I received a private message from Don Allen this morning, about the demise of the club and his appointment for being the President of the club for the past 7 years. This is what was posted on the website. Howdy from Houston, where all good things must come to an end. It’s my sad duty to inform yall that the ’54 Ford Club of America will be closing its doors, effective at the end of this year 12/31/21. The reasons for this are as follows (in no particular order): - Membership is steadily declining as members are p***ing away. I receive at least two, and sometimes more, notifications per month of a member p***ing. - The website and forum require a non-optional, m***ive overhaul that will cost thousands of dollars before the end of the year. The club dues barely cover the costs ***ociated with the website as it is. - My business and personal life are hectic. I’ve just come through a divorce and my lab business is extremely demanding. Time to properly manage the car club just doesn’t exist. - I think Tom Hoskins, John Strobeck and I have collectively written just about everything that can be written about a ’54 Ford over the last 35 years. So…I’m going to close the doors and turn out the lights while the club still has some dignity. This is exactly what Tom Hoskins instructed me to do, almost exactly in those words. He took me to a bar-b-que place in Arlington and, after the good-natured banter for which he was known, he got serious, looked me in the eye and made me promise to not let the club become a burden. He wanted me to close it down if it ever got that way. And please…those of you inclined to negativity, please refrain. I shut down the club’s Facebook presence a few months ago and you’d think I clubbed a puppy to death on national television. I was insulted, accused of terrible things and even physically threatened by one person. It pains me that I even have to say this. I also ask that you please refrain from calling my phone number. It’s the cell phone that I use for work. I’ll be happy to refund any dues that anyone feels like they’re owed. It may take a few months for me to get it all back to everyone if I’m deluged with requests. Please email me or write me with this request. The website and forum will operate until at 12/31/21. After that, I’m told by the tech wizards that the antiquated software that they’re written in will not be supported and will no longer work. They can’t tell me if that means everything will crash and burn at midnight, or if it’ll continue limping along indefinitely. Time will tell I guess. It’s been my honor and privilege to steward the club for the last 7 years and I sincerely wish all of you the very best. Regards, Don _________________ Don President, 54 Ford Club of America --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As the Administrator all I can do is thank you guys that have been members and helped grow the site, Reading the reasons why the site and club is shutting down I totally understand, Running a internet site has gotten expensive and the club dues are not covering the expenses anymore. Thankfully, Jeff has done a exceptional job with this site which includes all us '54 Ford guys, the club may be gone but there is still a place for the '54 Ford fans. Danny
Also got the sad news from Don and thanked him for his devotion to the site, since we never know when changes can come up here in the H.A.M.B. I hope you members will keep this back up an active Site. So stop by and check in, The Stig did a lot of hard work to put it together so let's let him know we appreciate it on the site. https://mewe.com/group/6114afc7d821ea015f8f1d8a
On another note, I wish that Don had not shut down the 1954 group on facebook as it was fairly active, I can't recall him giving notice that he was going to do it though. I suppose some people did not want to pay dues to the 1954ford.com group that had very little activity.
Tried the link to the MeWe group. Filled out the requested info and hit "submit", no joy. Does it take some time to induct new members?
Well....that ****s! A sign of the times, I guess. We're all getting older. A big thanks to Don for keeping it going as long as he did! I'm still waiting to see what's going to happen to this site, although at last take it looked like Ryan was gonna keep us alive. Time will tell!
We ran into the same issue with outdated stuff on the '57fordsforever forum when James, the owner, bought the original 1957Ford site because it was shutting down and we didn't want to lose all the info/data on that site. After transferring all that stuff to him, he found out it was so antiquated it became an impossible task to get it all updated and transferred to 57fordsforever. James, bless his soul for trying, got so burnt out trying to get it done, he's still on a break from it all.
https://mewe.com/group/6114afc7d821ea015f8f1d8a I applied for membership, haven't heard anything yet. HRP
Since Ken Stigers aka "The Stig" set up the MeWe group hopefully he can straighten things out for you all, I didn't have a problem signing in but that was at the beginning of the group.
I see that you're a member of MeWe but you're not in the 52-59 group. I sent you a contact request, once you accept that I can invite you to the group. I don't know why your original request didn't go through.
I went to the MeWe home page, registered there and got in. Search through the groups and you should find it.
If anyone is registered on MeWe and can't get into the 52-59 group let me know your MeWe name and I'll send you an invite. In some cases there may be more than one person with your name so I'll need some way to know it's you. If you included your city or job in your profile that will help.
I though listing my Hamb name that would help. It appears there are a lot of people with my name, this is what I filled out. HRP Sign up to join this group on MeWe! MeWe is social media with No Ads, No Spyware & No BS. first name last name email or mobile confirm email or mobile p***word I am 16 years old or older I have read, understand and agree to MeWe´s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service Please answer the following question(s) to join this group: Do you or have you owned a 52-59 Ford? What is your HAMB name? Already a member? Log in to join this group!
Before the site closes some of you might want check out the Tech section and save things like this http://1954ford.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=3105
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