Weekly Magazine - Antique Automobile Club of America www.aaca

Vol. 18, No. 1
The Official Newsletter of the Staten Island Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America
Ragtops &
Rumbleseats
Jan 2011
• Awards and Donations at Holiday Party
• Time to Renew Dues
• Atlantic City Trip is February 19
Vintage Advertising
A Marilyn Monroe look-alike is
positively ecstatic as her Cary
Grant look-alike husband has
given her the keys to a brand new
Cadillac for Christmas. Today’s
Lexus holiday commercials come
from a long line of such ads. The
idea of giving a car as a present
is most likely as old as the car
itself.
What better gift than a new car
come Christmas? And now, for
most of us, what better gift than
an old car come Christmas?
(Aren’t you wondering what she
bought him?)
In This Issue
Awards and donations mark our
Holiday Party festivities.
A reminder to pay your dues for
2011.
Inside the SIRAACA Garage is a
smaller garage known as Tony’s
Toybox. Here’s a closer look.
Happy
Ne w Y e a r !
Trivi a Qu e s t i o n : In 1 9 5 6 , w h a t names were used to distinguish the Eldorado conver tible
from t h e El d o ra d o c o u p e ?
Answer: The full name of the ragtop was the Eldorado Biarritz, while the new coupe was
known as the Eldorado Seville.
RAGTOPS & RUMBLESEATS
January 2011
Volume 18, Number 1
SIRAACA Who’s Who
EDITOR Paul Arena, Jr. - parena2@si.rr.com
PRESIDENT Paul Arena, Jr. - parena2@si.rr.com
VICE PRESIDENT Mike Signorile - onehot51@aol.com
SECRETARY Tony DiAngelo
TREASURER Phil Boffa
MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY Fred DiGiovanni
SERGEANT-AT-ARMS Jeff Tucker
WEBMASTER - siraaca@yahoo.com
Frank Nathanson
www.aaca.org/siraaca
Minutes of the 428th Meeting
December 5, 2010
1. An abbreviated 428th meeting was held at our annual Holiday Party
at Cafe Bella Vita on Sunday, December 5, which began at 5:00 PM.
2. Fred DiGiovanni offered a champagne toast to the memory of Steve
Trotto.
3. President Paul Jr. welcomed all and introduced Debbie Parsons from
Staten Island Project Homefront as our guest that evening. He invited
Phil Boffa to join him in presenting a check to Ms. Parsons in the amount
of $2,500 as a donation from our fall show. Ms. Parsons indicated that
they collected an additional $1,000 at the gates on the day of the show,
and offered her sincere gratitude for our support.
4. After thanking all of the members for another successful year, Paul
Jr. presented service awards to Jeff Tucker and Phil Boffa for their outstanding contribution to the club.
5. Paul Jr. also presented the top trophy donor awards for 2010. Third
place was a tie between Sal Gatto and Mike Signorile, second place was
Paul Arena, and first place was Steve Trotto. The club agreed to pass
Steve’s award along to his wife Michele.
6. A 50/50 was held, with all monies collected given away among nine
prizes, followed by five additional door prizes.
7. The party wrapped up by 9:00 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Tony DiAngelo, Secretary, SIRAACA
c lub happe n i n g s
FE A T U R E
Tw o M e m b e r s H o n o r e d a t H o l i d a y P a r ty
The club’s success in 2010 was the sum of so
many individual efforts, and the membership
should be thanked as a whole for the region’s
achievements. Two specific members, however,
were honored with service awards at the Holiday Party to recognize their long time contributions to the club.
First up was Jeff Tucker, who tirelessly volunteers for all of our events, regularly mans the
raffle table throughout the year, promotes our
shows by attending other shows in the area, sets
up our flea market vendors, and always shares
his cooler of cold water with others. This year,
Jeff also volunteered to pick up and store over
100 donated trophies on behalf of the club.
The second honoree was Phil Boffa, who has
been club treasurer for quite some time now (he
doesn’t recall how long himself). The job might
appear thankless and full of headaches, but
it’s a critical one that deserves recognition. As
we move forward with greater aspirations as a
501(c)(3) organization, his role takes on greater
importance.
Please Re n e w Yo u r D u e s
By now all members should have sent in their
AACA national dues for 2011. Please remember to bring your new national membership
card to the next meeting and renew your local
dues, which are $20. As with the national, our
local dues include a spouse where applicable.
Be aware that local dues need to be renewed by
February, as we are required to submit our official roster to the AACA by the beginning of the
month.
If for some reason, you will not be attending either of our upcoming meetings, you can mail a
check payable to SIRAACA for the $20. Please
send it to Paul Arena’s attention, at the following address: 60 Endview Street, Staten Island,
NY 10312. Please enclose a copy of your 2011
AACA membership card for verification.
ELIQUAT
SIR
AC A
AEUGUER
Ab ove, J eff Tucker receives a sp ecial ser vice award from President Paul
A rena for his track record of volunteering for and par ticipation in all
that the club do es.
B elow, Phil B offa shows off his ser vice award as Paul lo oks on following his presentation. Phil was reco gnized for his long tenure as club
treasurer, which he returns as for 2011. (photos by S andy A rena)
Cover : Win te r ’s h e re. . . o rd e r u p yo u r co a l, u n l e s s t h a t ’s what you’ve already gotten in your sto ck ing! (Nat ’l Photo Co. via Librar y of Congress).
From the P r e s i d e n t
Under normal circumstances,
this column would be from a new
president, as I have just completed two successive terms. Yet I
return for a third, as do the rest
of the officers, as the membership
has decided to postpone elections
and retain those in charge as we
continue with the key housekeeping items that position us to move
forward with our 501(c)(3) transformation. I thank all of you who
place their faith in me to continue
in my role, and I challenge all of
the members to continue their efforts in 2011.
- NEXT MEETING - January 4
Our January meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 4
at 7:00 PM, upstairs at
The Manor House at 917 Manor Road.
As usual, $5.00 is collected from each member in attendance
to help cover the cost of the meeting.
P r o p o s e d B y - L a w A m e n dments
The following changes to our by-laws have been proposed and will
appear in print for three consecutive months before being voted on
for ratification.
A. Article I, Sec. 2. Current: “The purpose of this Region shall be to
supplement the activities of the AACA for members residing in the
region.” Proposed: “The purpose of this Region shall be to supplement the activities of the AACA for members of the Region.”
I hope all of us have had a wonderful holiday season and that
2011 proves to be a fruitful year
for all of us at home, work and B. Article V, Sec. 4. Current: “Twenty members in good standing
shall constitute a quorum, and unless otherwise provided, a majority
play. - Paul Jr.
vote shall rule.” Proposed: “Twenty percent of the then current membership shall constitute a quorum, and unless otherwise provided, a
majority vote shall rule.”
From the E d i t o r
C. Artcile VIII, Sec. 1. Current: “The members shall not, as a group
Hey, it’s me again! What’s a third under the Region name, participate in any activity with any commeryear as president compared to the cial or charitable organization.” Proposed: “The members shall not,
start of my 18th year as editor of as a group under the Region name, participate in any activity with
our newsletter? I hope that each any political organization.”
issue of Ragtops & Rumbleseats
D. Article XIII. Current: “As approved by the Founding Members, a
serves as a way to both inform
budget of three hundred fifty dollars ($350) will be set aside for each
and entertain the membership
Region President to handle the expenses for the year.” Proposed: As
with a combination of club busiamended by the current members, a budget of one thousand dollars
ness, tales of the hobby, and won($1,000) will be set aside for each Region President to handle the exderful photography.
penses for the year.”
I’d like to remind all of you that
member contributions are always
S h o w D a t e s Ta r g e t ed
welcome. If you attend an event
and want to write about it, send it
The club is targeting May 1. 2011 for it’s Spring Dust-Off, with a rain
to me. If you want to see your car
date of May 15 (allowing us to skip Mother ’s Day in between on May
featured in the SIRAACA Garage,
8). Also note that Spring Englishtown is April 15-17 to avoid Easter,
let me know. Contrary to appearwhich is April 24. We also expect the Fall Show to land on September
ances, I certainly can’t do it all by
18 with a rain date of October 2 (skipping Fall Englishtown, which is
myself! - Paul Jr.
September 23-25.
SIR AAC A
LOREM IPSUM
Inside the SIRAACA Garage
The SIRAACA Garage houses our
members cars, both big and small.
One of the more extensive “small”
collections belongs to Tony DiAngelo, who collects old tinplate, pressed
steel and diecast vehicles. Many
have been featured in an impromptu
“show & tell” at our monthly meetings.
When you speak to Tony about his
collection, the obvious thrill for him
and his son Anthony is the hunt and
the deal. Over and over, they will
tell stories of hidden gems at bargain
prices as they comb local estate sales,
flea markets, online auctions and toy
shows.
While buses remain the topic of your
thought at this moment, glance below for details of the upcoming bus
trip to Atlantic City. Rest assured,
we’ll make that trip in a bus that’s
much newer (and larger) than Tony’s
fine toys.
A p a i r of tinplate toy buses recently joined Tony ’s ever- growing collec tion. Attempts at
i d e n t i f ying the makers haven’t b een successful, but most agree thay they weren’t made in
t h e US A. (photos by Paul Jr.)
Do you have a car (or had a car) that
should be featured in the SIRAACA
Garage? Let me know at the meetings, or via parena2@si.rr.com.
Mark Yo u r C a l e n d a r s f o r t h e A t l a n t i c C i t y B us Trip
The 2011 bus trip to Atlantic City will be on Saturday, February 19. We will look to return to our original arrangements at Trump Plaza, which had a later arrival time than our option last year. As such, details on departure times
and costs for members and non-members will be forthcoming. As always, the club will be selling discounted admission tickets to the Atlantic City Convention Center to attend the car show & auction at $15.00 per person.
SIR AAC A
LOREM IPSUM