘A,’ talk to John about where and when to meet in Lincoln.

Regional Meet News There is lots more info on the NW Missouri Web site. See http://2015regional.com/ There will be lots of tours plus Technical Seminars, Car Games, and a Hubley Derby. The Registration Form and hotel information is available on the web. They are having a raffle for a gas pump from Gas Pump Heaven. It is a Wayne 615 6 Gallon *Replica Visible Pump that is 7’6” inches tall.

Mark your calendar for JUNE 8-12

Come and Blow off some Steam June 25 –June 28 We will be taking a 400 mile tour out to ride

the Boone Scenic train in Boone Iowa,

and touring some of the local attraction in

Boone and Ames Iowa. So mark your Calen-

dars, and ask your boss for a couple days

off. We are planning an “A” great trip. More

details to follow. Contact John Leddy for ques-

tions (402) 706-8140

http://www.booneiowa.us/en/

convention__visitors_bureau/plan_your_visit/

We will be staying 3 nights at the American Inn

in Boone June 25, 26, 27 and check out on the

28th. To reserve a room, call Kathy at (office)

(515) 432-4322 and mention that you are with

the Meadowlark Model A Ford Club. Rooms

have been blocked off for us, so you need to

reserve one of the Meadowlark rooms under

your own name. http://www.americaninn-

suites.com/

Tickets for the train are sold on a first come

first serve basis. Please call 1-800-625-0319 to

purchase your tickets as soon as possi-

ble. We will ride the steam train June 27,

2015 at 1:30pm. The price is $20 for

Adult, $7 Kids 3-12, and kids 3 and under are

free if they sit on your lap. http://www.scenic-

valleyrr.com/

If you are a little computer savvy, there is a

thing called a Groupon where you may buy two

Adult tickets for $32, which is an $8 savings. It

works good, but you still have to confirm the

date (June 27) and time (1:30pm) and voucher

number with the Boone station.

https://www.groupon.com/biz/boone-ia/

boone-scenic-valley-railroad-museum

Hope you can come with us. It should be a fun

trip.

More upcoming events on page 6

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Volume 47, Issue 2 Past Events

Annual Banquet January 2015

Left: one of the groups enjoying the cocktail hour. Right: outgoing President, Doug Heeren, is show-ing off the gift presented to him by incoming Pres-ident, Greg Bowden.

Greg Bowden receives the presidential plaque that lists all the presidents who have served since the Meadowlark Club was formed in 1962 from Doug Heeren.

Installation of board members and officers who are new or changing positions: Mike Tritsch, Esther Mil-ler, Dave Miller, John Leddy, Ken Grigsby, and Greg Bowden. Mike Cahalane could not attend.

Left: Doug Heeren pre-sents Family of the Year award to Anne and Ken Krueger. Right: Suzanne and Charlie Earnest show off their award for driving the most miles in 2014: 3,981 miles!

More banquet pictures on page 5 >>>

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Volume 47, Issue 2 Past Events

Eat out at Azteca Seventeen Meadowlarks enjoyed a great Mexican dinner at Azteca on January 15. Lots of fun things happen at eat-outs. At this one, the McKinney’s presented Dale Jergensen with a six-pack of a new beer brand: Dale’s Pale Ale.

Indoor Air Show

On January 17th, 14 Meadowlarks enjoyed a great lunch at Parker's Smokehouse near Ashland, followed by a tour of the Strategic Air and Space Museum. Besides the normal aircraft displays, also fea-tured was the annual "Indoor Air Show", where the massive restoration hanger was open for local flying clubs to demonstrate

their flying skills of their small (and some not so small) airplanes, helicopters, and other flying machines. Those attending included Bob Benton, Lee Hendrix, Dale Jergensen, Ken and Melody Grigs-by, Ed and Sue Dellinger, Greg, Priscilla and Julia Bowden, and John, Kristy, Daniel, and Emily Leddy.

Naughty Santa Gift Exchange at the Banquet. Janet Benton and Mike Tritsch were delighted with their gifts, which were some of the most highly sought. Barney and Patty Deden (middle) are choosing their gifts.

Regional Planning Committee for 2017 Regional Co-chairs:

Dale Jergensen & Greg Bowden ENWI Car Council Representatives – Gayle Hanshaw and

Howard Denker

Car Show Committee (Gretna Skills) - Dale Jergensen, Anne

Krueger, Charlie Earnest, Ken Grigsby, El Gertner, Greg

Bowden

General Meeting Treat Organizer- Anne Krueger

Car Show Committee (Fort Omaha) Barney Deden, Don

Graves, Bob McKinney, Noodells, Heerens Newsletter Ad Manager- Don Noodell

White Elephant Sale (Nov 2015 meeting)- VP and Treasurer

(Ken Grigsby and Mike Cahalane)

Historian- Janet Graves

Club website - Janet Graves

Breakfast Picnic (May)-Dave & Esther Miller Photographer(s) – Greg Bowden, Dale Jergensen, Karen Noodell, Vicki Heeren, Janet Graves, and others

Club Picnic (fall)-Need to fill Librarian - Mary McKinney

Highway Pickups- Howard Denker Newsletter Editor- Janet Graves for 2015/Mike Tritsch

Annual Banquet (Jan 2016) - Need to fill Newsletter Publisher - Janet Graves

Food Bank Chair- Don Noodell Tech Talk Chairman- Don Graves

Sunshine Reporter - Mary McKinney Hen’s Nest Topics- Anne Krueger and Nancy Hanshaw

National Newsletter Reporter - Greg Bowden Kitty Keeper- Nikki Anderson

Post Office Pickup- Ken Grigsby, Barney Deden, and Mike Cahalane

Membership Chairman – Don Graves

Parade Chairman (Gretna Parade)- Bob McKinney Monthly Eat Out Chairperson - Anne Krueger

Tour Committee – Appointed as needed, based on particular tour

Annual Mileage Chairman – Dale Jergensen

Sgt–at-arms- Steve Anderson Club Store – Don Noodell

More Upcoming Events

Tour to Greenfield, Iowa

July 30—August 2 Where can you experience a restored 1896

Opera House, a renovated 1940’s hotel, a

farm which was owned by Vice President Hen-

ry Wallace (FDR’s VP from 1941-45) an avia-

tion museum, an antique car museum and

more? Join us for the cruise to Greenfield,

Iowa and experience the E. E. Warren Cultural

Center, Hotel Greenfield, the Iowa Aviation

Museum and the Schildberg’s Antique Muse-

um plus some surprises!

Gayle & Nancy Hanshaw

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Volunteers and Committees for 2015

Tour to Door County, Wisconsin July ??

We are planning a longer Model A driving tour to Wisconsin some time in July. Door County is in the Northeast corner—the little peninsula that juts out between Lake Michigan and Green Bay. There are lots of attractions there, including lighthouses, state parks, lake views, antique stores, etc. We are thinking this will take some-where between 8 and 12 days. The date details are not made yet because we need to know who wants to join us. Then, we can get together and decide on the details. If you are interested, sign up at the meeting or call Don & Janet Graves.

MY FIRST MODEL A by Barney Deden

In 1957 while a Sophomore in high school and growing up on a farm, my younger brother and I gave a neighboring farmer $5.00 for a 1929 Model A which I found out later was a “Special Coupe”. The farmer had converted the A into a field wagon. He had removed the trunk lid and rear panel and slipped a small pickup box into the opening and used the A to drive to and from his fields and carry 5 gallon cans of fuel for his tractor. At the end of the farming season the engine failed him and he parked the A under a tree and used a tree branch to hoist the engine out of the car. He decided to give up on the repairs and sold us the car “where is and as is.”

After closing the $5.00 deal my brother and I took a farm truck to the “shade tree garage” and used the truck hoist to lift one end of the A. We took 2 wheels and tires from a piece of our farm equipment, mounted them on the front of the A and towed it out from under the tree and sifted through the dirt to

find the engine parts where the farmer had dropped them as he tore down the engine. We towed the car and took several bushel baskets of parts back to our farm shop. Everyone except my brother and I thought this was nothing but a piece of junk. We spent most of our spare time the following fall and winter putting the car back together. A piece of sheet metal was used to cover the missing roof, several colors of leftover paint cov-ered the bare metal and old parts scavenged from friends and neighbors were life savers to two teenagers who knew nothing about Model A Fords. During the remainder of our high school and college years we drove the A whenever we had the oppor-tunity, through mud holes, across fields hunting pheasants and

rabbits, to country softball games and to many events when we were home from college.

After graduation I went back to my home community to teach in the local high school. I was so busy I did not have time to drive the A and it sat beside an obsolete manure spreader in an un-used granary on the farm until 1998 when I brought it to Omaha and began what would be a 3 year restoration project. I stripped it down to the frame and built it back to its original condition with the addition of a rumble seat and a fender mounted spare tire. I did all the restoration with the exception of the body and paint work and it was truly a labor of love. Only those of us who love old cars and get great satisfaction from transforming junk into beauty understand how the time, frustration and skinned knuckles are justified by the final product. When I finished the restoration I sold the Model A to my brother for my out-of-pocket cost on the pro-

ject less $2.50 (his half of the original purchase price). It is back on the family farm where we towed it in

1957 but it now enjoys a parking spot in a cozy garage next to a modern car.

Editors’ Note: Thanks to Barney for submitting this story. We would love to hear from more members.

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Volume 47, Issue 2

Birthdays and Anniversaries

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Sunshine Report No News is Good News. We have heard a few reports of flu, but everyone seems to be surviving. If you have Sunshine news about any of our members and

would like to share it, please call Mary McKinney at 402-

332-3993. That includes good news, too.

Chris Novak and his fiancée, Becca Tyler. Chris has a 1931 Fordor Sedan.

Member News

February Day Name Event

18 Bob Benton Birthday

19 Lucy Lorence Birthday

23 Leroy Rima Birthday

March Day Name Event

1 Larry & Elaine Blecha Anniversary

1 Shizuko Chase Birthday

8 Esther Miller Birthday

15 Dot Gertner Birthday

15 Melody Grigsby Birthday

18 Ron Peterson Birthday

18 Lee & Carol Hendrix Anniversary

18 Bob & Trish Rand Anniversary

22 Paul & Shari Briese Anniversary

27 Dale Freyer Birthday

29 El & Dot Gertner Anniversary

30 Delmar & Barb Bunch Anniversary

30 Dave Miller Birthday

In Memoriam Frank Cooper Long-time Meadowlark member, Frank Cooper, passed away on January 9. Frank and his wife, Made-line, belonged to the Mead-owlarks for over 50 years. He served as Vice-President

in 1974, was on the board in 1973 and 1975, and was the club librarian in 1980. Frank and his roadster logged many a mile to all types of club functions. He was a tool and die machinist for many years and one of his masterpieces is the Model A cut-away engine he built out of junk and broken parts. Frank was pleased to have that engine displayed in Kearney at the Taulborg Auto Collection. He was al-ways busy making special tools for working on some facet of the Model A. Frank Cooper was a true Model Aer—a guy Henry Ford would have been proud of. The Meadowlarks are honoring Frank with a $50 memorial to the MAFFI museum.

Irv Holm Irv has a 1929 Closed Cab Pickup.

Welcome to our NEW MEMBERS

It’s time to sign membership forms again. Be sure you

know your membership numbers for the national clubs.

They are shown on the address labels of the magazine

mailers as shown below.

MAFCA (The Restorer) –

membership # is printed on

outside of the plastic mail-

ing envelope.

MARC (Model A News) –

membership # is printed

on the address label in-

side the mailer.

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To advertise in our newsletter, please contact our ad manager at Meadowlark Ad Manager,

PO Box 6011, Omaha, Nebraska, 68106 or MeadowlarkModelAFordClub@winstream.net

Please patronize our advertisers.

2015 Officers

President Greg Bowden 402-210-9146 GBchevy55@aol.com

VP/ Pres. Ken Grigsby 402-296-3690 jayhawksne@aol.com

Secretary Esther Miller 402-593-2009 daemiller@cox.net

Treasurer Mike Cahalane 402-298-8496 mdcahalane@windstream.net

2015 Board Members

Barney Deden 402-558-3314 barney@deden.net

Anne Krueger 402-393-8274 akru@cox.net

John Leddy 402-706-8140 dobyleddy@hotmail.com

David Miller 402-593-2009 daemiller@cox.net

Mike Tritsch 402-217-5341 easyrider_47@yahoo.com

This is the official publication of the Meadowlark Chap-

ter. Members may publish at no cost, ads for items

wanted, for sale, or trade. They are also invited to sub-

mit technical Model A information and other interesting

tidbits. Material should reach the editor by the last Sat-

urday of the month.

MONTLHY MEETINGS: Second Saturday of each month

(except January) at 6:30PM at the Douglas County

Health Center – in the Town Hall. 42nd & Woolworth

Ave. in Omaha.

Membership dues for the Meadowlark Club are $24.00 per year prorat-ed monthly for new members. Membership in one of the national clubs

is required. You may join both national clubs if you wish. MAFCA dues are $40.00 per year and MARC dues are $40.00 per year.

Prospective Members: Please call Membership Chairman,

Don Graves, (402-453-7166) for more information. Club web address: http://meadowlarks.omahaneb.org

Club web master: Janet Graves (janet@omahaneb.org)

Monthly meetings are at the Douglas County Health Center. See map and directions below.

Club Address: PO Box 6011, Omaha, NE 68106

February 2015

The Meadowlark Club is a chapter of both national clubs.

MAFCA http://www.mafca.com/

MARC http://www.modelaford.org/

Our regular meeting place (Woolworth is 5 blocks north of Center ST): Enter on the south side of the building at ground level, go past the reception desk, and take the elevator to 1st floor. Our meeting is in the Town Hall.

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