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Reverend Al Holm
Teaches Self
Defense Class |
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Al says, "Give a
man or woman a stick and they might be able to bat a rock with it or toss it
for their dog or maybe use it for a piece of fire wood. Teach that same man
or woman how to use that stick, and they've got a self defense system to last
a lifetime." "That's the oldest
weapon that man has ever used," says Rev. Al Holm, who bills himself as
the 'Minister of Defense.' "Since the beginning of time, they had the
stick and used it as a weapon. It is very effective." |
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Al, a former police
officer and a student of martial arts, has started The Able Cane, a self
defense course with a cane, or even a rake; whatever is handy. "You too
can float like a butterfly and sting like a bee," says a promotional
flier. In only a few hours, Holm says he can teach the average woman to
"take out" the average guy. "The techniques I use are very
simple. You don't have to be Wonder Woman or Superman," say Al, also
founder of Autumn Leaves Foundation, a nonprofit counseling organization. Al is a member of the
Early Ford V8 Club. he is a very easy going man and has lots of friend in our
club. Karen, Al's wife, is also a very wonderful person. The two of them
always have a smile on their faces and always have the right thing to say. |
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April 30, 2009 in
Living a well-rounded life
Geodesic home meets couple’s needs
Stefanie Pettit
Correspondent,
The Spokesman-Review
Home, sweet dome.
That’s been the
mantra for Barry and Mary Brown since 1977, when they moved into their geodesic
dome home in Cheney.
While it may look
like a novelty – an igloo, a deflating volleyball or a somewhat squished
snowball – it is in fact a roomy, comfortable and efficient home.
“I’m the modern
one,” said Mary Brown, “the one who wanted something different.”
And different it is
– so much so that strangers stop by to ask about the house, including an STA
bus driver who upon retiring, dropped in and told the Browns that he had driven
by the house for so many years that he just had to find out about it.
The Browns are proud
of their home in the
“Every summer 10 to
15 people come by,” Barry Brown said. “One man wanted to buy it and move it to
Seattle, another person wanted to build one at his lake place.”
The term “geodesic
dome” was developed in the 1940s by inventor-engineer-poet- cosmologist R.
Buckminster Fuller, who idealized the natural world. Round objects occur in
nature; squares, like most homes, don’t. Dome homes, however, never attained
the huge popularity he expected for them.
But it was a natural
for the Browns, who were living in an apartment in
The Browns met when
they were teaching at
In 1977 they bought part
of a dealership that built geodesic homes. They purchased their double lot in
Cheney, ordered the panels (six left, six right) for their dome home and dug
the circular foundation and basement.
“People in Cheney
thought we were putting in a big swimming pool,” Mary Brown,
60, remembers.
But then the company
failed, and they waited and waited hoping that the forms would come. Just about
the time they thought it was a lost cause and they planned a different kind of
structure for the property, the fiberglass forms arrived.
The house is 50 feet
across and contains six window inserts. The panels don’t come together at the
center of the building, so there is an 11-foot joining section that looks from
the outside like a six-sided roof. “It’s kind of like the top of a cookie jar,”
Mary Brown said.
Mary Brown designed
the inside walls and interior space to suit their needs and taste, including a
small but efficient kitchen. “I really don’t like people in the kitchen helping
me, so the size is just right for one,” she said.
On the main floor,
there are a living room, dining room, kitchen, three bedrooms, a laundry room
and three bathrooms. Downstairs are a recreation room, two-plus bedrooms and a
bathroom. The rooms are much larger than the exterior might indicate.
“Well, there is a
lot more room in an arch than in a square,” said Barry Brown, 63.
And the home is
tremendously energy efficient, with utility costs half that of their neighbors.
“Plus, we don’t have to worry about snow on the roof,” Barry Brown said.
From the outside in,
there are several inches of urethane foam containing a silicate sand that keeps
the glare down, the fiberglass panels that give the dome its shape, another two
inches of foam, a layer of fireproofing material and then plaster. “We are pretty
sound proof, too,” Barry Brown noted.
The only drawback
they’ve ever encountered with the unconventional design has been with
carpeting. They’ve just recarpeted the living room “and since carpet comes in
rolls with square edges, we had to buy more carpet to get it to fit the space,”
Mary Brown said.
But that’s their
only complaint.
Now that they are
retired, the Browns have their home projects that keep them busy. Mary Brown
belongs to the Country Samples Quilters in Reardan, and her home is filled with
the beautiful quilts she has made. She also has a lovely garden she maintains
along with a vegetable garden that includes beans, potatoes carrots
and squash.
Barry Brown works at
assorted projects in his shop, which, Mary Brown points out, is the very first
structure he erected on the property, even before the house. A man has to have
his workshop.
Their dome home has
had a few moments of publicity in its 32 years, from some write-ups in
newspapers (especially when neighbors thought it was going to be a huge
neighborhood swimming pool) to being one of the houses on a May 2006 National
Historic Preservation Month poster that featured residential architecture in
the state of Washington.
On that poster, right there among a group of older, stately historic houses sits the Brown's very own home sweet dome.
Click here to read the complete article as published in the Spokesman-Review.
 | Members |
Tom and Alice Dailey motored in from Colville, Washington, in their
1939 Mercury Town Sedan. It was a 2,200 mile, one-way trip in the
unrestored car; yet after the meet, they headed to Pennsylvania to
visit friends before returning home. They also left Dearborn with the
coveted Rouge Award.
Article published in HEMMINGS MOTOR NEWS FEBRUARY 2009
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True full-flow filtration on the Flathead has to address a couple of
modifications. First the oil has to exit the block somewhere and
re-enter after passing through a remote filter assembly. Secondly, the
clean oil has to be able to reach all critical moving parts. The
biggest hurdle to overcome involves doing away with the drilled passage
from the oil pump bore to the rear main bearing.
Our system entails first drilling and tapping oversize holes where the
horizontal oil passage crosses above the oil pump to feed into the main
oil gallery and inserting a ¼” pipe plug between the two holes.
Connecting with the flex lines to and from the filter completes this
portion of the circuit. Note that all ’59 blocks have a cast boss
already furnished for that return port. What might the Ford engines
have been thinking as far back as 1939?
Secondly, we remove the fuel pump pushrod guide; drill from the rear
main saddle up to the rear com bore with a 5/16” bit and plug the old
oil passage from the pump (with a piece of ¼” rod) as well as install a
pipe plug in the old pushrod bore. This essentially feeds the rear main
and back rod journals through the rear cam bearing, exactly the same
way oil reaches the other mains through their respective cam bearings.
Additionally, we enlarge the front main oil passage from ¼” to 5/16” to
equalize flow to all three mains. Don’t forget to drill that upper rear
main insert with a hole, which aligns with a new oil line in its
saddle. The entire conversion is simple and extremely reliable. To date
we have done about 20 of these conversions including a number of club
rides. Logan Aschers’ ’40 pickup probably has the most mileage on it.
Yes, you do have to sacrifice the mechanical fuel pump for and electric
unit. As to which is less reliable is as contentious a topic as Ford
vs. Brand X! Both work reasonably well when properly installed. For
appearances, fuel can be pumped from an electric through a dummy
mechanical pump, but why bother.
Be sure to thank Chuck Tremblay for this valuable information!
