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About myself (in reverse chronological order): A few years ago, I finished a
career as an international energy consultant, last post in Ukraine. Before
that I was a maintenance supervisor at NASA Goddard in Maryland, the Plant
Engineer at an Anaconda-Ericsson factory in Pennsylvania, an antique auto
body mechanic in New Jersey, a dock supervisor for Macy’s in New York, a
Volkswagen mechanic in Germany and a GI in the Army Security Agency.
I’ve
attended more schools and colleges for more years than I can count. That
makes me an over-educated under-achiever.
As a volunteer I served eight years as President of the National Capital
Chapter of the Association of Energy Engineers and 23 years as its
International Director. I mention it because this professional society’s
structure was very close to that of CLC. The chapter had a few hundred members in territory covering Maryland,
Washington, DC and Virginia. It was a very strong chapter that served the
profession well. Politically, I hold views on the extreme right and on the
extreme left, which puts me square in the extreme center. But we don’t
discuss politics in a car club, so everybody stays happy.
Of all the old cars I’ve accumulated, five remain in the collection: two
Cadillacs and two Pontiacs in the United States and a Pobyeda in the
Republic of Georgia, where my wife Maia and I have a second home. The
dozens of cars I’ve dumped were early onset mistakes, but I couldn’t see
that when I bought them.
People ask what my agenda is. I have an approach, not an agenda. First, I
hope the “well-oiled machine” that is the Potomac Region keeps running on
autopilot. I will encourage and support all officers in doing what they’ve
been doing all along to make PR the biggest and best in the CLC.
Historically, I see that the Region’s emphasis has been on events, which is
great. Events should continue being led by the people with that experience.
My personal emphasis has been on Cadillac research, specifically of the
1953s, as you can tell from my articles. I intend to continue pursuing that
interest.
The second part of my approach is to seize opportunities as they
come up. An example is the recent tour of the John Warner collection in
Virginia. When that opportunity appeared, the Region pounced on it, and the
event was a smashing success. John is our hero of the month. More
opportunities will come. Sometimes we may create opportunities. For example,
I have an idea to stage a 75th anniversary re-enactment of President Dwight
Eisenhower’s first inauguration parade in 1953, possibly with the original
Eldorado #2 and the original Queen Elizabeth, a Secret Service Cadillac
armored convertible. (Yes, you read right!)
I travel a lot, but communication media these days allow us all to stay in
constant touch. It doesn’t matter what continent we are on anymore (except
for in-person meetings). When I am not in town to chair a meeting, there is
no shortage of former Directors, the Assistant Director or any other officer
to fill in. The next big PR events are the Holiday Party (stay tuned for
details) and the Washington Auto Show at the end of this month. We plan to
hold a combined January-February meeting there.
In closing, I express my appreciation to my predecessors, particularly to
Dan Ruby who held things steady all through the pandemic and until the
present, and to Vince Taliano, who still fills three officer positions and
devotes more time than anybody I know.
Elöre! (Onward! In Hungarian)
Larry Good |
