Message From New LCCA President

 Friday, 14 August 2015  

 Reminder: add news@lccaoffice.com to your Known Senders/Contact list.

LCCA Office Location:  P.O. Box 529,  Peru, Illinois 61354 

Dear Member 

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Al Kolis and I am proud to serve as your next president of the LCCA.   LCCA Past President Dennis DeVito and the entire volunteer BOD, Officers and appointed officials have done an outstanding job these past two years.   LCCA Past President Dennis DeVito is not leaving; he is merely changing positions and taking on different responsibilities. I am counting on his counsel, advice and most of all friendship during the next two years.   A big “Thank You” goes out to Dennis, all of the BOD, Officers and appointed officials! 

My first e-blast as your president contains a lot of important information about the following topics:

In this issue:

• State of the ClubClub Product Offerings
• Goals
• JM Program
• Lionel CEO for the Day Contest
• Lionel Catalogs
• Convention Remarks
• Convention Train Show
• LCCA Special Events

State of the Club

The club is in good financial standing, membership numbers are high and the club’s volunteer leaders are in place to continue making the LCCA even better moving forward.   I promise you, I will do my best during the next two years to continue down the path my predecessors have started. I promise to be fiscally responsible and stay committed to working with the new BOD to make our club even better.   However, I need your help.   We cannot do this alone.   I have a family (wife Gina, sons Alfonse and Vincent) and other career responsibilities too.   This is your, mine and our club! I invite and encourage you to get involved. If you have any ideas or are willing to pitch in and help, please contact me at your convenience.   It takes a village to run this club.   If there is something that you don’t like about the club, I need to hear about that in a constructive way too.   We are always striving to make our club better and better.   Please feel free to contact me at agkolis@comcast.net or by cell phone 248-709-4137.

Club Product Offerings

ATTENTION ALL LCCA MEMBERS - 2015 LCCA Annual Convention Car.

The 2015 LCCA On-site Convention Car (Flat bed with Two (2) Anniversary Tractor Trailers) was a huge hit with our members and is nearly SOLD OUT. . . . !

We knew this item was going to be an awesome companion piece to the 2015 LCCA Convention Cars ( Flatbed with two Tractor Trucks) that Lionel is about to begin production on.  This is ONE TIME that behind schedule for Lionel means BONUS TIME for OUR members!  Luckily for you, because of the delay, and the overwhelming response to our Convention On-site Car, I am going to extend the order period until August 31. 2015!!!

Additionally, and ONLY WHILE SUPPLIES LAST - ALL Members will be allowed to purchase a SECOND 2015 Convention Flatbed with Two Tractor Trucks – With NO additional shipping costs!  NOW is the time to take action and order yours before they are SOLD OUT - First come, First Served!

These Tractor Trucks  have the Great Looking Lionelville™ graphics, so that will fit right in with previous issued Lionelville vehicles, as well as the collectible LCCA Three (3) Vehicle die-cast set now in production and being offered by the club – a word to the smart collector - DON’T MISS OUT ON THE VEHICLE SET EITHER  ! ! !

Every model railroad needs a complete transportation system, and the 2015 LCCA Convention Flatbed with Two Tractor Trucks is a great way to build your fleet!

Remember - This is your LAST CHANCE for this special offer to order up to TWO (2) LCCA 2015 Convention Flatbed with two Tractor Trucks!! !  

No need to say anymore! This is your Short Cut to LCCA Collectors Contentment!  Pick up the phone and grab this offer TODAY!  Or better yet, click on LCCA Store and order your Convention Flatbed with two Tractor Trucks NOW!  www.lionelcollectors.org/lcca-store/

Thanks for your support of our club through your purchase of these great Lionel / LCCA Products!

LCCA Christmas Boxcar

We still have a few remaining LCCA 2015 Christmas boxcars.   If you are interested, please go to our website or contact our business office to place your order.   These are beautiful holiday season cars that we are certain you will enjoy.   If you like Lionelville products, then you will certainly want to order your Lionelville die cast trucks.   This will make a great holiday season gift!

Stay tuned in upcoming issues of The Lion Roars and IT for an upcoming Holiday Season Sale.   We are reviewing our inventory and will be offering some limited quantity of products available for purchase.   We plan to have some products from our 45th Annual convention held July 20-25, 2015 in Danvers MA.   Our club product sales generate the revenue to support all of our Special Events and other club activities throughout the year.   We appreciate those of you who purchase our limited edition, collectible club products and hope you continue to do so.   This is the lifeblood of our club.   So thank you!  

Goals

During the incoming BOD meeting held on July 18, I outlined my goals and objectives for the next two years. The club is headed in the right direction and I plan to focus our efforts on the Three Main M’s; Membership, Money & Management for the next two years.   We can’t have one without the others, and we will not be sustainable if we do not have success in all three areas. We need to be financially strong, continue to emphasize membership retention and membership recruitment and mentor volunteers to be the future elected officials and leaders of our club. Again, I need your help by being an ambassador of the club and spreading the word the many benefits of belonging to the LCCA. Please keep your memberships active and try to introduce and encourage your friends to join the LCCA.   Better yet, please give them a one year gift membership into the club!  

JM Program

I am committed to work with the BOD to strengthen our Junior Member program.   We may even have a JM club name change in the near future.  I have appointed a 7 person committee ( Dawn Balamut, Pam Appolson, Tyler Balamut, Vincent Kolis, Michelle Snyder and Robyn Baumann) headed by Chairperson Dawn Balamut to lead our JM program moving forward. I am excited and I look forward to this team consisting of 4 adults and 3 youths to make our JM program even more successful. We plan to publish 7 issues of the JM publication, The Lion Cub within the next 12 months.   The backlog with The Lion Cub going is being addressed and will be corrected.

Lionel CEO for the Day Contest

If you have an interest in being in Lionel President Howard Hitchcock’s shoes (President & CEO of Lionel Trains), then you need to enter this contest.   Lionel will select a winner and provide transportation (continental US only) and hotel accommodations in Concord NC. Now is your chance to run Lionel for a day.   This contest is open to LCCA members only.   So don’t miss out and submit your entry today!   Enter Here!

Lionel Catalogs

It is not too early to tell you about Christmas Catalog Time. If you want to receive a free 2016 Lionel catalog, please make certain you are a valid current member of the LCCA effective 12-1-15.   Please make certain your dues are paid and current.   We don’t want you to miss out on this important benefit for belonging to the LCCA. Lionel sends every member a FREE Set of Lionel Catalogs.   Thank you Lionel for your generosity and continued support.

LCCA 45th Annual Convention in Danvers MA

By any measure, the LCCA’s 45th Annual convention held at the Double Tree Hotel in Danvers MA was a huge success.   Based upon all of the feedback I received (and most importantly) from our members: everyone had FUN!   From the Special Event Home Layout tours at Marty Fitzhenry and Marty Visnick’s homes, to the casual President’s reception on Sunday July 19 all the way through the Saturday July 25 Evening banquet when the Angela Trotta Thomas Painting drawing winner was announced; it was an action packed, Lionel train filled week of fun, entertaining tours and events. The post convention Special Event train ride aboard the Providence & Worcester Railroad was a great, relaxing way to end a fantastic and sometime hectic week of activities. From real trains, to Lionel trains, with fun activities in-between like an enjoyable evening clambake, our members were able to experience the great northeast part of our country.

During our convention, we had the Lionel/LCCA FastTrack Modular Railroad up and operational at the Double Tree Hotel.   Local LCCA member Bill Porteous and Tyler Balamut brought their own uniquely decorated modular sections to hook up and operate with ours.   Thank you Bill and Tyler! They look great and operate smoothly. I encourage others to follow Tyler’s and Bill’s example to construct your very own LCCA/Lionel FastTrack Modular Section

Lionel’s Switching Tracks Traveling Boxcar had a lot of fun visiting with LCCA members, hotel staff and visiting various sites in the Boston area throughout the entire convention week.   LCCA Member Tim Fuhrman and his family gave a great, entertaining clinic explaining this LCCA project. Tim, thank you for managing this fun and worthwhile project! If you want to have the LCCA Switching Tracks Traveling Boxcar visit with you, please contact Tim at fuhrmanntim@hotmail.com

It takes a lot of planning and hard work by a lot of people to make our conventions so much fun and successful.   Thanks to convention managers Bob Carter/ Jerry Calkins and the entire group of volunteers.   The free Lionel seminars and clinics were a big hit with our members.   Thank you Dave Hoverstock for arranging such exciting clinics.  

The LCCA was proud to host an Autism Awareness day and Matt W. age 10 (of the local organization that honors wishes of children with life threatening illnesses) was designated the “Honorary Engineer for the Day “at the Lionel layout on Wednesday July 22. I am proud of the LCCA’s Family Friendly Conventions, where we have something for everyone in the family to enjoy, from parents to children and grandparents.

Every LCCA conventioneer received their own “LCCA Supports Boston Strong” tee shirt in support of the Boston Community for the tragedy that occurred during the Boston Marathon.   It was great to see these bright shirts all around Boston and in the group photo taken at the start of the Get Acquainted party.

LCCA Train Show

We would not be the Lionel Collectors Club if Lionel did not exist and support our club. Lionel President/CEO Howard Hitchcock and his team brought their operating layouts and displays to Boston for our member and the public to enjoy.   Team Lionel gave a great presentation on Friday July 24 during the Lionel Seminar.   The Lionel layout was a big draw that drove the media and the general public in the Boston area to come and visit with us.   The Saturday July 25th train show open to the public was highly attended and raised money to benefit the Shriner's Children's Hospital of Boston.

LCCA Special Events

We have numerous LCCA Special Events already scheduled on the calendar.   Please visit our website and face book page to keep current with all of our special events and activities.   Things are moving very fast.   Please contact Special Events Manager Ken Kelley kjwildcat@q.com if you have any ideas about hosing a LCCA Special Event.   I am establishing a goal for the LCCA to host 50 events and have direct contact with 2800 LCCA members and family members in the next 12 months.

I thank you for your continued membership in the LCCA. Again, I invite you to get involved to the level of involvement you enjoy and feel comfortable with.   I look forward to seeing and hearing from each of you in the future. It is our members who truly make the LCCA “The Best Toy Train Club on the Planet!” Thank you for your continued membership and support!

Best regards,

Al Kolis
President, CEO & Fellow Member
Lionel Collectors Club of America
248 709-4137