WDB - News

Friday, July 21, 2006

SIX MONTHS GONE DOWN THE DRAIN

A quick and easy way to lose six months

Tucson, Ariz., July 22, 2006. ...The past six months I was bedridden with one thing after another (flu, pulmonary embolism, pneumonia, pneumonia-caused encapsulated cavity, hospital staph infection, --plenty of time to ruminate on IAMA--but not in a position to bounce it off anyone else and when one spends so much time thinking one can easily overlook something—Do you see something I should give consideration to?? Let me know by July 31st, 2006.

I won’t bore you with the details, it all started January 14 with the flu till the middle of March, and I was in the hospital for 5 weeks in April-May—over the past few weeks I’ve learned to walk again!

Though I have been down, that is not the main reason for changing things—as I was looking at what to do as soon as we got back last November.

We have posted the new entry forms today (Saturday, July 22th) and my health is not going to be an issue—but I felt you should know as I am asking for your input about these changes over a very short period of time.

Any comments please have to me by July 31st, 2006

Sincerely,

Walt

Walter R Haessner

IAMA ENTRY FORM AND RULES FOR 2006

IAMA sees some changes this year

Tucson, Ariz., July 22, 2006. The primary change in the IAMA program this year is to forego formal presentations of the awards for the immediate future. Dates for entries and announcement of awards are also changed.

I’d like your input on the following: reasons, entry schedule, awards distribution, etc. This is not a sudden decision, but it’s later than I had hoped for getting feedback from a few key people—

Reasons:

The number of people attending each year is dropping, to the point that the awards breakfast attendance was somewhat embarrassing. The lunch crowd looked good, but that was mostly Chowderheads.

Many who would like to attend cannot because of the cost of travel, room and board. And, more and more people have to be at car introductions and events that are the basis of their livelihood--regardless of cost.

John Lamm couldn’t come—he had to be out of the country. Jerry Flint and Beverly Rae Kimes were New Yorkers, so we lucked out there.

Additionally, the publications are cutting back on paying for their people to receive awards in person--even when they get the top awards.

Entry date:

The cutoff for entries is moved from Aug 24 to Sept 8—just AFTER Labor Day. The past three years more and more people found it very hard to make the August date, so we were having to give extensions which cramped the judging time.

Awards distribution:

The awards will all be shipped at the same time, December 18th, so he awardees receive their awards at about the same time.

(Presently, we give about 30% at the awards presentations ((or at least announce them because some of the people who come can’t carry the awards on the planes and we have to ship them from Tucson anyway!)) in November.)

Make the announcement of awards December 18th. This way, we can give the judges a little more time, and have some time to prepare the awards list and have it printed for inclusion in each shipment.

Last year the crunch was so bad that Elaine did not get to bed the night before we flew to NJ, and the computer crashed so she had to spend the weekend re-keying the awards in order to be able to announce them Tuesday at Sardi’s. There was no time to have copies printed to hand out—and needless to say, this certainly was not the professional image that should be exhibited.

Promotion of the IAMA program:

Take the monies that would go to making the formal presentations and direct it towards an expanded effort to gain more publicity for those who have received awards and towards the program overall—to help it better achieve its purpose of “recognizing and encouraging excellence in automotive media.

Future:

I’m not ruling out formal presentations in the future if we can come up with a time and place that would permit more people to participate personally, and a sponsor that would underwrite some of the costs involved. 

What’s your input:

This program is not the “Walter and Elaine” thing—though we are the administrators, facilitators—the key people are the entrants and the judges.

We’ve posted the 2006 IAMA Entry Forms today, simultaneously with sending this letter. I am asking for your input about these changes over a very short period of time.

I look forward to receiving any input you would like to make, by July 31, 2006.

Sincerely,

Walt

Walter R Haessner

Sunday, December 25, 2005

THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

The Twelve Days of Christmas is one Christmas Carol that has always baffled me.

What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won’t come out of the pear tree have to do with Christmas? Today I found out. And here I share it with you.

Tucson AZ December 25, 2005 (WDB), ,,,From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church.

Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.

Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.

Three French hens stood for faith, hope, and love.

The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John.

The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.

The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.

Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit: Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.

The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.

Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.

The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.

The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.

The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles’ Creed.

So there is your history for today. This knowledge was shared with me and I found it interesting and enlightening and now I know how that strange song became a Christmas Carol ... so pass it on if you wish.

My gift to you ... Have a blessed Christmas! And happy Holidays to all.

Saturday, November 19, 2005

WDB JOURNAL GETS OVER 1 MILLION HITS IN 46 WEEKS

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TUSCON AZ November 19, 2005 (WDB). ...While we were at the IAMA Awards in New York City the WDB site went over the 1,115,000 count for the first 46 weeks of calander year 2005! Invite you friends to be come a non-fee, opt-in member. The IAMA results will be posted today. More IAMA coverage to come.

Monday, March 21, 2005

GM Statement Regarding the Passing of John Z. DeLorean

Attributable to Rick Wagoner, Chairman and CEO, General Motors Corp.

DETROIT, Mich., 2005-03-20 WDB. ... “John DeLorean was one of Detroit’s larger-than-life figures who secured a noteworthy place in our industry’s history. He made a name for himself through his talent, creativity, innovation and daring. At GM, he will always be remembered as the father of the Pontiac GTO, which really started the muscle-car craze of the ‘60s. Our thoughts today are with his family as we join them in mourning his passing.”

Wednesday, July 07, 2004

Rodger Ward Dies at 83

Oldest living winner of the Indianapolis 500, Rodger Ward was one of the best liked drivers. He died at a hospice in Anahim, Calif., Monday July 5th, 2004. 

The memorial arrangements for Rodger are this coming Sunday evening, July 11, at the Automotive Museum in San Diego at 5:00pm. It is in Balboa Park where more than just a few of us made memories racing on the flat tight dirt track. Panamericana Dr. is the street and the phone number is 619-231-2886  where the people there will be happy to give you any details you need to know. Jim Nabors is going to sing the invocation and Mel Larson will give the eulogy. Mario Andretti is going to make every effort to make it and racing’s stunner, Linda Vaughn, will also be on hand along with many of Rodger’s old competitors and friends. Sherry’s cell# again is 949-981-8972 if you would like to give her words of comfort in lieu of being able to go.   Godspeed Dear Rodger ’  Hila Sweet (Condolences can be made in Comment section below. Click on “Comments” to open box. Copies will be forwarded to Sherry.)

Saturday, March 27, 2004

Bob Hall Loses Battle with Cancer

Auto world loses life long enthusiast who was an avid collector of memorabilia and patron guardian of wayward cats.

March 9, 2004

Robert Milton Hall III, “Bob,” lost his battle with cancer and died on March 8 in his home in Carlisle, Penn. He was 56 years old. He wanted everyone with whom he had associated to know that he was very thankful for the kind words and support they offered during his last months. Above all, he wishes to be remembered as a person who spent his last years doing the thing he loved most: writing, speaking and experiencing all things automotive.

Bob said he inherited a life-long love of cars from his father, who owned more than 300 cars during his lifetime. He started what would become an extensive collection of automotive books, sales literature, ads and magazines while still in elementary school.

After graduating from Towson (Md.) High School in 1965, Bob enlisted in the Army and attended the United States Army Intelligence School at Fort Holabird, Md. He was discharged in 1969 with the title of staff sergeant. He later took classes at Anne Arundel County Community College.

By the mid-1970s, Bob was an active participant in the collector car hobby. He began his professional writing career in 1973 as a sports stringer for the Baltimore Sun.

While working in various jobs including a stint at the Social Security Administration, Bob continued writing about collector cars for various hobby publications. In 1987, he accepted the associate editor position at Old Cars Weekly, and before long his work was appearing in publications as diverse as Automobile Magazine, Sports Collectorþs Digest, Special Interest Autos, Goldmine, Car Collector, Automobile Quarterly, AutoWeek, MOBILIA, Automotive History Review, Baseball Cards Magazine and the Brazilian magazine Autos Antigos.

Bob became a staff writer for MotorWeek Television in 1993, also serving as occasional field producer and liaison with various associations. After four years at MotorWeek, Bob moved west to become publicist for the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and later, the Imperial Palace Auto Collection. In conjunction with those duties, he became host of Las Vegas Motor Speedway on the Air.

That show eventually evolved into All About Collector Cars, and then evolved into “All About Cars,” the program he hosted until his death. Over the years his writing and radio efforts earned a number of awards from automotive press associations, including three prestigious WAPA Golden Quill Awards, of which Bob proudly said, that was nothing to sniff at.

Bob was also very active in the International Automotive Media Awards. During the period of 1996 and today, Bob had garnished four gold IAMAs as well as several silver and bronze awards.

Besides his duties in Carlisle (including a syndicated newspaper column called All About Cars, published in numerous papers including Harrisburgþs Patriot-News and found on http://www.carsatcarlisle.com), Bob traveled extensively to participate in new vehicle launches by auto manufacturers.

He was a veritable fixture at these events and was known to be insatiably curious as well as one who exhibited infectious enthusiasm toward the products. He looked forward to showcasing many of those vehicles on WHTM abc27 in Harrisburg, regularly appearing on the News Daybreak morning show.

Those hundreds of thousands who have visited the Carlisle Fairgrounds over the years would recognize Bobþs familiar voice as that on the public address system and as the emcee at celebrity luncheons. Bob was known for having an incredible encyclopedic memory when it came to knowledge about automotive history, sports, music and movies from the Fred and Ginger era. Seeing an animal in distress would always bring him to tears.

He will be remembered by those who knew him as a generous, gregarious person who placed more importance on friendship than on material wealth. By that definition he was most certainly a wealthy man who will be sorely missed.

He was survived by brothers Randall Hall of Cockeysville, Md., and Richard Hall of Annapolis; sister Anne Shields of Halfway, Ore.; and nieces and nephews.

Private services were held in Baltimore.

Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of Central PA or Best Friends Animal Society, 5001 Angel Canyon Road, Kanub, UT  84741-5000.

This obituary has been created by drawing on news releases from WAPA, Carlisle Events, and the personal knowledge of Walter R Haessner.