Early Ford Day 2010 – Volo Auto Museum

By Ken Bounds

A day that started out with rain or the threat of rain in parts of the Chicago area turned into an absolutely stunning mid-summer day in Volo for the Northern Illinois Regional Group’s Early Ford Day.  This was actually the 2nd annual Early Ford Day at the museum, but the inaugural event for our regional group.  Last year the Rockford group hosted the event on August 1, a date that was abnormally rainy and chilly with a high temperature of only about 70 degrees.  When the Rockford group asked us if we would like to take over the event after a very disappointing turnout, we moved it to August 14 to avoid a conflict with another event and were also blessed with perfect weather.  Unfortunately, although the steady stream of spectators was encouraging, the turnout of show cars was marginal and promised swap vendors never arrived.

Someone, somewhere, may be able to explain the dismal turnout; however, it was not a lack of planning, publicity, or enthusiasm of the many volunteers that came out to support the show.  Planning began with a meeting with the Volo President back in the chilly days of March.  Since then, club members distributed hundreds of flyers at area car shows and events.  Volo did a great job of advertising the show in car-related publications and even radio spots.  But on the day of the show, fewer than 40 cars rolled through the gates.  Was it the threat of rain?  Was it the Air & Water show 50 miles away on the Chicago lakefront?

Still, there are plenty of good things to talk about:  a dedicated group of members spent a lot of time and effort to support the show, both in planning and preparation and in execution the day of the show; those who took the time to come out and participate had a great time on a great day and got to see some quality cars; and our club picked up three new members.  Could we ask for more?

We need to thank many members who went above and beyond the call to support our Early Ford Day.  Ron Blum was able to secure some very valuable raffle items at no cost to our club, along with posters to advertise them at the show.  Ron also brought a significant amount of cash so we would have plenty of change for the registrations and raffle sales.  Ed Fontana brought out a terrific tent that served as our headquarters on the day of the show.  This tent was intended as a support area for show participants, but also served as a gathering area for all our volunteers to shield us from the 90-degree sunshine and was a central point for raffle ticket sales and display of our raffle items.  Ed also brought two Ford-logo bar stools for raffle items.  With the weak take at the gate, the enthusiastic sales of tickets for all the raffle items and the 50-50 tickets prevented the day from being a fiscal disaster.

We thank Neil McManus, Ron Blum, Tom Buscaglia, Ron Dopke, Ed Fontana, Joe Kozmic, John Judge, Joe Serritella, and John Slobodnik who handled the initial registration of participants as they arrived.  Helping participants at the information tent were Gladys Duzell, Gene Heintz, Carolyn Bounds and Ginny Ashley.  Raffle sales at the tent were handled by Carolyn Bounds, Cliff Dixon, and Marie Dispensa.  Helping park cars were Frank Madrigali, Joe Dispensa, Dan Pudelek, Ken Bounds, Ben Ashley, Earl Heintz, and Roger Meness.  Our roving 50-50 raffle ticket salesmen were Joey Novak and Len Vinyard.  Dan also manned the microphone all day making announcements and encouraging raffle ticket sales.  I’m sure I have missed someone; if so, my apologies.  Needless to say, we are grateful for the overwhelming support from all the volunteers.

We also want to make a special “shout out” to four members of the Badger State group who showed Early V-8s: the Deschlers, the Dutkiewiczs and the Kobbervigs in addition to our own Doug Leicht.

There is so much to see and do at the Volo Auto Museum that our registration fee was truly a bargain.  We charged $12 for each car containing up to two people.  This gave them complete access not only to the car show, but to the entire Volo grounds including 7½ miles of aisles in the four auto showrooms, the armed forces exhibit, the antique malls, and the hundreds of collector cars for sale.  By contrast, just walking into the museum complex costs each visitor $10.

Those of us who participated had a terrific time.  Just visiting with the follow V-8ers and seeing the Fabulous Flatheads would have been enough.  All of the museum attractions, including the ’37 Ford tour bus and other special items that Volo management brought out for us made for a very busy, entertaining day.

As the afternoon went along, we tried to keep up the enthusiasm of those in attendance by awarding raffle prizes.  The first was a Ford-logo barstool that was won by the cook at the Betty Boop outdoor grill.  The second barstool was won by yours truly.  As we got into more valuable prizes, the Arlington Park package for six was won by Stan Stack.  The White Sox box seat package for four went to our President’s son-in-law John Pauly.  The big winner of $175 in the 50-50 raffle was none other than one of our super salesmen, Joe Novak.  Three trophies were awarded based on a popular vote by participants.  Ron Blum took 3rd Place with his ’40 Fordor; John Scheve won 2nd with his ’37 Standard Tudor, and Jack Oliver took 1st for his neat, original, ’36 Pickup.

Eighteen members drove and displayed Early V-8s:  Ron Blum – ’40 Fordor, Ken & Carolyn Bounds – ’50 Crestliner, Tom Buscaglia – ’51 Tudor, Cliff Dixon with grandson – ’46 Coupe, Ron Dopke – ’40 Tudor, Lloyd & Gladys Duzell – ’35 Tudor, Earl & Gene Heintz – ’51 Mercury, John  Judge – ’51 Victoria, Joe Kozmic – ’53 Mercury, Doug Leicht – ’39 Coupe, Frank Madrigali – ’51 Pickup, Joey Novak – ’40 Pickup, Tom O’Donnell – ’40 Mercury, Dan Pudelek – ’53 Victoria, Dennis Roberts – ’50 Convertible, John & Este Scheve – ’37 Tudor, Stan & JoAnne Stack – ’53 Tudor, and Len Vinyard – ’39 Convertible.  Also, two new members who joined at the show displayed Early V-8s (see photos next page):  Jerry Pilcher – ’35 Coupe and Tom Shoulders – ’50 Sedan.  Two members brought other vintage cars:  George Cech – ’48 Plymouth and Steve O’Neill – ’66 Volkswagen.  The following volunteers were also present, arriving in modern iron:  Ben & Ginny Ashley, Joe & Marie Dispensa, Ed Fontana, Neil McManus, Roger Meness, and Joe Serritella.