January 27th, 2022
No: 2201
February Monthly Dinner
Featuring
Bart Topham
President, Central Coast Veterans Memorial Museum, SLO
Wednesday, February 5th, 2022
No Host Bar: 5:30 p.m., Dinner starts at 6:30 p.m.

Bart Topham is a retired SLOPD Police Captain and former Chief of Police at Cuesta College. After retirement in 2003, he opened his own consulting company and worked with local government and Law enforcement around the state. He retired again in 2018. He is a U.S. Army Vietnam combat veteran, obtained his B.A. degree from Sacramento State, and his Masters from the University of San Francisco.

For the last several years, Bart has devoted his time to “paying it forward” to veterans and their families. He is currently Chaplain, and past commander of American Legion Post 66, the President and Director of the Central Coast Veterans Memorial Museum, (www.vetmuseum.org), a member of the Grizzily Youth Academy Foundation Board of Directors, and the Veterans Helping Veterans Board of Directors.

He is married to Denise, a successful local Realtor, has four adult children, and three grandchildren. Bart will talk about his museum and their goals for the future

Please Note: The greatly revised gift shop (in the Hind Pavilion). will be open prior to the dinner!

Just a reminder for attendees: there will be a great assortment of raffle items available. Dinner is catered and open to the public ($20/person), reservations are required prior to 6 p.m., Monday prior to dinner, either On-line HERE or call 805 296-1935.

30 Year Anniversary

2022 is going to be a huge year for Estrella Warbirds Museum. It was 30 years ago this month, that Estrella Warbirds Museum was chartered as a not-for-profit California corporation and our 501(c)(3) accreditation soon followed. This established us with the US Departments of Navy and Air Force, as well as the state of California, as an organization approved to receive surplus aircraft and other government properties.

Little did we know at the time how far and how fast we would grow. This year we are planning on multiple events to help us celebrate our past and provide even more momentum in moving forward.

Our board of directors has established a separate anniversary committee whom are in the planning and execution stages of events to come. Stay tuned! We will be posting announcements of upcoming events on our website (click on the 30 year emblem above). This is also a great time to get involved and help us come up with new and interesting ideas on celebrating and moving forward. If you would like to get involved with us, contact us here.!
Flying on Betsy's Biscuit Bomber...
 From Joel Chesler... On Saturday, January 22, a number of Museum volunteers and a few visitors were treated to a fabulous flight on our own C-47B, Betsy's Biscuit Bomber. Our pilots were Sherm Smoot and Scott Stelzle.

It was a perfect day in Paradise (the Central Coast); clear, light winds, and no perceptible gusts. At the last minute, I was invited to join the group and it took me all of 3 seconds to accept! It was really a once in a lifetime experience as I was even given the opportunity to sit in the co-pilot's seat, as we flew over Hearst's Castle and
banked right to start our trip home; which ended way too soon for me.

The flight had a special significance for my wife Diane, as her father was a DFC recipient in South Africa and had taken her on the SA C-47 a number of times. The experience actually brought tears to her eyes; recalling those early days.
   
On behalf of all the passengers, I want to thank the great crew and Ken Neuman, Museum Coordinator, for doing such an excellent job.

If you have not had the opportunity to experience this for yourself; you can purchase a ticket for the monthly flight via this link. Regards, Joel Chesler, LML

Home to the world class Woodland Auto Display:
Come Grow With Us!
The Estrella Warbirds Museum has always been "the place to go" for local meeting, group dinners and even company events. We greet visitors from around the world!

If you enjoy new people and groups, love history and want to be involved in a community project, we'd love to hear from you! We always need volunteers in our gift-shop, or docents in the museum or Auto Display. Maybe you want to get involved in restoration?

Contact us today! We'd love to hear from you.
Best Links
805 674-3939
805 674-3939

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Stuck on what to buy for a last minute holiday gift? Come on down and check out all the new items in the Estrella Warbirds Museum Gift Shop! There's something for everyone!

There is always the perfect gift of a flight on a real WWII veteran, our C-47B, Betsy's Biscuit Bomber.
You can see how excited Diane and yours truly were at the end of our day.
January 22d flight was a fantastic experience for us all!

Warbirds Wings and Wheels 13 & Swap Meet 
Reservations have already started coming in for the next Warbirds Wings & Wheels event coming up the first weekend in May! And guess what? Our special guest, Dennis Gage is returning to Paso Robles and will be filming for another episode of My Classic Car! It's never too early to enter. This year, we've added a new class of vehicles, aa - Exotic Sports/SuperCar! Now is your chance for some national exposure!

There are plenty of opportunities for involvement this year.

Reservations are open for
Volunteer Workers for the event, and
our beloved Sponsors.

We are still four months away, and we are working hard on ways to make this years event the best ever. Stay tuned for developing information. Click on the image above for more information or on the individual registration links posted above.
XB-70 Valkyrie Tire Display 
Thanks to Rob Kinnear for his work in plexiglas, Denny Johansen for his painting on the base, and Ken Neuman his support installing the fixture for my display design. The tire was donated by Thomas Rosquin and George Merritt. The XB-70 Valkyrie Tire is now featured in Freedom Hall.

North American Aviation of Los Angeles, California built only two 500,000-pound experimental XB-70A Valkyrie bombers. One crashed in June 1966 after a mid-air collision with a Lockheed F-104 Starfighter killing NASA Chief Test Pilot Joe Walker (F-104 Pilot) and USAF Major Carl Cross (XB-70A Co-Pilot).

This 200-pound aluminum coated tire was on the other XB-70A when it made its last flight and landing at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB near Dayton, Ohio on February 4, 1969.

The Valkyrie became the National Museum's signature aircraft, appearing on their letterhead, and even appearing as the chief design feature for the Museum’s restaurant, the Valkyrie Cafe.






Stop by and check out the Valkyrie wheel display. The sign reads:
XB-70A Valkyrie Tire
BF Goodrich 40 x 17.50 18
From Dick Woodland and the Auto Display
January was a good month for some national exposure. Our racing team was in Tulsa, Oklahoma for the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals, from the 10th through the 15th. The Chili Bowl is an indoor midget car race, of which NASCAR calls it the "biggest Midget race of the year," or the Super Bowl of midget racing. We had hoped to do better but, overall, it was a respectable race week for us especially when you consider we had a driver, Templeton's Kaleb Montgomery, who was relatively new to midgets. Other than getting crashed in our second race, which really set us back after a great start, in every race we ran, the car was moving forward. That isn't always the case at the Chili Bowl where we had some 400 entries.

On Friday 1/14, I represented the west coast as a Board Member for the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame, for the induction of new members at their annual induction banquet. This year, of the 6 inducted, 3 were from California, Ken Nichols, Lowell Sachs and Art Shanoian. All are excellent choices and well deserving.

I had several meetings with Bob Baker, the Exec. Director of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum in Knoxville, Iowa. I was a Board Member there when Bob was first hired some years ago and we have kept a close relationship ever since. Their biggest event of year is the Knoxville Nationals Sprint Car race which takes place in August each year. Their museum, which overlooks turn 2 of the Marion County Fairgrounds/Knoxville Speedway, is one to envy. This year, they are planning to do a Tribute to California's Ascot Park. As part of their display, I have agreed to loan them several vehicles and miscellaneous memorabilia to coincide with the display. In return, we are discussing them loaning the Woodland Auto Display some of their cars and items which they feel would be of interest to us. 

Be sure to check out our newly revised website showcasing most of the vehicles on display at the Woodland Auto Display.

Kaleb Montgomery poses with Rich Woodland, Jr., prior to the final matchup at Tulsa, Oklahoma. With its bright yellow colors, W-08 was easy to spot in the crowd.
The Chili Bowl Nationals is an indoor dirt race track.You can only imagine how loud it can be with 40 high performance engines screaming at their loudest!
Are
You
a
Member?
Membership has its benefits! Why become a member? The museum is supported solely from private sources. Minimal membership dues go a long way in helping to preserve history for tomorrows generation. Membership gives you free access to the museum and our wonderful research library. Individual memberships are pro-rated at $75/year or $125/year for families. We have six different categories. You can find more information on membership and how to sign up the the link listed below.