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Club President Charlie Robinson opened the June meeting with Greg Parr receiving his 15 year watch.

Greg "The Band Aid" Parr has been a member since June 1991 and is most famous for the dubious notoriety of injuring himself! But, he's one of the FPAers who's always trying his best to be at every race. His '69 Mustang has hundred of runs and taken it's share of trophies. He's run in NHRA S/ST and is now running in the 8s! Greg's been a multi-term officer and Drag Committee member, and has helped out at the World Of Wheels, too. His wife Donna has always been there to nurse him through his injuries and tolerate his drag racing "disease"! Congrats on your first 15 years, and still having 10 fingers!

Drag Committee Chairman Damon Cuccia came up and reminded everyone about the next Club Drag Racing points race at NPR on June 30th, he also mentioned that there will be a Drag Committee meeting on Thursday, July 13th at the Frostop Restaurant on Williams Blvd in Kenner. This meeting will be about the upcoming September Club race at Gulfport.

Party Committee Chairman Al Brand reminded everyone about the Appreciation Party to be held on Saturday night, June 24th at the Lions Club in Harahan from 8pm to midnight. Non-member guest are $15 and FPAer Robert Hunt will be spinning the records.

Bobby Achor stood up in front to tell the news on Ford vs. Chevy '06. The event will be held on October 22nd at Gulfport Dragway, there is a possibility that the saturday before that a Time Trial and Gambler's Race may happen. Hotels are being checked around in the area around the track and most everything is set-up for this year and Camper fee for racers to stay at the track. The club will need all members to help pitch in and help put this race, the outcome of this race will depend on weather or not the club will continue.

Hodges Mercer toke the mic and talked about Members & Ford Racing News. 

At the Back To The Beach Show, Jimbo Williams’ ‘88 LX Mustang, Donald Mautemps’ '68 Mustang and Roy Lund's '66 Fairlane took Top 100s.  Justine "Time" Bordelon's '72 Torino took home Best Ford In Show!!!  The BIG news was FPAer Blake Brandy and his dad are driving their '93 F150 Litening for the "Long Haul" on this year's Hot Rod Power Tour! Their picture will be in an upcoming Hot Rod issue and a pic of the yellow truck is on the Meguiar's web site, www.meguiars.com.  They had major tranny trouble, but fixed it in time to pass a bunch of "bow ties" along the way! This is the same truck that routinely trailers Chevy’s at NPR and finished 2nd in last year's FPA Drag Championship! Way to drive that FORD, Blake! He said they're doing it again in '07, and hope to have some more FPAers with 'em.  A bunch of FPAers went to the Mid-America Shelby Meet in Tulsa. CR gave the report at the meeting (see his article).  The Mercer's went to The Hot Rod Reunion in Bowling Green, KY, where Hodges got a ride in a real (not a modern replica, but the REAL deal) '23 Ford Model T race car. Anybody out there riden in an older Ford racecar?  

Damon Cuccia talked about his first legit win in autocross. He toke his '96 Mustang to a 1.5 sec. win over his co-driver in the Street Prepared class at a State Championship event in Shreveport.

Club Vice-President Mike Reed annuonced that his famliy ownerd company, Rite Way Piston Ring Co., will have its Grand Re-opening. It is still in the planning stages and he will announce a date in the future.

In NASCAR, Carl Edwards wins Craftsmen Truck in Chicago, Matt Kenseth won in Nashville, and Mark Martin wins at Dover. The F150 are winning big! In Cup, Matt Kenseth won at Dover, and he's 2nd in points. 

In NHRA drag racing, John Force got his first win of the year, and his 120th lifetime, in Chicago, Force is 2nd NHRA F/C points.

Charlie Robinson and Jay Tracy reported on the trip to the 32nd Mid-America Ford Performance & Shelby Meet  in Tulsa, they brought back poster for everybody and Jay  shared his accounts of the event.

C.R. & I left Tuesday towing the Edsel, headed for Larry Chedotal Jr’s in Jackson for Beer & Burgers on the back deck. Then we watched a classic car movie, Hollywood Knights, before we hit the sack. Wednesday we headed out with L.J. & his ’05 Saleen Mustang and meet up with Joe & John Livaccari in Vicksburg.  John towed his 98 Saleen Mustang till he lost his bearings on his trailer. That’s when Joe towed the 3-legged trailer & John drove his Saleen.  One of C.R.’s antique trailer tires tread split from the rest of the tire only to be replaced by a wavy gravy tread tire. We limped into Tulsa, and then installed our FEMA Blue Roofs on the cars. We meet up with John Lemoine & his Marksville buddies in the parking lot. The New ’07 Shelby GT500 was parked in front of the hotel waiting to be introduced to the         world. Sitting in the hotel lobby was a ’67 Shelby GT350 & a ’68 GT500. Behind the Shelby’s sat 8 vintage HiPo engines & trannys. That’s my kind of lobby! Afterwards, there was Beer in the parking lot.

  Thursday C.R. went to Wally World for tires & Joe went to a trailer shop looking for a new axle & bearings. The rest of us went Hallett for some Hot Road Racing. John Lemoine ran his late model Cobra till a high dollar rocker arm broke. L.J. & John Livaccari ran their Saleens along with Lemoyne’s buddies JR, & Glen with his ’06 Roush Mustang. After racing at Hallett all day we all went to the 4 block long Cruise Nite at Sonic. LOTS OF GREAT FORDS; Real 427 Cobras, the New Shelby GT500 & the Ford GT were in the parking lot along with Beer again.

  Friday was another day of road racing at Hallett. There were lots of parts at the swap meet & a great Vintage Race. John Livaccari won a ride in the Ford GT but the car was overheating so they pulled in the pits after a few laps and jumped in one of the new Shelby’s to finish his ride. Friday night at the hotel was a reception sponsored by Goodyear & Late Model Resto. Free food, door prizes, a set of vintage Goodyears and Beer were in the parking lot.

Saturday we all went to the Drag Strip. John Livaccari only ran time trials while CR & LJ ran eliminations and they both ran dead on their dial-ins before red lighting. There were lots of vintage cars racing with the late models. Low ET went to a red FE powered ‘65 Falcon, he broke out with an 8.90 dial-in. Sat. night was the Banquet with Guest speakers, videos from Hallett on the Big screens and a ton o door prizes. After the Banquet it was time for beer in the parking lot, golf cart demo derby & furniture in the elevators. 

The car show was Sunday in the parking lot with a couple of hundred killer Ford cars. There were 41 classes for Popular Vote and LJ won the Saleen class. At this car show, the more a car races the more votes it gets, and LJ raced a lot.  There were many regulars asking how the NOLa Blue Roof Krewe faired the storm. It was Great to know that so many Ford people from around the county were concerned about us FPAer. This is the short version and a lot of good stories were left out. This was one of the best road trips ever.

Charlie Closed the June meeting with a thank you to all the club memebers that made it and reminded them to trip there waitress on the way out.

 

Club President Charlie Robinson opened the meeting saying that members phone number and e-mail that need updating please get with Janie Parouix and your committee chairman.  If your newsletter is being forwarded, that means the FPA does not have your correct address.

Chris Lacoste recived his 10 year member pin this month , Chris “Cold” Lacoste, joined May 1996, has been Show Committee Chairman, drag race winner, show winner, and all-around do-it-all in the FPA. He helped chair our second FPA calendar, too. We look forward to seeing his race Mustang at the track and his show Mustang at our shows for another 10 years. His wife and former FPAer Cheryl "Hot" Lacoste is his crew chief, too.

Drag Committee Chairman Damon Cuccia reminded everyone about The FPA Points event Friday June 30th at NPR and is planning a meeting in July for the September Gulfport race that the club will be hosting.

Party Committee Chairman Al Brand annouced that the Appreciation Party would be June 24th at the Harahan Lions Club on Hickory Ave. 

Bobby Achor will chair Ford vs. Chevy this year and has finalized a date for the event to be October 22nd at Gulfport, final plans are being made and Mike Reed is working on Insurance for the event.

Need volunteer for Newsletter : Terry Hibbard is giving it up. We really hate seeing this because of the good job he has done.

Club Secretary Jim Summerfield is selling FPA shirts, hats and other merchandise. He will take orders at the General Meetings for club members who want some FPA gear.

  We will be ordering more 15-year watches. Damon is taking care of the drag plaques for the Party. Al has the Appreciation Party set up for June 24 at the Lions Club on Hickory Ave. in Harahan. We will need some people to show up early to decorate. We will have a person with a list at the door of the dues paid up members. Make sure your dues are paid up. Worker pins will be given out also.   Mike Reed has contacted the Insurance Co. for our Club insurance. They need a schedule of events for the year. We have the drag events and party date. We do not have anything for the Show Committee or F/C yet. We need F/C to keep the club alive. It has to be a concentrated effort of all the members to make it happen this year.

Wesley Smith Sr., longtime member of the FPA, lost his son early this week. His son was only 36 years old and leaves behind his wife and 3 young children.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family for this loss.

Tommy Moran's dog Starr was made the FPA mascot years ago so he would not have any problem coming with him and his wife Debbie to the races. Well Friday may 19, 2006 at 1 PM, he died.  He was an American Eskimo dog.  He loved Fords, at least I know he use to love riding around in Tommy's 1971 Ford Torino.
Starr was 18 years old.  He will be missed around the track.

 

  Blake Brady took his '93 F150 to the winner's circle at No Problem Raceway on April 14 in the Street Bracket. He went to the semis the week before there, too. Way to go, Blake!

  NASCAR News: Our Ford racers Matt Kenseth and Mark Martin are holding down 2nd and 3rd in the points. Gotta keep putting the "gris-gris" on Jimmy Johnson, though! When I was at the Darlington race, I put a curse on the Chevy guys' pits, and, lo and behold, Biffle won!

In NHRA, Team Force has John in 2nd, Robert Height in 3rd, and Eric Medlan in 4th. Force has now lost to Ron Capps 3 times this year! OK, here's the deal. If you have any Brut smellum, go get it. Pour it ALL on a doll, or even a stick that looks like a person, say some mo-jo words like "I put a hex on Ed McCulloch and Ron Caps! May their car go up in flames and on the line take real long naps!”  and then set it on fire! Hey, we gotta try and help John any way we can.

Warren and I lost in the 1st round Saturday. I bought back in and lost again. After the Saturday race we work on my car to get all of the "bugs" worked out.  We fixed the shifter and rejetted the carb. On Sunday I ran Glenn Elliser 1st round. I had Glenn on the tree and got the win. That was a good race. I lost in the 2nd round when I left the transmission in 2nd gear after the burnout. Warren went 3 rounds and then the rains came and they called the race. With the racers still in, they split all of the money. So, Warren was the money winner for the weekend for Parr Bros. Racing. 

Other members were at FFW, Charlie Robinson was there but didn't race, the Edsal was being fickle. Manual Babin, Marco Mecera, Cliff Rupart, Darryl and Wayne Giveans were there to watch. Blake Brady ran the Tough Truck  and Street Ford Bracket class, luck was not with him in either class. New Member Greg Herbert Jr., Richard Freidrichs and Bobby Achor ran the the True Street Challange on Saturday and did resonable well. Event wasn't all that bad other than the weather, hopefully if the Fun Ford guys come back, they place it in a non-wet month. More Details about the event are at the FFW website.

Charlie Robinson annoced that there will be a Ford/Chevy Committee meeting Monday June 5th at 7 PM at the Frostop on Williams Blvd.  It is of grave importance that we plan a good F/C this year if we want the FPA to survive, as we know it. Make every effort to attend.

  Charlie closed the meeting out for the month and reminded everyonr to tip you waitress on the way out.

 

Club President Charlie Robinson started the meeting by telling all the club members that we need more ENTHUSIASM! We need to show our colors by wearing our club shirts, hats, watches etc. Put your FPA stickers on your vehicles and support the sponsors of FPA events.

  New Members

 

  Anniversary Awards

  10-Year Award

Dave “Bad Santa” Garland, joined April 1996, is infamous as the skinniest Santa in FPA history! Not only has he been our Vice President (actually, more like “President of Vice”!), but he’s also been an active member and chair of the Drag Committee as well as chairing a bunch of races and helping with The F/c Drags. His Mustangs have taken home the trophies from our drags, and he’s finished in the Top 10 in the Drag Championship, too. Always there to lend a hand, or an opinion, or challenge you to a race, it’s been great to have our own “Bad Santa” around for 15 years!

Warren “Long Distance Award” Parr, joined April 1996, who lives in Atlanta, Georgia, is the permanent owner of our races’ Long Distance Awards! He routinely tows all the way here to race his Mustang and bring home a trophy. Keep on towing Warren; we look forward to see you at the races!

Cliff “Hanger” Rupart, joined April 1996, has been with us for 10 years, now! Cliff has run an assortment of Mustangs and Capris at our drags and taken home his share of trophies, too. His ’83 Capri is the oldEST Capris in the FPA, and it’s his daily driver. He’s helped out at our drags, and we look forward to his next 10 years of being an FPAer! Until the next episode, we have a "Cliff Hanger"....

  David, Warren and Cliff received their 10-year pins at the meeting.

  Drag Committee Chairman Damon Cuccia reported on the Drag Race results from the 3/18 & 4/7.  See the Drag Committee Page for more details.

  TOGA! TOGA! Party Committee Chairman Al Brand announced that the Party Committee would be meeting 4/20 at Robert's.

  Show Committee Chairman Billy Williams reported that the Picnic Cruise was a great success. We will do it again and we'll be doing an open car show.  He will need help from everybody to make it happen.

  Hodges Mercer reported in Racer News that Jack Roush maybe picking up Danica Patrick.  Kurt Bush is a cheater.   L.I.R.T. President: Greg Herbert Sr. wore an Earnhardt hat to the FPA Meeting.  Hodges suggested he doesn’t know who he was, but we think he was a spy for Dale Jr.   :-)

Charlie closed the meeting and reminded everone to tip there waitress on the way out!

 

Before the meeting started, Hodges "Hoofit" Mercer had the new officers face Dearborn and put hand on the Blue Oval and pledge the FPA allegiance to the Club.

Hodges Officiated.

President - Charlie Robinson (Charlie was the first president for the FPA back in '81.)

Vice President - Mike "Red Pony" Reed

Treasurer - Janie Poiroux   (Proxy Marianna Hall)

Secretary - Jim "Red Light" Summerfield

Officer at Large - Mike "911" Hebert, Sr.

Charlie Robinson called the meeting to order at 8:15 p.m. to inform the members of the Problems with the Newsletter. The printer wanted more money and more time to make the newsletter.  Terry Hibbard  is trying to work out issues with the printer so they can be mailed out in time for members to receive them before the General Meeting.   Mariana Hall handed out the Exhaust News at the meeting.  Members who were not at the meeting will receive the newsletter by mail.  March had no new member and no awards this month.  Next month David Garland, Greg Parr, and Cliff Rupert will receive awards.

Show Commmittee Chairman Billy Williams went over the cruise we will have Sunday, April 2nd.  It will start at the Pontchartrain Center at noon and will travel to the Sonic in LaPlace. From there the cruise will return to Kenner Park for a picnic. Bring all of your own food and drinks and just have fun the "old way". For info on event check the FPA Show Committee page for updates and pictures.

Charlie begain talking about the Warehouse Cleanup. He called 23 members and 8 members showed up. We want to thank the members who showed up. It took 3 hours to clean and organize. There were racks that were stored and we use them to make shelves. Everything is very neat and organized now. We want to thank Janie Poiroux, Damon Cuccia, Billy Rhodes, Justin Bordelon, Roy Lund, CR Robinson, Robert Dauzat and Jim Summerfield. Charlie also went on to mention members to please check your phone number in the Newsletter to see if it is correct. Turn in your corrections to Jim Summerfield, our new Secretary. Officers and Chairpersons, please turn in your home phone number, cell number, and e-mail address to Charlie.

Members were told that March 18th will be the first round of the 2006 FPA Drag racing Championship at No Problem Raceway. More info is on the FPA Drag Committee Page.

Hodges Mercer started Member and Racing News and gave us the low down on Chevy’s cheating in NASCAR. We should all Boo!! Jimmy "Cheating" Johnson. Also Paula Mercer is now the clubs fastest woman now with a 12.81 1/4 mile time at Gulfport in her Supercharger '05 Mustang GT, this also makes her car the fastest S197 Mustang in the club. He mentioned  Darryl Giveans with crew chief Wayne Giveans took their re-built 289 powered '67 Fairlane to Gulfport Dragway and brought home the big buck$ by winning the street bracket in March! Way to trailer those shovalays, boys! ! ! Greg Parr wins the "Most Broken Parts" Award for breaking two transmissions and one rear differtial in his 514 cid '67 Mustang race car at NPR's Mardi Gras day test n' tune.

Charlie closed the meeting and reminded everone to tip there waitress on the way out!

 

Charlie Robinson open the meeting since Bobby Achor couldn’t make the meeting.  The first agenda item was a new member introduced by Ken Nunez.  Jerry Rodriguez was present and was accepted by the Officers and members.  He has a 1993 T-Bird Super Coupe and 2005 Ford Freestyle.  He is interested in Drag Racing, Car Shows etc.  Here is Jerry being introduced by Ken.

Charlie next reminded those members who were not able to do their worker hours that they would be allowed to work two events in 2006 to retain their status of a member in good standing.  Charlie also gave his assessment of the damage to storage cell.  He says it looked like it got 6-8 inches of water but most of the things were up high enough to prevent water damage.  Along with the sign up sheet from last meeting, Charlie asked each committee to provide a member to help with the clean up of the cell.  He will call everyone to schedule a date to resolve this item.

 

Drag Committee by Damon Cuccia

  There will be a Drag Committee meeting at 8:00 on January 17th at Le Reaux Café.  Damon wants to establish drag event dates.

  Show Committee by Billy Williams

  Show Committee will meet next week to plan a Pot Luck Cruse.  Billy will call everyone on the time, place and date.

  Party Committee by Al Brand

  Al reported that he has gotten much done but will schedule a meeting soon!

  Charlie asked Chuck Dominque to come up and receive his 10-year Anniversary pin. Chuck is the owner of a long string of classic Mustangs, including his ’67. He’s helped out at our drags and we congratulate him on his first 10 years with the FPA. Chuck Dominque receiving his 10-year Anniversary pin from Charlie Robinson.

Charlie opened up the 2006 FPA Officer nominations.  Before he took any nominations, he reported that Jim Summerfield did not want to a candidate for President but would accept a nomination for Secretary.  He was nominated and seconded.  Other than this change, there were no new nominations than from the December General Meeting.  As it stands now, Charlie Robinson is the only nominee to President.  Mike Reed is the only nominee for Vice President.  Janie Poiroux is the only Nominee for Treasurer.  There are two nominees

  Officer at Large, (OAL).  These are Mike Herbert and Greg Kampen.  Mike is the present OAL and Greg is the former OAL prior to Mike.  There is a ballot for this choice on page X for those who cannot attend the meeting but want to vote.  This should be mailed to the club mailing address or brought to the meeting by another member.

  Janie announced that she was going to use an accountant this year to do the Club taxes.  She is too busy with her job and the tax laws are getting more complicated every year.  She also announced that the Club was extending dues payment to the February meeting.

  Member News by Hodges Mercer

There is the 14th Annual NHRA Pro-Stock event in Texas February 4th at Houston Raceway Park.  Maybe we can organize a caravan?

February 19th in the NASCAR Daytona race.  It will be the first race for the Ford Fusion body.

  Blake Brady was the Street Rookie of the year by National Dragster for No Problem Raceway in 2005.

Long time member, Teddy Nobles, mother passed away Saturday 1-21-06.  Our hearts and prayers go out to Teddy and family members.

Long time ford racer Dyno Don Nicklson died.

Charlie thanked the 42 members for attending the meeting and reminded everyone that 2006 FPA Officers will be voted on at the next General meeting.

 

President Bobby Achor welcomed everyone to the December General Meeting.  Old business was the second attempt to award John Livaccari his 15-year Anniversary award but John was not at the meeting. 

The first new business item was the vote to allow Club members to work their year 2005 service requirements in 2006.  To retain a “Member in Good Standing” classification, Club members will be allowed to work two service requirements in 2006.  This temporary change was suggested by the Officers due to the disruption of Hurricane Katrina and the cancellation of events normally available toward the end of the year for members to satisfy the service requirements to remain a “Member in Good Standing”.  By a show of hands, this change was accepted by the attending Club members.

As mentioned in the December Newsletter, Charlie Robinson was introduced as the acting Vice President of the club.  Taking advantage of the microphone in his hand, Charlie announced the 25-year award committee that he was leading to select an appropriate award for this occasion.  He read off several members who in the next two years will be eligible to receive this Anniversary Award.  He will call these members or anyone can contact him to help select this next Anniversary Award.  The first awards need to be available for the October, 2006 meeting.  Charlie also asked members to sign up to help clean out the storage shed due to the flooding from the hurricane.  A sign up sheet was at the Officers’ table for those for are willing to help with this effort.

Drag Committee Report by Damon Cuccia

Damon thanked everyone for the support for the committee during the 2005 year.  The Club ended up with one less race than planned due to the hurricane.  Due to recalculations based on re-interpreted rules, Charlie Robinson was declared as the FPA Drag champion with a tie-brake with Blake Brady.  Blake ended up as number 2.  Manual Babin was third with a valiant effort even while losing almost everything due to Hurricane Katrina.  Al Brand was forth due to a tie-brake with Damon who was fifth.  In an unprecedented occurrence, Greg Parr and Richard Friedrichs tied for sixth with an exact tie-brake reaction time.  Jim Summerfield was eighth and Sandy Morehouse was ninth.  There still is a tie-brake assessment between Paul Dupeire and Marco Macera to decide who is the final tenth position.

For 2006, there are no solid plans as of yet.  Gulfport Dragway is supposed to open in March.  Damon has contacted No Problem Raceway and we will probable have some drag events there.  Damon is planning to call a meeting of the Drag Committee after the first of the year.  If you are not a member of this Committee but want to help, contact Damon.

Show Committee Report by Billy Williams

Billy had no update from the last General meeting.  Due to the cancellation of the World of Wheels, the Show Committee will need to discuss at the, yet to be announced next meeting, the plans for 2006.  This will be dependent on the budget that the 2006 Club Officers decide on for the committees.

Party Committee

Bobby reminded the attending members that the club has no Chairperson for this committee or an event chair for the Appreciation Party.  Al Brand was nominated and accepted the Chairperson position for this committee.  He will be calling a meeting soon to discuss the options for parties in 2006.

2006 Officer Nominations

Bobby opened the nomination and acceptance process for the Club Officers for 2006.  In the November General Meeting, no nominations were accepted.  To allow for adequate time to consider this important process, Bobby announced that the nominations would be accepted through the January General Meeting.  The vote for 2006 Officers would be held in February and the new Officers would be sworn in March.  For President, Jim Summerfield was nominated but he was not present at the meeting.  This nomination will be open until Jim either accepts or declines.  Charlie Robinson was also nominated for President and he accepted the nomination.  For Vice President, Mike Reed was nominated and he accepted the nomination.  Janie Poiroux was nominated and she accepted the nomination for Treasurer.  Mike Herbert and Greg Kampen were both nominated for Officer at Large and both accepted the nomination.  No one accepted the nomination for Secretary.  Nominations will still be accepted in January meeting.

Member News

Bobby Achor has acquired his third Gen I Lightning.  This is a rare one in that it is an extended cab model (1 of 20). 

Charlie Robinson announced that Delgado would open its City Park and Covington campus for the January semester.  Charlie also said that he was selling his Boss 302 for about $50k.  Anyone interested, can contact him.

Janie also announced that the Chalmette Home Depot would open at the first of the year with an outside vending format.  Janie also said that all Club Members who raced at the Free Drags should bring their receipts to the January to get their $15 reimbursement.

Bobby thanked the 33 members for attending the meeting.  We will meet January 10th at the same place for the January General Meeting.  A reminder is that this is the last General Meeting that dues will be accepted for continued membership in the Club.

December Door Prize Photos (photos provided by Paula Mercer)

As tradition, the December General meeting has a special meaning as we celebrate Christmas.  The door prizes won by those who attend have a higher value than the normal door prizes at other General Meetings.  Here are a few photographs of those who were winners of these Christmas door prizes and a few other pics.

                       

Bobby Achor welcomed everyone to the first Club meeting since Hurricane Katrina.  Due to the impact of the Hurricane Katrina, Theresa Kelley has resigned as the Club’s Vice President.  (Until the next election of Officers, Charlie Robinson will be the acting Vice President.)  Bobby sadly announced deaths of Louis Orduna’s father, Louis Harold Orduna, and Thomas Payne’s father.  Bobby also announced that Ancel Horton, “Godfather of jet car racing” passed away on November 4th due to cancer.  Ancel was a familiar racing figure for the Club at our Ford Chevy events.

  Bobby recognized the following Club members for their Anniversaries: 

  20-Year Award

  Henry Sill, September 1985

Henry has been lending us a hand at our races and shows for 20 years now! He’s always been there to help out whenever he can. His Lincoln Limos have carried a bunch of us to fancy functions in Lincoln luxury over the years. Thanks for all your volunteering and we look forward to another 20 years for you!

  Ramsey Castigliola, November 1985  (adjusted service date for total time as Member) Ramsey has been a multi-term President and was instrumental in getting us incorporated and implementing the volunteer requirement policy. He’s chaired the Ford vs. Chevy Drags and helped out at our races. His ’69 Mustang has won numerous show awards. Thanks to him and his wife, Laura, for 20 years of service.

  15-Year Award

  John Livaccari, November 1990

“Big” John Livaccari receives his 15 Year watch this month. John has been an active Show Committee participant with his ‘85 Mustang GT and his Green Weenie ’65 fastback. He’s helped out at The World Of Wheels and trophied there, too. Congrats to John, and his wife Dena. We look forward to another 15 years. (John was not present to receive his 15-Year watch!)

  10-Year Award

  Greg “Kid 5.0” Nunez, September 1995

“The Kid” is now in the Navy stationed on the east coast in the nuclear division. His LTD made a bunch of laps at Gulfport and was entered in numerous FPA shows. He’s helped out at our drags, and we, along with his parents Kenny and Susan, are mighty proud of his serving his country in the Navy. (Greg is on assignment with the Navy and Ken Nunez accepted Greg’s 10-Year pin.)

  Teddy Nobles and Ron Weber accepted their 20-Year Plaques that were not available at the time they were recognized for their 20-Year Anniversaries.

The next agenda item was the issue of worker hours to retain “a member in good standing” designation for those people who were counting on the events that were cancelled due to Hurricane Katrina.  The Officers have proposed to allow any member to be considered in “good standing” for 2005 who have not worked their “act of service” with the requirement to work two  “acts of service” in 2006.  This will be voted in the December meeting.

  Bobby also asked for volunteers to help clean up the storage place to help identify any lost items due to the storm for 2005 tax write offs.  The storage place got about a foot of water and we need to clean it up.  A sign up sheet is at the Officer’s table.

 Drag Committee Report

  There will be one more drag event for the FPA Drag Championship.  It will be at No Problem Raceway Park Friday Night December 2nd.  This is also the “Free Drags” and all participating racers will get $15 back if they bring a receipt to the December meeting.

  Show Committee by Billy Williams

  No committee meetings have taken place since Katrina.  The World of Wheels in 2006 has been cancelled.

  Party Committee

  The Party Committee needs a chairperson and specifically someone to chair the Appreciation Party in 2006.  The Officers have proposed to hold this event but at a drastically scaled back cost.  The problem is that NO ONE has volunteered to chair this event.  If no one steps forward soon, the event probably will not happen!

  Bobby opened up the nominations for next year’s Officers.  There were several names nominated but no one accepted these nominations.  Nominations will be asked for at the December meeting.  Except for Mike Herbert, none of the present Officers are seeking a nomination.

  Member New s

  Charlie Robinson had a story of a Ford collector in Chalmette who thought he had his GT500 KR protected by putting it in the air on a lift.  However, a floating refrigerator got under the car and tipped it into the floodwaters.

  Bobby thanked the 39 members for attending the meeting.  We will meet the second Tuesday in December at the same place.

 

Officer’s Meeting Summary (November 1, 2005)

  The November meeting will start the process to elect Club Officers for 2006 and nominations will be accepted at this meeting and the December meeting.  The election will take place at the January meeting and the 2006 Officers will take the FPA Club oath at the February meeting.  Of the present Officers, only Mike (911) Herbert Sr. will be seeking re-nomination and election.  One of the present 2005 Officers, Theresa Kelley, has submitted a verbal resignation and has moved out of state.

  Several important items remain for the FPA to resolve in the remaining months of this year.

  1)   The Officers have voted to continue the process to have an Appreciation Party in early 2006, as has been the tradition.  Theresa was the acting Chairperson for the Party Committee.  As of now, there is no Chairperson for the Party Committee or Event Chairperson for the Appreciation Party.  Unless someone volunteers for the Event Chairperson, this event will not be a reality.  Now is the time for someone to volunteer to be the Event Chairperson!  If you are interested, please contact any of the Officers at the November meeting or email Terry Hibbard or Bobby Achor (See Newsletter for email address).

2)      The Officers also voted to extend the date to accept Club dues for 2006 through the February meeting.

3)      They discussed the issue of members who were planning to volunteer at one of the remaining events in 2005 but will unable to due to the cancellation of these events.  It was agreed to ask for a voice vote at the December meeting to allow these people to volunteer for two events in 2006.  This would allow these members to qualify as members in good standing and would be eligible to attend the Appreciation Party.

The decision was made to have one more drag race to decide the 2005 FPA Club champion.  The plan is to hold a Friday night race at No Problem Raceway.  This would be the “Free” drag race but only $15 will be refunded to any Club racer who participates in this race and brings the receipt to the next meeting. Damon Cuccia has obtained a December 2nd date from No Problem and this will be announced at the November meeting for those who didn’t get a November Newsletter.              

  5)      The Club storage got flooded.  The Club needs to get some volunteers to go clean out the cell and help inventory the damaged items.  This important to allow the club to claim these items for the 2005 tax year and to access what items are still usable for future usage.  A sign-up sheet will be at the Officers table and a date will be discussed to accomplish this task and e-mail Terry Hibbard if you want to help.

6)      The Club insurance needs to be obtained.  The process to obtain the policy was interrupted by the Hurricane Katrina.  With the resignation of the Vice President Theresa Kelley, this responsibility will be assumed by the other Officers to obtain a policy for the Club.

7)      Finally, the Ford Chevy event needs to be discussed as to when to hold this event and where.  Gulfport Dragway will not be available until April or May of 2006.  Further discussion needs to be held on this issue.

Member News by Hodges Mercer

 FPAer Louis Orduna's father and Chuck Dominick's grandfather, Louis Harold Orduna Sr., died as a result of the 17th St Canal failure in New Orleans. Our condolences go out to their family in this tragic loss.

We regret to report that FPAer Thomas Payne's father died October 31. Our sympathies are with him and his family in his loss.  Tom has moved to Kenner, the house he & his brother lived in Gentilly, was destroyed. He can be reached at 504-439-1880 to get his mailing address for the sympathy card.

 

 With the president, Bobby Achor, still at work at The Times Picayune, Vice President, Teresa Kelly, called the meeting to order promptly at 8:00. The First item on the agenda was the recognition of two anniversary members, Keith Chassion (15 years) and Teddy Nobles (20 years).

 Famous for making it rain every time he chaired one of our drag races, Keith "Rainmaker" Chassion has been one of our most active and helpful members since 1990. He is a multi-term officer and chaired a bunch of our drag races, as well as helping out, racing and even "peeing" in the gas tank of a Chevy once! Way to go Keith! And thanks to you and your wife Kathy for 15 years of entertainment and great help!

Teddy "Bear" Nobles Hits 20 years this month as well. Most famous for racing a 20,000+ lbs. LTL9000 Ford tractor down Gulfport Dragway to a blistering 21 sec. ET, and running his '86 T-Bird too, Teddy has always been there to help out at the gate and participate in our committees. Congrats on your 20 year award, "Bear"!

Drag Committee by Keith Chassion

 Keith stood up and filled in for Damon Cuccia for the Drag Committee report. Forty-six racers showed up at State Capitol Drags in Baton Rouge. The best way to describe the day was  HOT! Keith thanked all the voulnteers who braved the heat. The big winner was Charlie Robinson. SeeAre was the Top Eliminator and talled seventeen points to move him to the top of the 2005 FPA Drag Racing Championship. See the FPA Drag Committee Page for results and article on thye event.

  Show Committee by Jeremy Williams  

 The Show Committee met to discuss the "Open Car Show" topic again. This was tabled until the committee can get some direction from the officers.

Ford/Chevy 2005 by Theresa Kelly

 The Holiday Inn will hold the rate of $59.95 that the FPA members paid last year. The only catch is that they have a large booking for the sunday night of the raceand no rooms will be available for those who plan to stay over Sunday. If you plan to stay over sunday. If you plan on staying over on sunday night you may wnat to consider other lodging options in the area. Ther will be no formal party at the holiday Inn this year, but an informal tailgate type party will probably be held around the pool at the Holiday Inn. Bobby Achor will call at meeting in August to status the contract with Gulfport Management. He will contact all the people who signed up on the Ford/Chevy list. This will probably be by e-mail or notification on the FPA website

Member News

 Jimbo Williams's son will be the benefactor to a car show held in the St. Rose area on August 9th.

 Mark Desoto is recovering from a head on collision with another vehicle. He is recovering slowly is getting around via a wheel chair.

 The next drag race for the 2005 FPA Drag Racing Championship will be August 19th at No Problem Raceway. This will be the first of the friday night events and the normal friday night crowd at No Problem will challenge FPA club racers.

 Harold LaCroix announced that the North Shore Mustang Club was holding a car show at the Hammond Square Mall on September 17th

 Janie Poiroux announced that she had been notified that action suit against the K&K Insurance will benefit the club for a couple by a couple of dollars. This is Not going to be a significant amount!

Theresa thanked the 41 FPA members for coming out and closed the meeting.

 

The meeting started off with the usually noisy crowd but hungry due to difficulties in the Kitchen.  Bobby announced that those who had made orders would be served but no other orders would be taken for the night.  He offered an option to delay the meeting in order for those who did not get served to go find food somewhere else and come back to the meeting.  This option was rejected by voice vote and the meeting started.

The next agenda item was to award Don Mautemps his 15-year watch.

“Captain” Donald Mautemps by Hodges Mercer

The “Captain” gets his 15 Year Award this month! Donald has participated in our drags and shows with his Mustang and Torino, and received his share of trophies and round wins. He’s helped out at the World Of Wheels and the track whenever he could. Congrats on your first 15 Years, “Captain”!

Show Committee by Billy Williams

We had 50 vehicles at the Crawfish Boil and Car Show event.  Billy thanked the following members for working the event:  Terry Hibbard, Charles Williams, Daniel Cognevich, Jeremy Williams, Clyde Guillot, Roy Lund and Roy Lund, Jr.  Billy chaired the event himself.  He also thanked all of the members for bringing their vehicles out for the day to show off to the FPA group.

The next Show Committee meeting will be next Tuesday, the 21st and it will be at the CBI starting at 7:30.  The committee wants to continue the discussion on an open car show and the WoW 2006 event.  The club believes we will face fierce competition next year for the Club Display award.  If you are interested in participating or just want to learn what goes on at the meeting, come and enjoy your fellow club members trying to make the club more interesting and fun!

Party Committee by Theresa Kelley

Theresa also thanked all of those who turned out and worked the event. From all reports, there was plenty of food for everyone and we only had about a box of Crawfish left over to take home. She gave special thanks to those who volunteered and brought desserts for the event.  All in all, the event was a great success and we didn’t get rained on like last year!

Next, Bobby talked about the Ford/Chevy event and the status of the contract negotiation with Gulfport Dragway management.  He is hopeful to have the contract finalized in the near future. The next F/C meeting will be June 28th.  Bobby will send out emails to give location and time for this meeting.

The next agenda item was a discussion on the proposed Constitution and By-Laws change for Limited Inactive Membership.   Bobby said that he had be contacted by several members who felt the change was not of any value and allowed members who had not filled their worker hours to attend the Appreciation Party.  This party is the recognition of member participation and accomplishments of club members.  They felt this change was contrary to the event focus.  Bobby asked by a show of hands if the attending membership voted to not consider this Constitution By-Law change.   With an over whelming show of hands, the membership voted to not consider this change.

As a carry over from last meeting, AJ Berkeley presented to the club more information about 454 Dyno (Click here to check out there website).  The eddy current dyno has the capability to measure up to 1500 horsepower at the wheels.  It can simulate eighth and quarter mile runs from a standing start.  Most of their customers use the dyno to test add bolt on modifications and general tuning to maximize performance results and protection from lean conditions (i.e. air fuel, EGT etc.).  They also bring in their vehicles to run diagnosis and problem related issues.  The shop has wide ban capabilities and data logger to collect the information and is a fully qualified SCT vendor.

Member News by Hodges Mercer

At the recent Biloxi Mustang Show, FPA members Robert Steiner got 1st place in his class.  The Rochs also got 1st place in their class and Clyde Guillot got 98 out of 100 points in winning his class.  Congratulations to these members.

Parts call was next and we had the usually amount of parts presented for sale.  See Parts Call page for these items

Bobby thanked the 40 members for showing up and closed the shorten meeting.

 

Bobby welcomed everyone to the General Meeting and for the second time at the new/old meeting place on the Airline now known as Reenie’s.  Even more surprising is that the meeting started on time for the third straight time!  Ken Nunez introduced a new member, Eric Kramer, sponsored Greg Parr.  Eric has just finished restoring a 1929 Fire Engine (see photos of Crawfish Boil/Car at the Show Committee page.)

  The first agenda item was an item discussed in the Officer’s meeting.  It has been suggested to add a new type of membership to the By Laws for Inactive Membership.  This membership would allow the person to receive the monthly Newsletter and attend the Appreciation Party with a guest.  This membership would not allow any other “free” attendance to any other event nor would the member have any voting rights.  The cost of this membership has been proposed to be $35.00.  (See By Law change in this Newsletter for the specific By Laws change.)

 Bobby has met with Gulfport Dragway management and they are willing to discuss a contract that is a 50/50 split of net profits.  Bobby hopes to have this type of contract approved by both parties in the near future.  He also announced there would be a Ford/Chevy meeting at Reenie’s at 7:00 PM May 17th.

Drag Committee by Damon Cuccia

 First drag race for the FPA Club Championship will be May 15th at Gulfport Dragway.  Same brackets as before except there will be no Powder Puff.  These will be brackets 1, 2, 3 and truck.  This is an open event to all makes of vehicles.  Winner of Eliminations will get a free Ford/Chevy entry ticket.  There will also be a cash payout for all bracket winners.  Drag entry fee will be $25 and spectators will remain $10.  Run for the money will remain $5.  Eliminations will start at 2:30.

 Damon also reminded all racers that they get a point toward the Championship by working the gate for 2 hours.  He also stated that the method to validate Championship points will be the responsibility of the racer and the new form will be handed out at the gate of this race.  Also keep all of your time slips to help with tiebreakers at the end of the year.  You can also register your vehicle to receive the same car number for the season.  Damon is working this with all of the tracks we have events.  Charlie Robinson ended Damon’s report with the following tips:  1) Show up 2) Be consistent and 3) Be lucky.

 Ron Weber’s 20-year award was the next agenda item.  Ron Weber receives his 20-Year Award this month! Ronnie’s been a multi-term Officer, Drag Committee Chair, Ford vs. Chevy coordinator, and an active member for many years. Along with his wife Kim, he’s attended practically every FPA even since he joined. His Mustangs have participated and won in our drags and shows. He’s always been there to help out when needed. Congrats on your first 20 years, Ronnie! 

  Show Committee by Justin Bordelon

  Remember the Crawfish Boil/Car Show at Lafreniere Park on May 22nd.   Register your car starting at 9:00 AM but no Burnouts or any other activities that would jeopardize our standing with the Park.

  Party Committee by Theresa Kelley

  Come and eat all the Crawfish you can.  We will have hamburgers, hot dogs, corn and potatoes.  The crawfish will show up about 11:30 AM.  Bring a dessert to add to the dessert potluck.  Also, don’t forget your beverages this year as the club will not be providing them for this event.  We will also have cabbage ball and volleyball equipment for those who can still do these things. 

  Membership News

  Fun Ford Weekend in Houston was the opportunity for the election of the new L.I.R.T. (Low IQ Racing Team) President, Darrell Devenny.  Seems Darrell made a run with his carburetor attached to the manifold with gravity rather than nuts and bolts.  After an inspection after the run and the carburetor was found loose, the regular method of attachment was tried with no improvement on ET.

  Meg and Reggie Daigle and Clyde Guillot won top 100 awards at the Zephyr Stadium Car Show.

  Justin Bordelon dumped gallons of anti-freeze at the Lamarque Crawfish party.

  Bobby Achor showed off this plaque from the FFW in Houston where he had his best ET to date of 12.52.

  Bill Tripoli from 454 Dyno attended the meeting and Bobby announced that he would be a guest speaker at the June General Meeting.  He gave a fairly detail description of what they have as services including a Mustang Dyno.  This is a full eddy current dyno with load test capability.  They can run the vehicle from any speed through a ¼ drag strip simulation.  AJ Berkeley does all of the tuning and they use the latest SCT electronic stuff.  This means that they can re-flash your computer and/or do custom chips.  Bill mentioned that he and Bobby were trying to put together a dyno day for club members.  Come to the June meeting and hear more from Bill and AJ.

  Web Page by Damon Cuccia

  Due to some inappropriate subjects that have been put on the “Cork Board”, Damon has removed the capability for members to add their parts through the Internet.  Damon is checking into a more secure method but until he has a method, all parts call items need to be emailed to Damon or Terry Hibbard

  Bobby thanked the 42 members for showing up and closed the meeting.

 

 When the “old” PA system showed up, Bobby started the meeting on time for the second straight meeting.  This was the first meeting held at the old Carson’s location that is now Reenie’s.  For the most part, things seemed to be more congenial for a car club meeting place and the food and service was great!  Just reminder to all of the club members, tip the waitresses.  This is how they make their living and by not tipping them, it reflects on YOU and the CLUB.

Car Show Committee Report by Billy Williams

  Mark on your calendar May 22nd at Lafreniere Park for the Crawfish Boil and Car Show.  All Ford powered vehicles are welcomed but no “burn outs” and out of the ordinary park cruising driving will be allowed.  The FPA Club has impressed the park management with our “behavior” in the past and will not require any police officer at the event.  It only takes one incident to ruin this status so PLEASE control you foot on the loud pedal.  If you read last months Show Committee meeting minutes, you noticed that there is an active discussion within the committee to stage an Open Car Show event this year.  Billy’s church is staging their first this year and Billy is observing how they are handling the event and monitoring the success of it.  It will be May 1 with pre-registration price of $15 and $20 at the event.  They will be awarding the top 50 and will have 10 other top awards.

Party Committee Report by Theresa Kelley

  Crawfish, potatoes, corn, hamburgers, hot dogs and all the fixings will be in plenty supply at the May 22nd Crawfish Boil and Car Show.  This year the club is asking all members to bring their own drinks to help reduce the cost of this event.  We will have games for the kids, young and old, so mark this date for a fun family picnic event.  This is the only family event we have every year but do not bring neighbor hood friends as this is a club event and not a parish party.

Theresa also will have a Party Committee meeting the first week in May to go over the Crawfish Boil details and future committee events.  She also is the “acting” chairperson and would really like to have some other club member take over the committee.  This is an opportunity for a member to give something back to the club rather than just showing up at meetings and events.  The more you put into the club the more the club grows and becomes a better club for everyone.

Fun Ford Weekend by CR and Richard Friedrichs

  The reporting was fast and furious so I missed some of the participants and results but here are my notes.  We had a lot of participation from club members.  Bobby and Richard ran in “Tough Truck’.  Other FPA members who ran where:  Darrell Devenny, Richard Friedrichs (street), Warren and Greg Parr, Damon Cuccia, Spot Volion, Marco Macera, Charley Robinson.  Richard Friedrichs cut a perfect light (.000) and Charley ran an 11.3 in the Edsel.  Greg Parr took out two ranking 8 sec. cars and Marco oiled down the track with a broken transmission hose.  On Saturday Richard was second in the 12 sec. street class.  Blake Brady won the Street Ford Sunday.  On the Car Show side, Justin Bordelon won Best of Show with his 72 Gran Torino Sport and Roy Lund got a Top 25 award with his 66 Fairlane GT.  All in all, everyone reported a “good time” at the event but expensive to enter. For the full story about the event here is a link to the FPA/Fun Ford Weekend page.

Drag Committee by Damon Cuccia

  May 15th at Gulfport will be the first FPA Drag Championship race.  The rained out event at State Capitol Drags has been rescheduled for June 26th.  All members will be asked to keep track of their results and submit them to “911” to help tract the drag race standings.  This is a little different than in the past but it is hoped that it will make it easier for everyone to keep an accurate standings.  Damon will also have scheduled a Drag Committee meeting next week at Reenie’s and will call everyone on the committee to remind them. For more info on the May 15th race go to the Drag Committee Page.

Member News

  Other than all of the FFW stuff, Steve and Debbie Roche won Best of Show at the Pensacola Mustang Show.  Robert Steiner and Donald Mautemps took Top 25 in Pensacola also.

  Bobby Achor was elected president of L.I.R.T. (Low IQ Racing Team)  with this broken key incident at FFW when he tried to use his key as a pry bar.  This is a real problem with chip in the key technology.

 Bobby thanked the 35 members who attended the meeting at the new but old location on Airline Drive and also thanked Reenie for allowing the FPA to hold our monthly meetings at her establishment.  He also thanked waitresses Cats and Sydney for the providing the great service.

(Editor’s note:  I noticed a lot more members “hanging around” after the meeting.  I interrupt this as indication that the new meeting place is more comfortable to some of the members.)

 

Bobby welcomed everyone to the March General Meeting and for the second time in a row the meeting started on time.  Bobby announced the FPA would once again be meeting at the remodeled Carson’s building that we use to use as a meeting location.  It isn’t Carson’s any more but the food is reportedly to be outstanding and they have paved some of the parking lot.  So when you pack up to come to the meeting on April 10th, remember to get on the Airline and go to the Old Carson’s for the April General Meeting. 

  Bobby asked Al Brand to come forward to receive his 15-year watch.

 

Al Brand has been a FPAer for 15 years.  He has been an active drag racer, even inspiring other members to copy his now famous black and yellow paint scheme.  He’s been Drag Committee member, helped out at our races and taken home a bunch of drag trophies.  He’s an expert plumber as well and an accomplished quick window removal tradesman.  Congrats on 15 years, Al, and we look forward to you and Linda for another 15 years.

  Bobby plans to have a Ford Chevy meeting soon and requested everyone to add their names and a way to contact them on the sheet at the front tables again.  He had some sort of tale about his youngest dumping milk on the old sign up sheet and he has no names to contact for the meeting.  I felt like asking Meg Daigle how this excuse stacks up to the ones she gets about homework but Bobby swore this was true.  No matter, anyone who is interested in making next years Ford Chevy a better event, contact Bobby or any on the officers to get your name on the call list for the meeting.

  Bobby also asked who has the FPA TV and VCR?  When we left Carson’s, someone took it to keep it from being lost.  The only problem is remembering and contacting the member/s who have them to return the TV and VCR so we can use them at the General Meetings or other events.

  S how Committee by Billy Williams

  The Show Committee will meet next Tuesday, March 15th, at the CBI at 7:30.  The main focus is the Crawfish Boil Car Show event.

  Party Committee by R obert Dauzat

  Robert announced that he was retiring from the Chairperson of the Party Committee.  Anyone interested should contact Robert or any of the Officers.  Robert also wanted to thank all the members on the Show Committee for their support and hours volunteered to put on all of the Parties for the FPA.  Everyone gave Robert a loud round of thanks for his outstanding leadership of the committee.

  Drag Committee by Damon Cuccia

  Damon went over the classes for the first race for the FPA at Capitol in a long time.  There will not be a “powder puff” or motorcycle class for this event.  It is an open race to all makes and the cost will be $15 for racers and $10 for spectators.  The event was rained out for its scheduled date on March 20th so the event will not take place on June 26th, race format will stand until further notice.

Member News

  Damon Cuccia won first prize at the autocross in Zachary.  Next autocross in April 10th will be at Belle Chase Naval Station. If you want to enter go to www.delta-scca.org to register for the event. They will not  let you in the base if you are not on the registration list.

  Richard Friedrichs won the Street Bracket at No Problem February 25th.  He won it with his new Cobra with a best ET of 12.10 at 116 MPH.  Out of six races he won on 5 red lights and a bye.  Richard put the fear into the competition for at least one night.

  Our prayers go out to Debbie Moran’s mother who is gravely ill.

  Bobby asked Ramsey Castigliola to come up and receive his plaque as the 2004 Ford/Chevy Chairperson.  Ramsey and Laura were unable to attend the Appreciation Party to receive his plaque.

Long Time member Greg Parr's father passed away on March 12th, Greg sent me an e-mail that same day and it reads like this:

  My Dad died today at noon. Can you please let the club members know Dad always loved to go to all of the FPA Drags?  My Dad was the Fire Chief Of the Jefferson Parish Fire Dept.  

 Terry Hibbard found this in the newspaper.  Warren A. Parr Sr., a retired assistant fire chief for Jefferson Parish, died Friday of cancer at Slidell Memorial Hospital.  He was 74.  Mr. Parr was born in Jefferson Parish and lived in Slidell for the past six months.  He was a member and past president of the Jefferson Lions Club, a member of Louisiana State Firemen’s Association, a charter member of International Firemen’s Association Local No. 1374 and had been a member of the Wet Carrollton and Fort Pike Volunteer Fire departments.  He had served as a sergeant in the Louisiana National Guard.  Survivors included his wife, Jocelyn Jan” Newald Parr; tow sons, Greg A. Parr and Warren A. Parr Jr.; a daughter Elois P. Williams; and six grandchildren.

The FPA sends its prayers to Greg and his family in this tragic time.

Mariana Hall’s mother is in the hospital after falling.  She was released but had to go back into the hospital.  We pray and hope for a quick recovery for her and condolences to Mariana.

    Web P age by Damon Cuccia

  Damon said that he was updating the Web Page about once a month.  Damon will review the Parts Call and Cork Board entries prior to being posted on the Web Page.  Since the Web Page is open to the public, the Officers felt that it was appropriate to have a review of Cork Board messages prior to entry.  If you want any of your “Parts Call” items to be removed or edited, contact Damon or Terry.

Bobby thanked all of the 36 members and friends for coming to the March General Meeting.  He reminded everyone to go to the old Carson’s building for the April General Meeting.  He also thanked the Knights of Columbus for their support of the club and allowing the FPA to hold its General Meeting at the KC Hall all of these months.

 

 Janie Poiroux welcomed everyone to the February General meeting.  This was due to the fact that Bobby was sick and unable to attend the meeting.  The initial attention was given to Ron Iannazzo who got married on February 12th and to Mike Reed who renewed his vows after 33 years of marriage with many other couples the same night.

  The next item was the swearing in of the 2005 FPA Officers.  Charlie Robinson asked the officers to turn to the North (Dearborn) and recite the FPA pledge.  Terry Hibbard, Janie Poiroux, Theresa Kelley and Mike Herbert recited the pledge and took their places at the front tables.   Charlie retained the microphone and suggested the members to take advantage of the discounts that their FPA membership provides at Lamarque Ford, Pep Boys, NAPA etc.

  Janie rescued the microphone from Charlie and provided a brief summary of the 2004 Ford Chevy event results.  Bottom line is that we did not do as well as we have in the past.  Low attendance and a new way of handling expenses with Gulfport Dragway hurt our net profit.   The club is going to have to seriously re-address how we spend our money in 2005 for this event.  If we have to lease the track and be the promoter of the event, we need to re-think what expenditures are the best bang for the buck.  Bobby is going to call for a meeting in the first part of March to start this process.  Members who are interested in helping with the Ford Chevy event for 2005 were asked to sign-up on a sheet at the front table.  Bobby is also going to have an officer’s meeting to establish some budgets for 2005.  With less money taken in from the Ford Chevy event, we are going to have to address what events will be held in 2005.  The club may have to return to the “old days” style where members were asked to volunteer to bring food dishes to the events rather than the club hiring a cater to furnished the food and drinks.

  Drag Committee by Damon Cuccia

  The drag committee has three events planned so far for 2005.  The first drag event will be at State Capitol Dragway on March 20th.  There will be two races at Gulfport Dragway and these will be on May 15th and September 11th.  The Drag Committee’s plan is to have 5 events for the FPA Drag Championship.  The remaining two events will probably be Friday night events at No Problem or Gulfport.  The next committee meeting will be February 21st at the Come Back Inn (CBI).  This is a Monday night and it is scheduled for 7:30.

  Web Page by Damon Cuccia

  The Web Page changes are going slow due to a new computer.  Damon asked everyone to be patient with him until he gets his new computer working the way he wants it to.

  Member News

 Charlie Robinson got the microphone again and told about this club he has joined that sent him a certificate as an engine builder.  Clevite Engine Parts provided all of this plus more.  If you want to join this club, go to this web page address:  http://sim1.net/opt/sweeps.asp?s=Db3SGB0B&src=ws.  They advertise special tips on engine building and the use of Clevite 77 bearings.  If you fill out the form, you too can receive a certificate identifying you as an engine builder.  As a member you also receive a welcome letter, your customized ID card, membership
certificate and a wealth of other benefits and information, including:

    •    Engine building tech tips and product information from the experts at Dana Corporation, Clevite Engine Parts, and NASCAR team

 •    Opportunities to meet the premier engine builders of NASCAR

 •    Chances to win trips to race weekends and insider tours at NASCAR race shops

 Damon talked about the last autocross he attended. This was the last one for the Delta Region at Zephyrs Stadium but more auto crossing will be held in Zachary, which is North of Baton Rouge. Call Damon or email him if you want more information on this type of racing.

  Terry Hibbard discussed the subject of the club’s 25-year award.  Next year, there will be members who have been club members for 25 years.  It has been suggested that we get the next 10 members that will receive this award and get them to make recommendations to the club officers.  Terry said that he is open to any other suggestions.  If no other method is suggested, he will contact these people and try to get 10 members to volunteer to propose to the officers their recommendations.  Terry will bring this up at the officer’s meeting to get an idea to what the budget might be for this award.  If you have any other suggestions, contact Terry via email, phone or at the next General Meeting.

Janie thanked the 27 members who attend the meeting and remembered that the General Meeting was on the third Tuesday for the second month.  Next meeting will be on the second Tuesday, March 8th.  Also, give a special thanks to Janie for starting the meeting on time for a change.

 

 Bobby welcomed everyone to the January meeting.  He reminded members that the February General Meeting would be the third Tuesday of the month since Mardi Gras is the second Tuesday in February.  He asked for a show of hands of those who showed up the second Tuesday in January for the General Meeting.  No hands were raised but there are still some suspensions that some FPA members showed up last Tuesday.  He asked Kenny Nunez to come up and present a new member to the club.

   Kenny asked Bobby Wells to come up and be accepted by the members.  Bobby has several Ford vehicles and was accepted by the club members as a FPA club member.  (As a side note, Bobby quickly got into the club activities by helping with the WoW 2005 display.)  Here is Kenny reading all of the Fords that Bobby has. (Bobby, sorry about the photo but it was the only one I had.)

The next agenda item was the recognition of five service awards.  We had three 15-year awards and two 10-year awards.  The first was Debbie Moran.  

    . She’s been an active member of the Party Committee since joining and has helped at almost every party for 10 years 

 Next was Tommy Moran.  Tommy “Torino” Moran gets his 15-year watch this month. He’s been our Officer At Large for multiple terms, a member of the Party Committee, and has participated in our shows and drags. He has a ’70 351C Torino, and a Fox Mustang that he raced in this year’s championship, tying for 10 in his first year of racing! Tommy has always been there to help out when needed and we look forward to his next 15 years as an active FPAers!  Here is Debbie getting her 15-year watch.

Brian Sondes was the third 15-year member.  Brian “Counselor” Sondes, our club attorney, completes a 15-year “sentence” in the FPA this month. Brian has had various Fords over the years including a 5.0 Lincoln LSC. He’s always been there when the Officers needed legal advice or to advise us on contracts and which bondsman to call from the jail first! Thanks for all your help and we hope to avoid any calls to you from the pokey!  Brian was not at the meeting to receive his watch.

Paula Mercer was next and was asked to come forward to receive her 10-year pin.  She’s been our club Treasurer, chaired an appreciation party, a long time party committee member, and the only lady to ever finish in the Drag Race Championship Top 10 twice! Her ’02 Explorer has run a quick as 15.50, and she’s a repeat winner in Power Puff and a threat to Manual Babin whenever they pair up on the line! Congrats on your first 10 years!

The final service award went to Paul Payne who has moved to San Antonio.  Paul “Lunatic Fringe” Payne has some of the fastest and most impressive drag cars in the club. Lunatic Fringe, an alcohol injected, zoomie header monster was always a crowd pleaser. His ’93 street legal, small block Mustang struck fear into the guts of many a Camaro driver as it wheelied it’s way to 8 sec ETs. Unfortunately, Paul, his wife Jeannetta and two kids are moving to San Antonio, Texas, where he lived for years before moving to Slidell. Paul says he’ll come back for a few races. Good luck to him and his family in the Lone Star state!  Paul also was not at the meeting but FPA will get him his 10-year pin.

The next agenda item was the election of 2005 club officers.  The only vote was for Vice President.  This was a close decision with only one vote difference and the newly elected Vice President Theresa Kelley was congratulated.  All officers will be sworn in at the February General Meeting.  (See page 8 for the 2005 FPA club officers.)

Show Committee by Billy Williams

The World of Wheels 2005 is this weekend.  We will be meeting at Sam’s of Airline Hwy Thursday morning to caravan to the Super Dome.  We will leave Sam’s at 9:00 AM.  If you don’t want to caravan, be at the Super Dome at 10:00 AM to help set-up the display.  Be sure to put your name on the worker’s list at the front table.

Party Committee by Robert Dauzat

The Appreciation Party invitations are in the mail.  It will be February 12th, the weekend after Mardi Gras.  You have to be a member in good standing to attend and yes each member can bring a guest.

Drag Committee Report by Hodges Mercer

Hodges went over the final FPA Championship Point standings.  (See the Drag Committee page for the complete point summary).  Manuel Babin won it all and there were four members with 14 points.  This was resolved with the rules to decide 9th through 12th positions.  Damon Cuccia showed up later and announced there will be a Drag Committee meeting before the next General Meeting.  He will call everyone on the date, time and place.

Member News by Hodges Mercer

Gulfport Dragway has a new attitude and is backing it up with big payouts.  One night they had over 125 cars in bracket 2 and they paid out $800 to the winner. King of the Hill racing at Gulfport also paid money out to some FPA members.  Darryl Giveans was runner-up in the King of the Hill and Manuel Babin won the truck bracket.

Damon Cuccia talked about his experience in the last autocross.  Fun stuff but he finished 15th in the novice group.  He is going back for more at the end of the month.

Charlie Robinson announced that he is trying to get a group to go cruising to the Caribbean with him and Betty.  Call him if you are interested.

Web Page by Damon Cuccia

Most popular hit on the Web Page is the members’ rides.  He still would like to have more photos on members’ rides. So, get off your winter duff and send them to him or bring a photo to the next General Meeting.

Bobby thanked the 42 members who came for showing up on the right night and reminded everyone that the February meeting will also be on the 3rd Tuesday.

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