Three new households have joined the club since our last issue:

All three are expected at the September meeting. Please find them and introduce yourself.

by Chuck Murray

Six Model A's arrived at our assigned parade staging location about 8:00 AM on a hot Saturday morning on July 4th. Decorations came out of the trunks and rear seats to display our American flags, red, white and blue streamers and other patriotic paraphernalia. Darsen Sowers was our designated Group Walker and brought a corrugated plastic board shaped like a Model A Roadster. After a few different attempts to attach the Roadster to him and his electric scooter, he was ready to go. I think it is safe to say that no one had more fun in the parade than Darsen riding his scooter around and around our group of Model A's.

Phil and Vanda Taylor led our group in Vanda's Roadster with their grandchildren waving from the rumble seat. Chuck and Carol Murray were next in line in their Fordor with flags waving from all four corners. Brantley Blanchard and Brantley Blanchard Jr. were next in their Fordor decked out in streamers and flags. Following the Blanchards was Freddie Braswell in his Roadster. Greg and Robin Seibert were next in line in their Fordor, and Gary Doane driving his Roadster was our caboose.

We were the twelfth entry in the parade lineup, and the first group of cars, trucks, or tractors. Our horns could be heard all along the parade route and we had no breakdowns or mechanical delays while in the parade. Lots of smiles and waving from the parade viewers. WRAL TV streamed the parade and there is a video on their website of our Model A's driving in the parade.

The full set of photographs from the parade is in the club's Google Photos album.

After a summer with no meetings and, if we are honest, not much driving, September makes up for it all at once. There are four things on the calendar in the space of two weeks.

We meet at Clemmons Educational State Forest, 2411 Old US Highway 70 West, Clayton, gathering at the picnic shelter. A pot-luck lunch starts at 2:00 PM and the formal meeting follows at about 3:00 PM. Carol Murray is sending out a Signup Genius to organize the food and drink, so watch for it.

This is the first meeting since June 7, the agenda is a long one, and we have five new member households to meet. Come.

National Model A Day falls on September 19, and Chuck Murray is marking it by leading a tour to Halifax to see the historic buildings and the Halifax Resolves, the resolution that preceded the Declaration of Independence by nearly three months. The documents are due to return to the National Archives, so this is a limited opportunity.

Departure is at 8:30 AM from the Publix parking lot on Route 42 in Clayton. The route runs through the country to Bailey and Spring Hope, then toward Nashville with a break at the Sheetz, then north to Route 561 and into Halifax. Figure about two and a half hours of driving each way, with lunch and the historic buildings in between, returning by the same route.

If you plan to drive, complete the signup form so Chuck knows how many cars and people to expect. Details will also be discussed at the September meeting.

We have been invited to show our cars to the residents of Stoneridge Gracious Retirement Living, 105 Convention Drive, Cary, and to give rides. The event runs from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM. Refreshments and snacks will be provided and tents will be set up for shade. Thanta Roberts is leading it.

This is the easiest good deed on the calendar and it needs cars. Sign up here.

The Sandhills Region club hosts its 22nd Annual "A" Picnic at Anderson Creek County Park, 1491 Nursery Road, Lillington. Plan to arrive by 11:00 AM, lunch is at noon, and the event ends at 2:00 PM.

The Sandhills club provides hot dogs, buns, condiments, plates, napkins and plasticware. Bring a dish to share family reunion style, bring your own drinks, and bring lawn chairs. No alcohol. There are free door prizes and a 50/50 cash drawing, and pets are welcome on a leash. Vanda Taylor will organize a caravan from the Raleigh area, as she has in past years.

The Sandhills club counts on our numbers when they buy the hot dogs, so signing up genuinely helps them. Any questions, call Nick Lean at 910-624-1188.

‘31 Tudor, Apex. $11,000

Eric Didawick is selling his ‘31 Tudor on Facebook Marketplace. Excellent paint and interior. Contact Eric through Facebook.

1930 Ford Model A Town Sedan Deluxe, Sanford. $34,500

Beautifully restored and reported ready to drive. New Burtz engine, new Mitchell overdrive and Mitchell synchronized transmission, professionally installed by MARC Technical Chairman Larry Shepard. New oil pump, adjustable lifters, aluminum timing gear and upgraded valve train. Includes an original-style luggage trunk on the rear trunk rack, and the front fenders have recently been repainted. Documentation and receipts available, along with more photographs and video on request. Email Jody Cannady at [email protected] or call 703-599-5554.

1931 Ford Model A Black Two-Door Sedan, Sanford, NC. $22,500

Recently reupholstered with a Cartouche interior kit, with new insulation and carpet by Brock Upholstery in Stedman. New Carter twelve volt electric fuel pump with filter, Holley adjustable fuel pressure regulator, heavy duty 1930-31 radiator, curved-back black trunk and car cover from Snyder's, and a universal LED turn signal kit with four lights. Documentation, receipts, more photographs and video available on request. Email Jody Cannady at [email protected] or call 703-599-5554.

Model A Sedan Delivery

Raleigh area. Tommy Neese, one of the owners of Neese's Sausage, is selling his Sedan Delivery. According to Tommy, everything works as it should, with no oil, transmission or gas leaks. Call Tommy at 336-708-1061.

Engine test stand

George Goodridge has an engine test stand available for sale or to borrow. Email George at [email protected].

Have something to sell, or something you have been hunting for years? Email the editor at [email protected] and it goes in the next issue.

North Carolina is one of about two dozen states that tax automobiles as personal property, and the bill arrives bundled with your annual registration renewal. That is an irritating thing to pay on a car built in 1930. It is also avoidable. State law caps the taxable value of a qualifying antique automobile at $500, which turns a yearly property tax bill into pocket change, and the whole process takes one form and one trip to your county tax office.

The law sets five conditions, and form AV-66 asks you to affirm each one:

Two of those deserve a closer look. The third condition is the one that trips people up: a Model A that serves as a daily driver does not qualify, and you are signing the form under penalty of law. There is no mileage limit written into the statute, and the law names club activities explicitly, so tours and meets and parades are exactly the use the exemption contemplates. But some county tax offices do periodically ask owners to report mileage, so keep the certification honest.

The first condition matters for anyone running year-of-manufacture plates. North Carolina treats a YOM plate as ornamental rather than as the car's real registration, so a YOM plate does nothing for you here. The car needs the antique plate as its actual registration, which you can request when you register or add later for a fee.

Download form AV-66, the Antique Automobile Value Exclusion Application, from the Department of Revenue. Fill it out and take it to your county tax office. Someone at the counter should be able to review it with you and confirm you are in compliance before you leave. They may want you to also produce the registration slip or the tax bill form you received in the mail.

The filing window is generous but not unlimited. The form must be filed within thirty days of the date the taxes are due. In practice that means you can file any time between receiving the property tax bill for the car and thirty days after that bill's due date. If you are registering the car for the first time, pay the bill at the DMV, then carry your registration, your receipt, and the form to the tax office, and they will refund the difference. If you are filing ahead of an upcoming tax year, you will get an amended bill in the mail.

Here in Alamance County, they want you to re-file the form every year. I’ve been told that this is not necessarily true in other counties, but it may also be the case that those cars were exempted under an older, expired policy. Check with your county to be sure.

This month we're featuring Paper Moon (1973). A Bible-peddling con man and the cigarette-smoking nine-year-old who may or may not be his daughter work their way across the Depression-era plains. Peter Bogdanovich shot it in gorgeous black and white, and a 1930 Model A roadster is among the well-traveled Fords the pair drive and trade. Tatum O'Neal won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar at age ten and is still the youngest competitive winner ever, and the cigarettes she puffs were rolled from lettuce.

Stream it free through your public library via the Kanopy or Hoopla services, or rent for $5 on Amazon Video.

The Dispatch is sponsored by Mike’s A-Fordable Parts. Did you know Mike’s is the only major vendor currently stocking those trendy clear distributor caps? Get a look inside your running distributor with this handy diagnostic tool. You can snag one for the low price of $12 or get a “blem” unit (pictured above) for just $7.