Herschel's History with This Newsletter

- By Herschel D.

I’d like to do a little qualifying about my title as the founder of this newsletter. In the very beginning, in 1988 the founding club president of the River City Air-Coolers, Dan D. (then, a race announcer at The Memphis Motor Sports Track) sent out a single sheet flyer to the charter members. All it did was announce the meeting and list coming events. Soon after, VW expert, Lester G. (who has recently gotten remarried, by the way, but is not a member of the present club) took on the newsletter but all it still had were the events, the meeting and some member advertising.

I attended a general car show in about 1989 that included a group of VW’s. I inquired and met Lester. I attended my first meeting in January 1990. Soon after I started getting the newsletter, I started giving Lester some artwork, vintage ads and historical data to flesh out the newsletter. It wasn’t long before he asked me to take over the newsletter completely.

Actually this was not my first newsletter editing. I did so for a while back in the late 1960’s for The Mid-South Region of the Antique Automobile Club, when I had a 1930 Model “A” Ford 5-Window Coupe (sold in 1977). Lester continued to provide paper and a copy machine at the hobby shop he owned back then. At first, my typewriter was just an old worn out C.1940’s (or older?) manual typewriter.

Later on, River City VW club member, Tom T. (who is now retired from his teaching job, but is still active in VW repair such as transmission repair and who is not a member of our club) went to OfficeMax (before I worked for them) and purchased a club electric typewriter for the newsletter. That upgraded the look of the newsletter considerably because I also utilized paste-up templates for borders, etc. Later, the club added to this by paying for me to attend a one day seminar on newsletter making, which taught me a lot about making a newsletter a good read. I can be proud of the fact that my newsletter has always had more real content than most of the other club newsletters I was seeing (I’ve exchanged newsletter with several other VW clubs through the years).

Under Bill’s stewardship it, certainly, still does! Some of the other clubs try to flesh their newsletter out by using copyrighted material, much of which isn’t necessarily even VW specific. We have always limited the content to VW specific material only! Occasionally, I have reprinted some copyrighted material; that we thought wouldn’t be objected to, but now we generally avoid it, unless we do have permission.

When Andy W. (charter member of the Air-Coolers and a member of the present club) was Air-Coolers club president for a while, we decided to give the newsletter a name. I looked in a German language dictionary and presented Andy with several Ideas and he liked the present name, so we asked the club to vote on it and they went for it. 

By the way, that name, Das Mundstuck (we called it “Der Mundstuck” at first, until a native German named Mario said that “Das” would be used with that word), would be “Pig German” to a real German, because while it does literally translate as “mouthpiece;” to a German, it can only refer to something like, say, the mouth of a trumpet or tuba. It is, actually, only in English that mouthpiece can be a slang term for “spokesman” such as a newsletter being the spokesman for a club.
 

Hobby big wigs as far away as California and Washington State saw copies and complimented me on having one of the better newsletters they had seen. I used to regularly mail a copy to the then president of SOTO in California. Here’s the kicker, I did not have a computer until 2001, yet the way I used my templates and paste up led some people to assume that I was using a computer to create the newsletter.

Still though, when “Air Bill” offered to take over some of the publishing actually utilizing a computer, we jumped for it! I was thrilled to get some real help with the newsletter, because getting anyone to contribute anything to the newsletter was continually like pulling teeth! It is, of course, also thanks to him and Chris L. that we have a website, too!  The new club seems members that somewhat more interested in contributing to the newsletter than much ever happened during the existence of River City.  We are always grateful for all contributions!!! Thank you! Input makes for a better club.

Bill uses Microsoft‘s Word 97 program to make the newsletter, as I now do to create the VW Trivia. The most wonderful thing, to me, about having a computer with Microsoft Word is the ability to correct mistakes and rearrange ideas before I print it out! At first, all Bill did was retype my pages and add computer generated graphics, etc. and then hand the very much more professional looking results back to me to photocopy (with Bobby B’s help), staple, address, stamp and put into the mail as well as collect the advertising fees.

Then gradually, to save time, prevent delays and out of the way travel, he asked to do more and more of all of it himself. So now, all I do, really, is provide the art, the trivia, and occasionally critique and suggest on choices and inclusions. Bill’s newsletter is outstanding and a much-improved continuation of my original intent to make a newsletter that is a good read! Thanks Bill!

P. S. By the way, I have just started using the best VW repair shop I have ever gone to! Kenny Faulk's Auto Repair on Democrat Rd. They are very professional and knowledgeable! Ray Glass at Roy Rogers had, in the past, recommended them, and I had met Kenny before, but Metric Motor Clinic, now out of business, was closer so I never went there until recently. I am highly impressed, they do both foreign and domestic cars, and I heartily recommend them! His ad appears in this issue because Kenny, an experienced racing enthusiast, has joined the club.

One more bit of news; Did you know that VW Trends has ceased publication after 28 years? Apparently the March issue is the last one.