March 3, 2008
Dave -
What memories the piece by Doug Cook
(Velocissima, March 2008) conjures up of my own introduction to Alfa
Romeo! In 1970, I had a Saab Sonnett that had its own set of problems,
not the least of which was inducing claustrophobia, especially on rainy
days. My husband at the time, Bill Holaday, who died in 1977, was at
Gaston Andrey’s with the car for service and began chatting with
someone who had brought an Alfa in for a checkup. He left there with a
burning desire for two items the guy discussed with him: an Olympus Pen
FT half-frame camera and an Alfa Spider.
At the time, I had an old green Pontiac
LeMans that I hated. It was boring. At Bill’s urging, I went with him
to Gaston’s and wound up buying a green ‘69 Spider on a trade-in that
cost me $3,000! For my birthday, I received an Olympus Pen FT! I still
have the camera, though it hasn’t been used in a long time. I sold the
car to a woman in Newton in 1979 because I had moved from Framingham,
and later Auburndale, into Boston. Living at Harbor Towers, the car was
a target for theft in the garage at the Aquarium. After replacing the
rag top, I finally decided it was impractical to keep in the city. I
still miss it - it was named “Charlotte” since, obviously, it was a
Spider.
Another memory evoked by the newsletter was
the recounting of the Alfa Owners convention in NJ which, if it was at
Alfa’s US headquarters in Secaucus, I was at. At that event, I met
George and Paulette Whitcomb from the Denver club and became friends
with them. It is thanks to Paulette that I found the best graphic
designer I have ever had the good fortune to work with about five years
ago!
The Winter event pix reminded me of the
several Alfa Owners Of New England Christmas parties at my apartment in
Framingham in the 70s - great fun, potluck, and wonderful. I have happy
memories of AONE, which began its life in my Framingham living room!
Eager to learn more about the marque and to deal with the Spider’s
vicissitudes, I joined AROC and got a list of all of the New England
owners. Since no chapter existed anywhere in the Northeast outside of
Manhattan, I wrote to them all and invited them to my home for a
meeting to form a group. As luck would have it, Fred and Ann DiMatteo,
Carl and Faye Bolivar, Bob and Baiba Menke, Jim Miga, Bob and Terry
Moran, and others came to that first meeting, and AONE was born! We had
a contest to design a logo and Bob’s won - it’s the one you use today.
Needless to say, I am so proud of the way
AONE grew. After Bill’s death and the sale of my Spider, I lost touch
with many of the group except for the Menkes. When I rediscovered AONE
online, I was amazed and filled with excitement and pride. Thank you
for taking the seed I planted and growing a strong and vibrant plant!
Susan Holaday
Charlestown, MA
