PUBLIC MEETING MINUTES
Wednesday, July 12, 2017
St. Bernadette’s Catholic School
PROGRAM SUMMARY
“The History of Cloud Buick & Honda”
CALL TO ORDER BY VICE PRESIDENT GWEN SARGEANT
TOTAL ATTENDANCE: 62
OFFICERS AND BOARD MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE:
Gwen Sargeant, James Richter, Laura Leimer, Mark Moderson , John Marx, Brian Schneider, Christine Williams, Linda Muldoon, Jim Krueger and Diana Sandberg.
Upcoming Special Events
July 20 11:00 a.m. Soft Opening of AHS History Museum.
July 27 6:00-9:00 p.m. Grand Opening of AHS Museum
August 13 2pm - Riverside Cemetery Walk – City Pioneers
October 19 6 pm – Toast to Appleton History, AHS Wine, Beer and Cheese Event, Grand Meridian, Appleton
December 2 9-12:30 Historic City Park Homes Tour and AHS History Fair at the AHS Museum and Resource Center, 128 N. Durkee Street.
2017 Appleton History Speaker Series
January 11 Vulcan replica and early hydroelectricity – Tom Seidl
February 8 Appleton parades – Greg Otis
March 8 St. Joseph’s Church and School, 150 years – Jim Krueger
April12 NativeAmericans–PeterPeregrine
May 10 Appleton East High School – 50 years – Corey Otis
June14 LawrenceUniversity–ErinDix(CanceledPowerOutage)
July 12 Cloud Buick - Steve Cloud
August9 AtticTheater–BerrayBillington
September 13 Pioneer and Riverside Cemeteries – Gwen Sargeant
October11 VoecksMeatMarketandFoxValleyCoin–MichelleGriesbach
November8 TheAppletonPictureShow--Bringyourownphotosforshowandtell!
APPLETON HISTORICAL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION:
•AHS Officers:
A.President - Thomas Sutter
B.Vice President - Gwen Sargeant
C.Secretary – James Richter
D.Treasurer – Laura Leimer
•AHS Board of Directors:
A. Terms through November 2017:
1. Mark Moderson
2. John Marx
3. Laura Leimer
4. Diana Sandberg
B. Terms through November 2018:
1. Tom Sutter
2. Christine Williams
3. James Richter
C. Terms through November 2019:
1. Linda Muldoon
2. Jim Krueger
3. Gwen Sargeant
4. Brian Schneider
Fund Raising Committee:
A. James Richter, Chairman
B. Gwen Sargeant, Vice Chairman
C. Laura Leimer, Treasurer
D. Linda Muldoon
E. Brian Schneider
F. David Buss
G. Jack Voight
Fund Raising SubCommittee-Promotions:
A. Mark Moderson, Chairman
B. Jim Krueger, Vice Chairman
C. Karen Moderson
Building and Grounds Committee:
A. John Marx, Chairman
B. Gwen Sargeant, Vice Chairman
C. Laura Leimer, Treasurer
D. James Krueger
E. Brian Schneider
Additional Committee Chairs are as follows:
A. Mark and Karen Moderson, Principal Organizers
B. Brian Schneider, Technical Resources
C. David Buss and Diana Sandberg, Research Specialists
D. Gwen Sargeant, Public Relations and Web Page
E. Christine Williams, Monthly Programs
F. Gwen Sargeant, Publications
VICE PRESIDENT GWEN SARGEANT ANNOUNCEMENTS:
*Gwen Sargeant ran the meeting in the planned absence of President Tom Sutter. *Thanks were given to the Post Crescent and the Bargain Bulletin for their continuing publicity for the Society.
*Encouraged those attending to renew their annual membership if they haven’t yet done so.
*She acknowledged Tom Boldt and his wife who were joining us for the evening. *Reminded all of our AHS Cemetery Walk at Riverside Cemetery on August 13th, 2:00 p.m. Hoped everyone would attend.
*Gwen’s mom Kay asked for helpers at Riverside Cemetery in the coming weeks. *The Door Prize was awarded to Terry Timmers.
Reports of Officers and Board Members:
AHS Secretary and Museum Organizer James Richter gave a report on the AHS Museum status:
(1) INVITED ALL TO THE SOFT OPENING OF THE APPLETON HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM & RESOURCE CENTER ON THURSDAY, JULY 20, 2017. Will be the usual Thursday hours of 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
(2)FURTHER INVITED ALL TO THE GRAND OPENING OF THE APPLETON HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM & RESOURCE CENTER
ON THURSDAY, JULY 27, 2017, 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
(3) EXPLAINED HOURS AND FEES:
MUSEUM HOURS
Monday through Wednesday - Closed
Thursday and Friday - 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Saturday - 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Sunday - 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m.
Available other hours by appointment
ADMISSION FEE
Members FREE
General Public $5.00
(Age 13 & Up)
Children w/Parent FREE
(Age 12 & Under)
Guided Tour Groups - Contracted
ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS (January 1 to December 31st)
Single $15.00
Family $25.00
RICHTER ENCOURAGED ALL TO JOIN US FOR THESE EXCITING EVENTS AND VIEW THE INITIAL DISPLAYS FEATURING APPLETON’S GREAT HISTORY.
AHS Founder and Board Member Mark Moderson gave a report on the AHS Wine, Cheese and Beer Event:
Toast to Appleton History
The Appleton Historical Society is hosting a fundraising event on October 19, 2017 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM at the Grand Meridian to raise money to help fund Our New Appleton History Museum at 128 N. Durkee Street. We are asking community support for donations as well as an invitation to be part of this exciting event.
Our exciting event will feature Wine, Cheese and Beer tasting, along with delicious selections of Hors d’ oeuvres and tasty deserts for all that attend. A bucket raffle, door prizes, silent auction, and 50/50 raffle will be running throughout the evening. We hope you all will attend.
PROGRAM: “The History of Cloud Buick and Honda”
PRESENTERS: Steve Cloud
Speaker Background: Steve Cloud was born April 2, 1948 in Rapid City, South Dakota and moved to Appleton in 1953 when his grandfather and father purchased the local Buick Dealership. He attended Franklin grade school, Roosevelt Jr. High, and graduated #1 in his class from Appleton High School in 1966. Steve was accepted to Stanford University and graduated from there in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Throughout high school and college summer breaks Steve worked in the service department at Cloud Buick doing multiple jobs including car washing, oil changes, and repair order billings. After college graduation, he worked for one year selling Buicks and Fiats at Frascona Buick in Wauwatosa, WI.
Steve rejoined Cloud Buick full time in 1971 in a sales capacity - went on to be sales manager and ultimately general manager/part owner of the dealership until its sale in 1996. Since that sale has volunteered his time for the Reading for Success program (where he returned to his former grade school - Franklin) and worked extensively with the local non-profit LEAVEN (where he interviewed clients in need and served on its Board for 15 years)
Steve lives in Appleton and winter's in Marco Island, Florida. He has been married to the former Joanne Bedford of Appleton (Xavier '66) for the past 47 years. He has two daughters, Stephanie (Appleton) and Megan (Chicago), and two grandchildren.
Introduction
Steve Cloud thanked the Appleton Historical Society for the opportunity to tell the story of Cloud Buick and how they served the community for so many years. He also thanked David Buss of AHS for inviting him to speak here.
Presentation:
The Cloud family actually became auto dealers in the mid -1940’s when Steve’s Grandfather was asked to take over a dealership in Rapid City, South Dakota. By the time it closed, three generations of Clouds had served in the auto business. These were William “Clay” Cloud; Daniel Cloud; and Steve Cloud.
•The have a great family history as many of you do. The most famous Cloud was the great, great, great Uncle of Steve whose name was Daniel William Cloud. He was acclaimed as a warrior in Kentucky in the early 1800’s. He served valiantly but was one of 183 who died at the Alamo in 1836.
•In mid-1940’s Steve’s Grandfather William “Clay” Cloud operated a grocery store near Springfield, Missouri. One day he received a call from Steve’s Grandmother to help with a car dealership. Shortly thereafter he moved to Rapid City, South Dakota, to run that dealership..
•Two years later Clay and Steve’s Dad Dan moved to Aberdeen, South Dakota, to take over a dealership.
•In 1953 they decided to move to Appleton, Wisconsin, to take over the Buick dealership, which they purchased from Walter Laehn. The dealership was located at 210 N. Morrison Street and consisted of a showroom, five service bays and one salesman.
•A couple years later they bought the building behind them so they could add five more service bays.
•They ended up renting other properties for new car space and a body shop.
•In 1953 they had a sales promotion that offered a new Buick which lists at $3,500.00 to sell at the same price as a 1923 Buick which sold for $2,166.00. (Obviously the price of
cars had not changed much in 30 years at that point).
•In the early 60’s they were suffering from just not having enough room. The company bought a piece of property at the South East Corner of College and Lynndale Avenues. The
property encompassed some 3 1⁄2 acres.
•In 1965 they built a building on the new property. Once construction was completed they opened for business at that site in February 1966.
Excerpts from their Days at the West College Avenue Location:
•Bart Starr and Henry Jordan, with their wives, helped with Grand Opening of their new location. Their fee was dinner for all.
•Shortly after moving to the College Avenue site, they also picked up the Jeep Franchise.
•The firm did sell small cars early in the business. They were an Opel Dealer. The German made GM cars were good sellers. However, Opel had a change in direction and pulled out
of America after a few years.
•In 1973 the Arab Oil Embargo and put the whole auto business in a spin.
•In 1975 Cloud Buick had a dilemma with gas prices. They decided to bring in Honda automobiles. They bought the franchise and it helped them greatly.
•The Honda Accord was an instant hit!
•Demand was so great and sales so good that they had a six to eight month wait from the factory.
•Honda’s success was so great it led to the building of a plant in the United States.
•Honda’s sales ended up being half of Cloud’s total sales.
•A big step for the Cloud firm was to get into the Auto Leasing Business:
A. They were lucky enough to get the Kimberly Clark and Midwest Express Account. From this they leased a lot of cars.
B. They ended up buying a piece of property on Communications Drive just for this part of their business.
C. They even had locations out of the state, including Dallas, Texas. D. They ended up selling the leasing business in 1995 to Dick Hunter.
In 1990 Big Changes Took Place in the Auto Business:
•GM found themselves only selling 20% of the cars in the state. This is compared to 50% when Cloud opened on College Avenue.
•Dan Cloud was now partially retired and Steve had turned 50.
•The Cloud’s decided they had to make a decision-get bigger or sell. They decided to sell and sell they did to Jim and Tom Gustman. After purchase the Gustmans turned around and sold the Buick franchise and building to Bergstrom Corp. The Gustmans kept the Honda brand which they still represent on Spencer Street.
The West College Avenue Location which they were known best for, and excelled at, was where they ended the Cloud family’s run in the auto business. This ended 43 years in the auto business.
The Saddest Part of their History was the 1968 Break-in of their business and the Subsequent Murder of an Employee:
•ASSOCIATED PRESS - Martin J. Jansen, 34, was shot twice in the head with a shotgun on January 20, 1968, when he interrupted a burglary at a Buick dealership in the town of Grand Chute, where he worked as a part-time night watchman and janitor.
•Authorities said Robert Mitchell, then 37, broke a window to get into the dealership and stole about $500 from a safe in the manager's office. The night watchman apparently had already left the dealership, realized he had left some medicine on a windowsill and went back to get it, stumbling onto the burglary, authorities said.
• STEVE CLOUD – a 1960 Buick was also missing, which shortly after Police found in the parking lot of Elm Tree Bakery (later Rich Products), Bluemound Drive. Robert Mitchell was a suspect, but never convicted. Mitchell did a crime spree shortly after the Cloud event.
Thirty seven years later Outagamie District Attorney Carrie Schneider charged Mitchell in Outagamie Circuit Court with the murder. Sometime later the charges were dropped, but Mitchell died just a few days later.
Conclusion:
Steve Cloud thanked the audience for the opportunity to tell the story of Cloud Buick and Honda and how they served the community for so many years. The family thoroughly enjoyed serving the community and were saddened to close, but it was the best business decision for them. A personal note was that of all the cars and models they sold, his personal favorite was the Opel GT.
James L. Richter , AHS Secretary, 7/22/17