MOB News

Appenzeller’s March Madness Meet

Saturday, March 17, 2007

This year, the MOB March Meet was held on Saint Patrick’s Day and there might have been a few MOB members who were a little “green” with envy at some of the deals that were found at this years meet. The skies over Milford, Indiana were bright blue but cold temperatures could not keep the MOB faithful from coming out to another great AOMCI meet put on by the Appenzeller brothers at their automobile restoration shop. About 50 members came out to the meet and brought 24 motors for display. The swap and sell area was a little on the thin side but great deals could be found, if you looked hard enough. Fellow MOB’sters started to arrive early in the morning and by 10:00AM, parking was at a premium. There was a line of parked cars along side of the highway as the meet got into full swing. There was plenty of action in the warm shop area as MOB’sters renewed old acquaintances or made new ones. Two new members were signed up at the meet. Inside were additional items for sale as Dave Tranter had his display of antique outboard and boating literature on display. Mark Zimmerli had a table full of props, tanks and some Mercury items for sale.

Outside, the action got pretty interesting as this year people for the area saw the MOB Meet sign on the roadside and stopped by to see what was going on. Two fellows went back home and returned with outboards for sale. One MOB’ster (who will remain nameless but lives “up north”) was in the right place at the right time. He discovered a local guy arriving in a vehicle and it appeared that nobody noticed him there. He went over to the fellow and inquired about what was in the truck. The fellow said he came there to sell his motor. When asked by the club member, “What will it take to make you happy” the motor soon exchanged hands. The MOB’ster is now the proud owner of a MK20 powerhead sitting on a Mercury Q racing tower including foot, prop, throttle assembly and steering bar! What a find! I believe there were a few members who were “green” with envy!

Another local guy showed up with an interesting early Johnson A. The motor had the steel down tube, early style gearcase and brace but had an A-25 flywheel, magneto and ID plate. The motor also had the hard cast tank which is a nice find. The motor turned over and had compression. After being checked out by many MOB’sters, the motor found a new home.

Around 12:30PM, lunch was served and the BBQ sandwiches were delicious! There was plenty of food to go around and I don’t believe anyone went away hungry. After the lunch, a brief business meeting was held by President Jay Walls. The usual business agenda included topics on the upcoming Super Meet at Constantine. There were lists of sign up sheets for the many volunteer’s who will be needed at this years event. One of the topics discussed with regards to Constantine was the fact that this year’s featured motor is the Rowboat motor. The first rowboat motor appeared some 100 years ago and there is a call for as many rowboat motors to come to Constantine to run out on the water for a viewing. It may be possible to see as many as 40 different early rowboat outboards on the water at one time this year. The early rowboat motors were made from 1906 up to the late 1920’s. Some of the brands that should make the event are Caille, Lockwood Ash, Caille Liberty Singles and Twins, Evinrude, Koban, Wisconsin and Minnesota Gopher. The Elto Ruddertwin and the Johnson Waterbugs will not be classified as rowboat motors for this event. This is just a partial list of some of the motors that will be seen on the water, running again so if you are planning an AOMCI event to attend, this one should be one of your top choices. When will you ever see as many old Rowboat motors on parade as this year at the Constantine Super Meet 2007!

Some new awards were discussed along with an announcement of two of the MOB members who are in the hospital or at home, recovering from surgeries. Two get well cards were passed around for members to sign. An announcement was made at the meet that it was found out one of the members who attended the meet was doing so on his wife’s birthday. Jay announced that we would pass around another “get well” card for Don at the next MOB meet!

The motors on display amounted to 24 different motors from a 1910 Evinrude, a 1915 Koban, a 1932 OMC “C” Service Racer, Mercury KF5 “J” class racer, 1919 Lockwood Ash RBM, various Neptune, Johnson, and Evinrude motors. A recently found 1933 Johnson OA-65 was displayed. Everyone who displayed a motor received one of the coveted and highly sought after MOB Exhibitor Plaques. It was fitting that on St. Patrick’s Day the dash plaque were green. The 50-50 drawing had a good turnout and the cash and door prizes went to some lucky MOB members. A big “Thank You” goes out to the Appenzeller family for hosting such a great meet and providing such a luscious luncheon.

Around 3:00PM the meet started to wind down, some members had a long way to head home. Our farthest travelers came from Canada. Most of our attendees came from Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Illinois. The next MOB event scheduled is the first wet meet of the season at Lake Webster on May 19^th in North Webster, Indiana, so……

See Ya On The Water!

Rick Eichrodt

MOB National Correspondent