The Porthole
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The Porthole July/August 2017 Newsletter of the Mason-Dixon Chapter of the BCA UPCOMING EVENTS -- MARK YOUR CALENDAR Mason-Dixon chapter items are in red 2017 Thursday-Saturday July 13-15 – Grant Miller’s Central Penn Annual Antique & Classic Auction, Lock Haven, PA Sunday July 23 –Mason-Dixon Chapter Picnic/Meeting Mr. and Mrs. Tom Bush will be hosting a picnic at their home. Covered dish supper. The club will cover the cost of the meat. Please contact them at 717-938- 8931 as to what you are bringing by July 19th. (So as not to have an over-abundance of bean dishes etc.) Also RSVP by the 19th so they can order the meat. Directions to the Bush home: Exit 39A off I 83 (Lewisberry Road). Turn left onto Route 114 (Lewisberry Road). Follow to Route 382 turn right onto King Street (just after Mt. Zion Church). Then left onto Paul Avenue, follow road .7 miles to the end of the road, turn right onto 575 Paul Ave. They are at the top of the hill. Again RSVP by July 19th - [email protected] or call 717- 938-8931. This picnic replaces our regular meeting at Hoss's. Thursday through Saturday August 3-5 – Mecum Auction in Harrisburg August 4-6 – Das Awkscht Fescht. Macungie, Pa. Visit http://www.awkscht.com for more information. Friday and Saturday August 11-12 - 48th Annual Car Show at the Swigart Museum in Huntingdon, PA. Wednesday August 15 – Lititz Lions Car show in downtown Lititz – all cars participating must be pre-registered - for info contact [email protected] or 717-626-2450. Sunday, August 20 – Blue/Gray Chapter of the Olds Club of America car show at the AACA Museum. See flyer at the end of this newsletter. Monday Sept. 4 – Ludwig’s Corner show – a Labor Day tradition. Saturday Sept. 16 - The 16th Annual Neffsville Car Show. This show attracts over 500 cars every year! It is sponsored by Lancaster Sunrise Rotary, which merged with the prior sponsor, Lancaster Northeast Rotary Club. The combined Rotary organization will carry on the tradition with great food, lots of door prizes, and live music by The Nomads. Sunday Sept. 17 – Hagley Museum Show Sunday, Sept 24 – B.O.O.M’s All GM Show. The annual Buick Show at Boyle Buick-GMC, 3015 Emmorton Road, Abingdon, MD. 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday Sept. 27-Oct. 1 – Fall Carlisle Thursday-Saturday Sept. 28-30 – Fall Carlisle Auction September 29-October 1st. - BCA Northeastern Regional Meet Upstate New York Chapter, Clifton Park NY. See additional information at the end of this Porthole. Sunday October 1stMason-Dixon Chapter Membership Meeting, 3 p.m. NOTE CHANGE OF DATE AND PLACE. Infinito’s Restaurant 2122 South Queen Street York, PA. Off route 83 exit 16B. Come for dinner first. Meeting to follow. Sunday October 1 and Monday October 2 - Morphy Auction of Automobilia, Petroliana, and Automobiles, Denver PA Wednesday-Saturday October 4-7 – Hershey AACA Fall Meet Wednesday October 4 – “Night at the Museum” at the AACA Museum. Sunday October 15 –Delaware County Community College Show (HCCP) October 29 - 41st annual old car show & flea market sponsored by the Free Spirit Chapter BCA in Kempton, PA. See the Buick Bugle “Coming Events” for more information. Friday November 3 – Autos & Ales at the AACA Museum Thursday November 23 - The 2017 Frostbite Run, sponsored by the Historic Car Club of Pennsylvania will take place on at 8:00 am Thanksgiving Day, the Massey House (Lawrence Road off of West Chester Pike or Springfield Road). We ask that you bring a new unwrapped toy to donate for the United States Marine Corps "Toys for Tots" Drive and a non-perishable food item for the local food bank. Free donuts and coffee will be provided by HCCP. Sunday, November 26 Mason-Dixon Chapter Membership Meeting. 3 p.m., Hoss’ Restaurant, Mechanicsburg, PA 2018 Friday-Sunday February 9-11 – Atlantic City Car Corral, Flea Market & Auction – Atlantic City Convention Center Wednesday-Sunday April 18-22 – Spring Carlisle Thursday-Saturday April 19-21 – Spring Carlisle Auction Wednesday May 2 – Sunday May 6 – Delaware Valley Region CCCA Eastern Grand Classic, to be held at Gateway Gettysburg, the Wyndham Gettysburg Hotel, 95 Presidential Circle, Gettysburg, PA 17325. This is a great venue for an antique car event, minutes from the historic battlefield sites. Support your Buick Club events! There are many car shows, but no others that focus specifically on our favorite marque. Please Note....if you'd like to submit any information, articles, cars for sale...whatever....contact newsletter editor John Hess at (717) 757-7666 or via email at: [email protected] or via snail mail at 1285 Christensen Rd., York, Pa. 17402. Directors Message At this writing we are preparing for our trip to Brookfield Wisconsin for the 2017 Buick Nationals. Almost 3 months after my rotator cuff surgery I was finally able to do some work on the cars only last week. Still trying to be careful about my right arm and not pushing it. So the 1937 is serviced and hopefully ready for the trek. We will be on the road for about 11 days which will include the meet and the Pre-War After Tour. I thank all who helped with our 9th Annual Freysinger Car show held on June 3rd. Mostly the Freysinger family and staff for all their support. Dave Hare for all the Pre-Registration. Dick Beckley who handled on-site registration. Richard Sills and Dick did compiling of ballots for the awards. Barry McClair, Jim Smith and Jack Ulrich for parking the entrants in the correct spaces. Chuck Hoffman for taking photos and doing the write up for the Bugle and our newsletter. Tim Spigelmyer and all the above for help setting up and teardown. Our ladies Gwen Miller, Karen Beckley and my wife Joan for 50/50 ticket sales and T shirt sales. We actually have only one left! So we must order more. Everyone I spoke with indicated that this was the best show yet. We had a great variety of cars especially to my delight there were 3 1920s Buicks. The only comment was from Rich Murray to suggest that next year we shorten the day to give awards sooner so the Freysinger staff could get the lot re-populated faster. That was the good news….. The Monday following the show I received a phone call from Gary Freysinger to say that they will no longer be able to hold the show at that site. His reason was as much as he wants to support the show it is the push from GM for sales quotas. To shut down their lot and move 75 or so cars on the one day that they get most of their walk in business was not helping them to get their quotas. We are looking into some other venues for a show and we can discuss them at future meetings. Possibly still retaining sponsorship from Freysingers. Don’t forget the upcoming July 23rd Picnic/Meeting at the Bush residence. See details elsewhere in the Porthole. We are still in need of an assistant director since Tim Spigelmyer has stepped down. I sure can use the help so, someone please help me! Please see upcoming events in the newsletter. Larry DON'T FORGET...MARK YOU CALENDAR!!! Sunday July 23 –Mason-Dixon Chapter Picnic/Meeting Mr. and Mrs. Tom Bush will be hosting a picnic at their home. Covered dish supper. The club will cover the cost of the meat. Please contact them at 717-938-8931 as to what you are bringing by July 19th. (So as not to have an over-abundance of bean dishes etc.) Also RSVP by the 19th so they can order the meat. Directions to the Bush home: Exit 39A off I 83 (Lewisberry Road). Turn left onto Route 114 (Lewisberry Road). Follow to Route 382 turn right onto King Street (just after Mt. Zion Church). Then left onto Paul Avenue, follow road .7 miles to the end of the road, turn right onto 575 Paul Ave. They are at the top of the hill. Again RSVP by July 19th - [email protected] or call 717-938-8931. This picnic replaces our regular meeting at Hoss's. Buick Wagon Master at York US 30 Dragway in 1966. In the summer 0f 1966 I was a 16 year old car freak and my dad was the Sales Manager at Bratton Buick 150 North Beaver Street in York, Pa. York US30 Dragway was at its peak in drag racing popularity. Match races between funny cars and dragsters, and exhibition runs by specialty cars was a big draw for spectators. Some time ago the Buick Bugle had a book review by Helen Hutchings on the Tommy Ivo dragster which was powered by 4 Buick engines. I can’t recall what issue it was, nor can I find it. I remember that article leaving me thinking was that the dragster that Bratton Buick sponsored for some exhibition races at York US 30 in the summer of 1966? After digging out some old photographs (black and white unfortunately) the answer is “Yes”. I did some internet searching and found the following web site: (http://www.speedhunters.com/2009/07/guest_blog_tony_thacker_nhra_museum_gt_gt/) Check it out. It seems that race opportunities were getting less frequent for Tommy Ivo and his dragster as the Funny Cars became more popular, and in 1963 he sold his car to one of his crew members who after a period of time thought the car needed bodywork to compete with racers of the day.