Joint Tour to Dearborn, Michigan – August 22-25

By Ken Bounds

On the weekend of August 22-25, 13 members from the Northern Illinois Regional group met at the Lincoln Oasis and traveled to Dearborn to participate in our 3^rd annual joint tour with the Northern Ohio Regional Group and the Nifty Fifties Ford Club.  About 33 members from the two Ohio groups participated (see list on page 8).  Driving Early V-8s were Ken & Carolyn Bounds, 1951 Mercury Coupe and Ron Steck, 1940 Ford Pickup.  Sam & Judy Barone trailered their 1941 Ford Pickup.   Len & Irene Vinyard drove their1957 Ford Thunderbird while John & Robin Emmering, Gary & Dawn Osborne, and Joe & Delice Serritella drove modern cars.  It was a special treat that Gary & Dawn were able to join us for their first overnighter with the Club.

After seeing no rain for weeks, we were treated to showers well into Michigan.  Soon, though, the rain stopped and we had an uneventful drive to Dearborn and our weekend home, the Doubletree.  Through the efforts of our hosts Jack & Sharon Bukszar and Frank & Ginger Posar, the hotel went out of their way to provide a complimentary daily breakfast, special parking for our cars, and a wash area.

Friday night about 25 of us went to dinner at a very popular Italian restaurant and had a great meal with great service.  Afterward, several of us spent a few hours in the hotel parking lot discussing world affairs.  Saturday morning brought our first driving tour.  Driving his ’56 T-Bird, Frank Posar led a caravan of classics and other vehicles to Grosse Pointe, where we visited the Edsel & Eleanor Ford home.  We had to break into several smaller groups for the tour; everyone enjoyed the incredible home, the grounds, and the garage. We learned a lot about the Ford family and the times when the house was built.

After a stop for lunch, we continued our drive to the Selfridge Air Force Base.  We toured the on-base museum which showed the history of U.S. military aviation from WW-1 to present.  The most interesting part of the tour was when we were able to board several retired aircraft and were given a detailed history of the craft by servicemen who had worked aboard them.

Our touring for the day completed, we caravanned back to the hotel through the insane Detroit traffic and some interesting construction zones.  On one of the rough roads, one of Sam’s headlight rims flew off his ’41, whizzed by us, and was promptly crushed by a minivan.  In the evening we all drove to the nearby Kiernan’s Steak House for a nice dinner.

Saturday morning we were on the road again, this time for a short trip to The Henry Ford.  Here, participants had the choice of several venues for spending their day: the Henry Ford Museum, Greenfield Village, the Rouge Factory Tour, or the Henry Ford IMAX Theater.  Our classic Fords were parked in a place of honor along the road in front of the clock tower at the museum.  Carolyn and I decided to spend the entire day at the Henry Ford Museum; still, we did not even see it all.  The exhibits – Made in America, Driving America, Presidential Limousines, Heroes of the Sky, and With Liberty and Justice for All – were fascinating and were about much more than just Ford.  Although we did not have time for Greenfield Village or the Rouge Factory Tour, those who attended were equally impressed.

Saturday evening we all gathered in a private room at the hotel for a buffet banquet.  Our hosts had put together some fun quizzes and several prizes.  Robin won a gift basket for winning the ladies’ quiz, Gary won the book The Ford Century for winning the men’s quiz, Carolyn won a necklace as a door prize  (she’s making a habit of that), and Sam Barone was the first winner of the traveling Hard Luck trophy for the loss of his headlight rim.  We even sold a bunch of raffle tickets in support of the 2014 Central National Meet.

After several presentations, the final order of business was to decide where we will meet next year.  The choice was unanimous:  Auburn, Indiana.  Sunday, after saying our goodbyes, everyone headed home.  Those of us in the classic cars drove together.  We all made it safely home and look forward to meeting again in 2014.