MTFCA Forum

Our illustrious government has cancelled the 500,000 Challenge Grant the Piquette was expecting. Piquette is asking for assistance in finding other sources of revenue to replace the grant.

That really sux...

Someone on staff with a fine tooth comb should go through the application and point out any reference to DEI or distressed neighborhood, or distressed city as part of the consideration? The official announcement says the funding to NEH has not stopped, just being 'reallocated' in other directions more in line with current views. Yeah, I know, my comment smacks of cr*p...but forget politics...gotta maybe play by the rules??? If the application cites anything that is currently off the table...it's dead....send in a new app that 'complies' ASAP? That certainly is a big chunk of change. Just for info and being curious, since the grant big as it was, was for matching funds at Piquette Museum did any of it ever happen?

Piquette currently has a promotion going on where you purchase a certain number of tickets and you can win a tour of Jay Leno's garage. I think they also have a promo where you can win a Bronco. Jay Leno will not necessarily be there and u have to get yourself to LA.

The Piquette folks are working really hard to preserve the birthplace if the Model T and they have much work ahead of them. I am appalled that the challenge grant was cancelled, particularly since the reasons for cancellation are so lame. I do not believe politics should play a role in such things but it seems it is behind everything currently. It will be interesting to see where the money is reallocated......

Oldav8tor wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 05, 2025 6:18 pm

The Piquette folks are working really hard to preserve the birthplace if the Model T and they have much work ahead of them. I am appalled that the challenge grant was cancelled, particularly since the reasons for cancellation are so lame. I do not believe politics should play a role in such things but it seems it is behind everything currently. It will be interesting to see where the money is reallocated......

Tim, with the intent of keeping this as neutral as possible with regard to a political stance, maybe this little analogy can help many people understand.

Imagine a situation where Parents have told their children repeatedly that the family vacation was to go to Disney for two full weeks. The children have been looking forward to this trip for several years. During this time, the money that was to be spent for this 'non-essential' trip has been used for other unexpected things that were essential, ...and on many frivolous and non-essential things. By this, maybe the Water Heater unexpectantly sprung a leak that required replacement. Maybe the Wife also chose to spend a portion of the 'Vacation Savings' on replacing the Family Room furniture with new furniture because some of her friends would be coming to a party soon and she wanted to make her home look like the Parental Income was more than it truly was. So, the bottom line was it was about time for the children to go on their Vacation which they had been looking forward to for several years ...however the brutal facts are the money that was to be spent on the family vacation was no longer available because it had been used on other expenditures. So now the Dad has a dilemma. He can try to go borrow money from the bank however he is up to his eyeballs in debt, -OR he can be honest with his family and explain how the family is broke and needs to cut expenses including canceling the Family Vacation to Disney plans.

While Piquette is definitely a place that many of us hold near & dear to our hearts, when the 'person' (i.e.: Government) who was giving the money (i.e.: Grant) is broke and has make some tough financial discissions, it likely makes the 'children' upset and they cry "Unfair!!". Yes it IS unfair however it is some of us who have made poor decisions (-elected Politicians, poor spending habits, etc.) along the way and the problem needs to be corrected before the 'Family' must file for Bankruptcy where the Family loses everything. In the case of the Children, maybe when the entire Family's financials are in better order, the money to go to Disney can be found.

The part of the story that is missing above, is that the kids have been putting their money in a jar to help pay for the trip also. Not a lot in the big picture, but they were doing their part for the family only to find out they get zip for their efforts .............

Yes,this is not a good place to voice politics. After this I will really try to stifle myself. $500,000 is a lot of money to us but to the federal government it is pocket change. Folks who love what Piquette stands for were working hard to come up a match and had great plans for it. Maybe a museum at the birthplace of the "Car that changed the world" is not a national priority, but then we are paying $3,400,000 a trip for each of our chief executive's daily golf outings. I know where I would rather see my tax money go. With proper management, Piquette will be here to tell the story of the Model T and early Ford Motor Company long after I am gone.

The entire family is almost broke and getting deeper in debt and won’t be going to Disneyland anytime soon. It’s a cold hard fact that everybody's personal Disney land may be going broke too. That’s even a colder hard fact to stomach too.

When your money is taken from you (taxed) and "put in the jar", it is no longer yours, and you have no control over it. There is no accountability to you for what is done with the money taken from you. (Read the Sixteenth amendment.) On the other hand, money retained by you is under your control, and you may CHOOSE to make a gift of it, or any portion of it, to any of a wide variety of institutions, and in many instances, the cost to you of that gift can be offset by a reduction in future takings (taxes) levied on your income or other resources by government.

The cost to operate the Office of the President is quite high, and that's nothing new. Most of that cost is on-going, regardless of who is in office at any given time, or exactly what the President is doing at any given time. I would expect to find that the cost of a presidential trip to Florida is comparable to the the cost of a presidential trip to Delaware, and that the operating budget of the Office of the President is not directly affected by which president happens to be in office at any given time. In my opinion, some presidents make much better use of their time in office than do others, from the standpoint of advancing the interests of the USA.

The idea that government should help fund a museum is ridiculous, just like the idea of government funding the cost of security for government officials when they go play is ridiculous.

I don't object to protection for the President, when he is at play. He is the President 24/7/365 and never really off duty.
Grants like this should NEVER have been available from any government whether Federal, State, or Local. To me, it is Un-American to apply for these grants, knowing that the Government is broke and almost 40 Trillion in debt. It is not the taxpayers responsibility to pay for this kind of thing.

Mike

If a museum does not have money, they will need to sell some assets. Regarding Piquette-or other museums- they may need to sell assets. This could mean some employees will need to go. The main assets for any museum, are the collection(s). Unfortunately, Model Ts don't bring a lot of money, not even the most rare or the earliest or original cars. Let's say the museum needs 200,000.00, how many Model Ts will need to be sold for 200,000.00? Let's be optimistic at an average 20,000.00 per car. That would mean 10 cars will need to be sold. Unless a museum earns or is given the needed money, somethings will need to be put on the chopping block. This situation affects all museums.

The Museum doesn't need to sell anything. With over over 20,000 people world-wide I'm sure the members can spare $25 each to supplement the lost revenue. Look at it this way: the Grant was Tax payer's money to begin with, so the donation is just coming out of a different pocket.

I don't know how to do it, but some one should start a go-fund me on this one.

Just like WOW! The same ones complaining are about lack of interest in the hobby are not realizing that grants have conditions like quantity of people visiting. they are a 501C with a director, board members, etc. Sooo, it is a not for profit business but still needs a business plan to survive and that should not include grants, should use safe guards such as contingency plans and live within budgets. Grants are a form of welfare by means of poor management decisions. Why are the ones complaining not contributing their wealth to the cause of their interest, or having a bake sale or something? Writing letters to Ford Motor Company? Sell your assets and they might give you a plastic plaque from China saying they appreciate you. Aligning your self with current needs and not your interest with passion is called..., "Reality".

Henry K. Lee wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 08, 2025 7:35 am

Just like WOW! The same ones complaining are about lack of interest in the hobby are not realizing that grants have conditions like quantity of people visiting. they are a 501C with a director, board members, etc. Sooo, it is a not for profit business but still needs a business plan to survive and that should not include grants, should use safe guards such as contingency plans and live within budgets. Grants are a form of welfare by means of poor management decisions. Why are the ones complaining not contributing their wealth to the cause of their interest, or having a bake sale or something? Writing letters to Ford Motor Company? Sell your assets and they might give you a plastic plaque from China saying they appreciate you. Aligning your self with current needs and not your interest with passion is called..., "Reality".

Henry,

To be clear, the folks at Piquette budgeted projects based on having already been approved for the grant. Not the other way around. I'm sure their plans will now be modified to adjust to the new reality, and they will continue to prosper, but possibly in a scaled back manner. There are some very capable people at the helm.

BTW, those who have contributed much $$ do not advertise it. Don't assume that people have not made sizeable contributions, and if they complain about the current situation, maybe it's precisely because they have contributed generously and are now very disappointed that their donation will not be matched. (This was a matching grant.)

Once again, Hank is talking sense.

GGZ wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 07, 2025 11:47 pm

If a museum does not have money, they will need to sell some assets. Regarding Piquette-or other museums- they may need to sell assets.

Guy,

I'm certain this is not the case. Piquette was operational and paying its bills before the grant, I'm sure that it will continue to do so without the grant. The difference will be the postponement of planned projects and upgrades that the grant would have paid for.

I don't mean to suggest that this is not a hardship, but I'm certain that it's gonna' be okay in the long run.

I just put my money where my mouth is and donated $1000.00 to the museum via the link on their web page. Hopefully others will also choose to make a personal donation of whatever amount they choose.

CudaMan wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 08, 2025 9:43 am

Hopefully others will also choose to make a personal donation of whatever amount they choose.

Done.

Dan McEachern wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 06, 2025 11:41 am

The part of the story that is missing above, is that the kids have been putting their money in a jar to help pay for the trip also. Not a lot in the big picture, but they were doing their part for the family only to find out they get zip for their efforts .............

Dan, the analogy to the kid's money is the working American's money paid into Social Security. Who knows if the money everyone has paid into Social Security will be there when the current workers, retire and want their share.
As for making government, leaner. Other Presidents before the current administration have tried and been successful to some extent. Ronald Reagan did, and possibly, there were others before him, BUT they didn't use such drastic measures and use an Atomic bomb to blow up the US government and economy.

The only change I see in the economy is that they are moving everything, and I mean everything, around in WalMart. Why they want to hide merchandise from their customers is not evident to me. Perhaps it is related to skyrocketing temperatures.

ModelTWoods wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 08, 2025 12:56 pm

Dan McEachern wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 06, 2025 11:41 am

The part of the story that is missing above, is that the kids have been putting their money in a jar to help pay for the trip also. Not a lot in the big picture, but they were doing their part for the family only to find out they get zip for their efforts .............

Dan, the analogy to the kid's money is the working American's money paid into Social Security. Who knows if the money everyone has paid into Social Security will be there when the current workers, retire and want their share.
As for making government, leaner. Other Presidents before the current administration have tried and been successful to some extent. Ronald Reagan did, and possibly, there were others before him, BUT they didn't use such drastic measures and use an Atomic bomb to blow up the US government and economy.

Terry, I think you are mistaken, -or grossly misleading everyone with your statement(s). None of what has been mentioned above (-especially regarding the hypothetical Kid's vacation money!) has anything to do with Social Security. No one has used an Atomic Bomb to blow up the economy ...or the Government. People need to relax and look at the larger picture. We have ALL been told to "Never count your Chickens before they hatch!" Likely what that means is 'Piquette should not make any promises to spend any grant money until it is received!'. At the end of the day, year, or term, ...will Piquette not receiving this $500k grant be the sole cause of this facility closing its doors forever and the building torn down??

Americans are now, once again, FREE to contribute to the museum, or not to. I'm fine with that. The museum is a worthy cause, and I believe that contributions are tax deductible.

...I believe that contributions are tax deductible.

So far.

I agree in this instance with G in post 2. Try again, with edits.
Piquette deserves some help.

Maybe they should modify the grant request to include a vintage model T ERA golf course complete with "period caddies" in their white jump suits carrying golfers bags. Model t tractors pulling sickle mowers to keep the greens looking good. Provide shuttle rides to the air port in depot hacks. Sounds like a plan.