The current Club display, the banner and three sign posts representing WWII, Korea and Vietnam battles:
Whew - it's been a busy summer. Hope everyone has had their military vehicles out and enjoying them as much as I have. The problem is still that I don't get enough time to drive them as I'd like!
Have an interesting story to share with you all. As most of you with OD fever have experienced over the years, one of the side effects of this particular illness is the constant problem of scanning the sides of roads and peering into people's yards and shops when you're out driving around. I've done that for years and have developed a pretty good knack for spotting jeeps. Several years ago I had spotted a pair of derelict flat-fenders in a weed infested yard somewhere along Hwy 38 in the Drain area. But another problem I have is my memory, and in recent years I couldn't re-locate them to check them out! A few weeks ago we were camping in Elkton and on a trip to Drain to go "junkin", lo and behold, I spotted them again and marked the area! Later that campout, Bob, Melba and I jumped in my Wrangler and drove there, cautiously approaching the property. As we stood there peering over the fence we spotted another five or six jeeps inside a shed, but were too far away to determine other than that they were a mixture of flat fender CJ's and apparently some military vintage. No one seemed to be around and Bob wandered up and around a tree-lined driveway and to our amazement, discovered another stash of jeeps - again a mixture of CJ's, military and even a couple Dispatch jeeps. We could hardly contain ourselves as we wandered among the carcasses and saw at least one complete slat-grill, a couple of trailers, military and civilian Bantams, along with several jeeps that had suffered "Bubba" modifications - one was a mixture of CJ, MB and M38! There were at least a dozen vehicles sitting there, in addition to the group in the shed. Who knows how many were elsewhere on the property. No one was home, so we left a note with name and number and asked for a call if they were interested in talking about their jeeps, and headed back to camp for a cold beer. To our amazement, the owner called a couple of hours later and we visited! Now, normally, a story like this ends with a "gotcha" because it's April fools day or something like that, but this happened in August and it's now September so I can't end it like that. Unfortunately, the ending is just as frustrating, as the owner explained to us that he just likes to find them and drag them home - doesn't plan on restoring or parting them out, or selling any. He mentioned something along the lines of they were his future retirement plan. I don't know when that future arrives, but it was still quite a sight to behold, and we still shake our heads about it. The good thing is we still have his name and number and he's invited us to stop by and see them and visit at any time, so there is still hope! The other amazing part of this story is that after 60-some years, and of all the approximately 645,000 jeeps that were produced, there can still be that many around right under our own noses! Just thought you might enjoy that little adventure.
Cal
EVENTS:
Our next regularly scheduled meeting is Saturday October 10th at the Florence Airport.
10:30 am is the time: we'll release the gate code at a later date. We haven't met in a couple of months, and if my memory serves me correctly, one of the items we discussed at the last meeting was the possibility of building or creating some display item or items to enhance our Club display, such as a tent, sandbag bunker, etc. So put your thinking cap on and let's visit about that.
The same day is also the annual Chowder Blues and Brews in Florence, so when we finish around noon time, anyone interested can wander over to the Florence Events Center and enjoy that if they desire.
We also have our 4th annual Veterans Day Parade coming up in November, and this year, we are breaking with tradition and moving it from the 11th, to Saturday the 7th, to allow more folks to participate. So mark your calendars and hope you can join us for that.
Sorry for the short notice but on September 26th, Myrtle Point has the harvest Festival. The Clubs southern outpost plans a small showing on MV's along with the "Show and Shiners" and Tractors. The only thing I know is for us to show up about 8 to 9 am and create a grouping. We will be able to display on 5th Street between Spruce and Ash.
WANT ADS:
I'm Looking for a metal screw-on cap for an old Jerry can. I have one in my collection that's missing the lid, so if you have a spare cap you're willing to part with for a cheap price, let me know.
Cal: 541-999-7965
To Join the MVPA
To Join the MVPA
Bill submitted more pictures of his Kubelwagen. Bill also shared some history on his VW interest and about his dad
My 1943 Willys rebuild is coming along and I’ve been wiring away. All was going good until I started in on the filterette and ended up with two wires that go where? And how? Why are my hands like wieners at the end of baseball mitts? Mike P
