V-8’s & Veterans – Luncheon and Tour

By Ken Bounds

We held our fourth annual Veterans Day luncheon and tour on Saturday, November 7, to honor our members who have served in the armed forces.  We had a terrific turnout, with 34 members in attendance,  including our President Dan Pudelek, Dave Arnswald, Ben & Ginny Ashley, Ron & Arlene Blum, Ken & Carolyn Bounds, Don & Elaine Braun, Tom & Judy Buscaglia, George & Betty Cech, Joe & Marie Dispensa, Lloyd & Gladys Duzell, Ed Fontana, Earl & Gene Heintz,  Joe & Nell Kozmic, Paul & Joanne Linzer, Joey Novak, Tom & Madeleine O’Donnell, Joe Serritella, John & Barbara Slobodnik, Len & Irene Vinyard, and Alan Wall. 

The unseasonably warm weather even allowed several Early V-8’s and other classic cars to make a final 2009 appearance.  Dan brought out his ‘53 Victoria, Dave & Ed came in Dave’s ‘72 Electra, Ken & Carolyn drove the ‘50 Crestliner, Tom and Judy had their ‘51 Tudor, George & Betty arrived in their ‘36 Phaeton, Earl and Gene brought the ‘63 Convertible (great to see it running right again!), Len & Irene sported the ‘57 T-Bird, and Alan Wall drove a ‘62 Pontiac.

As always the food, drinks, and service at Sam’s of Arlington were excellent once again.  Our thanks go out again this year to Earl Heintz for making the arrangements.  We had hoped to have a short program to say “Thank You” to those who have served their country in the military, but because of the large crowd we had to save that until later in the afternoon. 

After a terrific luncheon, we jumped into our cars and made our way over to Don & Elaine’s residence where we had the great pleasure of checking out Don’s new “V-8 Museum.”  It was nice to see all of our cars parked on the lawn, as they had been at so many picnics hosted by the Brauns over the years. 

Don proudly showed us what he had done to his garage this year to convert it to a place of honor to display his ‘36 Five-Window Coupe and his ‘56 Pickup.  The brightly-lit garage sports freshly painted walls and floor and is decorated with all sorts of V-8 memorabilia including books, photographs, trophies received at various meets and more.  We all got a kick out of digging through a box of old photographs.  It was surprising to see how some of us had changed over the years - somehow we just didn’t see that happening!  As we posed for a group photo, we finally got the chance to say “Thank You” to all our members who served our country in the armed forces.

The incredibly warm early-November weather allowed us to spend the afternoon on the adjacent deck, soaking up the sunshine and grazing on the spread that Elaine had provided.  There was a large variety of veggies, cookies, chips, and beverages for everyone to enjoy.  (One of the cookie recipes just had to make it to the Road Chatter - see page  12).  As a great afternoon of V-8 fellowship had to come to an end, everyone made their way safely home.  It was a real treat to get those V-8’s on the road one more time.  We thank all the members who made this just a great event and especially thank Don & Elaine Braun for opening up their home and the “Braun Museum” to us.