Whirligig Spring Tour April 22, 2017

                              Vollis Simpson’s Whirligig – Note the wind cups are old car mirrors

The third Annual NC Region Spring Cruise was planned by John Allred on April 22, 2017. There were 29 Antique  cars and about 40 NC Region members that came from across from the various Chapters in NC to meet at the in Historic Downtown Wilson, NC Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park & Museum (VSWP&M)..  It was a nice day and good wind to make the 22 whirligigs operate for our enjoyment.

Susan Kellum, Wilson’s Downtown Marketing & Communications Coordinator, meet us and present each NC Region members with a goody bag with information about Wilson and the new Park.  The City of Wilson had blocked off the streets for our parking. 

There are 30 Whirligigs are planned for the park. Twenty two are in place and 6 are down the street at the restoration center.  Two other whirligigs are on loan to the state of North Carolina and are located on Hwy 95 at the Virginia and South Carolina borders.

The park is being configured with a shelter for a farmers market and a stage fro summer concerts. They expect tbe park to be completed by November 2017 in time for a city celebration.

To see more pictures go to: 2017 NC Region Spring Cruise-in Pictures
  .  

Historic Downtown Wilson

Stop by and stay a while in Historic Downtown Wilson, North Carolina, located at the crossroads of Southern charm and modern innovation. Once heralded as “the World’s Greatest Tobacco Market”, Wilson is now a thriving city of almost 50,000 people. Nearly 2,000 people work for BB&T, one of the nations’ largest financial services. Other large employers include Bridgestone Tires and Merck, Sandoz and LiveDo pharmaceuticals. The city is home to Barton College, Wilson Community College, and the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf. Just as the city has transformed from a tobacco-based economy to a more modern one – Wilson is North Carolina’s first “gigabit” city and boasts its own municipally owned and operated high speed fiber optic system – Historic Downtown Wilson is going through a similar revitalization. The“five & dime” stores of yesteryear are the bones of modern loft apartments and boutique shops. Weathered brick tobacco warehouses are being reborn as businesses, restaurants and apartments and a burgeoning arts community is experienced at the historic Boykin Theater, the Wilson Art Center, the Oliver Nestus Freeman Roundhouse African American History Museum, and Imagination Station Science & History Museum. It also hosts multiple concerts series and two annual festivals: the Whirligig Festival held the first weekend of November and the Eyes on Main Street Outdoor Photo Festival held 100 days beginning in mid-April.

The piece de resistance – and the arts-driven economic engine that is the centerpiece of Historic Downtown Wilson’s revitalization – is the Vollis
Simpson Whirligig Park featuring the fanciful, wind-driven pieces created by the late Vollis Simpson. A farm machinery repairman, Vollis began making gigantic kinetic sculptures at his family farm in Wilson County when he was nearing retirement age. He kept making his “whirligigs”–seven days a week– until about six months before he died at the age of 94 in May of 2013. By that time, he was famous. The story of Wilson’s campaign to use the renowned whirligigs to recharge its downtown has catapulted the community into the national spotlight. Grants from ArtPlace America, the Kresge Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts have helped the project come close to its goal of opening the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park and Museum. When Phase I is completed toward the end of 2017, the park will feature more than 30 whirligigs, a multi-purpose shade structure, performing arts stage, and beautiful landscaping. Adjacent to the park is the new craft brewery, 217 Brew Works, and Whirligig Station, one of two remaining historic brick tobacco warehouses which is transforming into a folk-art branded celebration of the creative genius housing the Whirligig Park Visitor Center and Gift Shop, office space and 91 apartments.

More information may be found at www.wilsonwhirligigpark.org, www.HistoricDowntownWilson.com and www.whirligigfestivalnc.org.

Remembering Herb Oakes February 7, 2017

Herb Oakes passed away at his home of an apparent heart attack on Tuesday February 7, 2017. The antique car hobby has lost an icon and the entire AACA family has lost a dedicated member, a friend and a tireless contributor as Past National President and National Chief Judge. Herb was also Past President of the N.C. Region during a critical time in our history and has been Chief Judge of the Region for many years. His contributions are many and his guidance invaluable and he will be sorely missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with Fran and his family as they gather to mourn their loss and celebrate his life.

Bill Cox
President, NC Region AACA

Arrangements and an obituary for Herb Oakes are at the Jones Funeral Home Chapel in Jacksonville, NC website : 
http://www.jonesfh.org/obituary?id=284691

And the Oscar goes to…

I want to thank Ralph Proscia for being the Region Property Manager for the last few years. He has done an awesome job of handling the Region’s clothing, banners and awards… he deserves the Oscar! Unfortunately for us, Ralph is taking a deserved rest from this position to focus on other things… he will not sit idle I assure you!

This opens a position for someone who wants to serve the Region in some capacity, and I want to explain a little about the job. Even though the title is Property Manager, the majority of the focus here is on our awards. We buy Red Bird awards and judging chits, and we give plaques and now display signs for many of our annual awards in January.

It is my vision for the person in this position to focus on these awards. Ralph has decreased the focus on clothing and increased the overall quality of the awards we give. This is a great legacy for Ralph to leave to the new person coming in to help. I’d like to see this developed further as we move forward to recognize and reward superior effort in the mission of the Region. At the same time… we look forward to a lot of new and fun experiences in all our events.

If you are even remotely interested, call me for a discussion and your ideas. I would like to entertain more than one person being involved in this effort so no one feels like it is all on their shoulders. Many of the contacts for these awards are already in place so we have the opportunity to fine tune and customize the things we do for our recipients going forward.

Please call me and ask all the questions you can think of!

Bill Cox  919-971-3382   

2017 Annual Membership Meeting – January 20-21, 2017

The NC Region Annual Meeting was held on January 20 and 21, 2017 at the Ramada Inn in Burlington, NC.  
There were 120 Region members and Guests attending.  Below are some interesting notes and pictures
from the meeting.
1. On Friday Members were able to attend seminar on Competition Judged Classes presented by Dain King.  
    Members were also able to attend CJE classes on either Judging Large Block Chrysler engines or Ford V-8 engines.
2. On Saturday morning members had an opportunity to attend the Cars and Coffee discussion, view the What is It
    contest, and attend seminars on Current Automobile Markets and Appraisals by Eric Marsh,  Classic Wood Products
    for Auto Restoration (reproduction wood for restoring) by Howard Comstock or Corvette Models and Features
    by Bill Cox.    

On Saturday afternoon the General membership meeting was held. 
A guest appearance by Eleanor Roosevelt (Randy Stone) provided a historic overview of rationing and the
the geographic and economic positioning that led up to World War II. 
The meeting
1. Bill Cox, VP NC Region, reviewed highlights of the Calendar of NC Region and Chapter Events for 2017.
    The NC Region Spring Meet will be in Raleigh and the Fall Meet will be in Spencer. The Spring tour
    destination is undetermined, if you have a idea contact Bill Cox. 
3. Chief Judge Randy Stone indicated that over 124 vehicles were judged and were given awards at the two
    NC Region meets in 2016.  Randy identified his efforts to correctly classify vehicles so the members would
    enjoy the best possible judging results and receive an award at NC Reguion events.    
4. President, Jack Harris, updated the membership on the improvements made to the Transportation
    Museum facilities and the success the museum is having with their new and programs for young people
    including the Polar Express, Thomas the Train, and scouting events. 
6. NC Region 2015 special judging awards were presented at the meeting. Pictures are below and the complete
    list of winners is included here: 2017 NC Region Awards
7. Congratulations to Lorrie Oaks for receiving the 2016 Dave Hinkle Award.
8. Congratulations to Randy Stone and Gurney Yokley for being selected for the 2016 Circle of Honor awards.  
9. AACA Director, Tom Cox provided a detailed update on the discussions between the Club and the AACA Museum. 

  
             Dave Hinkle Award                          2017 Circle of Honor                              2017 Circle of Honor
                 Lorrie Oaks                                     Gurney Yokely                                         Randy Stone

To the 2017 annual meet Picture Gallery by by Virgina Wright and Bill Cox see: 2017 Annual Meeting Pictures