To get more interest and participation in the Club tours, parades and car shows, it has been suggested that club members be encouraged to provide input and help organize club touring outings.

When planning a driving tour there are a couple weeks planning lead time needed for planning the route and making sure that club members have time to work it into their personal plans. Flash tours are an exception as these (as they are named) are just a couple days led time. Following are general items that should be considered when getting a tour organized.

1. Is a TroubleTruck needed? There is no written rule when a TroubleTruck is needed but if the tour route is outside a populated area and cell phone service is spotty for getting AAA service, a TroubleTruck is good get home insurance for any T that happens to break down. If so, start asking for a volunteer club member with access to a big pickup, several club members have open car trailers that can be used. The TroubleTruck driver needs to save gas receipts for reimbursement for the gas purchased for that tour.

2. Determine the date/time of the driving tour/event. Generally, tours are scheduled for Saturday/Sunday, but can also be on a week day as most members are retired.

3. Determine the starting/meeting point of the tour. The starting point should be a parking lot so the cars can be easily organized in a single driving line. Also it should have access to restrooms while the members are joining up. The following are starting points that have been used previously:

   • Washoe House on Stony Point Road. Good place for tours in Rohner Park, Penngrove, Petaluma and south coast.

   • Tom Schopflin Fields (across Old Redwood Highway from Cardinal Newman HS). Good place for tours north of Santa Rosa.

   • Any supermarket or mall parking lot that has access to restrooms.

   • Old CVS parking lot in Sebastopol (Starbucks for restrooms)

4. Plan the route, determine the destination, i.e. restaurant, historical site, state park or local event. Also determine if there will be a planned return route or members will plan their own route home. The following is a suggested method to plan route, keeping in mind that Model T tours very seldom use the shortest route, the fun of tour is the driving time

   • Review county road maps to get an idea of the route and get a desired distance, should be about 40-60 miles (round trip) and take 4-5 hours. Taking into account if it is hilly, cars might need to gas up to climb hills at the end of the tour.

   • Once the destination and route has been roughly planned, drive the route in a regular vehicle to record mileage between required turns and general time it takes to drive the route.

   • Once there is an outline of the route, distance and times between each turn need to be checked, drive the route with a T. During this drive verify directions are correct and easy to follow and the actual driving time in a T. This will be used to create the driving instructions that are handed out during the Drivers meeting before departing the Meeting place.

5. During REMTC tours, the tour guide usually provides coffee (usually Starbucks traveler) and donuts/Pretzel boxes (for lower sugar) for the waiting time at the meeting point. The club will reimburse cost up to $100, for gas used for setting up the tour and providing coffee and donuts/pretzels (please provide receipts when requesting reimbursement).

To get more input on different types of tours and members more interested in the events for the upcoming touring season the following is provided for guidelines.

1. Depending on the weather the touring season is from April/May to October/November, the goal is to have at least one driving tour per month, with some months having a tour and a parade or car show, which usually is just meeting at the event and returning home separately.

   • The annual parades and events that are loosely supported by the club, which can be better if there is advance planning:

     Forestville Youth Park parade - June

     Kentwood Independence Day parade - July

     Penngrove Independence Day parade - July

     Petaluma Veteran’s Day parade - 11 November

     Penngrove Power and Implement Museum - 2nd Saturday in July

   • Car Shows and annual and biannual events

     Pacific Coast Wheels and Wings Car Show - Sonoma County Airport

     Healdsburg High School Car Show

     Petaluma High School Car Show

     NewSong Church Memorial Day Car Show

     Casa Grande High School Car Show

     Montgomery High School Car Show and Shine

     VFW Gold Ridge/Sebastopol Car Show

     Tin Lizzy Driving lessons for new members or family members.

     Vehicle safety check before the start of touring season

     Cooking tour used during one monthly tour

     Overnight tour - a 3-4 day long distance travel with car trailers

2. There could be up to 8 driving tours, counting April and November. Biannually, there is also a Cooking tour (which takes additional planning) and an Overnight tour, which is a 3 day long distance travel with car trailers, that will replace a monthly driving tour. We would like to have members sign up for coordinating a monthly tour. Unless it is for an event, schedule it in the middle of the month so there is roughly a month between each tour. The following months are open for signing up for coordinating a tour in 2026.