Oldsmobile Club of America
The Gem City Rockets, Inc. is a local chapter of the Oldsmobile Club of America.
To be a member of the Gem City Rockets, you must be or become a member of the OCA.
The Olds Club of America was founded in 1971 to promote the collecting, preservation,
and overall enjoyment of all Oldsmobiles. The club has over 6000 members and publishes
a very nice monthly newsletter. The newsletter is a multiple Golden Quill award winner
edited by Clay Mollman who is an Olds person, not just an editor! He features
historical and technical information, upcoming events and event coverage, features
on member's cars, classified ads (one free ad per month per member), and just about
anything you can think of relating to Oldsmobiles. The OCA holds a National meet or
participats in a National event every year. This year, the OCA did not put on a
National Meet, but many members and club officials help put on the Classic Cars of
Lansing event honoring the 105th anniversary of Oldsmobile, The R.E.O. cars helped
to give a bigger picture of Ransom Olds' automobiles. It will take over a decade after
GM phases Oldsmobile out for another marque to take the lead as the oldest car company
in the USA and second oldest in the world. The 2003 event will be in Cincinnati, Ohio.
There just isn't any other place that you will see the amount of Olds parts as there
is at an OCA National Meet. There are several local chapters in the OCA such as the
Gem City Rockets and special interest chapters such as the Performance Chapter. See
below about getting to the OCA web site or for a membership application.
Gem City Rockets
The Gem City Rockets is in it's 14th year of existence. It is based in the Dayton, Ohio
area with an average membership of around 30 families. Yes, we are a family oriented chapter
of the OCA. We have a monthly meeting and newsletter and have a car show once a year. Our
first show was in 1989 and we hosted the Performance Nationals until a few years back. When
we aren't having meetings, which usually involves food as well as cars, we do things like
go to car museums, take train rides, see toy train exhibits, go to the Air Force Museum,
go to the Neal Armstrong Museum, or anything we can think of to have a good time.
Our Officers are:
President: Jim Hosey, 155 Sesame St., Springborro, Ohio 45066
Vice-President: Donnie Shauntz, Bowersville, Ohio
Secretary: Sheri Smith, New Carlisle, Ohio
Treasurer: Kevin Miller, Beavercreek, Ohio
Newsletter editor: Russ Calpass, Huber Heights, Ohio
Now you're probably wondering why you would want to join the OCA or GCR. Well, this
is not just about cars, it's about good people. The OCA is full of really nice people
and the same goes for the Gem City Rockets. We Olds people try to help each other
with our cars. If you have an Olds, the OCA and GCR newsletters and member's web pages
are the best source for parts, cars, and information. I see several ads in the OCA
newsletter for parts and see almost identical ads from the same people in Hemming's
Motor News. The difference is that the prices are cheaper in the OCA newsletter. The
Gem City Rockets attend a lot of car shows together. Most are Olds shows hosted by
other OCA chapters. Most of our members are into their cars, but are not
just out to win trophies - even though there are plenty of OCA first place quality
cars in the chapter. The cars range from show to parts cars and owning an Olds is NOT
required. Yes, we do the car stuff, but we have fun doing other things too.
The idea I'm trying to get across is that this is just a bunch of people getting
together to have a good time - they just happen to have
ended up together because they are Olds fanatics.
Why am I making a big deal about the OCA and GCR? Well, I've met a lot of really nice
people in this club and have thoroughly enjoyed being part of things. I joined the Gem City
Rockets at their first "REAL" meeting (after the organizational meetings). Since then I was
Treasurer for several years, edited the newsletter for a couple of years, DJed the car
shows till 2 years ago, and try and help a little bit with the huge amount of work that
goes into having a car club. Right now, I've backed off for a rest. :)
If our group sounds like something you might be interested in, get hold of us if you live
in the Dayton, Ohio area. Don't feel obligated to join just by asking for information or
attending a meeting. Our meetings are open to anyone that wants to attend. Come out and
have fun with us. You might want to join just to get a newsletter to keep up with Olds
and other car events in the area and the country. Or, you may find out it's fun to be
more involved. You won't know what you're missing if you don't at least check us out!
You can contact the Gem City Rockets by mailing Jim or Carol Hosey 155 Sesame St,
Springboro, Ohio, 45066. Or you can send me (Terry Shanks) E-mail at 71w30@w-30.com
and I'll pass stuff on to
the Gem City Rockets. :))
Click here to go to the official web site of the Olds Club of America: http://www.oldsclub.org/
If you are interested in joining the Gem City Rockets
click here for the application form. You can print it from your browser.
Click here (or right click and "save target as") for a printable PDF (Adobe document) Olds Club of America Application form.
Last Update: 09-08-02
