President's Message for November/December 2023

The end of the year. The end of a term.

The past few years – I could never have predicted. My husband and I purchased a Model A thru eBay and needed help with it. We were introduced to the Crankin A’s… We had no idea what an adventure was ahead of us. It was like opening a door to a magical life! We joined the club in hopes of getting our car running. After 5 years, constructing a building, moving all our ‘stuff’ from the Hangar to “Herman’s Garage home of the Crankin A’s", a groundbreaking and 2 grand openings, holding the office of president for 2 years, becoming a part of the Pioneer Settlement community and gaining a new Model A family, I am happy to report that our car is now running well.

It has been an honor to serve as president of this extraordinary group of people – truly a big family.What we have accomplished in the past 2 years is unprecedented. I was reading over some of my messages from 2022, when our Garage was only a dream. We were looking forward to building a club home, secured for 40 years. We had plans and so many people willing to help in the many facets of the project. It was a time when asking for volunteers - hands were raised without hesitation. It was amazing to me. I would send out an email to schedule a work day and the troops showed up, knowing exactly what to do and with proper tools in hand for that particular job. I continually had reaffirmations that we were all excitedly in this together. That is what kept pushing me to persevere. A part of it was me, but most of it was the cooperation of all of you. You are the ones who showed up to dig trenches, install plumbing and electric, paint, build doors and shelves and cabinets, etc. And you brought forth ideas. Lots of ideas! And those ideas enabled us to create something spectacular.

Besides physical time donated, you all donated enough funds to fully pay for this project. Who would have thought we could raise enough money to pay for the construction of a fully functional garage and beautiful museum. A building we are proud to show off. When I was informed of the amount of the original pledges I was astonished. It appeared that we had everything we needed to go forward with our plans. I just knew somehow we had to do it. So, with a lot of work, money and prayers .. We did it. Thank you to everyone who sacrificed their personal time and money to make this whole thing a success.

Of particular importance to our success is Ron Herman’s (All Quality Products) generous donation of the building materials for Herman’s Garage. Without Ron’s contribution to our project it would have been impossible to complete. Quality definitely describes his company and products. We have a building that I believe will be standing strong through the test of time.

During the year we also squeezed in a few wonderful adventures driving our cars around Florida. Thank you to everyone who set up our tours and day trips. We had some really great times.

Now that we have reminisced about our past accomplishments, it is time to look forward to 2024. I would like to congratulate Paul Howes for being elected the next president of the Crankin A’s. I am excited to see Paul’s vision for the club as he leads us forward into a new year. Paul is creative and talented. I am confident he will make us proud to be a member of the Crankin A’s Model A Restorers Club, Inc. Let’s all help Paul to make 2024 the best year ever!

Kim