Our Tour to the 2016 Central National Meet

By Ken Bounds

Last month we gave you a very brief summary of the fun we had attending the 2016 Central National Meet in Tulsa; this month we wanted to give you more details and show more photos.

On Saturday, June 11, a group of us met at a McDonald’s along I-55 to caravan to Tulsa.  This included Jeff Trilling driving his ’52 Pickup and Ken & Carolyn Bounds driving their ’51 Mercury.  Frank Koeder trailered his ’39 Coupe, John & Este Scheve trailered their ’47 Coupe, and John Slobodnik with son John drove a modern pickup.  A day earlier, George & Dawn Zulas had begun their trip over secondary roads in their ’40 Tudor.  On Sunday, Ron Steck started his trip trailering his ’41 Station Wagon.

The trip down I-55 to our relaxing lunch stop in Litchfield was uneventful.  The same could not be said about the afternoon.  Before we made it into Missouri, Jeff’s Pickup began overheating.  After a quick stop to top off the radiator, we were back on the road; but not for long.  The overheating was back.  We soon learned that the truck was losing coolant.  We continued our trip at a reduced speed, but the coolant loss and overheating became epidemic.  Attempts by the side of the road to diagnose the cause were fruitless, including one stop to remove the thermostats in case they had failed.  Jeff resigned himself to simply driving the remaining 300+ miles to Tulsa at a reduced speed, stopping frequently to refill the radiator.  As we reported last month, the diagnosis in Tulsa was a blown head gasket which Jeff was able to get repaired.  Although he missed the concourse, Jeff was able to drive his truck on a driving tour the following day.

Meanwhile, back to the trip.  That first day we all made it to our evening stop in Lebanon, Missouri, where we enjoyed dinner at a local barbeque establishment.  We even had time to enjoy a few beverages in the parking lot where we fretted over Jeff’s mechanical issues.

On day two, Jeff got a very early start; the rest of us left the hotel before 7:00 am to complete the remaining 218 miles to Tulsa.  When we arrived at the huge Hard Rock Hotel and Casino complex in the blazing heat, we found places to park our vehicles and then went inside to register and begin the best part of any National Meet: meeting old friends and finding new ones.  Fortunately, we soon learned one of the nicer features of this meet – plenty of reserved space in the parking garage to house our vehicles out of the sun for the week.

As you probably know, we have several “long distance” members of our group from Tulsa that we claim as our own.  It turns out that they also just happened to play significant roles at the meet.  They are Rick & Marisa Claybaugh, their daughter Kim Claybaugh, and Joe & Paula Baughn (Paula is Rick’s sister).  Marisa was in charge of registration and did an outstanding job; she was also in charge of the tabulation room on Concourse day.  Rick was the Concourse Chairman and did a great job of assembling the judging teams and hosting the Owners/Judges meeting.  He also ran the Operational Check.  Kim was the lead meet photographer and arranged the slide presentations for the awards banquet.  Joe was in charge of the swap meet and worked with Marisa in registration.  The family involvement did not end there:  Rick’s brother Earl provided logistical support and tents on the concourse and wife Marguerite also worked in registration.

Carolyn and I had a fantastic time at the meet.  On Sunday, we worked with Marisa in registration and I got to spend some time with Rick and Kim at the Operational Check.  At the registration desk we met our Peoria members Marshal and Sue Adams, who had trailered their nice ‘40 Pickup.  By Sunday night Ron had arrived with his ‘41 and George & Dawn arrived in their ‘40.  Unfortunately, the generator quit and they were without headlights Sunday night.  George was able to find repairs at the meet.

On Monday most of us made it through the Operational Check and checked out the swap meet.   Jeff got some contacts from Rick and Joe and set out to get his truck repaired.  First it was thought that the radiator could be the problem.  Evidence soon pointed to the head gasket.  Jeff, who was met by his wife Mondira Bhattacharya at the meet, spent a few days back and forth to the repair shop until the truck was back in tip-top shape.  Monday came to a close with an evening Welcome Party.

Tuesday brought more meet activities and several meetings including the Foundation Meeting, Meet the President, and the Owners/Judges meeting.  The highlight of the day was the “Evening of Entertainment.”  Following another delicious meal, I was privileged to present commemorative medallions and certificates to the ‘41 Ford owners, including our own Ron Steck.  The good stuff came later - we were entertained by several performers including a steel guitar band, some swing music, and Country and Western.  The star performer was Leona Williams, who was once married to Merle Haggard and wrote some of his songs.

Wednesday was Concourse Day.  It was a beautiful day, but unbearably hot.  Fortunately, the hotel provided water stations on the concourse.  After the Judges Breakfast, everyone scurried to get their cars ready on the show field.  As Marissa and Carolyn verified vehicles on the concourse, I enlisted Kim for a little pranking.  You see, that day, June 15, was Rick and Marisa’s 25th Anniversary!  The night before, Carolyn had made an appropriate sign and Kim assisted me in putting the sign and balloons on Rick’s ‘34 Tudor Sedan.

As judging progressed, the meet staff provided rides to and from the hotel.  The concourse was filled with fantastic examples of our Early V-8s and everyone seemed to enjoy the cars in spite of the heat.  Back in the tabulation room everyone was working hard to make sure all the results were properly recorded.

That evening a few of us had dinner with the Claybaughs to celebrate their anniversary.  While Rick gave Marisa a beautiful ring, V-8 guys will think Rick was the big winner as Marisa gave him a Lebaron-Bonney interior for his ‘39 Fordor!

On Friday some members participated in some super driving tours.  A few took the “long tour” to Woolaroc Museum and Wildlife Preserve in Bartlesville; Jeff and Mondira went on the Gilcrease Museum tour.  Carolyn and I stayed behind at the Hardrock and worked with Marisa on trophy staging for the Awards Banquet.

Everyone had a great time at the banquet - see photos of awards received by our members on the next page.  As an incentive to attend the meet, the organizers had arranged a special drawing for any attendee who had also attended the aborted Brainerd Meet last year.  Although several of us had our fingers crossed, the look on Rich Grieve’s face was priceless as it was announced that he had won the $500 prize.  Rich is President of the Central Iowa group.

The banquet was a relaxing evening with a very nice meal as we wrapped up a wonderful week of V-8 camaraderie.  Once the presentations are over, it is time to start saying goodbyes.  Or, “see you at the next meet!”

All of us who participated want to say “Thank You” to Meet Chairman Gary Strode, Co-Chair Wayne Blackmon, and the great group of volunteers from the Tulsa Regional Group for a fabulous meet.

Friday morning we all began our trip home.  George & Dawn went on their own as they planned to spend some time visiting friends in Missouri.  Jeff got an early start as he wanted to drive at his own pace over a two-day trip.  The rest of us left around 6:45 am with the intention of making it back in one day.  Although we never encountered Jeff along the road, we did hear from him and he spent the night just north of St. Louis.  Our Mercury was running great and the guys following in the modern vehicles seemed to be handling the heat OK, so we pressed on toward home.  We made the 680-mile trip in 12 hours.  As I write this, it is already time to do it again!

Awards Banquet

At the Awards Banquet, Carolyn and I were honored to receive gifts from Meet Chairman Gary Strode.  In the next photo, Jeff Trilling receives the well-deserved Hard Luck Award from Co-Chair Wayne Blackmon.  Concourse awards for NIRG members were:  Frank Koeder, Dearborn; Ken Bounds, Dearborn Medallion; Ron Steck, Concourse 2nd Place; Kim Claybaugh, Touring 1st Place; Marshal Adams, Touring 1st Place; Joe Baughn, Touring A 1st Place; and John Scheve, Touring A 2nd Place.  Photos by Kim Claybaugh.