FROM THE PRESIDENT
T
he Sacramento meet was AWESOME. For those
who missed it, I wish you could have been there.
Everyone had a wonderful time.
I finally had the opportunity to meet folks who I’ve talked
to either over the phone or through email. It was also
exciting to meet many members who have written articles
for the magazine.
On Monday, I met fellow board
member Don Jones in the Denver
airport and we sat together on the
final flight to Sacramento. We had
some exciting conversations while
on a roller coaster ride in the sky.
We met up with Keith & Joangay
Phildius at the Sacramento airport.
After arriving at the DoubleTree
meet hotel, we registered and saw
Steve & Joyce Montgomery swiftly
giving people their meet packets.
Joyce made sure there were plenty
of refreshments and snacks. Thanks
to the Arizona, Florida and Gateway
Chapters for helping with the
Hospitality room.
On Tuesday, with eight Board of
Directors attending, the board was
delighted to approve the Canadian
Avanti Owners Association charter.
They have 25 members. What a
great start. A round of applause
goes to Roland Vardon and Don
Jones for making this happen.
Congratulations to all the Charter Members. The business
plan was well received at the board meeting and is printed
in this issue for all to catch the vision of where AOAI is
headed. The AOAI-Chapter charity fund matching
program was approved.
On Wednesday, the board invited the chapter presidents
or their appointed representative to lunch. The Arizona,
Avanti Ltd., Chicagoland, Indiana, John Ebstein (Florida),
Gateway, Puget Sound, and Raymond Loewy Chapters
were represented. I was pleased to hear what they do to
make their chapters a success. Everyone was eager to get
their chapters more involved to comply with the new bylaw
change of having a minimum of two meetings a year,
sending their meeting minutes, membership roster and
bank balance to the board annually each June for review.
The official bylaw change will be printed in the Avanti
Magazine.
❏
It was exciting to see around 40 Avantis (various models)
lined up on Concourse Day with 12 being judged by AOAI.
Jim Pearce did a great job as Chief Judge and so did Terri
Litke and Don Jones as judges. I helped Hugh Edfors clean
4
AVANTI Magazine
the windows on his 2002 Avanti. Jim Pearce’s Avanti
looked spectacular after driving from Lakeland, Fla.
I had a chance to see Gary Croletto’s four-door Avanti
and Jeff Groh’s freshly painted Gold Studebaker Avanti.
Ron Hobson spent many shiny pennies on his new paint
job which looked superb. There were even members
looking to purchase an Avanti like Ed’s.
❏
Thursday’s AOAI banquet was
delicious. Way to go Steve and
Joyce. I was proud to present the
Canadian Avanti Owners
Association Charter to Brian and
Jackie Hoare. Lew Schucart got a
standing ovation for the superior
job he’s done with the Avanti
Magazine. We presented Steve
Montgomery with the Avanti
Motors Timeline poster. It’s
beautiful! If you haven’t seen it,
call Avanti Motors at 888-230-
1475 to order one. The banquet
was a huge success with Paul
McKeehan as the guest speaker.
Paul shared some insights about
working at Studebaker
Corporation and production of the
Avanti. He kept us laughing
throughout the evening.
The Hospitality room was a
great place to escape the heat and
meet lots of members in addition
to hearing some interesting stories. We got five new
members (two from the Netherlands who signed up for five
years) and several members renewed ahead of time to get
their Avanti T-shirt. Everyday, you could see our Avanti T-
shirts being proudly worn by kids and adults.
40th Anniversary Promotional Campaign: Old Cars
Weekly and Hemming Motor News printed Avanti articles
recently after receiving the 40th Anniversary Promotion
package from Keith Phildius which included a copy of
“The Avanti Story” brochure created by Don Jones. All
members will receive a copy with this issue.
Elections: Once again, it is time to cast your vote using
the ballot enclosed with this issue, after Page 10. Please
review the list of candidates and vote for who you think will
move AOAI in the direction you want it to go.
R2/R3 Roster Listing: We want to improve the accuracy
of R2/R3 listing in roster. If you have an R2 or R3 and your
serial number is not listed in the roster, or is incorrect,
please contact Cornerstone Registration with this
information. These must be true R2 or R3 engines, as they
See BAKER, Page 11
Summer/Fall 2003
Issue 123