With spring fast approaching, I am starting to hear the call of the drag strip. In preparation for the disappearance of snow, I am changing out my stock shifter for one with a short throw. Hopefully, this will bring my times down into the low 12 second range. I am also looking at doing a couple of cosmetic things to enhance the look of my ride.

On that note, Rick and I attended another meeting of the “The Edmonton Race Experience”. This is the effort to coordinate and promote racing and everything to do with cars in and around Edmonton. Well, the month of July is going to be jammed packed with events leading up to the Indy.

If all goes well, there will be a number of show n’ shines, including our Healy show (July 10th), a Super Slalom
and Super Cruise, and a racing movie night. So, if you like cars, and I know you do, block off the month of July on the calendar and plan to four wheel it through. Once the schedule for this is finalized, we will get it out to you.

Speaking of schedules, this month marks the (re)start of the Saturday breakfast club. As I mentioned last
month, on the third Saturday of each month, we are going to host a brunch at Ricky’s Grill on Kingsway
Avenue at 11 a.m. (across from the Aviation Museum). The brunch is open to members, their families and
potential members. If you are interested let either Rick or I know so we can book enough space. I hope to see you out on March 20th.

One final thought, I’ve noticed that a lot of the things we do tend to be geared more towards the guys. I’d like to hear from the women who are members or affiliates about activities that the club might sponsor that would be value-added for them specifically.

Well, that’s about it for this month. Remember to check us out at www.amoaweb.com.

Cheers,
John Church, (a.k.a. Johnny Mustang)
AMOA Club President

Related posts:

1. President’s Message – February 2010
2. Jan 2010 President’s Message

Meeting will take place at the same place as it was in 2008 and 2006. Len from the Ambassador Motor Inn has agreed to provide a meeting room for the Winter Meeting. It will be held in the coffee shop on Saturday, Mar 20, 2010 between 2 and 5:30 pm.

People can also contact the Motel for accommodations. They should mention the “International Mustang clubs” when booking a room for special rates.

Ambassador Motor Inn

Phone # is (403) 276-2271 or toll free at 1-800-661-1447

Address is:
802 – 16 Ave N.E.
Calgary, Alberta.

(to add some perspective on this location; 16 Ave is the Trans Canada Highway running east-west through the city. From the north-south, it is just a couple blocks west of Deerfoot Trail or Highway 2, the main freeway in that direction).

Additional information and details on the Motel can be found at their website

http://www.ambassadormotorinn.ca/accom.htm

There is also a map on their site at http://www.ambassadormotorinn.ca/map.htm

If you have any questions you would like brought up at the meeting, please forward them to our International Reps Craig Shanley and John Plaizier.

No related posts.

Well, it’s been two weeks since Barrett-Jackson and my ears are still ringing from the auctioneer’s call. As a first timer, I was a bit overwhelmed by the number of great cars and the number of great people, including the many folks from Edmonton and our club.

On the matter of great cars, there was a nice 65 Mustang GT coupe, black with red leather interior that would have made a nice book end to the 06 that I currently own, same colour combo. Of course, my wife, who is a mid-60’s Corvette fan, would have preferred one of the many Corvettes that crossed the stage, some at reasonable prices. I would have been set for life if I had picked up one of those. Unfortunately, my budget only allowed me to purchase a couple of T-shirts! On that note, one of our members had a slightly bigger Barrett Budget; more on that in this month’s newsletter.

We kicked off the month of February by spending an afternoon looking at what is probably one of the largest private collections of diecast cars and memorabilia in Alberta. The collection includes an array of Mustangs, Shelby, Corvettes, and Mopars, not to mention a huge number of magazines, documents and photos specific to the Edmonton car scene. Just to make things interesting, those who attended were asked to identify a number of unique aspects of the collection for prizes. Rick Funk, Wayne Ingraham and Craig Shanley were the lucky winners! A special thanks to Tom for agreeing to entertain us in his home.

As the year is unfolding, we are starting to move forward on a number of suggestions received from club members at the January meeting. The web site continues to develop with new content being added as we go. There should be a few pictures from last summer’s Healy show up their soon. Rick and I have attended a meeting with a couple of other car clubs to look at participating in a coordinated effort to promote racing in the City of Edmonton. The upside for the clubs is more visibility through advertising and of course more opportunities to pool our resources for joint events.

Starting in March on the third Saturday of each month, we are going to try a brunch at Ricky’s Grill on Kingsway Avenue at 11 a.m. (across from the Aviation Museum). We are planning this for the members that can’t make the regular meetings/events, but all members, including their families and friend are welcome. Bring a potential new member. You never know, there just might be something of interest for you at these events. We are also planning to hold a number of informal cruises throughout the year. On an evening during the week, we will gather at Healy Ford and drive to a place of the members’ choice. During the winter months it will be a coffee run and summer months an ice cream run. We have a few more ideas on the drawing table, so stay tuned for details on these events.

Well, that’s about it for this month. Remember to check us out at www.amoaweb.com.

Cheers,

John Church (a.k.a. Johnny Mustang)
AMOA Club President

Related posts:

1. President’s Message – March 2010
2. Jan 2010 President’s Message

Related posts:

1. AMOA Elections: Coming Soon To A Meeting Near You
2. Jan 2010 President’s Message

On that note, we kicked off 2010 in January with an evening of bowling and socializing with The Northern Alberta Corvette Owners Club. Thanks to the Linda Martens for organizing the event and hosting us! This is the second event that we have partnered on with the Corvettes. Last year we went for a cruise to Viking and were hosted by Rose and Earl Kjelland. We look forward to co-sponsoring a couple of events with the Corvette folks over the coming year.

Our first monthly meeting is set to go on Monday January 18th in the Healy Ford boardroom. Please mark this on your calendar and plan to attend because we will be starting to make plans for the coming year. The meeting will be dedicated to having a good discussion about what we want to do. One of the goals of the new executive is to increase the number and range of social activities that we offer for our members and the general public. We will be building on the core events that AMOA sponsors each year such as the Healy and Freedom Ford Show ‘N Shines and adding in a range of other less formal, but very fun events. We hope to do a few things that will appeal to all members of the family. So, if you have some good ideas about events or activities that we might do, come to the meeting and be part of the discussion, or drop me an e-mail to share your ideas.

A second goal that we are pursuing this year is increased communication with the membership and the general public to raise awareness about what we do. We hope to get more of our existing members involved and pick up some new members along the way. We took the first step to doing this over the Christmas Holidays. Deb Taylor and daughter Erin worked hard to rebuild our website and it is up and running again. In the coming year, the website will be a source of information about upcoming events, photos from past events and links to other interesting websites. The President’s monthly message and other club specific information will also be posted to keep you up-to-date on what’s happening. Check it out at www.amoaweb.com.

By the way, if you are heading down to Barrett-Jackson, there are quite a few of us going. We are planning to meet up, probably on Friday or Saturday night, to swap stories and enjoy the show. Drop me a quick e-mail and let me know if you are interested in grabbing a beer at Barrett. If you have club colours, bring them with you for a group photo. I’m a first-timer so I haven’t been able to concentrate on work since the start of January. Only ten more sleeps until Barrett-Jackson!

As you can see, 2010 promises to be a busy year for AMOA so keep an eye on the events calendar and plan to come out and join in the fun! We look forward to socializing with you at these events.

Cheers,
John Church (a.k.a. Johnny Mustang)

Related posts:

1. President’s Message – March 2010
2. President’s Message – February 2010
3. President’s Message – December 2009

The AMOA Executive elections are done & the 2010 AMOA executive are poised to take over running our Club! I would like to welcome the 2010 executive & congratulate all those who have made the commitment to help run our Club in 2010!! For a full list of those holding executive & volunteer positions in 2010, please check out the list in this month’s newsletter!

It was another great year for the Club and by hosting our usual events, we were able to make another sizeable donation to the Cancer Society…thanks to everyone who attended and especially to those who helped out at the shows!!

Our Social Director and Vice President Barb did a fantastic job organizing the AMOA Xmas Party…dinner at Chili’s & a comedy show at the Laugh Shop. Despite the rather poor weather conditions, we had a good turn out for this event and it was a wonderful evening! So thanks to Barb for arranging it and thanks to those who braved the snow to show up, enjoy a tasty meal and some very entertaining comedy!

You may have noticed that our website is not exactly operating at peak efficiency these days…in short something went VERY wrong with it at some point recently and very little of the actual site was working, so with the help of my daughter, Erin, the entire site is being re-done! This will take some time and effort, but unfortunately the old site was not salvageable! I will keep you updated on the progress! Hopefully, in the not too distant future we can have a website that does all the things we would like it to!

Finally, I would like to thank all of you for your support during my 3 years as President! This had been a very fulfilling experience for the most part and I enjoyed my time in the “big chair”!! I would like to take this opportunity to thank 2009’s executive for all their support and efforts! I would especially like to thank Barb Royer, who kept me sane and was always there to pick up the slack, no matter what that entailed! And after the devastating loss of Dale, Sharon heroically stepped into the treasurer’s position and has decided to continue on in that post for 2010, Sharon you are a rock and your strength inspires me! John you continue to work magic with the newsletter each & every month making it a joy to read! And before this message gets as long as a regular newsletter, I finish by saying to the rest of the 2009 team…all of you who chose to regularly go that extra mile in the positions you held, you made me look good and I sincerely thank you for your efforts!

On behalf of the 2009 AMOA executive, I would like to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a fantastic 2010!!

See you around,

Deb Taylor
The Pink Prez!

Related posts:

1. President’s Message – November 2009
2. Jan 2010 President’s Message
3. President’s Message – March 2010

Need a last minute Christmas present for the Mustang fanatic in your life?

From Mustang pool tables, children’s T-shirts and remote-controlled Raptor pickups, Ford is cueing up a sleigh full of gift items that are just in time for the last-minute holiday shopper.

Ford’s new line of licensed items will fit every budget – from $15 to $15,000. There’s a high-end Mustang pool table, a children’s line of JCPenney T-shirts, a 2010 Mustang calendar and even a dog collar with a seat belt buckle latch and matching leash.

The Mustang pool table is molded from a 1965 Mustang and can be ordered in any paint color. Complete with working lights, alloy rims and wheels and chrome decals, bumpers and hardware, this high-end Mustang replica looks like the real thing. The pool table can be ordered online at www.mustangpooltable.com or over the phone by calling 727.827.8268; it costs $14,995.

Two new styles of children’s T-shirts are available for $15.99 at JCPenney stores nationwide. One T-shirt, a Super Duty design, features a dump truck; the other has a Ford tractor with the phrase “Playin’ Dirty!” on it.

For those last-minute stocking stuffers, a 2010 Mustang wall calendar will help you keep track of your days, while showcasing the ever-popular pony car. With 13 pictures, covering the 1964-1/2 model to the 2010 Mustang, nothing was forgotten. The calendar can be ordered online from www.thetimefactory.com for $6.99.

And of course, we can’t forget our furry friends. Dog collars and leashes round out the selection of last-minute gifts for the holiday season. Logos available include Ford Trucks, Mustang, the Blue Oval™ and Built Ford Tough®. The collar retails for $25 and even comes with a miniature seat belt buckle that releases with the push of a button. The leash costs $22, and can be purchased online from www.beltsdirect.com.

For more last-minute holiday gift needs, check out www.fordmarket.com for other Ford-licensed merchandise.

Image courtesy of mustangpooltable.com and article courtesy of Ford Motor Company on Facebook!

No related posts.

If you have any suggestions, leave a comment!

No related posts.

Let me start by saying that I have been sick for a few days, so I apologize in advance if this month’s message seems a little dull; my mind is feeling less than sharp at the moment! As I started this month’s message I realized that there isn’t a lot of news to pass along this month!

First off, I would like to thank Barb Royer for jumping in at the last minute at last month’s meeting to perform as Super Secretary once again… I guess there are things you never forget how to do, hey Barb? Thanks again for pitching in!

In relation to the minutes, you will see in this month’s edition that there were a number of nominations and volunteers who stepped forward at that October meeting to run the club in 2010, which is fantastic! If you are getting this via email, you still have a bit of time to get involved in running the club, but now is the time! The 2010 Executive Committee will be chosen at the November meeting, so if you’re interested please come to the November meeting…and even if you aren’t planning on taking a position come out and support those that are!

Also, the Red Deer Club now has the 31st IMM registration form on their website, along with a lot of other news. Their planning is well underway and although it seems the IMM is so far away, it will be here before we know it, so if you are going, please make all your reservations as soon as possible. You will not only be helping the host club, but you will also ensure you aren’t disappointed!

Finally, in relation to the 2009 AMOA Christmas Party, if you have already contacted Barb to reserve your spot, don’t forget the big day is December 5th! The Laugh Spot is a great place and our group is bound to have a great time there! If you have any questions about this event, please contact Barb Royer!

Well that’s about it for this month!

Until next time…

Deb Taylor
The Pink Prez!

Related posts:

1. President’s Message – December 2009
2. President’s Message – February 2010
3. Jan 2010 President’s Message

Remember: it’s your club and if you want it to keep running, we need energetic people in those executive positions!

Deb Taylor
President

Related posts:

1. President’s Message – December 2009
2. President’s Message – November 2009
3. Jan 2010 President’s Message