Cindy Livingston

Beautiful car, Jstbcausd93. What year and model? Any chance you have this photo in a larger resolution? You can email me directly if so (cwldesigns@gmail.com).

The photo is pretty small once I convert it to print resolution (2" x 1.5"), but I still hope to use it. Thanks again!

Thank you so much Brian. LOVE this photo with those two precious girls dressed up and the banner on the front of the car. Any chance you have it in a higher resolution? If so, can you email it to me as an attachment? cwldesigns@gmail.com

Did you go to a parade or picnic this July 4th and take photos of your Buick with flags or red-white-blue streamers? Do you have any photos of past July 4th holidays? Please post or send us your photos so we can use them in next year’s July issue (we’ll save the photos all year long)! Send photos and a brief description to Pete at pphillips922@gmail.com and/or Cindy at cwldesigns@gmail.com. Thanks so much, Cindy

Oh I'm sorry! I'd just like to know what year and model the car is and when you got it, etc. Just a bit about the car. I'm collecting photos of Buicks taken on July 4th or in a parade or showing flags with them, etc. to use in next year's July Bugle issue, so I'd just like to be able to identify your car in the photo. Thanks, Cindy

Tell us more please...

NTX - We considered that option of designing the ballot to be taped shut. We finally rejected it because unless each ballot is taped perfectly flat, including the sides and edges, there is a good chance it will get caught up in the automatic postal machines, torn apart and thrown out. The truth is – there IS no perfect option. Every single possible design we've came up with over the years has pros and cons. The best and most reliable options are also the most expensive. So we just keep trying and do our best to encourage people to vote and to use some common sense when sending in their ballot = like voting for no more than three candidates, carefully copying the accountant's mailing address, not forgetting the stamp or return address and of course - sending the dang ballot in plenty of time to be received and counted by June 1. I don't know why more people don't vote. I can guess, but I suspect one reason is most members don't really know who to vote for because they don't know any of the candidates personally. That's usually the case with me. So half the time I just take a stab in the dark. This year I've got my ballot sitting on my computer table next to me at this very minute. It's all filled out and in an addressed envelope. All I need is a stamp. But ummm... I don't have any! So that's another problem. I'll go buy some stamps, at some point, but ... well... procrastination is a problem for many people and for one reason or another that stamp doesn't get purchased and suddenly it's June 1.

Ooops… I kind of feel like this confusion about the voting instructions in the various boxes of the April issue is my fault so let me explain. First of all – a signature is NOT required on the ballot, so no need to worry that your vote won’t be counted if you didn’t sign it. Our two goals this year were to try and increase the number of members who vote and also to make sure all ballots were properly delivered and counted. In the past we used ballot postcards with the mailing label of BCA member printed on one side and the accountant’s address on the other side. Trouble is, the post office occasionally got confused and mailed the ballot back to the member instead of the accountant. Soooo… this year we worked through several different designs, trying to eliminate the post office confusion. In the end, we decided it was safest to keep the member’s mailing label printed on the ballot so it could be easily read by the accountant, but to have voters send their ballot back in an envelope, rather than a postcard, which could be misread by the post office. I’m sorry for the confusion. The voting instructions appear in several locations in the April Bugle. Before we went to print, we read those instructions many times over and changed the wording several times, trying to make it clear for everyone. The "signature" wording in the box of instructions on page 10 were just an overzealous attempt to get the ballots delivered to the correct location and have everyone's ballot counted. Again - a signature is NOT required on the ballot. As long as the voting member’s name is somewhere on that ballot, there shouldn’t be a problem.

Lamar, First of all - I’ve loved working with you and look forward to more articles with your name on the byline. Thank you so much for your support of the Bugle. You have gone to A LOT of time and trouble to bring Pete and me and Bugle readers interesting stories. Hopefully your post will encourage others to send their own “Me and My Buick” story. Our focus will be on the details of restoration, preservation and/or repairs – not just photos of a finished car, but photos of the work done along the way. Remember, we can’t make this a regular feature in the Bugle unless we receive the stories! Kgreen – your project doesn’t have to be finished at all! Show us what you’ve got! And I want to urge Joe Tonietto to send the Bugle an update when he is finished with his fabulous 1958 Caballero station wagon. I’d also like to offer a few suggestions. I hate to contradict Lamar, but we are much more interested in 1- and 2-page articles rather than 3- and 4-page articles. For several reasons, Joe’s story was unusual so we were able to devote 3 pages to it, but that won’t happen often. The best way for you to judge if your article is a good length for the Bugle is to type it up and then print it out. If more than one page of type (not counting photos) comes out of your printer, chances are it’s too long for us to easily find space for it. Your one typed page of text will end up being at least TWO Bugle pages by the time we format the type and add photos. So focus on cutting your text to one page of type and try to edit the story to information that most members will be interested in. Brief personal stories and observations are fine, but most members really only want to read and see photos of what you’ve done to your car –" before and after" photos are great! Send photos as attachments in email rather than embedded in Word docs. Give Pete a head’s up if you plan to send an article and then send the text and photos earlier than the published deadline. The Bugle is YOUR magazine and Pete and I can only print what we receive, so we hope to hear from some of you real soon! Thanks, Cindy

John, I don''t know the names of the programs used for online rosters, but it probably wouldn't be hard to find out. Peter G might know of several programs. I do know that most club databases have a lot more information than merely a member's contact info. The Vintage Chevrolet Club has double-tier access. All members can access member contact info with a private password. In addition to contact info, they can see models of cars owned, etc. Board members and a few others can access the full database with all types of other info. I don't know how much the software costs, but do you know how much the BCA spends on a roster for just one year? I bet it's a lot. And it might be more than buying online software and paying someone to set it up and run it -particularly when you realize the set up doesn't have to be repeated every 2 years. Either way, seems like it's at least looking into. I suggested an online roster at a board meeting a few years ago and it went no where. Maybe we should give it another try? I can give you the name of the person who set up and runs the online database for the Chevy Club if you send me an email. He's a great guy and has been doing it for years.

By the way, both of the other clubs I belong to that have online rosters also offer printed rosters for sale for those members who don't use the internet or like to carry rosters in their cars. The books are ordered in advance so that not a lot of money is wasted printing too many copies.

I don't use the printed BCA roster because I can never find it when I need it and too much of the time the member I'm looking up isn't listed (plus I have old eyes). But I do quite often use the online rosters of other clubs I am a member of (one is a vintage car club and the other is a business club). The online rosters are handy, easy to use, updated monthly with current information and cheap to maintain. Somehow other non-profit clubs and for-profit businesses manage to keep updated online rosters without hacking problems. I'm certain the BCA could do the same. Here's a question: What do you do with your old BCA rosters? I trash mine in the recycle bin. Who knows where it ends up, but probably easier to get a list of member contact info from discarded printed rosters than breaking computer passcodes.

Pete found a good photo in the many great Thriller photos that were sent. Thanks Derek!

Did anyone get a good photo of the maroon 1991 Park Avenue Ultra that was on display in Bulgari's Buick building? If so, please let Pete or me know. Thanks, Cindy Livingston

Yes for Steve and Cindy Livingston. Thanks John!

The size of the certificate has already been decided. It is 11" x 17" and it is already at the print shop. Though the smaller 11" x 14" size is a more common size and it's easy to find cheap frames for that size at Target, Walmart, etc., the 11"x17" is not an odd size. Affordable pre-made 11"x17" frames can be easily found at many stores or ordered on the internet. What determined the size of the certificate is not how cheaply it could be framed, but that the larger 11"x17" certificate looks more impressive, befitting a 100-year-old Buick. For any of you BCA members who own one of these great old cars and receive a certificate in the mail, if you choose to frame it, I'll bet money that the frame is BY FAR the cheapest part of your ownership!

Matt - I can supply the BCA logo with anniversary banner in vector format, if you can get the "go-ahead" from the BCA Board. —Cindy Livingston

If we get the information fast, Pete and I can make an revision to the April mail wrap where PWD is listed. Instead of TBD, what is the preferred verbiage?

Roberta - sounds good to me. Day and time?

Just a thought - Would it be possible to have a simple brown bag lunch (sandwich, chips, cookie) at Bulgari's place after the board meeting on Friday? The lunches could be ordered in advance and maybe even delivered. Because of the shortness of time, could the gift exchange wait until next year and use this year to just meet fellow forum members (name tags possible - I'll make them if it's a good idea???) —Cindy Livingston

It's very easy for me to send Peter G a list of "coming events" that we print in the Bugle each month, so I'll try to remember to do that. Yesterday I sent him the list that will be in the February issue and I notice it is already posted on the BCA website calendar so I hope this helps everyone. —Cindy

Actually Roberta - not that it matters or is much trouble for me to do - but I voluntarily make a special pdf version of each month's Bugle for Peter to convert to "flip" form before it is posted. Brian DeP, Pete and I made the decision about when the online version should be posted and while the first of the month isn't perfect for everyone, it is helping to get content to all members as close to the same time each month as possible - whether they live in Australia or Missouri - and whether they use only the eBugle or only the print Bugle. As I said - not perfect, but it seems to be working pretty well.

I don’t think we need to use valuable magazine space to go into detail about the magazine production process, but I do think it’s a good idea to make mention in the Bugle of the earlier delivery schedule - AND to remind members that they can go online to view Bugle content on the first of each month, whether their print magazine has arrived or not. Pete and I were reluctant to even discuss this faster delivery until we were sure we could consistently get the layout to the printer a week earlier than in the past. But we’ve been doing it now for several months, and it seems to be working. Personally I like having the choice of both versions of the magazine. I think the print version is far superior to the online version in clarity and quality of print and photos. But for a fast look or easy reference - or to view older issues —I prefer the ease of online. We have the best of both worlds right now - a choice! —Cindy

Doug - no offense taken at all. I totally understand the question. It IS somewhat confusing. See Brian's post above. But I might add, that with the print version we are completely at the mercy of the postal service. Some issues arrive by or before the first of the month, but others don't (for instance I don't have my January issue yet and I am usually at the front of the line!). So when Pete, Brian and I picked the date for the web version to go "live", we decided that the first of the month made the most sense. Notice that Pete didn't change the Bugle deadline date to receive submitted articles. That deadline is still the 24th of the month, just as it has been since I started with the Bugle 10 years ago. In order to get the magazine to Modern Litho earlier, Pete and I pushed our work schedules up. We MOVE faster than we did 10 years ago, and we get those files uploaded to Modern Litho faster - and THEY, in turn, get the magazine printed and shipped to members faster. But it isn't easy. We "speed-work" in order to get this done. And to be honest, our biggest fear is that members will quickly grow used to getting the print magazine near the first of the month and then start to complain if it doesn't arrive until the 2nd week - even though we have nothing to do with that. So getting the print magazine delivered earlier, and posting it online by the 1st of each month, is a bit of a Catch-22. On balance, I think it is working well for most people. We are doing a good job of getting Bugle content to most members as close to the first of the month as possible - whether it is in the print version or online version.

Computers with all the new hardware and software can be infuriating, but it also makes everything faster. So Pete is faster, I'm faster and so is Modern Litho Press, who publishes the magazine. We've just passed this little perk on to Bugle readers by moving up the magazine ship date. —Cindy