BSCC- Buffalo convention report

[Sharon Leonard]

Wow!  Celia that was a great report of the convention that  a lot of us 
missed.  Sounds like a great time.  I hope you had a day or two to recoup 
after you got home.
See you at Volksfair,
Sharon and Chuck
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "C. Raia" <c_raia at yahoo.com>
To: <bsc-list at corvair.org>
Sent: Monday, July 31, 2006 4:46 PM
Subject: BSCC- Buffalo convention report


> Last Monday morning we met Wes and Polly Jewett,
> driving their new Honda Accord, and Rick MacDonald and
> John Wingle, driving a beautiful black convertible PT
> Cruiser, at the Charlton rest stop on the Mass Pike.
> Since weâ?Tre pretty non-mechanical and were driving a
> 40 year-old Corvair, we were very grateful to be part
> of a caravan. The weather was perfect and our trip to
> Buffalo was long but uneventful and we got in around 6
> p.m.  The Adams Mark hotel was right off the highway
> in downtown Buffalo. CORSA had reserved the second
> floor of the parking garage for Corvair parking only,
> and it was strange indeed to see an entire level
> filled with dozens of beautiful Corvairs.
>
> Health and logistical issues kept many New Englanders
> away from the convention at the last minute, but we
> were glad to see that a fair number showed up.
> Maine-iacs Ron Tinkham and Mike Klaus caravanned
> together until Mikeâ?Ts car had mechanical problems,
> and he left it at a garage in Utica and traveled with
> Ron. Jon Guignard and Ginny Blackmer caravanned with
> Wayne and Janis Cox, who had several mechanical
> breakdowns, which they were able to resolve. Janis
> wrote up the amusing story--more amusing in retrospect
> than the day of, weâ?Tre sure!--and Larry Claypool
> read it with great delivery at the banquet before
> awarding them the conventionâ?Ts Hard Luck Award.  I
> hope the story gets printed in the next Communique!
> Ron and Mike were able to catch up with the
> Guignard/Cox group and they made it to Buffalo in one
> piece.  Also in attendance were Chuck and Elaine
> Cromwell from Bay State, and of course John and Rick.
> Am I forgetting anyone?
>
> The Tuesday parade to city hall was cancelled due to
> logistical difficulties, so instead we signed up for a
> bus tour of Buffalo.  Itâ?Ts an interesting town with
> lots of beautiful sections. Housing prices are MUCH
> cheaper than the Boston area, but of course youâ?Tve
> got to love snow.  Itâ?Ts funny how defensive the
> Buffalo natives get about that! The city is having
> hard times financially, but there was a lot
> construction going on and we hope theyâ?Tll be able to
> turn things around.  The Tuesday evening welcome party
> was on a decommissioned Navy cruiser which was docked
> with several other ships at a nearby Marina park. We
> were served pizza and Buffalo wings while watching the
> Valve Cover races. There were lots of New England
> entries, thanks mostly to interest spurred by the
> event at the New Hampshire Dustoff. Wes Jewett
> survived until the fourth heat. Dave Todd was somewhat
> unfairly eliminated in what turned out to be a
> logistical error, which they resolved by the time of
> the banquet by awarding him a tie decision for the
> first place trophy.  It was great to see so many
> participants, from young kids with trolls and Barbie
> dolls on their racers to seniors with custom
> machining. One valve cover was topped by an absolutely
> stunning, hand-carved wooden model of a Greenbrier. It
> was eliminated in the 2nd or 3rd heat, but went on to
> win a first prize, with a perfect score, in the model
> car competition.
>
> The car show on Wednesday was at a beautiful lakeside
> park. There were about 100 cars in the display and 50
> in Concours.  There were the perfect senior division
> cars, and some unusual specimens as well.  The Corvair
> limousine weâ?Tve seen in earlier shows was there.
> There was a homemade wooden camper complete with bed
> and cookers. A gorgeous late coupe had a trailer made
> from another late Corvair, both sporting beautiful red
> paint jobs with great graphics. One of my favorite
> vehicles was a Corvan painted with hippie flowers and
> bumper stickers right out of the 60â?Ts.  Ron
> Tinkhamâ?Ts car won second prize in the car display;
> considering that there were 20 cars in the late open
> class alone, thatâ?Ts quite an achievement.
>
> We didnâ?Tt go, but heard that the Autocross was lots
> of fun with a great course on a racetrack. The
> Econo-run produced some absolutely amazing mileages.
> Weâ?Td like to know their tips! The Guignard/Cox team
> did the Rally, which was 100 miles through rolling
> countryside without a single traffic light. Ginny
> Blackmer proved not only to be an excellent navigator,
> but was able to accurately and carefully document
> their stops to cool down overheated brakes so that the
> lost time wasnâ?Tt counted against their team, which
> took second prize. Congratulations, New Hampshire!
>
> We went on a dinner cruise, which was lots of fun, and
> we got to meet Mark Corbin, one of only three CORSA
> members whoâ?Td been to EVERY, count â?~em, EVERY
> convention. Wow. Heâ?Ts also the coordinator of the
> Air Vairs group. We took another evening bus cruise to
> the American side of Niagara Falls and got to see the
> spectacular light show. On Saturday Paul and Wes drove
> to the Tonawanda engine plant for a car show sponsored
> by a local Oldsmobile club and by the UAW.  Since
> weâ?Td missed the plant tour it was fun for them to
> see some of the engines, which were on display
> outside. The show had a special Corvair class with
> about a dozen entries. Yours truly skipped the show
> but took the convention bus trip to a local outlet
> mall.  Nobody came back empty handed!
>
> Paul and I attended the chapter officers meeting and
> came away with some great ideas about increasing
> participation and membership.
>
> The banquet, as all CORSA banquets do, induced fanny
> fatigue, but was interesting nonetheless. The sheer
> enthusiasm of folks for their events was wonderful to
> see. Since the convention was preceded by a Lime Rock
> racing event at Mossport, plus a Canadian Corvair
> show, there was lots to announce.  During the chapter
> rollcall we wore our Colonial tri-pointed hats and
> hollered â?oYankee Doodle!â? for Colonial, which we
> decided was more PC than another suggestion of
> â?oYankees Suck!â?.  We stood up for Bay State as
> well, and joined the Cotrofelds for the VICE yell of
> â?oMoo! Eat Chicken!â?.  It was hard to compete with
> the Texans, though, who were out in great numbers and
> brought noisemakers.  We got a chuckle out of an
> Arizona group which hollered â?oBut itâ?Ts dry
> heat!�   Steve Burns' daughter Jenny was awarded a
> CORSA scholarship, one of three out of 14 nominees, so
> she should be proud of herself.
>
> The Jewetts and Raiaâ?Ts left Buffalo about 8:30 on
> Sunday morning.  We stopped for lunch at a highway
> rest stop about 100 miles west of Albany. Proving that
> it is indeed a small world, we met up there with Wes
> and Pollyâ?Ts daughter, son-in-law, and grandson who
> were returning from a family reunion in Syracuse.
> About 15 minutes after leaving the rest stop our
> fan/generator light came on and we pulled over to the
> shoulder.  It turned out to be a broken fan belt,
> which Wes replaced PDQ.  The rest of the trip home was
> uneventful except for some gawdawful traffic at the
> I-90/I-84 merge.  Now weâ?Tre back to real life,
> feeling naked without a CORSA nametag.
>
> If you get a chance to go to a CORSA convention, we
> urge you to go.  There are ample activities both for
> diehard motorheads and for tourists.  The host
> chapters really put on a great effort, and CORSA
> members are the nicest, friendliest people on earth.
>
> For those of you who had to miss the convention, as
> well as those who went and can't get enough of
> Corvairs, don't forget Colonial's VolksVair show this
> Saturday, Aug. 5, at Hebert Candy in Shrewsbury.  We
> hope to see you there!
>
> Celia Raia
>
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