From:Matt Olsen e-mail:amcayouthprogram@hotmail.com
Subject:Carl Vandre, my friend Date:Tue Feb 12 08:21:55 2008
Carl was a very good friend of mine. He was one of the nicest people that I have ever met. Carl set the standard for what antique motorcycle enthusiasts should act like: He was enthusiastic, genuinely nice, and inviting. I first met Carl Vandre when I was ten years old, and for twelve years that I knew him, he always treated me like an adult and didn't blow off my youthful enthusiasm, (which happened a lot).
When I was in college, I had a job restoring a couple of super xs and a deluxe henderson. At Davenport that year I was chatting with Gene Harper and Carl, and was talking about how nervous I was about tackling the deluxe engine. Carl offered me the chance to come and mentor with him for three and a half months, were he ran me through the Henderson rebuilding crash course. It was the hardest three months of work that I have ever done, but I learned a lot and got to spend a lot of time with my friend Carl Vandre. I will always have the knowledge that he passed on and the good memories of getting to spend time together.