Meeting Info
Meetings are on the second Tuesday of each month September thru June. Meetings start at 7PM in the large meeting room at the United Methodist Church, 1034 W Broad St, Horseheads, NY 14845. Anyone interested in Model As is welcome to attend and ownership of a Model A is not a requirement to join the club.
About the Club
Early in 2008 the idea of forming a new Model A Ford Club popped into the winter-weary heads of a few Model A owners who live in the northern tier of Pennsylvania and the Finger Lakes Region of New York. We knew that there were very likely a hundred Model A’s within a 30- 40 mile radius of our A’s, yet there was no identified community to which these “A” enthusiasts belonged that provided all of us with fellowship and camaraderie around our enjoyment of Henry’s Lady.
Over coffee and donuts we discussed how to reach out to our neighbors in New York and Pennsylvania to inspire interest in forming a Model A Ford club. We had a list of car owners and their addresses, a list compiled over the years by one in our group who has an endearing obsessive-compulsive side, so we set out to contact these folks to invite them to participate in forming a new “A” club. We didn’t know what to expect, but we had high hopes.
Letters were mailed to nearly 100 people inviting them to an organizational meeting in April; we eagerly waited to see how many would appear. Nearly one third of those canvassed arrived for that first meeting. We were ecstatic! More meetings were held as spring went by and summer arrived and our core group of nearly thirty enthusiastic car owners gradually became friends over talk of garage visits, tours, picnics, monthly meetings, and finally … a club name.
Fortunately, one of our members knew about a Revolutionary War figure, General John Sullivan, who just might help us with a club name. When his name came up we knew we had something.
Here was the missing piece that would unify two states and dozens of counties and villages that we hail from. General John Sullivan’s exploits of over 200 years ago had relevance to our old motorcars. Who was this fellow and what meaning does he give to our Club?
Today, Sullivan’s campaign is referred to as the “Sullivan Trail” or “Sullivan’s March.” There are many historic markers along highways in Pennsylvania and New York that follow and cross Sullivan’s trail, signs that tell modern-day travelers about this significant early American patriot, the Revolutionary War, and our Native American history.
Sullivan Trail A’s is proud to drive and enjoy our treasured motorcars on these historic trails. We not only celebrate the history of the Model A Ford as each mile runs under our tires, but we also celebrate, and are sobered by, a critical slice of American history as we motor past historic markers, rivers, and battlegrounds that reflect the tears and triumphs of events in 1779. Indeed, we are the Sullivan Trail A’s – the Model A Ford Club of the northern tier of Pennsylvania and the Finger Lakes Region of New York.
By Jim Morris
Click Here for Jim’s full article