The AACA Museum in Hershey Pennsylvania

An American Industry & Commerce Travel Itinerary

Cruising through Time with Eighty Years of Vintage Vehicles

The Antique Automobile Club of America Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania opened its doors in June 2003, with over 100 cars, motorcycles plus memorabilia, collectibles, and special exhibits.

Preserving America’s Antique Automobiles

Vehicles of all types 25 years or older are welcome in the AACA.  In 1993, the AACA started a nonprofit organization to further preserve these antique automobiles and educate the public.

AACA One of Only Two US Automotive Museums Affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution

American History unfolds as decade after decade of car models, memorabilia, and collectibles come to life.  Over eight decades of cars are displayed in themed settings such as the Golden Gate Bridge, an Art Deco hotel, a gas service station, a covered bridge, Battery Park in New York, and more. From the timeless beauty and classic elegance of Model T’s and Thunderbirds, to the rough and tumble of muscle cars and motorcycles, to the romance of rumble seats, visitors are transported through time in sections that represent the decades.  America’s love affair with the automobile is constant and ever growing. 

Late 1800s the Benton Harbor Motorcycle is a rare survivor from the pioneer period of American automobile development.  Restoration research revealed that this may be the first vehicle in America built from scratch as an automobile as opposed to construction on a modified horse-drawn carriage. 

A replica of the1896 Ford Quadricycle is on display on the Museum’s Lower Level; Ford’s first self-propelled vehicle received its name from its use of four standard bicycle wheels.   

Early 1900s The Alphabet Ford Collection Henry Ford changed the world when he introduced the model T in 1909.  This remarkable vehicle was standardized and mass-produced.  At one time, over half the cars on the road were Model T’s. Some of these Fords were produced in limited numbers and are quite rare. On display on the lower level of the Museum are: 1903 Model A, 1904 Model B, 1905 Model C, 1906 Model F, 1907 Model R, 1908 Model K, 1908 Model S, 1909 Model T.    

1920s during this decade automobile production levels reached a high that would not be seen again until the 1950’s.  Lower priced cars such as the Whippet, Model A, and Plymouth helped keep many manufacturers stay in business during the Depression.  At the AACA Museum visitors can see a 1928 Oldsmobile Model F28 Roadster, a Stearns Knight Five Passenger Sports Sedan, and a 1926 Packard Five Passenger Touring.  Other areas of the Museum feature a 1924 Graham Brothers 1 ½-ton truck and a 1929 Stearns-Knight J-8-90 Seven Passenger Sedan.

Planning Your Trip assumes uniquely local dimensions wherever you go; the activities that you, the visitor – local, or global –  select and irrespective of the length of your stay, are unique of the community you are visiting and rooted into the local economy, history and traditions.

Knowledge Tourism develops personalized travel itineraries based on client interests by leveraging an in-depth knowledge of your destination, superior client service in the planning stages and throughout the trip or event as well as logistics expertise to reduce accommodations and transport costs and transfer times.

travel@arezza.net | knowledge tourism

1930s a decade that represents the highpoint of American automotive design with decorative bodies and flashy interiors.  Car design followed the Art Deco inspired architecture of the period.  Autos on display include the 1930 Dupont Model G Convertible, 1930 Cord L-29 Convertible, a 1936 Chrysler C-9 Airflow and a 1935 Brewster four door sedan.  In other areas of the Museum, visitors can see a 1930 Buick Special, Series 40, and a 1935 Autocar 1200 gallon Fuel Tanker.      

1940s a decade divided by pre-war, war production, and post war.  Vehicle production stopped in 1942 as manufacturers converted to support the war effort.  After the war, most manufacturers re-introduced their old models to the market that would by any new car available.  AACA displays a gas station with the interior open for viewing.  Also on display: a 1940 Ford Deluxe Convertible Coupe and a 1941 Packard Clipper Nineteenth Series.   

1950s America emerges from World War II economically strengthened and automobile production sets new records.  Power, size and luxury dictate the auto’s development for this decade.  While large cars mark the era, the domestic compact car begins with the Nash Rambler. The Drive-In was a popular place for people to congregate in their cars to watch movies on an outdoors big screen.  Part of the fun was the late night adventure.  AACA’s Drive-In scene has a variety of 50’s vehicles including a 1954 Corvette Convertible and a 1956 Chevrolet step-side pick-up truck.   

1960s Manufacturers focus on internal brand identity, building new types of vehicles: personal luxury, muscle cars, pony cars, and cars with special packaging.  Consumer demands and government regulations dictate changes in the industry.  On display: the 1969 AMC AMX muscle car, a 1965 Chevy Corvair Convertible, a 1968 Cadillac El Dorado and more.  

1970s a decade of reaction and change for the auto industry.  The muscle car was eliminated by the threat of rising insurance rates, government regulations, and oil shortages.  Imported cars become serious competition for Detroit. A variety of different vehicles are featured for this decade.

From Roads to Rails travel back in time as O-gauge trains chug through the idyllic Pennsylvania countryside and multiple scenes reminiscent of the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s.      

The Museum of Bus Transportation has partnered with the Antique Auto Club of America Museum to provide museum quality displays of the bus industry - intercity, transit, and school - for the public.  It also serves to showcase the industry’s growth and development in the United States and celebrate the role that the bus industry continues to play in mobility and progress of the American public. 

The Motorbus Industry Occupies a Vital Place in America’s Everyday Life

In rural areas and in the thousands of towns and cities across the nation buses provide personal transport, carrying more persons daily than all other public modes of transportation put together. Until recently there was no national showplace for this industry to show and tell its story. The building and evolution of this industry provides a fascinating story of invention, entrepreneurship and the effort of thousands of people risking their time and capital in the hope of creating a profitable business. 

The Flo Inn Café’ diners were a place where you could get the best breakfast for the best price and could be assured a full plate of whatever you ordered, straight from the kitchen, made to order.  Coffee was always available fresh from the pot, hot, and served with a smile.  The chef and waitresses were a part of the atmosphere and “regulars” were known by their first names.  Here is where you caught up with local news, learned of the latest gossip, and started the day with friendly camaraderie. The Flo Inn Café, owned and operated by Florence Fortnoy, is an actual diner that operated from 1948 to 1983 at 2305 East Central, Wichita, Kansas.  A small wall safe located just inside the door identifies this as a Valentine Diner, Aristocrat model, made in Kansas in 1940.  This model was designed to be easy to operate, sold fully equipped, and was moveable, if need be, to a new location if business dropped. Outside the diner is a parked car of the era, a 1941 Plymouth P12, Convertible Coupe.  

Special AACA Museum Features

The World’s Largest Collection of Tucker Automobiles the enthusiasm and creativity that propelled Preston Tucker and his vision for the Tucker automobile is something that has captured the hearts of many. The AACA Museum is home to the David Cammack Collection which includes three 1948 Tucker '48 vehicles, the factory Tucker test chassis, thousands of engineering drawings and blueprints, original Tucker parts, several engines and many other artifacts and displays.

Of the 51 original Tuckers produced, on 49 have survived and remain in existence.   Of these, 3 are on display at the AACA Museum including Tucker #1001 the very first production Tucker and the ONLY surviving Tucker with automatic transmission.

Connect for Industry and Commerce Itineraries

 in Hershey and Pennsylvania

Knowledge Tourism

travel@arezza.net    Knowledge Tourism  

Transactional Based Energy Systems

tools for improving energy efficiency in buildings

Buildings are increasingly technologically sophisticated; however, a transactive approach and platform to coordinate energy systems allowing building owners and grid service providers to participate in a shared energy economy that efficiently utilizes and conserves resources, as well as deliver energy-efficiency services, has yet to be attained.

homes and commercial buildings account for 40 percent of total primary energy consumption

Manufacturers of building equipment and appliances have developed proprietary platforms that provide limited forms of transactive communication and interfaces, however these platforms are narrowly applied and are not compatible with equipment and appliances from other manufacturers.

Distributed control and sensing software platforms are designed to manage a wide range of applications, including HVAC systems, electric vehicles, distributed-energy and whole building loads. Software agents allow communication between the power grid and physical devices or systems in a building to coordinate energy use and shift energy loads to off-peak times; also, communication between devices within a building and between buildings to facilitate the delivery of energy-efficiency services to buildings.

best practices for use in the small and medium-sized commercial buildings market

Transactional Energy integrates the concepts of transaction-based energy and transaction-based control with a market platform whereby:

transactions are negotiated exchanges of products, services, and rights enabling value allocations;

controls are means of executing transactions through automatic control of building equipment and other energy systems in response to data and value streams;

applications include capabilities, such as mobility, communications, autonomy and self-organization. Transaction-based energy is a structure that combines information, data and energy infrastructure to enable energy-based transactions and services for energy providers and customers and balance all energy needs against available resources.

Transaction-based frameworks describe the digital infrastructure, hardware and communications network that enables the trade of goods and services between participating parties, leading to a better use of available resources and a more efficient power system.

Building diagnostic and controls, primarily in the commercial buildings sector, are being developed and deployed, with application-based systems implementing strategies, that increase efficiency levels while improving resource allocation. Building controls and algorithms can also be part of retrofits in existing buildings, resulting in energy savings over time through improved operation and maintenance.

The introduction of sensors and controls, as well as information technology and communication protocols between the buildings and the electric grid, has led to digitized sensing, metering, controls and communication. This smart grid revolution is adding intelligence to the energy ecosystem, allowing power generators and grid operators to see the system at unprecedented levels of granularity. Added to these developments is the proliferation of photovoltaic cells, small-scale natural gas generators, as well as other distributed generation sources; giving building owners additional opportunities to reduce their energy costs and increase the reliability of their supply.

buildings as dispatchable assets that absorb fluctuations of intermittent renewable energy

Transaction-based building controls realize benefits by enabling automatic, market-based intra-building efficiency optimizations on a larger scale and beyond via interactions between various components in a complex energy system controlled by negotiating immediate and contingent contracts on a regular basis in addition to the conventional command and control pattern.

Existing buildings retrofits with transaction-based automatic fault detection and diagnostics and controls technologies on various types of commercial equipment provide insights into current and projected energy use, comfort preferences of tenants and generation capacity from distributed resources. This added technology base fulfills two main purposes:

owners and tenants benefit from the diagnostics, commissioning and retuning capabilities;

sensing and metering technology provide building-specific advice to owners, outlining return on investments and timescales for efficiency upgrades or calculate energy wasted per year.

Transaction-based controls provide specific advice for occupants willing to trade comfort and convenience by adjusting thermostat settings by letting temperatures fluctuate within a pre-determined band and getting compensated for the change:

End-user services include building diagnostics and valuations, which support the operations and maintenance of end-use assets while managing overall customer comfort and convenience.

Market services support the efficient utilization of resources and assets by helping customers modify their energy consumption behavior through mechanisms such as time-of-use and real-time pricing.

Grid services include ancillary or regulatory services, such as equipment power quality related performance modification that buildings could provide using transactive mechanisms, with compensation through new contracts or tariffs.

Social services may include participation in energy efficiency or emissions cap-and-trade markets using transactive mechanisms.

Connect with Tema

For Transaction-based Energy Systems

 Knowledge Tourism

tema@arezza.net  skype arezza1   arezza.org

Portland Oregon

Neighborhood Planning & Development Sustainability and Local Transport

Located between the Cascade Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, Portland is at the northern end of the Willamette Valley and river which flows through the city and links with the Columbia River. The citizens and their local government are notable for: land-use planning, local transport, environment conscious policies, high walkability, a large number bicyclists and ten thousand acres of public parks.

Neighborhoods The Office of Neighborhood Involvement serves as a conduit between city government and Portland's 95 neighborhoods, each represented by a volunteer association serving as liaison between residents and the city government. Portland and its surrounding metropolitan area also have the only directly elected metro planning organization the United States with responsibility for land use, transport planning and solid waste management.

Planning & Development Land use planning controls, dating as far back as 1903, statewide land conservation policies adopted in 1973 and the 1979 urban growth boundary program have led to urban areas where high-density development and traditional farm land with restrictions on non-agricultural development. Portland’s unique approach to development has prevented neglect of the downtown areas; UGBs and economic development zones have led to the development of a large portion of downtown, a large number of mid- and high-rise developments, and an overall increase in housing and business density.

Portland’s climate action plan cuts greenhouse gases to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050

Local Transport Metropolitan Portland’s commuters and visitors have many options to get around in America’s best pedestrian and transit-friendly city. Public transit is comprised of TriMet’s regional bus network and the Metropolitan Area Express – MAX - light rail system, which connects the city and suburbs while the WES Commuter Rail reaches Portland's western suburbs.

Portland Streetcar connects shopping areas and dense residential districts north and northwest of downtown as well as the east side of the Willamette River. The Portland Transit Mall on Fifth and Sixth avenues limits automobile access in favor or bus and light rail service. Portland’s mainline steam locomotives can be seen pulling excursion trains operated by the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation.

Eight Percent of Portland’s Commuters – 10 times the national average - Bike to Work

Arts and Culture the Portland Art Museum and its Modern and Contemporary Art Wing is home to the city's largest art collection and is one of the largest in the country. Several downtown art galleries are present in the Pearl and the Alberta Arts Districts. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, located on the east bank of the Willamette River, contains a variety of hands-on exhibits covering the physical sciences, life science, earth science, technology, astronomy, and early childhood education.

Cultural Heritage & Museums, Water Resources & the Environment, Local Food Wine & Breweries, Community Public Transport Initiatives

Food Coffee and Brews Portland is home to 58 breweries and independent microbreweries, supported by locally produced barley, Cascade hops and pure mountain water from the Bull Run Watershed. Portland hosts a number of festivals throughout the year in celebration of beer and brewing, including the Oregon Brewers Festival, the Spring Beer and Wine Festival, the North American Organic Brewers Festival, the Portland International Beer Fest and the Holiday Ale Festival. There is also a lively street food scene with over 600 food carts and trucks, vegetarian-friendly eateries and dozens of coffee micro-roasteries and cafes.

The Outdoors the City’s Parks are considered among the best in America; 80% of Portlanders live within a half-mile to a park and sixteen percent of the city area is parkland. Parks and greenspace planning date back to 1903 and in recent years the Portland metropolitan region passed a regional bond measure to acquire 8,100 acres of natural areas for fish, wildlife, and people. Forest Park is the largest wilderness park within city limits in the United States, covering more than 5,000 acres. Mills End is the world's smallest park with a two-foot-diameter circle and an area of 0.3 m². Washington Park is home to the Oregon Zoo, the Portland Japanese Garden and the International Rose Test Garden. Tom McCall Waterfront Park runs the entire length of the Willamette’s west bank for the length of downtown.

Connect with Tema

for Travel to Portland Oregon

Knowledge Tourism

tema@arezza.net    arezza.org  

Food and Art

 film graphic design music photography writing architecture

Impressionism Pointillism, Avant-Garde movements and Pop Art can all contribute to how we envision and consume food through books, articles and documents from museums, public and private institutions, collectors and artists.

the rituals and symbols of food featured in the arts over time

A Journey where works of art, drawings and architectural models, films, objects, documents, books, menus, and album covers that bring to life narratives that place works and images in historical, sociological and anthropological context, reflecting the interwoven aesthetics and design of eating rituals; exhibitions that use a variety of media, from the historical to the contemporary, to portray expression, creativity and communication in all cultures:

a layered and multi-sensorial perspective that looks to developments and solutions that relate to food, ranging from kitchen utensils, the dining table and the picnic, bars and restaurants to changes resulting from travel by road, plane and space. Also, the design and look of buildings dedicated to food production and food rituals;

an exploration of the special bond between the visual arts and food, revealing the rituals and pointing to idiosyncrasies in the experience of eating together;

a program enriched by masterpieces made available by museums, collectors and artists.

The History and Evolution of Food and Nutrition set in a wide-ranging scenario tracing the visual arts and various segments of industrial arts and mass culture, including:

the introduction of new foods in the Western world as shared through past Universal Expositions;

a representation of 1960’s products with the application of mass advertising and packaging;

the uses of new technologies in architecture, design and the art world, and an exploration of new opportunities for analysis and reflection.

Discover the Connection between 

Food and Art

with Knowledge Tourism

tema@arezza.net  skype arezza1   arezza.org

Food Technology and Biodiversity

best practices for a sustainable development

Food Security development and sharing with knowledge networks is comprised of experts, scientists, researchers and technicians that address core topics to share and transfer knowledge on global food security, as well as identifying sustainable development policies and programs.

Food Knowledge activities are divided into five main themes for research and innovation: 

sustainable management of natural resources;

improvement in the quantity and quality of agricultural production;

socio-economic dynamics and global markets;

sustainable development of small rural communities in marginal areas;

food consumption habits: diet, environment, society, economy and health.

Agrobiodiversity is achieved in greenhouses that have been cultivated with plants coming from different continents and different eras that tell stories through their shapes, sizes, colors and smells. The path through the greenhouses and open spaces becomes a sensory experience which connects us to both the earth and the food. A digital interface provides an additional means of information. The dialogue between human and plant generates reflection, curiosity, memories, desires and knowledge.

The result is the coming together of culture and nature, an expression of the many civilizations that, over time, have found in various places on the planet different ways to produce food and shape landscapes, with the aid of technical solutions.
Feeding a planet with ten billion people with conservation and a sensible use of resources without compromising the overall health of the ecosystem is achievable through research and practices such as those utilized in botanical gardens during the middle ages.

Discover

Food Technology and Biodiversity

with Knowledge Tourism

tema@arezza.net  skype arezza1   arezza.org