Great Lakes Rendezvous 6

Northern Illinois Regional Group • Northern Ohio Regional Group

By Ken Bounds

At the 2010 Western National Meet in St. George, Utah, Jeep Iacobucci and Ken Bounds discussed an idea about getting our two regional groups together for a tour.  That idea came to fruition the following year in Kalamazoo, Michigan.  This year brought our sixth such get-together on June 29 – July 2, this time in South Bend, Indiana.

On Thursday, June 29, participants from NIRG gathered at the Lincoln Oasis to pick up their goody bags and name badges and to begin the trip:  Ken & Carolyn Bounds – 1951 Mercury, John Emmering – 1949 Fordor (Robin would join us in South Bend), Eric & Joe Kozmic – 1953 Mercury, and Tom & Madeleine O’Donnell – 1953 Lincoln.  Driving modern vehicles were Gary & Dawn Osborne, John & Este Scheve, Ron & Colleen Steck, Len & Irene Vinyard, and Larry Webb & Virgie Burnquist.

Our trip to South Bend would have been uneventful except for a terrible traffic jam in Indiana due to construction.  After several miles of stop and go driving in the heat, the ’53 Mercury decided not to run right.  As we left the Interstate for secondary roads, it was ready to quit.  So we pulled into a gas station lot and quickly diagnosed an ignition issue.  While John Emmering and the modern vehicles continued on toward South Bend, we first changed the condenser (no improvement) and the coil (problem solved!) and were on our way in about 20 minutes.

Arriving at our lunch destination in South Bend only a few minutes late, we enjoyed delicious food and drinks at one of our favorite places, Fiddler’s Hearth.  We then proceeded the final block to the Doubletree and checked in.  While several checked out the hotel and nearby downtown sights, others awaited the arrival of the folks from Northern Ohio Regional Group and the Nifty-Fifties Club of Northern Ohio.

We were soon joined by Don & Judy Brehm, Jack & Sharon Bukszar, Craig & Annette Gorris, Jeep & Georgene Iacobucci, Steve Kronen & his mother Rose, John & Bonnie Lear, Bruce Lewicki, Pat & Barb Rooney, and George & Kathy Schlather.  Dan & Diane Francis and Regis & Beth Schilling would join us in Shipshewana Friday.

As soon as the Ohio group had a few minutes to get checked in, we were off on a short drive to Tippecanoe Place, the mansion built by Clem Studebaker in the 1880s.  We had about an hour for touring the beautiful mansion on our own or enjoying cocktails in the ornate bar.  At 7:00 pm we gathered for a terrific meal featuring a special menu for our group in a spectacular private room.

Back at the hotel several gathered in the atrium area to enjoy each other’s’ company before turning in to rest up for Friday’s events.

On Friday morning we lined up to begin a 41 mile driving tour to Shipshewana to visit Hostetler’s Hudson Auto Museum.  What started with a single vehicle more than 25 years ago has grown to include the largest collection of Hudson automobiles in the world, most donated to the city of Shipshewana by the late Eldon Hostetler.  We were fortunate that Eldon’s son, J.R. was one of our docents for our visit.  Everyone was impressed by the quality of the vehicles and how comprehensive the collection was.

After our visit, we continued on to our lunch destination, a delicious and filling buffet at the famous Blue Gate Restaurant.  We had plenty to eat, but skipped our afternoon nap to begin the drive back to South Bend.  Before returning to the hotel, we made a stop at the South Bend Chocolate Factory for a tasty tour.

Our evening schedule called for “dinner on your own.”  We were in South Bend during “restaurant week” and had provided menus from several downtown restaurants.  For some reason, most attendees found their way over to Fiddler’s Hearth, just a block from the hotel.  We all had a great time.

Saturday morning arrived with gorgeous weather.  Veterans of the joint tour know that Saturday is “yellow shirt day.”  While most of the group arrived for breakfast in their yellow shirts, Jeep & Ken had a trick up their sleeves, switching to green shirts for the drive to the Notre Dame campus.  We were met there by two docents who took us on an amazing two-hour walking tour of the historical campus.  There is so much history on that campus and we all learned a lot.  After our tour, we met at a campus restaurant called Legends of Notre Dame where we had a delicious lunch and some needed cold beverages.

After lunch we were off on the short drove across town to the Studebaker National Museum.  We learned the history of the Studebaker family’s arrival in South Bend and their early days as a blacksmith shop and later a premium carriage maker.  When cars came on the scene, Studebaker created some wonderful models right there in South Bend.  The museum is a super tribute to the contributions made by that family until the auto-making business shut down in the ‘60s.

Several other museums were available for our visitors, but most people were worn out and headed back to the hotel.  In the evening we gathered in the Doubletree Atrium for our traditional banquet.  After plenty of time for mingling during cocktail hour, we enjoyed a delicious barbeque buffet with far more food than we could eat.

When the dinner ended, Ken introduced the presidents of the three participating groups, a few words were said about the history of our gathering, and we had a drawing for door prizes.  Bonnie Lear took home a pocket of $$$ from the 50-50 raffle with the proceeds going to pay for the name badges/lanyards which will be used for future joint tours.

The final order of business was the discussion of the location for next year’s tour.  Several of the Ohio folks presented a compelling case for touring to Cleveland.  The proposal was accepted and we all look forward to meeting next year on the shores of Lake Erie!

Although we had some optional tours available on Sunday, most participants were ready to head home.  After breakfast, members of the three groups said our goodbyes and we hit the road.

Our trip home was uneventful – all the Early V-8s made the journey without incident.  Our thanks to everyone who participated and we are already making plans for 2018.