That "Video Vault" Thing - It's going to be, well, amazing.

[Phil Lampman]

Well, despite my doubts and criticism about this idea, I had an opportunity yesterday to tour the studio and production facilities with Don Mock. That was not my original intent; I was simply trying to return things my relatives had stolen last Saturday night during my birthday celebration. The Miss Wahoo is back in her rightful place in the museum. If we do this again, I am inclined to not invite my relatives with towing packages and large pickup trucks. Those wacky characters

To the point. Don and I had argued over wether or not this was going to be something the membership would embrace. I mean, c'mon, how many pictures of me screwing up something on the Blue Blaster do you need to see? Well, the production quality was good and the pictures of me were flattering.

To the point of the point. What Don showed to me and demonstrated was well beyond anything I thought it would be. This stuff ain't old Bardahl commercials or Uncle Harry's Super 8 home movies - though I do hope we'll find a place for them in this vault.

Until yesterday, I did not realize the extent and content of the archives we had at the museum. There is a great deal of material donated to the Museum by TV stations and networks. Don gave me a glimpse of races dating back to 1946, in Detroit. I nearly feared for my well-being as Don pointed out the stacks - no, columns - of boxes of old video and film he had yet to go through as I stood near them.

I suppose I'll reserve final judgement util everything is up and running - though it could take years - but one of the things I really like about this is that it provides a benefit to our out-of-state members as well as a terrific resource to model builders and historians. This is truly glorious stuff and likely not available anywhere else. In my opinion, the greater value we can provide to our out-of-state members, the better.

I was heading down o the museum to return the cooler my granddaughters were using for a playhouse on Saturday. Good thing we put it in our car. When I saw Jim's announcement though I simply had to respond. I feel sometime the museum might underestimate the value of what they have and the importance of it all to our non-local membership.

This is going to be very cool stuff....

Oh, one last item to mention o hose of you who might wonder if the higher membership fee is worth it, please remember that any payment to the Hydro Plane and Raceboat Museum is tax deductible under the IRS rules regarding category 501 (c) 3 "non-profits.

Okay, no more rambling, but I am excited about this new benefit to members.

.

[Hydroplane Museum]

Bill, check your email - you were sent an invitation...

William W Zuppe said:

Please let me know what, if anything needs to be done to get me into the vault.

Bill Zuppe

[e-mail]

Jim Mesick said:

If you are a $100 Member or above and have a profile created on the web site, we have sent invitations to join the Video Vault.  You MUST "CLICK" on the link at the bottom of the invitation to complete the registration process for the Video Vault.

If you did not receive the email invitation or deleted it like most of you do to my emails (INSERT HAPPY FACE) drop me an email and I'll be happy to help you out!

[e-mail]

Thanks for the kind words Phil!!!!

Jim Mesick

[Steve Ruedy]

I'll agree with everyone else, the videos are amazing.  Tons I have not seen before along with some ones that I have.  What a treasure trove of hydroplaning history.  Thanks to the museum for making it available to us.

Steve R.