Spring Fling – Lincoln, Nebraska

By Ken Bounds

The Cornhusker Group hosted the 37th Annual Spring Fling, this year in Lincoln, NE.  Joe Kozmic (’53 Mercury), Dan Pudelek (’53 Victoria), and Ken Bounds (’50 Convertible) made the 500 or so mile trek to Nebraska over the Memorial Day weekend.  The Fling was a tremendous success with 81 registrations, 150 V-8ers, and well over 60 Early V-8s.

Although we left very early in pouring rain, our V-8s performed flawlessly and we made excellent time to our Thursday stopover in Omaha.  Jerry Vincentini and Connie Francis had invited us to stop by their home.  They were fantastic hosts and plied us with mass quantities of food and drink after we had reviewed Jerry’s incredible collection of V-8’s, motorcycles, memorabilia, toys, and much more.  Omaha group members Bob and Jan McKelvie were also present and we were treated to a visit to Bob’s collection, primarily of fantastic Model Ts.

As we left Omaha for Lincoln, we were treated, along with others from the area, to a visit to a very large collection owned by Bernie Taulborg that by now is broken up.  Thanks, Jerry and Connie, for the great hospitality.

In Lincoln we did all the usual activities, including plenty of tire kicking, renewal of old V-8 friendships, and the making of new ones.  Attendees represented 10 states and at least 15 regional groups.  We just don’t have the space to list all the activities, but a highlight was a visit to “Speedy” Bill Smith’s Museum of American Speed.  It is hard to describe the incredible collection Mr. Smith has accumulated and shows in over 400,000 square feet of exhibition space.

We had a terrific time and a lot of laughs at the car games and people games on Sunday.  The awards banquet included a superb buffet at a very classy country club.  Our National President, Bob York, was a participant and addressed the group.  We thank the Cornhusker group for all their work to make this a great weekend.

After saying our goodbyes on Monday, our trip home was quick, hot, and uneventful.  Our V-8s made the 1,100-mile trip without a hiccup.  It was a great weekend of V-8 camaraderie and we plan to do it again.