W elcome fellow Batchers from your new president Ted Stueber (AKA The Stubie On
The Right). By way of explanation, becoming president is pretty easy to accomplish.
You don t have to campaign, get signs printed up, make speeches or even kiss babies.
All you have to do is have some clown bring up your name and the rest of the circus
to agree. Enough said on that topic. We are stuck with each other so let s make the
best of it. Our 2017 Stubiefest had most of the usual activities. We cut out the Billy
Beer can shoot in favor of a morning trade show at New Ulm s newest brewing
facility, Schell s Starkellar . Had a pretty good turnout for a first effort, hope it grows.
After the hayride we celebrated the 40th wedding anniversary of club members
Larry and Vickie Holm. The happy couple and multiple other folks ( including all of
their offspring ) were attired in vintage clothing circa 1977 supplied by Vickie. The
officiant was yours truly, clad in a full beaver suit Vickie had made for reasons
unknown to the rest of the world. Kinda had to be there.
This years Christmas party started at a new venue, John s Pinball Place. There were
about 20 machines powered up ( all on free play ) ranging from modern electronics
to the old time electromechanical units. Lots of fun, good chow, cold beer, beer
exchange and a short meeting. Then the whole crew made the annual trek to the
B&L Bar for vintage beer tasting, an auction of donated items and finally the raffle
drawing.
OK, now for a little history lesson.
Lots of the really cool old-time stamped out
openers have a square hole punched in
them. Back in the day when I was a
traveling salesman I had the opportunity to
pop in to an antique store in Luverne, Mn,
to browse the inventory. I came across this
grain belt opener with the above
mentioned mysterious square hole. I had
heard on more than one occasion that this
hole made the opener a toll for adjusting
carbuerators on vehicles like Model T s. Armed with a fine example of this multi-
function item, I stopped on the way home that afternoon to verify this with our areas
premier authority on such things. I met this guy ( who wishes to remain anonymous )
33 years ago when I took a job with Caterpillar. 80 years old and collecting all of his
life. Unfortunately not much in the way of brewery related items, but just about
anything else you could think of. Anyway, I showed him my newest acquisition and
mentioned the carbuerator story. He promptly said That s not right, follow me .
Which of course I did, into an old
chicken coop where he fished out a
cylinder that said Prest-o-lite on it s
side. He showed how the square
hole fit over the valve stem on the
cylinder to open it which allowed the
compressed acetylene to travel from
the cylinder to a set of gas lamps.
Both the cylinder and the lamps were
attached to automobiles starting in
1904. I guess all you needed then
was a match to light your headlights.
So it appears that openers with this little square hole in them are truly some oldies.
Very well, I have greeted, informed and possibly provided a little enlightenment.
Until next time.
Brewings is the official Brewsletter
of the Schell s Border Batch,
Chapter #83 of the Brewery
Collectibles Club of America.
Published quarterly for chapter
members to keep up with chapter
events and news. All materials in
Border Batch Brewings are written
by members of the Schell s Border
Batch Chapter, unless otherwise
credited. No reimbursement is
made for submissions. This
publication is not copyrighted and
material may be reprinted,
provided credit is given to the
author. The Schell s Border Batch
Chapter cannot be responsible for
any errors which may occur. If you
have anything you would like to
contribute please send your
newsletter article to:
Schell s Border Batch
Tom Terwilliger
1501 180th Street
LuVerne, Iowa 50560
Or
send
it
e-mail
to
[email protected] Any
and all newsletter articles will be
considered for publication in the
Border Batch Brewings.
Chapter Officers
President - Ted Stueber
#35187
Vice President - John
Vorwerk #35180
Vice President Elect -
Open
Treasurer - Dave Vorwerk
#35179
Secretary - Linda Weldy
Newsletter Editor - Open
Webmaster - Tom
Terwilliger #28855
Past President - Gary
Sprenger
Dues are $10 per year
or $15 for couples and
due on Dec, 31 each
year. Dues can be
sent to Dave Vorwerk,
403 N Franklin, New
Ulm, MN 56073
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