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John Draxler, Thunderbird Ranch

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    John Draxler, 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.

  • Alexander
    Webmaster
    • Oct 30 2002
    • 3321

    #2
    RE: John Draxler, Thunderbird Ranch

    That is sad to hear about John. He is a good guy who has been helpful in the T-Bird community.

    Alexander
    1959 Hardtop
    1960 Golde Top
    Alexander
    1959 Hard Top
    1960 Golde Top
    sigpic

    Comment

    • Guest

      #3
      RE: John Draxler, Thunderbird Ranch

      I've bought parts from John in the past, and his advice has always been top-notch.

      Being a moderator on the VTCI board (Squarebirds, what else?) I re-posted this message there (General Discussion).

      I agree ... Donations would be great. John's passion however is Thunderbirds. Sending business his way might be better therapy. Purposely overpaying for a part might be one way to help John without making him feel like he's getting "handouts."

      I hope what I've said makes sense. I'm not a cold hearted jerk; I'm looking at both sides of the recovery process.

      Incidently, here's what John recently sent out in his 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."


      Comment

      • Guest

        #4
        RE: John Draxler, Thunderbird Ranch

        Dear Travlin: whatever it takes to help Mr. Draxler, that is the opportunity we are presented. Before I posted my message, I asked his permission, and he thought about it for some time before allowing me to post my message. He told me that normally he would say no to such help but after discussion and thought he decided to say yes. In my communication with Mr. Draxler, I found him to be most helpful and free with advice. It may be a long time before a person needs a part and therefore has the opportunity to overpay for the part. Meanwhile, cancer never sleeps, but silently goes about its deadly task, which is to kill. Prostate cancer can be beaten if dealt with sooner rather than later. If it gets into other organs or bones, cancer will complete its task. So the urgency is now if we wish to help out a fellow enthusiast who has helped many. After all, is the life of one such as John Draxler not more important than the few dollars we save by not helping? Thank you for your understanding. Bill. [email wdstanley@earthlink.net]

        Comment

        • Guest

          #5
          RE: John Draxler, Thunderbird Ranch

          Bill,

          I understand your feelings about open donations, and have no personal issues against them. You are correct that many of us most likely won't need a part that we can intentionally overpay for.

          People will do what they feel in their heart that they should do. My suggestion was simply a way to justify to someone already buying parts to "give" a little more.

          I hope you understand where I was coming from.

          Comment

          • Guest

            #6
            RE: John Draxler, Thunderbird Ranch

            Dear Travlin: thanks for the reply and thanks for thinking of John. I am pleased to be associated with a fine group such as the Squarebirds. Bill. 1960 Hardtop.

            Comment

            • Empiricst1
              Newbie
              • Apr 28 2015
              • 1

              #7
              John Draxler

              Bill, thanks for the heads up, I'll send a donation to John. We are all different regarding what we think of these things, me, I will just send him something. And hope he accepts it. If we can't help each other when one of us is down, we aren't worth much.

              Carl Adrianopoli
              '65 bigbird

              Comment

              • dgs
                Super-Experienced
                • Feb 13 2003
                • 962

                #8
                Carl, I'm not sure how you came across this thread, but it is over 12 years old. John is still running his business and has posted on his blog as recently as last November. It would seem that he came out of that cancer OK, thankfully.
                DGS (aka salguod)
                1960 Convertible - Raven Black, Red leather
                www.salguod.net

                Comment

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