Well it’s officially Spring. Pretty soon we’ll be getting our Oldsmobiles out on the road. You have your 2017 Roster however here are a few corrections that I missed, sorry. Please make the following changes.

Section II Contact Info:
Brent Nagy email brentNxxx@xxxxxxx.xx / Dan Valois add 1980 Cutlass 442 W30

Section III Cars by Year:
Ted Branton’s car: 1978 1977 Delta 88 Royale.

ALAN SCHAUFELE – It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of Alan Schaufele. Allen was one of the first 100 members of this club joining us in 1994 taking membership 0096. His son Darryll took membership 0097. The two of them were always together at the Rocket Round with their 1970 Cutlass Supremes until Alan brought a 1974 Hurst/Olds back to its glory a few years ago. Alan was a friendly, decent fellow and he will be missed by the many members who knew him. On behalf of the club and myself, I sincerely pass on our condolences to his wife Maxine, son Darryll, and to the rest of the Schaufele family

VIMY RIDGE: The battle and the Monument (And possibly something you didn’t know)

100 year ago this month, Canadian troops were ordered to seize Vimy Ridge. Situated in northern France, the heavily fortified seven-kilometre ridge held a commanding view over the Allied lines. The Canadians would be assaulting over an open graveyard since previous French attacks had failed with over 100,000 casualties. Attacking together for the first time, the four Canadian divisions stormed the ridge at 5:30am on 9 April 1917. More than 15,000 Canadian infantry overran the Germans all along the front. Incredible bravery and discipline allowed the infantry to continue moving forward under heavy fire, even when their officers were killed. There were countless acts of sacrifice as Canadians single-handedly charged machine-gun nests or forced the surrender of Germans in protective dugouts. Hill 145, the highest and most important feature of the Ridge, and where the Vimy monument now stands, was captured in a frontal bayonet charge against machine-gun positions. Three more days of costly battle delivered final victory.

The Canadian operation was an important success, even if the larger British and French offensive, of which it had been a part, had failed. But it was victory at a heavy cost: 3,598 Canadians were killed and another 7,000 wounded. Remember those boys this month who in age only, never were able to become men.

Vimy became a symbol for the sacrifice of our young country. In 1922, the French government ceded to Canada in perpetuity Vimy Ridge, and the land surrounding it. The gleaming white marble and haunting sculptures of the Vimy Memorial, unveiled in 1936, stand as a terrible and poignant reminder of the 11,285 Canadian soldiers killed in France who have no known graves. Interesting enough, the Vimy monument was protected by the Waffen SS. While the Germans destroyed French, American, British and Australian monuments the Vimy monument survived. When Hitler's armies were advancing across France in 1940, the Canadian government put out a story that German troops were damaging the memorial at Vimy Ridge. Walter Allward's soaring monument had been unveiled only a short time before in 1936, the only official ceremony (except for abdication) in the short reign of Edward VIII. A popular postage stamp was widely in circulation, so Canadians were thoroughly familiar with Vimy Ridge, and they were outraged. There was someone else who was outraged y this story: his name was Adolf Hitler.