March 2014 Newsletter
“Free Spirit” Chapter of PA Officers for 2014 |
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| Director Don Sterner 121 Pheasant Drive Kutztown, pa 19530 don@buickfreespirit.org 610-285-2346 |
Assistant Director Sally Getz 1060 Main Rd Lehighton, Pa 18235 sally@buickfreespirit.org 610-377-6130 |
| Secretary Stacy Sterner 121 Pheasant Drive Kutztown, Pa 19530 stacy@buickfreespirit.org 610-285-2346 |
Treasurer Clarence Getz 1060 Main Rd Lehighton, Pa 18235 clarence@buickfreespirit.org 610-377-6130 |
| Membership Chairman Dolores Kennedy 3132 Kenwick Circle Bethlehem, pa 18017-3052 dolores@buickfreespirit.org 610-867-8962 |
Publicity Chairman |
| Kathleen Duckett kathleen@buickfreespirit.org |
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| Thomas Duckett thomas.d@buickfreespirit.org |
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| Shirley Schaffer | |
| Thomas Sylvester thomas.s@buickfreespirit.org |
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| Historian – All Members | |
| Kempton Show – Clarence & Sally Getz | |
| Newsletter – Sally Getz | |
| Photographer – All Members | |
| Property/Ways & Means – Clarence Getz | |
| Publicity – Kelly Haas | |
| Technical – All Members | |
Director’s Thoughts for March 2014
March – The days are getting longer. I, for one, am certainly glad. This has been a long hard winter for all of us. We all shoveled way more snow than we would like to. But, just remember that for every shovel full of snow, you are rewarded with excellent cardiac therapy. I know, just what you want to hear! What we all want to hear is that the temperatures are going up, the weather is improving, and it is almost time to get our Buicks our for their first ride of the season. I have my Buick stored in a garage about 3 miles from my house. I go there about 2 times a week. I start her up, let her run a while so she doesn’t freeze up, dust her off and tell her “It won’t be long now before we are out on the road again”! I know, you are saying, “this guy is nuts”, but, I’ll bet that every one of you does the same thing! I’m right, aren’t I? It’s okay, because that is what we all have in common. We love our Buicks, even in the middle of winter when all we can do is dream about nice weather and the fun we will have in the months to come.
Don
“Free Spirit” Meeting Minutes, February 4, 2014
Assistant Director, Sally Getz, called the meeting to order at 7:36 pm. There were 12 members & 4 guests present. Tonight’s guest speaker is Mr. Charlie Potts of Reading, PA. He has worked very diligently on obtaining the title, “AACA Senior Master Judge – Certified Team Captain”. He has, under his belt, 104 credits which means he has been involved as being a judge in 104 shows. Having had to attend many lectures & meetings on how to become a judge, such as he is, he continues to strive to be a fair & excellent leader, & team player. Something new for the Hershey meet for 2014, there will be a team of 7 members to the judging team instead of 5. 2 of these members will judge the Preservation Class of that year car. Mr. Potts emphasized that EACH car in its class is judged fairly. A “Trailer Queen” is judged just as intuitively as the rest of the class. If a problem arises, due to some team members who are green & who may be a little wet behind the ears, sort of speak, he comes to the rescue to make a final analysis/decision, for he is the member who signs his name to the judging form. As Mr. Potts reviewed a judging form, 400 point system, used for the Junior Class, he pointed out some important highlights one should be aware of when showing their car to be judged. EXTERIOR – Door handles are the #1 biggest culprit, scratched/pitted, for point’s deduction. INTERIOR – #1 culprit = steering wheel, cracked. CHASSIS – #1 culprit = exhaust system. A stainless steel systems acceptable as long as it is put on & looks as if it was put on from new. #2 culprit = restoration of paint, lacquer vs. base coat/clear coat. #3 culprit = undercarriage = dirty, under coated over dirt, grime, etc. #4 culprit = tires. Tires are the most important part of the car w/ judging! Radial tires, a big NO-NO!! ENGINE – area very difficult to judge. #1 = dirt is found. #2 = wrong hose clamps & poundage radiator caps found. If you win a AACA award, most times, it can increase the value of the car for up to $5,000.00!! 7 lucky recipients to have won an AACA prize of the night!
Motion made to accept meeting minutes of January as printed in the February newsletter by Dave Brady, seconded by Tom Sylvester, so carried. Motion made to accept the BOD meeting minutes of January as printed in the February newsletter by Kathleen Duckett, seconded by Thomas Duckett, so carried. Treasurer’s report for January was deferred.
- I. Committee Reports
- A. Historian – “Get Well” cards were signed for Don Sterner & Paul Schaffer.
- B. Kempton – Contract obtained for October 26, 2014 show. No changes.
- C. Membership – obtaining name badges for new members has been initiated.
- D. Newsletter – Mr. George Grossman volunteered to submit articles on members & their cars. To date, there are 2 outstanding newsletter ad renewals.
- E. Programs – Sally listed the speakers for 2014
- F. Publicity – no report
- G. Technical – no report
- H.Ways and Means – 2 more chapter BUICK blankets were sold: Idaho & Indiana. Sally received a “Thank you” from a fellow BCA member who bought a blanket. He wrote, “I am impressed!! It is beautiful!! Thanks so much for taking this ‘risk’ to design & make this beautiful tapestry.” Dave Brady spoke of Lou Jenkins (deceased) Restorations as he set the standards of Buick restorations. Lou used to present seminars during the February Atlantic City Convention Auto Show. Dave Brady has since taken over this duty in presenting these seminars.
- II. OLD BUSINESS
- Contribution Request letters have been sent to BCA & to J. C. Taylor for the 2014 awards fund.
- Tours: Finalization for 2014 chapter tours will be completed during the BOD meeting to be held on Tuesday, March 4 @ 5:00pm.
- April 9th Stacy Sterner will be taking the chapter on a tour to Martin Guitar, Nazareth, PA. Watch next month’s newsletter to make your reservation(s).
- III. NEW BUSINESS
- Please make this change in your 2014 membership roster: slreiniger@verizon.net Motion made to adjourn by George Grossman, seconded by Dave Brady, so carried @ 9:30pm.
Respectfully submitted: Sally Getz, Assistant Director
April 9, 2014 – Martin Guitar Tour PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR THIS DATE!! Stacy Sterner is going to take the chapter on a tour to the Martin Guitar, Nazareth, on Wednesday, April 9, 2014 ( no weekend tours). This should give you enough time to swap work days, ask off, or what ever you need to do to enjoy a nice day out w/ the ‘Free Spirit’ chapter & its’ members! Please wear CLOSED toe shoes, is handicapped accessible, & pictures are allowed. Lunch following @ 248 Diner, Easton, PA. Member = $1.50, nonmember/guest = $3.00. Please make check payable to “Free spirit” Chapter of PA, submit to Stacy Sterner, 121 Pheasant Drive, Kutztown, PA 19530. 610-285-2346, stacy@buickfreespirit.orgWindows vs. Ford For all of us who feel only the deepest love & affection for the way computers have enhanced our lives, read on. At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto ind. & stated,- “If Ford had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, We would all be driving $25 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon.”
In response to Bill’s comments, Ford issued a press release stating:
- “If Ford had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be Driving cars with the following characteristics (& I just love this part):
- For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash – twice a day.
- Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.
- Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, 7 reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.
- Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down & refuse to start, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.
- Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was .5% of the roads.
- The oil, water temperatures, 7 alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single: “This Car Has performed An Illegal Operation” warning light.
- The airbag system would ask, “Are you sure?” before deploying.
- Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out & refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key & grabbed hold of the radio antenna.
- Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.
- You’d have to press the “Start” button to turn the engine off.
PS – I’d like to add that when all else fails, you could call “customer service” in some foreign country & be instructed in some foreign language how to fix your car yourself!!
1. It’s possible for your body to survive without a surprisingly large fraction of its internal organs. Even if you lose your stomach, your spleen, 75% of your liver, 80% of your intestines, 1 kidney, 1 lung, and virtually every organ from your pelvic & groin area, you wouldn’t be very healthy, but you would live.
2. During your lifetime, you will produce enough saliva to fill 2 swimming pools. Actually, Saliva is more important than you realize. If your saliva cannot dissolve something, you cannot taste it.
3. The largest cell in the human body is the female egg & the smallest is the male sperm. The egg is actually the only cell in the body that is visible by the naked eye.
4. The strongest muscle in the human body is the tongue & the hardest bone is the jawbone.
5. Human feet have 52 bones, accounting for 1/4 of all the human body’s bones.
6. Feet have 500,000 sweat glands & can produce more than a pint of sweat a day.
7. The acid in your stomach is strong enough to dissolve razor blades. The reason it doesn’t eat away at your stomach is that the cells of your stomach wall renew themselves so frequently that you get a new stomach lining every 3-4 days.
8. The human lungs contain approximately 2,400 kilometers (1,500 mi) of airways and 300 to 500 million hollow cavities, having a total surface area of about 70 square meters, roughly the same area as one side of a tennis court. Furthermore, if all of the capillaries that surround the lung cavities were unwound & laid end to end, they would extend for about 992 kilometers. Also, your left lung is smaller than your right lung to make room for your heart.
9. Sneezes regularly exceed 100 mph, while coughs clock in at about 60 mph.
10. Your body gives off enough heat in 30 minutes to bring 1/2 gallon of water to a boil.
11. Your body has enough iron in it to make a nail 3 inches long.
12. Earwax production is necessary for good ear health. It protects the delicate inner ear from bacteria, fungus, dirt & even insects. It also cleans & lubricates the ear canal.
13. Everyone has a unique smell, except for identical twins, who smell the same.
14. Your teeth start growing 6 months before you are born. This is why 1 out of every 2,000 newborn infants has a tooth when they are born.
15. A baby’s head is 1/4 of its total length, but by the age of 25 will only be 1/8 of its total length. This is because people’s heads grow at a much slower rate than the rest of their bodies.
16. Babies are born with 300 bones, but by adulthood the number is reduced to 206. Some of the bones, like skull bones, get fused into each other, bringing down the total number.
17. It’s not possible to tickle yourself. This is because when you attempt to tickle yourself you are totally aware of the exact time & manner in which the tickling will occur, unlike when someone else tickles you.
18. Less than 1/3 of the human race has 20-20 vision. This means that 2 out of 3 people cannot see perfectly.
19. Your nose can remember 50,000 different scents. But if you are a woman, you are a better smeller than men, and will remain a better smeller throughout your life.
20. The human body is estimated to have 60,000 miles of blood vessels.
21. The three things pregnant women dream most of during their first trimester are frogs, worms and potted plants. Scientists have no idea why this is so, but attribute it to the growing imbalance of hormones in the body during pregnancy.
22. The life span of a human hair is 3 to 7 years on average. Every day the average person loses 60-100 strands of hair. But don’t worry, you must lose over 50% of your scalp hairs before it is apparent to anyone.
23. The human brain cell can hold 5 times as much information as an encyclopedia. Your brain uses 20% of the oxygen that enters your bloodstream, & is itself made up of 80% water. Though it interprets pain signals from the rest of the body, the brain itself cannot feel pain.
24. The tooth is the only part of the human body that can’t repair itself.
25. Your eyes are always the same size from birth but your nose & ears never stop growing.
26. By 60 years of age, 60% of men and 40% of women will snore.
27. We are about 1 cm taller in the morning than in the evening, because during normal activities during the day, the cartilage in our knees & other areas slowly compress.
28. The brain operates on the same amount of power as 10-watt light bulb, even while you are sleeping. In fact, the brain is much more active at night than during the day.
29. Nerve impulses to & from the brain travel as fast as 170 mph. Neurons continue to grow throughout human life. Information travels at different speeds within different types of neurons.
30. It is a fact that people who dream more often & more vividly, on an average have a higher Intelligence Quotient.
31. The fastest growing nail is on the middle finger.
32. Facial hair grows faster than any other hair on the body. This is true for men as well as women.
33. There are as many hairs per square inch on your body as a chimpanzee.
34. A human fetus acquires fingerprints at the age of 3 months.
35. By the age of 60, most people will have lost about 1/2 their taste buds.
36. About 32 million bacteria call every inch of your skin home. But don’t worry, a majority of these are harmless or even helpful bacteria.
37. The colder the room you sleep in, the higher the chances are that you’ll have a bad dream.
38. Human lips have a reddish color because of the great concentration of tiny capillaries just below the skin.
39. Three hundred million cells die in the human body every minute.
40. Like fingerprints, every individual has a unique tongue print that can be used for identification.
41. A human head remains conscious for about 15 to 20 seconds after it has been decapitated.
42. It takes 17 muscles to smile and 43 to frown.
43. Humans can make do longer without food than sleep. Provided there is water, the average human could survive a month to 2 months without food depending on their body fat & other factors. Sleep deprived people, however, start experiencing radical personality & psychological changes after only a few sleepless days. The longest recorded time anyone has ever gone without sleep is 11 days, at the end of which the experimenter was awake, but stumbled over words, hallucinated & frequently forgot what he was doing.
44. The most common blood type in the world is Type O. The rarest blood type, A-H or Bombay blood, due to the location of its discovery, has been found in less than 100 people since it was discovered.
45. Every human spent about 1/2 an hour after being conceived, as a single cell. Shortly afterward, the cells begin rapidly dividing & begin forming the components of a tiny embryo.
46. Right-handed people live, on average, 9 years longer than left-handed people do. This is largely due to the fact that a majority of the machines & tools we use on a daily basis are designed for those who are right handed, making them somewhat dangerous for lefties to use & resulting in thousands of accidents & deaths each year.
47. Your ears secrete more earwax when you are afraid than when you aren’t.
48. Koalas & primates are the only animals with unique fingerprints.
49. Humans are the only animals to produce emotional tears.
50. The human heart creates enough pressure to squirt blood 30 feet in the air.
Now, I need to put this into perspective, because I’ve set out a terrifying scenario, but how close could we be to this truth? I can’t speak for the North American market, but European car dealers & national sales companies are under a real threat in that their revenues are being eroded faster than you might think. It’s always fascinating what we can learn from business across the pond.
I spoke @ a conference recently in the U.K. attended by a significant number of top automotive dealers 7 senior professionals, w/ representation from the U.S. 7 other parts of Europe. My speech was about the way in which the supply of parts to the collision industry was migrating away from the OEM to non-OEM & recycled or “green” parts.
I know LKQ has been in the U.S. for some time & has provided amazing solutions to the collision industry. Now they are in the U.K. They purchased a company called Euro Car Parts & recently bought 5 significant jobber outlets to become 2 1/2 times bigger than their nearest competitor in refinish distribution. They drop off 48,000 deliveries per day, which is > Amazon over here. And they have 148 branches in a very small country, delivering anywhere in less than 1.5 hours.
Meanwhile, vehicle manufacturers’ national sales organizations make money through only 3 primary revenue streams. The 1st is new car sales, but the margins here are low & are under ever-increasing pressure from the Internet. The 2nd is from finance commissions on new car sales, but in many cases, these just prop up the profit from the loss on a new car. So the final income stream is from parts sales.
You might think this is fantastic, but let’s consider the following – 70% of parts profit comes from parts supplied to the collision industry. The other 30% comes from service & hard parts to independents. So a dealership’s primary revenue stream is from collision, but most main dealers are actually shutting their body repair shops, because the door rate is significantly less for service.
The problem is, if the vehicle manufacturer’s national sales companies make most of their money from collision repair, & many dealers are getting out of collision repair, who is going to buy the OEM parts? Insurers here mandate non-OEM or green parts on most vehicles over 3 years old. Body shops see more & more retail work because of high deductibles. And guess what? When the consumer pays the bill, they want cheaper parts – non-OEM & recycled come to the forefront.
Add in the influence of LKQ outstanding logistics service, & the main dealer is squeezed from all angles. It’s difficult to compete with the service & delivery of LKQ & it’s almost impossible to compete on price. Add to this the challenge of insurance carriers mandating non-OEM parts for older vehicles, & you’ll see the vehicle manufacturer’s genuine parts supply drying up. It gets worse, because we expect to see deals being done with insurers by LKQ to now supply paint, consumables & parts to DRP collision centers.
So, where does this leave the dealer? Well, if the national sales organizations of vehicle manufacturers hardly make money on new cars & almost nothing from finance, & with bonuses generated out of registering new vehicles & parts sales, the dealership’s future seems compromised. Vehicle manufacturers will inevitably have to change their pricing model, which may mean common parts aligned to compete w/ the aftermarket imports, & nonpopular parts being priced high on order to claw back margin.
We’ve already seen the Volkswagen Group national sales organization in the U.K. set up a facility called TPS (Trade part Supplies) in order to supply direct to collision repairers, cutting out the car dealer. You can imagine how well that’s gone down!
As I see it, if 70% of the profit comes from collision repair parts & LKQ & vehicle manufacturers decide to go direct, how can the dealer make money? And where does that leave the collision repair industry?
This is something to watch in all markets, as it could have a significant impact on he collision repair industry as we know it today.
1-2 – Atlantic City Convention Center Auto show & Auction
2 – 4 – 7th Annual Hamburg Swap Meet, Hamburg, PA. 610-944-8619
4 – Monthly chapter meeting, Starlite Diner & Lounge, Rts 100/78, 7:30pm. Join members for supper @ 6:00pm. Guest speaker is Tracy Trapp, March of Dimes, Lehigh Valley Chapter!
April 2014 (WEATHER PERMITTING)
1 – Monthly chapter meeting, Starlite Diner & Lounge, Rts. 100/78, 7:30 pm. Join members for supper @ 6:00 pm.
11-13 – 32nd Spring Englishtown, NJ
12 – Misercordia University Car Show, Dallas, Pa.
23-27 – Spring Carlisle & Auction, Carlisle, Pa
26 – Bethany Wesleyan Church Car Show, Cherryville, Pa. 610-393-8636
May 2014
4 – 36th Annual GM on Display, Macungie Park, Pa. Don, 610-640-7464
6 – Monthly chapter meeting, Starlite Diner & Lounge, Rts. 100/78, 7:30 p.m. Join members for supper @ 6:00 p.m. Guest speaker will be Ms. Pam Bechtel from Meals on Wheels, Allentown, Pa. Do you know of someone who may benefit from this local service?
- 1937 Buick, original Owners Manual, MINT condition! $40.00 610-489-1253 1960 Buick LeSabre Convertible, red color, 99% original, garaged x 28 yrs! Solid frame & floor pans. Int. intact w/ body in good condition. $8,000.00. Pics available upon request, mrsfink117@ptd.net.
- 1968 Buick Electra 225 Limited 4-dr Htp, Cameo Cream w/ black vinyl top & interior, excellent unrestored condition, 38K mi. All power, AC, 2nd owner, Old Cars Report valued at $12,000, asking $10,900. 610-530-1553, dwebster80@gmail.com
- 1972-79 Front Brake Rotors, Full Size Buick, new & US made w/ bearing races, $65.00/pair. kriebel12@verizon.net, 610-489-1253
- 1969 Skylark Convertible – kimberly.pavlick@scranton.edu
- 1981 Buick Regal V-6 with A/T, A/C, new paint, excellent interior. Runs Good! Rally wheels. Asking $5,500 OBO. Tom Sylvester, 610-366-7151
Used it to haul children to school?
Need to earn money to keep her running great?
Why not consider joining Avon and keep your baby in fantastic shape!
Mary Lacy, Ind. AVON Sales Rep.
639 W Tilghman St. Allentown, PA 18102
www.youravon.com/marylacy
610-820-9188
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