Jan Meeting Notes

St Johns Austin-Healey Club
Jacksonville, Florida

a chapter of the

Austin-Healey Club of America

Monthly Meeting Notes
January 2023

Club Member Meeting Minutes for Jan. 10, 2023

The SJAHC member meeting was called to order by President Bill Young at 7:20 p.m. The meeting was being held at the home of Paul and Judy Sandefer on the north shore of Doctors Lake in Clay County. Among those attending was Bill’s wife, Judy, Dave and Angela Morton, Bill and Char Maroney, Erling Onsager, Mike Foster, Lony and Carla Taylor, Tony Martini, Tom Carollo, Ben Procter, Andy Sanfilippo, Alan Winer and Janis Croft, and Ron Keysor

The minutes for the Dec. 10 meeting were approved. Paul, club treasurer and the evening’s host, reported the club’s bank balance at $$$$$$. Fund activity included a $156.58 expenditure for the club Christmas party and $760 in deposits, this including the still unsolved mystery of the $520 check sent to the club by our national organization, the Austin Healey Club of America. This money is being held in escrow at the moment. Financial interaction between our club and the national comes about because AHCA collects member dues and then refunds SJAHC club’s portion to us. There has been a lot of back and forth in attempting to insure our club gets its full amount over time, but the $520 mistakenly sent our club by AHCA remains a puzzle.

Member Chair Bill Maroney reports club membership at 40 people, including 36 who share AHCA membership and four who are local members only. A handful have yet to rejoin, Bill said. He also reported that he has established a good working relationship with Bill Walton, and AHCA official living in North Carolina. This is expected to ease Bill’s dealing with national. In an interesting note, Robb Handshuh, a former SJAHC president currently living in Colorado, has returned to our club’s membership. Rob was described as a relative Healey fanatic with a strong Healey ownership history.

In an old business highlight, Tony Martini received applause for his hosting of the December Christmas Party. It was a notably pleasant occasion, according to the comments heard, and the decision not to resume the sometimes contentious gift exchange seemingly was not lamented.

Leader Bill Young, an original member of our 48-year-old club, unveiled a slightly different plan of action for 2023, providing a printed agenda for last night’s meeting and a calendar of events. Some members received copies during the evening, and these will eventually be provided all members. The basic plan calls for four meetings at restaurants and four at member homes during the year, a change from the practice of holding such meetings alternating between restaurants and homes on the first Monday of each month . There will be four special events, the Valentine’s Day luncheon, set for Saturday, Feb. 18, a summer picnic planned for June 17 at a location not yet chosen, the annual shrimp boil/combined club birthday outing, and the Christmas party. Members should receive email information in advance of all club happenings, with a reminder close to the day of the event.

Additionally, Bill anticipates holding both quarterly shop meets and car cruises, the latter organized by Tony. Jumping back, the Valentine’s Day luncheon will be held at the Hilltop Club at the west end of Wells Road in the Orange Park area. The proprietor of this highly regarded dining spot will open it especially for SJAHC at 12:30 p.m. Feb. 18. Three entrees will be available, sirloin steak, salmon, or chicken piccata. The bar will be open. The fare will be $35 per person. A further notice will be forthcoming closer to the event, with members asked to notify Paul if they plan to attend.

Dave Morton’s suggested overnight outing to Fernandina Beach, to be followed on the second assemble again at the Walmart parking lot on San Jose just south of I295. Stay tuned for details.

Bill Young will host the first shop meet at his nicely equipped garage on Feb. 1, likely starting time about 9 a.m. These usually involve an ordered-in lunch paid for by the club and have generally gone on until about 2 p.m. Among the topics will be brakes, including attention to Andy Sanfilippo’s car with a brake issue, and those notoriously finicky Healey gas gauges.

Tony will lead the first of his lunch-time Healey cruises on Jan. 24, the destination Fioon McCools Irish Pub on U.S. 1 near Nease High School in St. Johns County The club had its Aug. 1, 2022, member meeting there, and it accommodated the event quite well.

Everyone dove for their iPhones when Paul revealed the solution to the challenge of communicating between Healeys during club cruises and trips, its the “Two-Way” app that will allow multiple iPhone users to talk to each other on trips and draws only about 2% per hour. More will be forthcoming, likely for Dave Morton’s Fernandina Beach event later this year.

Finally, there were car reports. Ron Keysor has had repeated lockups on his BN7’s left rear drum brake, soon to be addressed, again, and Alan Winer had a bloody encounter with a gear puller trying to remove a brake drum from his Healey 100. And Lony Taylor spoke about the ongoing restoration of a 100M, this one in Florida Green. Those who didn’t know what a Lony restoration might look like got a look at last year’s British Car Show at The Pub. The car he showed left nothing to be desired. There was also a discussion of putting disc brakes on Alan’s Healey 100, a car built with drums on the front, drums that resist bleeding. Oops! Also, Mike Foster has had a continuing issue with the engagement of his upgraded starter with his car’s flywheel gear. That may be the occasion for a future shop session.

The February member meeting will be included with the St. Valentine’s Day luncheon mentioned earlier. Adjournment came at 8:45, with some guest staying to sample the excellent birthday cake baked for Janis Croft (delicious). And a bunch of guys slipped off to admire the content’s of Paul’s garage.

R.Keysor, Sec.`