Monthly Crusin
Cruisin’ at the speed of fun
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Mass Cruisers Auto Club February 2020
New Year Brunch at the Red Wing Diner
Big E Auto Parts Swap & Sell
29th Annual Business Meeting
Rich Armando presenting the club’s annual 50-50 donation check to Tony Romano from the Wrentham Development Center.
INSIDE: 2020 CLUB CALENDAR AUTO SHOWS & EVENTS ADULT COLORING BOOK
We’re on the Web
Celebrating 29 Years of Cruisin’ Volume 29 Issue 2
www.masscruisers.com And Facebook
Cruisin’ at the speed of fun
Monthly Crusin Contact us by snail mail: P.O. Box 217, Wrentham, MA 02093 Or by email: HO350@comcast.net
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We have moved all monthly meetings to the Bass Pro Shops Conservation Room at 1 Bass Pro Place in Foxboro, MA beginning in May. Monthly meetings will still be held the third Tuesday of the month starting at 7 PM, guests and visitors are welcome to attend. Business meetings will be held an hour earlier, club members are encouraged to attend.
Club Officers
DIRECTORY
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RIDING SHOTGUN
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BRUNCH AT THE RED WING DINER
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BIG E AUTO PARTS SWAP & SELL
Secretary: Lesley Corda-Majeski Asst. Secretary: John Guravage
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29TH ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING
Treasurer: Kevin Rushlow Asst. Treasurer: Rich Armando
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ADULT COLORING BOOK
At Large Board Member: Steve Huntington
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ADULT COLORING BOOK
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CALENDAR
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SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS
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AUTO SHOWS & EVENTS
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President: Mark Crichton Vice President: Larry Nyborn
Special Assignments Webmaster: Steve Vining
Managing Editor: John Buchanan Newsletter Editor: John Guravage Digital Graphics Editor: Diane Thorton Facebook: Patrick Touhey New Members: Lou Valentine Sgts. at Arms: Rick Lawlor John Sturniolo Charity Coord.: Open Food Pantry: Steve Fernald Bob Okerholm By-Laws: Wayne Lestan MAAC Rep: John Buchanan Cruise Nights: Steve Huntington Sponsors: John Buchanan Fred Tierney
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Riding Shotgun By Larry Nyborn
Even great clubs like the Mass Cruisers have some underlying problems. Here are my thoughts about what ails the club; many problems are COMMUNICATION related: 1. Sometimes it seems like individuals in the club operate in a vacuum. They do great work but do not inform & cooperate with the others to explain what is going on. 2. This lack of togetherness gives these members the feeling they're working alone and ultimately leads to overload & burnout. 3. New members often don't feel like they are a part of the club because a concerted effort is not made to make them feel welcome. 4. A better effort is needed to communicate with the public to let them know about the many positive benefits available by joining the Mass Cruisers. Let's see if we can make to improvements in 2020! Larry EDITORIAL NOTE: Our club V.P. Larry Nyborn has served previously as V.P. in 20132014 and two previous terms as President in 2001-2002 and again in 2012 as well as club Secretary in 1999-2000. It was after Larry’s term as club secretary that he tried to solve the club’s membership communication problems by creating a telephone tree system to communicate the growing club membership because not everyone had email accounts. This worked for a few years but tree became a chore to manage and it fell into disuse as more members had email accounts yet some members still didn’t have reliable telephone service relying on snail mail communications. Today many more of us rely on our smart phones for communication as our email accounts became overburdened with spam and ads. Yet we still have a few club members that only use telephone or snail mail newsletter communication with our club. Communication today continues to be a challenge for all car clubs including the Mass Cruisers. Hopefully Lou Valentine’s suggestion of setting up “Membership Committee” will help us resolve this for us in 2020. So, let Lou and Larry know you can volunteer to help improve our communications within as well as outside our club. Board Members: from left to right; BOD Member Steve Huntington, Sec. Lesley Corda-Majeski, Treas. Kevin Rushlow, and V.P. Larry Nyborn.
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New Year Brunch at the Red Wing Diner By Diane Thornton
Wanting to kick off 2020 with something new, I sent an email out to the club membership asking if anyone was interested in getting together for a Sunday brunch at the Red Wing Diner, one of our long time Bass Pro Shops cruise sponsors, on January 12 at 10:30 AM. Despite early morning rain which may have prevented members from bringing their collector cars that weren’t in winter storage, twenty three club members showed up and we had a great time. Senior club member Bob “Ike” Eisenhower showed up driving his white Smart Fortwo Electric instead of his white 1960 Square Bird and it drew a lot of attention from everyone. We had a great time at the Brunch and it seemed like everyone became members of the "clean plate club"! The Red Wing staff were superb, with only one muffin being forgotten (poor Johnny). Many of us said we'd definitely go back again for their brunch anytime! They're open for brunch on Saturday and Sunday. Good food! Great fun with our crowd! Overall, the brunch was well received and turned into a perfect social occasion! Because the day was so unbelievably warm, only a few of us ventured to the WinSmith Mill Market shops in Norwood while others scooted off to bask in the glorious sun or do outside things (or, I suspect, nap in the sun after eating so substantially at brunch). The WinSmith Mill Market shops, for those not familiar with them, is a 165 year old mill complex of 14 buildings on 27 acres at 61 Endicott St. The mill market consists of nine shops with over 200 vendors and small businesses that sell everything from vintage, mid-century, modern, shabby -chic, fine art, clothing and accessories and have a mix of tenants consisting of artists, craftsmen, musicians, manufacturers and pet trainers; not your typical indoor weekend flea market although the space may give some that impression. They are open Friday & Saturday 10-4, and Sunday 12-4. I went home from the shops with two wooden test tube drying racks which have cleaned up nicely. They're going to hold paintbrushes or scissors/tools as I see uses for them. https://www.winsmithmill.com/
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Big E Auto Parts Swap & Sell By John Buchanan
It’s the weekend of January 18 & 19 when Start Finish Productions Annual Auto Parts Swap & Sell was set to run at the Big E in West Springfield and the weatherman says there is a winter storm blowing into New England late Saturday afternoon and the Patriot’s aren’t in this year’s Sunday AFC playoffs, so the decision is to go Saturday morning and roam through the aisles of the Better Living Center to get in a winter surge of hunting down some car stuff, take some pictures for the newsletter and see if there are any interesting cars for sale in the indoor car corral. This year we also popped in next door to see the Springfield Motorcycle Show in the Young Building for a double header. As always at the swap meet there are tables filled with tools, hardware and every grit of sandpaper known to mankind that overwhelms the salvaged or unwanted auto parts that you hope to pick through. On the car corral end of the spectrum there were a couple of interesting candidates for sale, a 1940 Ford Custom Convertible and a mint Ford ranger pickup with less than 30K miles on the odometer. One of the more interesting finds was a large collection of lighted automotive marque signs the seller’s dad had collected, restored fitted with LED’s. Former club members Ed Beatty & Steve Mirabile packed three of the signs in the back of Steve’s SUV. to bring home and hang in the garage. All I bought was a pair of ear buds for my smart phone, something I could have picked up at the nearest Best Buy. My first visit to the motorcycle show was interesting. They had a live band called the “Shovelheads” rocking on stage which I enjoyed and the West Springfield & Sheriff’s officers patrolling the building were dressed in their finest SWAT black & camo duds to give us that warm and fuzzy feeling that everything is copasetic. Not ever owning a motorcycle, I think I’ll just do the Swap & Sell next year.
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29th Annual Business Meeting By John Buchanan
The Mass Cruisers 29th Annual Business Meeting was held on January 21 in the Bass Pro Shops Conservation Room at 6 PM starting off with a stellar buffet setup by the Blue Fin Lounge. There was a great spread Popcorn Shrimp, BBQ & Buffalo Chicken tenders appetizers; Roast Beef & Pastrami sandwiches; Chicken Ceasar, Chipotle Turkey & Vegan Wraps; coleslaw & Potato Salad with a variety of bottled soft drinks and water. Vice President Larry Nyborn who was acting President for the evening for Mark Crichton who was on his annual Florida hiatus, opened the meeting and having the Secretary Lesley Corda-Majeski December meeting minutes approved and Treasurer Kevin Rushlow annual 2019 year ending report read & approved. The following Media, Sunshine, Club Events & Correspondence reports were heard. There was a noted error in recognizing the names of our four club members that passed during 2019 and are no longer with us; Roy Rossman, Roger Reizovic, Paula Lawlor & Jack Lane. Marie Armando was mistakenly identified in error in the January newsletter and for that we apologize for the mistake. Marie is doing very well according to hubby Rich. The following meeting highlights are worth noting here: · NEW MEMBERS Scott Beer from East Providence joined at the meeting and Elliot Chandler from Plymouth expressed interest in joining was in attendance. Lou Valentine is also forming a new member committee to recruit and process new member applicants and coordinate their introductions to the membership at club meetings and events. · BASS PRO SHOPS CRUISE Steve Huntington is taking club member only orders for the long sleeve 2020 Cruise LOGO tee shirts in Black or Gray at $18 ea. · RICH ARMANDO confirmed the Newport Car Museum Car Show collaboration with the Mass Cruisers is scheduled for Sunday August 23 with Bruce Palmer booked for DJ duties. · RICH ARMANDO also presented Tony Marano the check from 50-50 cruise proceeds for the Friends of the Wrentham Development Center program activities not covered by state funding. A new 50-50 director will be needed for the 2020 cruise season to replace Frank Bryant who has been coordinating this effort for more than 8 years. Thank you Frank for all you have done. · ANNIVERSAY PARTY is scheduled for the Saturday afternoon of March 28 at 2 PM for Napper Tandy’s in Walpole. Barbara and Larry Nyborn are working on finalizing the details. · RTS MODEL CAR EXPOSITION at the Holiday Inn in Taunton on Saturday March 22 in Taunton will have a club table for members to display models as was done last year. Members will also be selecting a home built model for a Mass Cruisers sponsored trophy. See Steve Huntington for displaying models. Dust off any of your old ones that were tucked away in the cellar or attic. · SEEKONK SHOW & GO car show is scheduled for Saturday May 2 with details to follow. · John Buchanan provided copies of his 2020 Calendar of events which also includes non-club sponsored events popular with many club members. A pdf copy will be sent out to the 2020 club member e-mail distribution.
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2020 Club Calendar
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Support Our Advertisers
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February 2020 Member meetings are held the 3rd Tuesday of each month.
P.O. Box 217 Wrentham, MA 02093
Monthly Crusin