August 2016
President'sMessage ...
26/08/16
Greetings COAA Members,
The Organ Rally season has one more to go, which will be at the Sole Steam and Rail Fest in Meridian, Mississippi, November 4-5. This will be COAA's fourth rally at this special event, which takes place in a historic "living museum" that celebrates America's golden era of industrial steam production. The Sole factory is fully operational with dozens of skilled former employees operating the many machines and devices. Additionally, there will be several historic trains on display as well as antique autos. The hospitality offered to Rally attendees is incomparable and includes a welcome dinner at an authentic Denzel carousel with free rides all evening, a live Vaudville-type show, lunch and pure Southern hospitality. Meridian is one of the premier cities of MS and is just 2 hours from New Orleans, making this a special destination, which many of us do.
The other rallies of this year were as follows: Ella Sharp Museum, Jackson, MI; Lake Winny, Rossville, GA; Knoebels Amusement Park, Elysburg, PA, and Princeton Rally, Princeton, NJ. With special thanks to the hosts who produced the rallies: Bob Cantine, Wally Venable, Mark Chester, Glen Thomas, Jean Orcott and Greg Hatcher, Rally Hosts and Suzanne Hendricks, COAA Rally Coordinator.
Looking forward to next year COAA rallies are proposed at Lake Winnie Memorial Day weekend, Olcott, NY, Germanfest in Milwaukee the last weekend of July, Dutch Village in MI, tentatively in August, and St. Charles, MO, in September.
Because of the exceptional volunteers who lead the COAA, our treasury is in the best shape ever, due to the extraordinary leadership of Treasurer Marc Dannecker and Membership Chair Gary Stevenson. A full account will be published in the January edition of the Carousel Organ.
Sam Harris, COAA Board member, has created a COAA Facebook page which offers information about COAA activities, photos, and real-time reports from organ rallies, etc. Check it out at Facebook/COAA.
Gordie Davidson, COAA Webmaster, continues to provide all necessary COAA information and all of its programs and possibilities in one place. For details go to www.coaa.us
COAA Secretary Wally Venable is well on his way to collating all of the previous Board Minutes, a monumental task that will assist in leading COAA into the future.
Bill Hall, Publications Committee Chair, continues to provide leadership for the Carousel Organ, and Ron Bopp continues to edit an exemplary magazine.
Please remember that the COAA is a Non-profit 501-c3 organization and your donations are sincerely appreciated, especially as we develop Education Programs under the leadership of Vice-President Bob Yorburg. Donations may be sent to: Marc Dannecker, COAA Treasurer, 1900 E. Cora Ave, St. Francis, WI 53235. Thank you for your consideration.
For COAA,
Angelo