Bakersfield Model A Club – The First Chapter of the Model A Club of America Celebrating 60 years! Model A's with the Ford Tri-motor at the Kern County Airport.

Click on image for Mafca.com

Items with an Asterisk are sanctioned events.

January

6th – Club Meeting -Rasmussen Center
115 E Roberts Ln, Bakersfield

16th – Drive Your “A” to Dinner: Crest Bar & Grill, 5025 Wible Rd. 6:30 pm

18th – Meet the Santa Maria A’s at the Cuyama Buckhorn (4923 Primero St. New Cuyama) for lunch. Meet at the McDonalds on Stockdale and Heath at 9 am.

24th – 26th – Turlock. meet at the McDonalds on Merle Haggard Dr. at 9 am

February

1st – 2026 CCRG Planning Meeting. Denny’s at 8 am. 8710 Rosedale Hwy. BYO Breakfast. Please have your meal finished by 8 (the start of the meeting).

3rd – Club Meeting -Rasmussen Center
115 E Roberts Ln, Bakersfield

15th – Whiskey Flat Parade. Meet at the Chevron station at Hwy 178 and Kern Canyon Rd. 7:30 am. Lunch to follow the parade at “Gordon’s Castle” (Rick and Sharon’s place at Isabella).

20th – Drive Your “A” to Dinner: TBA

22nd – Celebration of Life for Karen Bockman. Saturday at 12 noon, Blairs Compound: 3008 S. Burke St. Visalia. RVSP is required to Phil Kneeland (559) 679-1980

March

3rd – Club Meeting

April

3rd thru 6th – CCRG Jamboree

CCRG Registration

7th – Club Meeting

The first long drive of the year for the Model A’s turned out perfect. Although the air had a chill to it while we met at the McDonalds on Stockdale, the hot coffee sure tasted good while we received our driving instructions. Seven A’s and one very pretty and fast Mustang set out for The Buckhorn in New Cuyama for lunch with our coastal brethren. Without too much traffic and a stop at the gas station in Maricopa, we pulled into the lunch spot about one minute after the Santa Maria A’s arrived; what good timing. They had ten model A’s, one slick 1940 Ford, and a modern car in their group. They too had an uneventful drive (no chicken moments for either group), so after pictures and greetings we took over the back room in the Buckhorn. Stories were exchanged and car problems solved over the noon meal which was very good. For such a large group, about thirty-three of us, the service was quick. While we were there a large group of motorcyclists came roaring in for their rest stop at this popular spot. Beautiful bikes parked around the A’s made for quite a sight. Alex Guerrero of Warrior Wagons fame stopped by and invited us to his shop for a small tour. It is located behind The Buckhorn at the airport so after lunch we drove the half mile and parked in front for more photos. He is well known for his wood working skills, in particular the restorations of Woody Fords. (Alex Guerrero @warriorwagons on Instagram). The group spilt and started to their perspective homes. The sun was out, our bellies full, a nice drive ahead of us; we made good time and arrived back in Bakersfield about 4 pm.

Twenty-two club members met at the Crest Bar and Grill for dinner and story-swapping. Denise brought Byron (her young son) to the dinner so I took a picture of four generations at table. Five Model A’s were in parking lot, the lighting was poor but the pictures turned out better than I thought they would. We had the back room almost all to ourselves so we could be as loud as we wanted and we were with conversation flowing until the found was served. The service was great and the food good enough to eat (LOL), with several “to go” containers going home. I would say a very successful first Drive Your A to Dinner for the year.

Today our Bakersfield Model A Club was honored to place wreaths on the Veterans sites at the Union Cemetery. The wreaths were delivered to us from the overage at the Bakersfield National Cemetery. We didn’t have enough to place on all the Veterans graves that have been laid to rest there, but we did honor all. Seven A’s and three modern cars ferried seventeen of the club members to place wreaths at the headstones of the fallen heroes. Henry even helped until he found a palm tree growing out of another tree and had to have his picture taken (what a ham). Of course we had to have lunch. Thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to honor the vetersns.

Thank you, Gail and Kirk, for the story and pictures

Twelve Model A’s and a host of club members came out to participate in the Lamplight Tour at the Kern County Museum and Pioneer Village. Judging by the number of people that showed up to see the Village in night- time illumination, it was a success. The Howell and Lopez houses had long lines of people waiting to tour the insides all night. The rest of the village was just as busy with people roaming the grounds, ringing the bell on the live steam engine, visiting Santa, enjoying the live music , and enjoying some snacks from local vendors. The neon signs were all lit up at the gas station area, they are only turned on for a few events. Thank you Richard H. for donating a trailer for the hayrides around the grounds, from opening to closing the bales were full of excited kids and parents. Thank you, Gail for the pictures.

What a wonderful day at the Bakersfield Veterans Day Parade. We had 14 cars in the parade with 4 carrying Grand Marshall’s, Everett Williams, Rex Haddock, Ron Holdsworth and Bill Glaspie; and 1 carrying Honorary Grand Marshall, Rosie the Riveter, Elaine King. What an Honor to be able to have them ride in our cars as the crowd along the parade path waved flags 🇺🇸and thanked veterans for their service. They were in their upper 90’s and at least one was 103. Emotions were high as Jim Scott had us stop as he read the story of each veteran. Rex Haddock, who rode in our car received numerous medals and even crossed the pond on the Queen Mary.
There were grade school children handing out Thank You notes to veterans along the way. So heart warming to see how the children of this generation respect the veterans.
Twenty five of us went on to Zingos for a wonderful lunch and great service. What a fabulous Veterans Day 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

I don’t believe that I have seen this many people along the parade route as today. It is heart warming that Bakersfield came out to celebrate our veterans!

Thank you, Gail, for the post and pictures. Also check out Gail’s postings on Facebook.

Donuts make decorating Faster. Thanks Gerakd

First Monday of the Month. Check the Calendar for updates.

Time: New start time 6:45 PM

Location

Rasmussen Center
115 E Roberts Ln, Bakersfield

No Meeting in July and December

Standing rules MAFCA Bakersfield – Revised February 3, 2020

Change to the By-Laws of the Model A Ford Club of America, Bakersfield, Chapter. At the general monthly meeting held on Nov. 7th a vote was taken and passed to change Article V Section 2. Eligibility. The sentence “Only one member of a family may hold office in any one year” was removed.

Bakersfield Mafca By-Laws Revised Nov. 7th 2022

September 21 – The MAFCA Board of Directors reached an agreement with MAFFI to begin recognizing our chapters that have achieved 50 years of continuous membership in MAFCA. An inscribed brick will be placed on behalf of MAFCA at the Model “A” Museum by MAFFI. This permanent enshrinement of this accomplishment will be on display 365 days a year to celebrate this high honor. Click on the link below to read more about this and the mention of our Bakersfield chapter.

https://www.mafca.com/documents/chapter_bricks.pdf

Installing Spring Shackle
Bushings
Getting those new shackle bushings
installed can be a puzzle. They can be
pressed in, but the prospect of
removing the spring and perch bolts to
take them into a shop isn’t too
appealing.
Buy a piece of 1/2” NC threaded steel rod about a foot long,
with nuts and several flat washers. Put a nut and washer on
one end, and insert it through the perch and bushing. Apply a
little grease to help it slide in. Put two washers and another nut
on the other end and begin closing it up. Watch to see that the
bushing doesn’t get “cocked” when it first starts into the perch.
Continue to turn the nut until the bushing is in place.
—Rusty Houdaille, Pasadena, CA

An interesting article to read:

https://www.oldcarsweekly.com/features/ford-by-the-part-numbers?oly_enc_id=4635H7716901H8A

running board protection

Battery Primer

Found this list on the internet and though it is a little more than needed for most of us , it can be modified for monthly checks.

Model A Maintenance Check List

Battery Tips for Summer Driving – Contributed by Gene Riddle (From the Okie “A’s” newsletter, The Headliner)

In the summertime you should check your battery often. Because of the hot, dry weather, check not only the water in the battery cells, but for corrosion on cable terminals. Corrosion prevents good contacts and causes loose cables which in turn prevents the generator from doing it’s job of keeping the battery “hot.” Take that extra minute or two and give your battery some attention next time you plan to take your “A” for a spin around the block or for a parade.

Click on the link below to learn about Model A jacks

http://modelabasics.com/jack_web/images/calendar_layout.png

February Birthdays
3 – Dawn Collins
4 – Terry Scott
16 – Marlin Kidd
17 – Linda Payton
23 – John Bakich
25 – Eddie Pruett
20 – Tim McDowell
29 – Lou Marraccino

February Anniversaries
14 – Richard & Mona Vipham
14 – Stephanie & Gary Smith

March Birthdays
3 – Brandon Throne
4 – Ron Goodrich
4 – Samuel Huff
8 – Terry Marraccino
12 – Donald Erwin
15 – Carrie Unger
17 – Heidi Davis
28 – Dennis Patrick

March Anniversaries
15 – Richard and Gail Harger
19 – Mike & Candy Martin
22 – Dennis Patrick & Linda Jackson
30 – Ralph & Carrie Navarro

The chicken sure has been busy the last few outings. First he caught up with Paula when her car started to overheat on the Presidents tour. She stopped to check it out and Rick added a quart or two of water to cool things down. The rest of the drive went well. This last Saturday on the Old Ridge Route tour Ron started to have overheating problems himself. The timing was a little too far advanced and the radiator started to foam up and overflow. A timing change and a couple of quarts of water allowed him to continue on this fantastic journey exploring the legendary road. Check out Ron’s make shift gasket.

Although the car started to act up again it made it home, some future repairs are in order. The last person the chicken visited was Debby who was on the same tour. On the way home her and Dawn stopped for some push water (gasoline), when Debby became so engrossed with some cute kids at the gas station that she forgot to screw the gas cap back on. Sure enough it fell off the car when she exited the station getting back on the freeway. While driving home a passing car wrote her a note telling her the gas cap was missing. We were about a half hour behind her so she called to ask if we would check at the gas station in case it was at the pump. Lucky for her I found it in the road with very little gravel rash on it. Like I said the chicken sure was busy.

Ford passenger vehicles and small trucks built in 1928, 1929 1930 and 1931 are referred to as Model “A” Fords; the larger trucks of these years are “AA” (double-A) Fords.

The Model “A” Ford Club of America’s (MAFCA) oldest chapter – the Bakersfield Chapter – formed in 1957 when six people met to discover. explore and experience “Henry’s Lady.” Since then we have grown to over 120 members. We are proud of our history and look forward to our youth’s continuing enjoyment of these vehicles and their distinguished heritage.

Active with monthly meetings, tours, parades and other events, the Bakersfield Chapter is committed to supporting our community through active participation in a variety of activities.

Among our proudest achievements, the club was instrumental in obtaining and restoring a 1930’s gas station. We are currently working on a 1927 display of the Dust Bowl Days at the Kern County Museum.

Committed to the preservation and restoration of one of America’s great automobiles, the club looks forward as we help to bring a small bit of history to the citizens of the new millennium.