Many of you remember a few years ago the beautiful cover car a 1957 Chevy Nomad owned by MOTAA members Sam and Donna Rindskopf. Sam and Donna became MOTAA members while being members and past president of the Ark-La-Tex Antique and Classic Car Association in Shreveport.
A few years ago Sam and Donna were transferred back to their home state of California. We knew we would miss them. They are the kind of folks that are true car people and true friends. They moved to right outside of San Diego in a beautiful home atop a hill overlooking the magnificent California scenery. They quickly joined a Chevy club and became involved in meeting many new friends.
We stayed in contact by occasional phone calls and emails. Donna would email when she needed a new sponsor for her guide dog puppy fund. Donna as many of you know trains Seeing Eye dogs for the blind. She has done this for many years.
Sam and Donna have suffered a tremendous set back and I want all of you to remember them in prayer. While they were helping a daughter move some things in Las Vegas, the California fires were raging. They had boarded their dogs in a kennel in town and left a key with a neighbor for the care of the cats. Donna’s new Seeing Eye dog was with them.
The Witch Creek fire took 40 years of Sam and Donna’s lives together in just a few hours. The following is the email that I received from Donna.
Hi,
I wanted to let all of those showing your concerns and prayers that the animals, Sam & I are safe. As far as Sam & I we have lost EVERYTHING. We were moving some things to Las Vegas for Tonya when the Witch Creek Fire started so we headed home trying to listen to updates. We had friends & neighbors keeping us informed as to the evacuation so we had told 1 of our neighbors where our house key was so if they had to evacuate before we could get home they would get our cats. Our other 2 dogs were being boarded at a kennel in Ramona and I had Guide Dog Puppy Horatio with us. When we got to our roads to get to our house they were completely closed and the police and fire department would not let anyone through no matter what.
We tried getting in another way and that was unsuccessful as well. So needless to say we lost 40 years of family photos, mementos, antiques, collectibles, etc. , as well as the motor home ,car trailer with the 57 Chevy PU in it, the Honda Accord, the 93 Chevy PU, the 1979 Chevy Camaro, the 1957 Chevy NOMAD and a 4 day old 2008 Corvette(Sam’s dream car). We are staying with Sam’s sister Shawna and have not been able to get back into Ramona to see what we can salvage. We are hoping by Thursday so we have gone shopping for respirators, gloves sifters, trash bags, etc so we will be prepared to clean up and be protected. It is very hard to comprehend what our loss is until we actually get back to our home. Our families and friends have been our support through this horrific ordeal
and we don’t know what we would do without them.Sam and I want to thank all of you that have sent your thoughts and prayers our way.I will try to keep in touch as much as possible.
Take care and have a tail waggin day,
Donna
I have not been able to get in touch with them by phone yet but again I ask you to put them on your prayer list. Imagine loosing e
verything, I can’t even begin to be able to grasp what that must feel like. Car people stick together and that is why I thought the MOTAA family needed to know this. Sam and Donna if you get this copy of ACT we all love you and will be here if you need us. 
