Overnighter to South Bend, IN
By
Ken Bounds
On the weekend of July 17-18, Joe
Serritella hosted a driving tour to South Bend to visit the Studebaker Museum,
the Center for History, and the Oliver Mansion.
Departing from the Lincoln Oasis were Tom & Judy Buscaglia, ‘51 Tudor,
Joe & Nell Kozmic, ‘53 Mercury, Dan & Diane Pudelek, ‘51 Victoria, and Joey
Novak, ‘40 Pickup. Also, in modern
iron, were Joe & Delice Serritella with Ed & Roni Fontana, Stan and JoAnne
Stack, and Ken & Carolyn Bounds.
The heat was oppressive, but everyone made it just fine to South Bend.
After a brief stop at the hotel, we had lunch at Fiddler’s Hearth before
heading to the Studebaker Museum.
After being greeted by signs showing private parking for our group, we proceeded
on a guided tour. Our docent, Hank
Casimer, was very knowledgeable and entertaining.
The museum is truly spectacular, telling the story
of the Studebaker Brothers’ arrival in South Bend in 1850, the
establishment of their blacksmith shop, on through the years of making
carriages, including luxurious Presidential carriages, to their foray into
automobile manufacturing. The three
floors are a treasure trove of Studebaker history, carriages, automobiles, and
war materiel. After the tour,
some members continued on a tour of the Center for History museum while others
returned to the hotel to cool off and relax.
Saturday evening we had dinner at the Tippecanoe Restaurant - fine dining in one
of the historic Studebaker mansions.
On Sunday, your author and Carolyn had to leave the tour to attend a family
event and a few others began the trip back home, while those remaining continued
the tour. This report was sent to us
by our organizer, Joe Serritella:
“Sunday the group returned to the museum complex to tour the Oliver Mansion and
Center for History Museum. The Oliver mansion was a magnificently furnished 38
room Victorian Era home which was gifted to the community with all the family's
original furnishings. It really was breathtaking!”
Our thanks to Joe for arranging and leading the tour.
