PRESIDENTS
Past & Present
Gary Weaver 2021 - Present
DR Rawson 2016 - 2020
DR Rawson followed Lauren (Schweitzer) Cody. Lauren left the position to marry her best friend and she moved to the midwest.
DR and his wife Margaret moved from Southern California to retired in Las Vegas in November of 2014. At the time they owned a 2014 XTS and a 2015 Escalade (Margaret's gift to herself when she retired). Margaret retired from a Cadillac Dealer in Long Beach, CA after 35 years with the same dealership (4 different owners). She was a Controller.
DR has always been in love with cars. Having the opportunity to serve the member of LVCC has been and will probably continue to be the best spent 4 years of his retired (somewhat) life.
Over the 4 years, DR's leadership and the club accomplished the following:
- Changed the name of the club from the Las Vegas Region of the Cadillac & LaSalle Club to the Las Vegas Cadillac Club. The club is still the Las Vegas Regional entity of the national Cadillac and LaSalle Club
- Worked another member, Larry Rafferty to redesign the club logo
- Completely rebuilt the clubs website 3 times over 4 years. It has won awards from the CLC
- Created email addresses for key members of the club
- Provided the leadership to move the Cadillac Through The Years event from 42 cars in 2014 to over 100 cars in 2019 (the 15th annual CTTY was not held in 2020 due to the Pandemic)
- Increased membership from the low 50's to more than 120 members in 2019, more than 100 in 2020
- Worked to create a club SWAG store on line
- Worked with Larry Rafferty to create a great looking grille badge and created national advertising and promotion to sell the grille badge all over America and some foreign countries
- Worked to help create a wood toy Cadillac Car
- Increased the relationship between Findlay Cadillac and the club
- Created the first FREE 1 year membership in the Las Vegas and the national club
- Acted as the Club's liaison between Findlay Cadillac and the Las Vegas Concours d'Elegance in 2019
- Worked with members of the club to individually (without club funds) purchase embossed lapel pins, and, adhesive clothes patches
- Worked with members to reignite the focus of the club on member's cars.
- Personal Website, CLICK HEREHe
Pro
Lauren Schweitzer-Cody 2016 to 2016 Partial Year
Lauren grew up in the Chicago suburbs in a classic Cadillac household. Her father has owned Cadillacs almost exclusively since he was 18 years old, and was part of the group that founded the CLC West of the Lake Region in 1985.
Lauren enjoyed many weekend car shows with her father and other classic car fanatics throughout her childhood and beyond, so I guess you can say that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree!
She moved to Las Vegas in 2002 and became a member of the Las Vegas region in 2007. She served on the CLC National Board or Directors for several years and was also the National Registrar for 6 Grand National Meets.
In 2016, Lauren met Jon Cody, the love of her life (a fellow Cadillac enthusiast), and moved to Wisconsin. They married in 2017 and have an 8-year-old son, Finnegan.
They created and built their dream business, Cody’s Classic Cars, a classic & collectible vehicle consignment dealership in Stanley, WI. The business has grown very well each year and has allowed them to meet many wonderful people from all over the world and do what they love every day.
John (JB) Buchman 2014 - 2016
I served as the Director through the planning stage and Grand National Event in APRIL 2016
Nearly 700 people from 38 states and 8 foreign countries and was held at the Suncoast Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas April 12-16, 2016
Appropriately enough the 2016 GN coincided with the11th annual Cadillac Through The Years ( CTTY )
154 cars on the field with 98 Cars judged
Local member John Bergler successfully bid on and won a 1993 Eldorado Convertible for the CLC Museum & Research Center
75 local Las Vegas club members volunteered to extend our hospitality.
Local members Colin and Carole Christie won BEST OF SHOW for their pristine 1903 Model A Tonneau
John Buchman’s 1991 Cadillac CD47 Coupe deVille won FIRST PLACE Class P28
* TOTAL ATTENDANCE : 676
* AWARD BANQUET : 400
Colin Christie 2004 - 2014
In January 2001, I elected to take early retirement after a 35-year career in manufacturing and engineering with General Mills, Inc. in Minneapolis, MN.
Looking outside a month later at a wind chill factor of 40-below zero, the decision was made to move to the warmer climate of the Southwest. Las Vegas was the chosen destination and has proven to be a great place to live. I joined the Cadillac Club shortly after arriving in July 2001.
I had always been interested in cars, but work and family were my main focus leaving little time for a car hobby. With career behind me, I started the hunt for a classic Cadillac and found a 1939 LaSalle sedan in Southern California. That lonely ’39 LaSalle was just the beginning.
Over the last 20 years I’ve owned and restored ten Cadillacs, mostly pre-WWII models. For me the fun part in bringing these old cars back to life has been learning about the science and engineering that was used to build them so many years ago.
I currently have five classic Cadillacs including a 1903 Model A, 1917 Phaeton, 1928 Sedan, 1938 Series 75 Sedan, and a 1999 Seville Touring Sedan. My daily driver is a 2006 Escalade EXT.
The Cadillac Club is a great place to meet people and enjoy events focused on the Cadillac brand. Over the years, in addition to being a past president, I’ve held the positions of newsletter editor, events coordinator, treasurer and Board member.
I’d like to think there are a couple more Cadillac restorations in my future. But I suspect the years and arthritis are making that unlikely. Club meetings and events will have to suffice going forward. And I’ll always be a resource for anyone seeking information or guidance on restoring the early Cadillacs.
Bernhard R Moen 2001 to 2004
Since leaving for Idaho in 2006, Cheryl and I have been busy.
I started up the Snake River Region of the Cadillac and LaSalle Club, as there weren't any Cadillac Clubs in this area of the world.
It's a much smaller group and less activity since we're spread out over a greater geographic area covering several hundreds of miles.
Being the Director, we're trying our best to have 3 get-togethers per year (spring, summer and fall), and we're also doing driving tours with another local car club to nearby attractions and burger joints.
Cadillacs come and go in my family, but I'm trying to downsize so currently I have a '65 DeVille Convertible, and 2 Cadillac project cars I'm working on (among other cars i have sitting in the shop, lol).
The '55 Series 62 Coupe will be sold when completed, while the '59 CDV is a keeper. Have owned these 3 Cadillacs for over 10 years now, so it's time to get them all done. Loving it up here in the country with lots of space, and less restrictions during these Covid times.
I'll make sure to stop by next time I'm in Vegas, and hope to see you all on the flip side of the pandemic.
Best regards,
Bernie Moen
Director
Snake River Region
of the Cadillac & LaSalle Club
Hal Sheaks 1998 - 2001
Founder
Here's article written by Hal that talks about the club's founding. It appeared in the Self-starter magazine in the "Spotlight on the Region" section in the year the club was founded.
You can read the article by CLICKING HERE.