Photograph by G.A. Villa.  Copyright G.A. Villa and SNMTC 2010.

Terry Handy is the Southern Nevada Model T Club Vice-President for 2010; he was also Vice-President in 2003 and club President in 2004.  Born and raised in the flatlands of Kansas in Garden City, Terry found his way to Southern Nevada when he came to visit an older brother in 1975.  A gifted master tradesman and electrician and mechanic, Terry's talents earned him a position in Las Vegas as a slot machine technician and eventually as a slot administrator, positions that he held for a total of 32 years.  Things electrical and mechanical and adventuresome have occupied his interests genuinely:  he built and enjoyed Garden Railroading for ten years and also built and flew fixed wing remote controlled model airplanes for more than ten years.  He often flew the planes with other enthusiasts in Jean, Nevada, at the Dry Lake.  A true "car man," Terry owned and maintained and raced Superstock Mopar Plymouths on local drag racing circuits in 1963, 1964, and 1965.  The factory-built Plymouths were very popular at that time, and Terry turned 105.6 mph in the quarter mile in one of his cars.  It could be said that Terry rode a train into the Southern Nevada Model T Club as he shared his Garden Railroading hobby with John Craft who introduced him to the Model T and had him drive his car a few times.  Terry says that with that he was "hooked," and he bought his own Model T and became an avid owner and driver.  Terry is respected as a gentleman, a knowledgeable and savy Model T owner, and his beautifully maintained cars are a club treasure.  Terry owns a 1926 Model T Ford Coupe and a 1927 Model T Roadster Pickup.



Photograph by Ken Schofield, Cheshire, England.  Copyright Ken Scholfield and SNMTC 2010.

John Craft is an 11-year member of the Southern Nevada Model T Club, and he led the club as President in 2003.  He has served the club as the Historian from 2004, and he begins his sixth consecutive year as Historian this year, 2010.  John was born in Kansas, and he began his varied and distinguished work career with a two-year stint as a U.S. Army paratrooper from 1953 to 1955.  He served as Jumpmaster from 1954 to 1955.   Following his time in the U.S. Army, he met and married his wife of 53 years, Sharolyn, in Nebraska.  A natural engineer and craftsman, John graduated from the Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1959, and he went on to work for the Boeing Company, during which time he earned his Private Pilot Certificate in 1962.  Later John was President of the Jolyn Corporation in South Dakota where he oversaw the manufacture of self-loading, loader-mounted concrete mixers.  Privately, John invented the Bedcap-Camper and was awarded U.S. Patent No.3,512,828 in 1970, and he was the co-inventor of the circumferential friction chain drive which holds U.S. Patent No. 3,599,502.  John also served as project manager for paving and bridge projects and for water treatment plants.  His work as a designer and pattern maker of sophisticated window shutters sets the tone for the known quality of his work on his Model T cars and overall:  meticulously crafted, carefully finished, and beautifully maintained.  John's generosity within the club finds expression with mechanical help and wood-working help where the need arises.  His photographs demonstrate his considerable talent (his photograph of Club secretary Jimmy Carter on this page is a worthwhile example), and his written and photographic histories of club events are appreciated and prized.  John has a 1927 Ford Model T Roadster (pictured here) and a 1927 Ford Model T Depot Hack. 






































Photograph copyright G.A. Villa and SNMTC 2010.

Harold Mann and Dortha, his wife of 56 years, have been with the Southern Nevada Model T Club from the very beginning when Harold joined four others in forming the club in 1992.  Mr. Mann initiated the successful effort to bring the Southern Nevada Model T Club into the Model T Club of America as a charter member.  During that time, Harold has served as club President for five years and has served variously as Treasurer and Tourmaster.  Notably, Harold has edited and produced the SNMTC newsletter, T Driver , almost exclusively during his 18 years with the club.  That newsletter has and continues to reflect his generosity with the club members and his sensible passion for the Model T Ford.  One may note briefly that he has a background in aeronautical engineering and that he has worked as a professional petroleum engineer, but what is most important to him is his work with the Southern Nevada Model T Club and the great pleasure he derives from driving any one of his four cars:  1925 Ford Model T Runabout; 1926 Ford Model T Runabout; 1918 Ford Model T Touring Car; and his 1913 Metz Speedster (one of four original Metz model speedsters known to exist).    The picture included with this profile is, fittingly, one of Harold driving one of his Model T Ford cars recently.
 





Photograph by John T. Craft, 1/30/2010.  Copyright John T. Craft and SNMTC 2010.

In 2010 Jim McCracken begins his second year as President of Southern Nevada Model T Club.  He remembers gratefully when he first brought his1924 Ford Fordor Model T Sedan (not pictured here) to the club meeting place with more questions than answers about how to get it running.  He says he was greeted cordially, and within a very short time after some of the club members rolled the car into a service portal, the car was running, and Jim says "...and I just been runnin' ever since."  A talented welder with respected mechanical skills, Jim has designed and built original hot rods from the ground up.  Jim also helped design and build the aluminum rocket cages used to restrain and transport experimental animals (monkeys) into space and back in the early days of the United States space program.  Additionally, he built important earthbound satellite communication towers (some 110 feet in height).  He is very much appreciated for his good leadership and for the generous application of his time and talent to help club members with their Model T restoration needs.  Jim McCracken is a model Model T leader. 


Gary Cooper unloads the original Model T Ford Huckster body for G.A. Villa's 1925 Model T Ford Restoration, June 8, 2010.  Photograph by G.A. Villa,  Copyright G.A. Villa and SNMTC 2010.


Jerry Villa thanks Roadway driver Frank for delivering the Huckster body.  Jerry is restoring the Huckster in honor of his dad who was a truck driver and who drove for Roadway during his career.  Photograph by John Colo'n, June 8, 2010.  Copyright  John Colo'n and SNMTC 2010.

Gerald "Jerry" Villa is the Southern Nevada Model T Club Communication Officer and creator of this Website starting December 2009.

Jerry has been in the process of restoring a 1925 Model T Ford Huckster (a small truck and farm vehicle), and he acknowledges that his lack of expertise in this field has meant some difficulties.  Hoping that he could find someone that could help in the restoration of his Huckster, Jerry searched out The Vintage Ford magazine which eventually led him to the Southern Nevada Model T Club.

It has been Jerry's dream to restore a Model T Ford in the memory of the good times he had with his dad going to car shows and talking about old cars, particularly the Model T.  He also wants it to be an icon for his studio, The Villa Studio.  He hopes eventually to take it into schools as a "talking car" teaching aid to make entertaining presentations for students to learn about the importance of language and writing and reading.

Jerry has worked as a technical editor and writer and as a medical transcriptionist.  Most of his championed professional time has been as an English Teacher at the middle school, high school, and community college levels.

Jerry was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, and gained his undergraduate degree from Canisius College in Buffalo; he later earned a Master of Education in English Education at the University of Florida.  A distinguished graduate student, Jerry was inducted into Pi Lambda Theta, an International Honor and Professional Association in Education upon graduation.  While teaching in the Palm Beach County, Florida, School District, he received a summer scholarship in 1996 to study English Literature at Exeter College, University of Oxford, England.

We are eminently honored to have Jerry Villa as a member and officer of our club.
 
John T. Craft, Southern Nevada Model T Club Historian.



Photograph by G.A. Villa.  Copyright G.A. Villa and SNMTC 2010.

Gary Cooper is one of the founding members of the Southern Nevada Model T Club, and at its inception in 1992, the club actually met at his piano tuning shop.  Gary's piano tuning business was just part of his talent as a musician:  he played bass guitar and was particularly known for his banjo solos.  Another of his talents is that of a master Model T Ford mechanic.

Gary was born and raised in Ronan, Montana, where his dad was a Ford garage mechanic.  He worked with and around his dad, and began working on Model T Fords when he was 14 years old.  Any time spent in the Southern Nevada Model T Club garage facility with Gary is unquestionably an education in the techniques and expertise of Model T Ford mechanics and repair.

The owner of a 1924 Model T Ford Touring car, Gary is an 18-year member who has served as President for two years and is in his eighth year as Tour Master.  The 1909 Model T Ford Touring Car appearing on the cover of the January-February 2009 The Vintage Ford (Volume 44 Number 1) was restored by Mr. Cooper.

Before this writer had the privilege of joining the Southern Nevada Model T Club and the privilege of Gary Cooper's acquaintance and friendship, any time a conversation about Model T Fords began, Gary was referred to with respect and appreciation.  "Who is this guy?"  I thought.  Now I know, and I hold him in the same high regard as others in Las Vegas.

Gary and his wife of 33 years, Ramona, are anchoring members of the Southern Nevada Model T Club.