From the Webmaster:

Last day of the Founders Tour! And what a great way to end it, too.

Today I hopped in my father’s 1978 Corvette and we headed to the Gettysburg Battlefield Visitor’s Center. We were split into 2 groups to view a short film (produced by the History Channel and narrated by Morgan Freeman so of course, you need to go see it) and then the Cyclorama. Created in 1883 by French artist Paul Philippoteaux, it’s a 337 foot long, circular painting of the (in)famous battle. The Cyclorama underwent an extensive restoration project in 2008, and it’s well worth the ticket. Sorry, no photos allowed.

After that, I spent a a bit of time in the museum, which is deceptively large, so I highly recommend leaving yourself a good 2 hours minimum if you’re  a history buff and want to make an attempt at taking it all in.

Afterwards, most of our group went on a driving tour of the battlefield. My father and I had a personal mission to find a gift for a friend, so we headed to the shops downtown. We plan on going back to the battlefield and purchasing an audio tour.

Lunch was at Gettysburg Fire Company, and then we headed back to the hotel to prepare for the closing banquet.

Special guests for the evening included AACA National President Tom Cox, and Pat Buckley from Headquarters who also put in a lot of hours helping Carol Barlup with registration.

Apart from a delicious dinner, attendees were treated to a slideshow organized by our photographer Ken Myers and Carl Davis our videographer. Winners of the Chinese Auction were announced, and some special awards were handed out including:

Youngest driver: Kailyn Schaedel (20 years old)

Oldest driver: Ernie Screen

Hard Luck Award: Philip and Grace Roitman

Furthest driver: Ruby and Richard Wolens

President’s Choice: Doug and Ronnie Seybold

Also, Annette and Dan Yost were given an award from the AACA National Board of Directors for hosting a national tour.

The banquet and thus the 2018 Founders Tour ended on a high note as Lynn Lech stepped up to the podium and gave a sneak peak at what’s in store for the 2018 Founders Tour.

Well, it was a blast. And now I think we’ll all need a few days to recover, but the GRAACA can’t rest quite yet as we still have our Latimore Valley show tomorrow. Hope to see some of you Founders Tour people there!

Note from the Webmaster:

We only had one destination today: Rough & Tumble Engineers.

Located in Kinzers, PA, Rough and Tumble Engineers Historical Association is a uniquely interactive museum. Located on 33 acres, the exhibit is full of various kinds of historical equipment which isn’t left around to collect dust as all of it still works!

The best time to see R&T is during a show when the members and their equipment are all revved up, so we certainly got a treat on this gorgeous day. I was told that they extended their Friday and Saturday show one day just because they knew we were coming.

Some of the sights we got to enjoy were blacksmith demonstrations at the forge, a 1912 shingle mill in full swing, and even a saw mill. They also had the Little Toot and Shay Railroads fired up. I shamelessly took 2 rides on the Shay around the premise.

I’m not sure what else to say other than, “If you haven’t been, you need to go.” They are having an even bigger event in August and I’ve marked my calendar. R&T’s members are extremely passionate and knowledgeable. And I think some of them were just as excited about our cars as were were about their tractors, engines, machines, mills…

One final thing I almost forgot: I got to ride with my grandfather in his 1966 Plymouth Fury! I haven’t been able to travel with him this week as the convertible has been full of other passengers, but today it felt a lot like old times.

Note from the Webmaster:

Change of pace for the day: I got sit in the driver’s seat! Josef and Nora Puskas, a lovely couple from western Pennsylvania, found themselves without a driver as their son Stephen was feeling a bit under the weather. So, I played chauffeur in a 1970s Toyota Corolla and had a blast.

The weather stayed rather bleak and dreary long into the afternoon despite the forecast, but nobody seemed too deterred by a few raindrops. 

Our first stop for the day was at Tressler’s Garage in New Bloomfield. Built in 1926 and is currently owned by Don and Carol Barlup of our Gettysburg Region. They were kind enough to open it up for us and show off some of their cars and collectibles while we enjoyed a variety of donuts and danishes.

From there, we enjoyed a leisurely driving tour through Perry County to see several covered bridges which have survived since the 1800’s. Most of my pictures were snapped through the windshield of the car, but we finally came across one where I could pull over so Josef and I could step out and get a closer look.

After about 2 hours of winding our way along twisty-turny back roads, we arrived at Blain Fairgrounds for a (very) hot lunch — the chicken corn soup was delicious but I’m pretty sure it was still boiling in my cup when I went to take a bite.

Although the fairgrounds was our last official stop for the day, the route back took us up to the top of the mountain at an elevation of 1,476 feet. I’m sure that the mountain has a breathtaking view of Cumberland Valley below, but we couldn’t see it for the clouds. Oh well.

We’re supposed to have clear skies tomorrow, and I’ve heard that Stephen is feeling a little better, so I’m off to find another ride…

From your Webmaster:

Guess what I got to ride in today? The sidecar of a Russian-made Ural motorcycle! Driving was Brian Davis, one of our volunteer parkers for the week, but he happened to have the day off to actually go on the tour. Lucky for both of us!

Our first stop for coffee and donuts was at the Fort Ritchie community center. It’s quite a large facility and the locals seem to love it. Several exercise classes were going on while we were there.

After getting a much needed caffeine boost, we were off to the Agriculture Education Center and Rural Heritage Museum in Boonsboro, Maryland. If you’ve never been there before, you need to go and plan to spend the day. They have several museum buildings crammed full of exhibits including tractors, buggies, children’s toys, plows, a Conestoga wagon… you name it. There are also several 19th century buildings on the premise including a church, country store, and school house. These buildings were “rescued” over time from the surrounding areas by being torn down and then completely rebuilt at the center. Out back is the Rural Heritage Village Homestead made up of two long homes, an outdoor drying shed, windmill, and brick wood fired bread oven. Every building was open that day and had a volunteer guide to answer any questions. Some people on the tour were enjoying themselves so much that they asked if they could stay longer instead of heading out around 12:30 as the tour book recommended. Of course they could! I’m sure that the volunteers at the center appreciated that kind of enthusiasm. I know our tour planner Annette Yost was ecstatic.

Brian and I left around 1:30 to make it to our final stop for the day: Renfrew Museum & Park. The park is quite extensive and is the sight of the 200 year old Royer-Nicodemus farmstead. They too had pulled out all the stops for our arrival. Volunteers in period dress offered tours and demonstrations at the various buildings. There was even a fire burning in the summer kitchen. Check out their Facebook page to see video of some of our cars arriving at the park.