In Memoriam

John McDevitt

1931-2015

 

John made the Little Rhody club truly a family affair, with his wife and sons with their wives active at club functions.  John's family organized our trips to Plymouth, and provide many tasty dishes for the pot luck supper etc.  With a good word and smile for everyone, John will be missed by us all.

Early Pedestrian Safety Device Demonstrated

Thought you might find this interesting... There are several pictures in January's Quail Tales about this.

Below is a video of an early Pedestrian Safety Device demonstration.  Enjoy!

 Bridget Driscoll apparently was the first pedestrian killed in an accident in 1896 when she was struck by a car belonging to the Anglo French Motor Carriage Company in London.

Henry Bliss was the first to die in America in 1899 when he stepped off a streetcar and was hit by an electric powered taxicab in New York City.  

Shortly thereafter inventors probably went to work on some of  the first of many Pedestrian Safety Devices that were built and tested in the last century.  Some of the earliest devices were patterned after the pilot or cowcatcher as it was commonly known, and first used on locomotives in the early 1800's.  Only three of the many types of the devices that have been designed and built over the years are shown here along with a video shown below...all of them appear to be aimed at low speed city traffic where the pedestrian was still likely to be injured, but the device might save their life by preventing them from getting run over



See additional pictures below..

 The device above mounted on a Motel T Ford Taxi Cab

was a simple guard constructed of metal and mesh. 

It was patterned after a cowcatcher and was used to deflect,

catch and keep the pedestrian from ending up under the car.

 The Man-Catcher above outfitted with comples guards and

long fenders once again prevents the person from being run over.

Another design for pedestrian safety

Christmas Party 2014

     The 2014 Christmas  Party was at the West Valley Inn on December 6, 2014.  As usual with Little Rhody events, food and friendship ruled the night.  The blessing for the meal of family style chicken, salad, and pasta, lead off by the Inn's famous Italian Wedding Soup was given by honorary member Marylyn Ricci.
     Members brought Toys for Tots donations in lieu of gifts to individuals, and my quick count came up with a lot more gifts than attendees.  Richard Mowrey collected the gifts for delivery to Toys for Tots central.
     President Dawn Mennucci awarded the Carol Hathaway Burns award to Ray and Roselie Pagliarini, and, by popular vote for the second year in a row, the Herb Allen Award to Bob and Evie Osborne.
     Officers and committees were voted into office by the customary one vote cast by club Secretary, John Mennucci.
     There were 52 attendees for the evening.

Enjoy the pictures!

Dawn Starts the Ball Rolling

Officers and Committees for 2015

"Special" Archie Award Given by Al and Dale Silvia as Well as the Herb Allen Award

Roselie  and Ray get the Carol Hathaway Burns Award

Santa and Mrs. Claus

Santa Turns Over the Toys to Richard

One of Two Tables Full of Toys For Tots

Santa Works the Crowd

Archie Award

 Click on a picture to enlarge.

Sakonnet Vinyards Tour, October 26, 2014

It was a beautiful day, perfect for a tour to the Sakonnet Winery in Little Compton, RI.  Club members met at the Newport Grand Slots.   Al Silvia led the tour through the back roads and former farm lands of Middletown and Portsmouth then meeting up with more club members in Bristol, RI at Tweet Balzano’s for a fabulous lunch.  Twenty one members attended the luncheon.  There was a grand selection of menu items and the food was delicious and enjoyed by all!  We all then jumped back in our vehicles to continue to Little Compton.  There were 5 model A’s and various vintage vehicles on the tour.

We arrived at the winery just in time for the tour of wine making.  It was educational and it’s best if we leave the wine making up to the experts.  After the tour, a few of us enjoyed some wine tasting and some enjoyed  ice cream at Gray’s Ice Cream, a great way to end the day!

Enjoy the pictures.

As usual, click on a photo to enlarge.

 

 

 

Thanks for taking a look

Al and Dale Silvia

 



Archie Project - October 18th - Final Meeting

Another interim meeting was convened on October 15th so that Ray Pagliarini and Bob Osborne could complete the door attachment with latches - they looked and worked great!  Ray had done a fine job of reworking the doors to open and easily latch with a nice click.  Most of the members of the Archie Project group were able to get together on the 18th for the final send off.  After a short struggle with the starting process, again, and another screw placed to bypass the fuse, Archie started up like a champ and was driven up the hill and onto the waiting trailer.  It was secured and folks wished a fond goodbye to Archie.  Another feast followed as we all, once again, made our way through the kitchen and around the table.  Yet again, we were all thankful for the generosity of the Howards for five months or hosting this project.  Sandy Bowder wrote a song to bid farewell to Archie which we all sang to the tune of "Hello Dolly".  At this time, and at the Meeting of the Model A Club, Bob attempted to thank all who participated - those who donated their labor and knowledge and  shared their tools, ideas and experiences and to thank all those enormously generous souls who donated nuts & bolts, a steering box, a horn, spring leaves, carburetor, spark plugs, oil pan(s),  hand configured parts, & other parts old and new.  In addition, he acknowledged the generosity of members and their families for working on parts in their own homes as Archie evolved.