John Draxler and The Thunderbird Ranch

[Travlin]

I picked this up off another Thunderbird message board. I do not know it's validity, nor do I endorse it's content. I simply thought it would of something of interest to some of us Thunderbird owners and the VTCI.

What I *can* say is that I have purchased parts for my Squarebird from John in the past and he has always endeavored to send me the best possible part he had, and his advise has always been top-notch. It would be a true blow to our hobby to lose the likes of John and the Thunderbird Ranch.

By now you may have heard that John Draxler, who runs the Thunderbird Ranch, has been diagnosed with cancer.

John has given his time and expertise freely and cheerfully to Thunderbird owners for many years, and has been a valuable source of parts. Additionally, John has shared his many years of experience with the younger generation by teaching shop classes.

John has told us that he does not have suffient insurance coverage to pay for his treatments, and has asked us to continue to give him our business to help him with the financial costs he will incur.

As a practical matter, increased business may not be a viable option for someone who is undergoing cancer treatments. Such treatments not only take a person away from the daily routine with doctor's visits and surgery, but such treatments take their toll on a person's general health, stamina, and well-being.

Typically, John has not asked for financial assistance or a handout, but has asked for our continued business. Considering all of the above facts, I am suggesting that all Thunderbird lovers worldwide help John with the financial burden of the costs of his treatments. We can do this by sending him a token of our appreciation for his generous assistance over the years. A donation of $10, $20, $50 or more from several thousand of us would help relieve the burden of high medical costs, and enable John to get back to doing the work that he loves and enable him to continue to serve us in our "Thunderbird adventures."

I have started the ball rolling by sending John a check for $100.

Please consider this request carefully. It comes from me, not from John Draxler. If we all pull together, we can turn a small donation into a huge benefit for all of us."

Thanks for your consideration.

William D. Stanley
wdstanley@earthlink.

[Terri McNeill]

Travlin,
yes, I have been recieving e-mail concerning John, our prayers are with him. Thank you for having the foresite to post this as I didn't think about it. John himself posted the message below in his Thunderbird mailing list:

This time it is not about how to fix one of our birds. This tech article is about the human side of things.
The symptoms are none. The problem was discovered while doing routine maintenance. Not wanting to jump to conclusions the test was re ran for a second time. Indications still showed there to be a problem. Need for further testing. On a thunderbird I would remove the part for closer inspection. On me they did a biopsy. Diagnosis....prostate cancer, A big shock. Maybe even a bigger shock to some of you to hear this about me. Anyway, now I am faced with the options for treatment. I do not have health insurance that will cover most of this so am also looking at all the options of paying for it.
Wow, what a wonderful topic for a thunderbird tech newsletter, I have to tell you though, you are my friends, not just customers. I guess it would not be fair to you to go through this and do my struggling trying to keep it all going smoothly and when there is a glitch in my service to you, to try and? make excuses and not tell the truth.
First of all I am going to ask all of you for your prayers. I know that on some of the forums I can be banned for talking about things like this, I don?t care. I feel it is time to put some things out in the open and make it very plain that I am a strong believer in God and am a Christian through and through. Many of you already know this and understand that this is one of the reasons why I try to serve you the way I do. Serving you is one of the ways I get to serve God. So I ask all of you to take a bit of time to put in some good words for me during this trial in my life.
Second, I ask that you continue to come to me looking for advice and parts. I would not be where I am today without all of you. I run a one man small business and live pretty close to the earth when it comes to finances. I need your business to get through the financial part of this just like I need your business to live on a day to day basis. I will do my best to continue giving you the best service that I can. There may be some days when there will be delays. I may be going for surgery which will put me away from the email and phone for about 3 days or so. I want you to know that if this happens, I am not ignoring you. I am missing you?..
Third I ask you to just keep in touch. I also need support during this.
So, to recap. I am a bit scared but have faith that God has me in his hands. I encourage you to share your faith with me to encourage me and keep me in your prayers?. Keep me in mind for your technical needs and your parts needs, I surely need the business? and keep in touch? the friendship means a lot to me. Thanks for all your support in the past and I pray that you all have a wonderful and blessed new year.