Lincoln Highway Association: California Chapter P.O. Box 447
Carmichael, CA 95609

Quarterly Chapter Meeting Minutes — Saturday, October 4, 2014

Duarte Garage
Livermore, California

Minutes

The meeting was called to order at 1:22pm.

Officers, Staff, and Committee Reports

State Director Bob Dieterich

  • Bob is ill and regrettably not able to attend.

President Paul Gilger

  • Working on National Lincoln Highway map regarding satellite views and perfecting the actual Lincoln Highway route.
  • The Ophir Monument won an award from the American Public Works Association. It was given to the Placer County Water Agency, who have it on display in their offices. Paul discussed all of the hard work that was done between Bob Dietrich and the PCWA. Also mentioned was the replica Lincoln Highway marker that has been placed next to the monument.

Vice-President and Membership Chairman Joel Windmiller

  • 267 Membership/reminder cards were sent. 1 was returned.
  • Ophir Road replica marker is finished. Photos were shared showing the paint colors and arrows on the replica marker. Joel also explained the mark on the post showing how far the post needs to be dug into the ground. Special thanks went to Scott Miner for welding the rebar cage. Also thanks to Greg Gassman, Jackie Ferreira and David Lee in their help with the construction. A contractor will be picking up the marker for placement next to the monument. He will also pick up a twenty mule team marker for the Donner Historical Society. The monument will look different by the end of October, as it will no longer have two steel posts alongside the monument.
  • The West Sacramento marker near Tower Bridge needs to be repainted. The paint is peeling.

Treasurer Grant Gassman

  • Grant reported the chapter account balance. Contact the chapter for details. Balance was accepted by all present. Kevin Shawver gave a personal donation of $200 for the signs which will be placed in Stockton. The city of Stockton donated the labor for placement of the signs in their city.

Secretary Jackie Ferreira

  • There are 23 people in attendance today.

Traveler Editor and Chapter Historian Gary Kinst

  • Gary continues to receive information as well as questions regarding the Lincoln Highway. He was recently in touch with a 94-year-old woman requesting more information on the highway and the upcoming tour. She took a trip with her family on the Lincoln Highway in 1925 and would like to share her story. He also received a request from Mr. Adams who is an architectural historian. He is interested in photos of White Rock Road in Placer County. Gary sent him photos.
  • The city of Tracy is replacing the 11th Street Overhead Bridge. The city has asked Gary to be the author for an interpretive plaque (black with silver letters), which will be placed along the walkway of the bridge. Gary will be writing about the history of the Lincoln Highway. There will be monuments on the east and west sides of the bridge. All across the bridge there will be porcelain signs with pictures of historic Tracy. In the middle of each porcelain sign will be a Lincoln Highway Sign.
  • The Traveler Newsletter: There was great discussion regarding members that don’t have the internet and therefore cannot access and enjoy The Traveler. It is quite costly to print and mail copies. Joel and Gary will discuss possibly putting an announcement on the Meeting/reminder cards that the new edition of The Traveler is available on the internet. That way perhaps people may read The Traveler at their local library or at a friend’s house.
  • Arcadia book project: The Chapter is planning two publish two books on the Lincoln Highway in California with Arcadia Publishing. However, only one book is guaranteed; the second book is contingent on the sales of the first book. There was a debate over what each book should cover.

    Option A was to have Book 1 cover the 1913 route and Book 2 cover the 1928 route. Option B was to have Book 1 cover the two Sierra Nevada routes and Book 2 cover the Central Valley routes to San Francisco.

    By a show of hands, 8 people voted for each option. As chapter president, Paul made the tie breaking vote in favor of Option B, so Option B won by 9-8.

    There was a motion for a revote. Mike Kaelin made the motion and Sally Hoeprich seconded the motion. 7 people voted to revote, 8 voted to not revote. So the decision stands Option B, releasing the Sierra routes book first.

Webmaster Jimmy Lin

  • Jimmy reformatted the home page of the National Chapter Website. The page now adapts to the size of the screen: there are 3 columns on PCs, 2 columns on tablets, and 1 on mobile phones.
  • Google Analytics was installed to see how many hits the site gets and what country the hits come from. According to Google, for 7 days prior to the meeting, there were 344 visitors on the National Home Page. 86% are from the U.S. Other countries include Brazil, Spain, Canada and The Netherlands. 15% are visiting with a mobile phone and 13% with a tablet. Three months from now, Jimmy will be able to provide more statistics such as where the people are coming from, how long they stay on the website and what pages are visited.
  • On Facebook there are over 1,300 people that have “liked” the Facebook page. 241 people are following the Lincoln Highway Twitter account.
  • Jimmy helped Paul Gilger and Rosemary Rubin in creating the online forms needed for next year’s tour.

Mike Kaelin

  • Two huge signage projects are going on right now, one in Stockton and one in Oakland. The project in Stockton is moving along very well. Kevin Shawver has taken over sponsorship of this project. Ten signs have been put up on Pacific Avenue in Stockton, installed by the City of Stockton free of charge. Kevin is seeking sponsorship for additional signs. Some people have verbally agreed to do so. Sponsorship for a sign is $50.00, which will cover installation. The California Chapter will cover the cost of approximately 17 signs for the city of Stockton.
  • Bob Glaze, President of the Optimist Club of San Leandro, has taken on the job of managing and sponsoring the Oakland project. Mike has gone with Bob to obtain sponsors in Oakland. The Oakland Hotel on 13th Street is one place of great interest. Sixteen sites were surveyed, including 4 or 5 double connections. Materials are now with the City of Public Works in Oakland.
  • Signage in Hayward: Mike is working with A.T. Stephens, who is the director of the Hayward Area Historical Society. Their new museum is located two blocks up from A Street. The building is 90% complete and contains some Lincoln Highway information.
  • A great place for a sign: Old Dublin Road off of Five Canyons is 4/10 of a mile of original Lincoln Highway. There is an old bridge crossing San Lorenzo Creek.
  • The City of Tracy along with Caltrans will be putting up signs.
  • Colfax: Grant Gassman delivered two signs. The city will be putting them up.
  • Mike will formulate the wording for a Certificate of Appreciation, which will be given to sign sponsors by the California Chapter of the Lincoln Highway Association.

New Business

  1. The 2015 Henry B. Joy Cross Country Tour is now accepting reservations.
    • It will go from Detroit to San Francisco. 2,800 miles in 12 days.
    • As of this date, the tour is 25% sold out. We have people joining the tour from as far away as Norway, Australia and Canada.
    • The tour will be stopping at the Blackhawk Museum. There will be many classic Packards on display.
    • There will be a dinner at the California Automobile Museum in Sacramento. The CA Chapter is interested in hosting the dinner. Greg Beemer, Greg Trout, and Paul Gilger are going to head up the Dinner Committee. The dinner will be a spaghetti feed. The dinner will be held on Tuesday, July 7, 2015.
  2. Taylor Road widening
    • Paul received a letter stating that Taylor Road was going to be widened, northeast of Rocklin, which is a section of the Lincoln Highway and US 40. There is a portion of Taylor Road that has a section of US 40 concrete exposed. The pavement is in excellent condition, and under this section lays the Lincoln Highway. LSA, which worked on the Ophir project, has been contacted again.
    • The exposed concrete will either stay as it is now or be topped over. A mitigation with the LSA is in progress.
  3. West Sacramento Lincoln Highway Display
    • Bob Dietrich has been working for a long time with West Sacramento regarding the Lincoln Highway. The City Hall now has a Lincoln Highway display. Paul shared photos of the display. There was a big dinner to celebrate. Everyone gave a huge round of applause to Bob and for all of his hard work.
  4. Election of Officers
    • Election of officers will occur at the next California Chapter meeting. Bob Dietrich has two years remaining as State Director.
    • If anyone decides they would like to be an officer, they are welcome to step up.
  5. Three Upcoming Meetings
    • The January meeting will be held on January 10, 2015 in West Sacramento. Thank you Grant and Greg Gassman for setting this up!
    • The April meeting will be held on April 4, 2015 in Roseville. It will be set up by Kell Brigan.
    • The July or October meeting will be held in Stockton. It will be headed up by Kevin and Mike.
  6. Duarte Garage Museum
    • The Duarte Garage Museum will be celebrating their 100th anniversary next year. The LHA would like to hold their July meeting at the garage. The July meeting will occur sometime after July 8, which is the end of the 2015 Henry B. Joy Cross Country Tour.

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held Saturday, January 10, 2015 in West Sacramento at:

Vince’s Ristorante
840 Harbor Blvd
West Sacramento, CA 95691
(916) 371-6395

Meeting Adjournment

Meeting adjourned at 3:08 PM.

Presentation

  • Jeff Kaskey, president of the Livermore Heritage Guild, gave a talk titled, “Zooming through Joesville.”

Respectfully submitted on December 4, 2014
Jackie Ferreira, California Chapter Secretary