2011

Sep. 4-10, Regional Tour, Lake Superior Region

Sep. 18-24, 66th AAA Glidden Tour, Cumberland, MD   

Oct. 21-23, Regional Tour, Glidden Preview, Brenham, TX  

2012

Feb. 9-11, Annual Membership Meeting, Punta Gorda, FL

May 13-17, Muscle Car Tour, Branson, MO 

Jun. 21-25, Chrome Glidden Tour, Billings, MT  

Jul. 15-20, Heritage Tour, Homestead, IA  

Oct. 21-26, 67th AAA Glidden Tour, Brenham, TX 

Underlined items are direct links to registration information. 

The National Western Tour took place Aug. 21-26 in Laramie Wyo. Seventy five cars took part. An in depth article will appear in the Bulb Horn with all the details and car pictures in a future issue, so here, I just want to give you a couple of the highlights from my perspective and a glimpse of the scenery that we saw in Wyoming.

Western National cars two deep at Wyo-Tech

One of our stops was at Wyo-Tech, an institution that trains young folks in everything automotive. There, you can take courses in automotive, collision, diesel, street rod fabrication, upholstery and trim, and many other related subjects. This is an ideal place to try to connect these younger car people to our passion, restoration and touring.  

Wyo-Tech students check out Ed Lappin's Buick

So we put our cars on display at their facility and while we were being treated to a great tour, some 400 students were given ballots and invited to vote for their "People's Choice".  Proving their excellent taste, the overwhelming vote winner was Ed Lappin's 1929 Buick coupe. 

1926 Model T about to start

Another tour highlight for me was a stop in Encampment, a small Wyoming town with an excellent museum and a recreated 19th century town. In the town is a Livery Stable and in the building, along with various wagons, were two old cars, a 1926 Ford Model T and a 1912 Buick.  

1912 Buick with Model T in the background

As we walked in, we found a man working on the T. He said that they had decided the old cars should run, though neither car had run since driving into the building in 1966. He also said he wasn't sure where to start and didn't know what various levers and parts of the cars did. Several of us immediately jumped in and said we would help. To make a long story short, the T was running, for the first time in 45 years in less than an hour. We didn't get the Buick going because we ran out of time but we had narrowed down the issues to a lack of spark and are confident that within another hour the Buick would have run too. I love to be a part of making an old car start and run for the first time in decades.  

  Of course, one of the reasons for selecting Wyoming was the gorgeous mountain scenery. Here are a couple shots from the Snowy Range. 

"THE GREAT TEXAS TRAIL DRIVE" will be held in Brenham, TX Oct 21 - 26, 2012 . Brenham is a small rural town in southeast Texas located between Austin and Houston. Due to it's size, there will not be a host hotel. We will be booking rooms among 4 nice hotels that have been constructed during the last 3 years. Our main meeting place and focal point for the tour will be the Washington County Fairgrounds. There, we will have trailer parking, RV hookups, hospitality room, banquet room and both indoor and outdoor rodeo arena.

The area is rural and there will be few red lights getting out of town each day. The scenery is magnificent and the days will be limited to a maximum of 125 miles. Each day, the Glidden Wranglerettes will help with parking. I will be introducing them in a future article. They are a bunch of barrel racers who will be directing parking from horseback as well as performing at the opening banquet!

The week will have a cowboy flavor. We will be eating chuck wagon style, listening to western swing music, spending a night at the Bluebonnet Opry, and driving past beautiful ranches.

We promise lots of nonsense, good grub, and great memories   Remember, bring your boots and jeans and we will provide the hat!

Pat and Jamie Crandall

William Donahue Magee

Melvin Village, New Hampshire

1951 - 2011

William Donahue Magee passed away, peacefully, at his home, on August 5th with those that he loved the most by his side. He courageously battled a 1 ½ year fight with cancer.  

He was born in St. Francis Hospital, Hartford, CT on October 30, 1951 to Douglas R. and Margaret (Donahue) Magee Sr. Bill grew up in Middletown, CT graduated from Middletown High School and attended Middlesex Community College before moving to Vermont to pursue a professional career in snow skiing.

Upon returning to Connecticut, he joined his only brother, Douglas R. Magee Jr. in running Magee Company and later co-founded Magner Corporation. Both businesses involved the design, development, and distribution of "money processing equipment".

Bill was also an active member of the Westfield, CT Volunteer Fire Department for a number of years.

He and his family moved to Wolfeboro, NH in 1998. After his retirement, in 2005 they moved to Melvin Village. Bill loved the lakes and the mountains and always felt that New Hampshire was the perfect place to be.

Bill and his wife Diane were avid collectors of antique automobiles. Their primary interest was automobiles built prior to 1915, although their collection included a vintage 1929 Bentley. While living in CT, Bill and his brother Doug focused on collecting primarily CT manufactured automobiles built prior to 1915. They maintained a small automobile museum at their Meadowview Farm, in Middlefield.

Over the years, Bill and Diane toured much of the United States in their antique cars, as well as Ireland, England, Bermuda and Mexico.

He belonged to numerous organizations, associations, antique car and wooden boat clubs, many as a life member. A few of his affiliations include: The 100 Club of New Hampshire, Bald Peak Colony Club, Friends of Ancient Road Transportation, Bentley Driver's Club, Horseless Carriage Club of America, Veteran Motor Car Club of America (past national officer), Antique Automobile Club of America, Model T Ford Club of America, Model T Ford International, The Antique and Classic Boat Society, as well as many local chapters of automobile clubs, including Melvin Garage Antique Auto Club.

Also in 2005, Bill opened Magee Motor Company in Melvin Village where he bought and sold antique automobiles. It became a major attraction for many travelers stopping by, who would relay stories of what their grandfather used to own back in the day. Bill always had the time for visiting with local friends as well as passing tourists.

Being an avid shooter, Bill belonged to the National Rifle Association and the Winnipesaukee Sportsman's Club.

He was a practicing Roman Catholic, a parishioner of St. Katherine Drexel Church in Alton and a 4th Degree member of the Knights of Columbus.

He will always be remembered for his integrity, determination, incredible architectural vision, and good nature. He was respected and loved by all who knew him.

Bill is survived by his loving wife Diane, his daughter and son-in-law Alicia and Ken Belbin of Massachusetts; his son Michael Magee of New Hampshire; his brother Douglas Magee of New Hampshire/Connecticut; as well as many first and second cousins, nieces and nephews. Bill also leaves behind many close friends who have been by his side as he fought so hard to beat his disease.

Do you know what it is? See answer below. 

Facebook has become an extremely popular social networking site, reportedly having more than 500,000,000 users. That is something like one in fifteen people on the planet! There is no doubt that it is a great tool for keeping in touch with people and organizations in a way that was undreamed of and impossible just a few short years ago.

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