Well, we're starting to come down now after a great week. I'm still so excited about what took place .....that I even haven't taken my wrist band off yet!!!!
For those of you that were not able to make it.....this is how it went.
I lied about only allowing only 348 and 409 cars into the car show!! We had one blown 427 show up for a little while on Friday. We have here in KC one, from what I have been told...only 2 were built.......a monster grocery cart with a blown 427 and zoomie headers!!!!!!
I scheduled it to show up on Friday from 11 to 1 as a surprise. And I had him park south of the Expo Center and come driving into the car show!! It is a sight to behold!! It probably stands 10-12' tall. I didn't get any pictures so hopefully someone can post one here!! It is sponsored by our local grocery chain Price Chopper. This would make Jesse James and his Monster Garage buddies proud!!!!
At the banquet Friday evening, we started with a benediction by Brad Steward, who works for me. After Brad's prayer, I announced that we would play the National anthem. While we were waiting for the music to start...slowly everyone started to stand up and look around for a flag. When the music came on...everyone was on their feet and laughing!!!
That's because "our" national anthem was sung by The Beach Boys!!!! We had almost 300 people singing "She's real fine...my 409" in unison!!!! I tricked 'em!!!!
After everyone got seated, I explained the schedule of events for the evening. I explained that we had our stroker motor that we would give away. We also had an auction item......a ONE ONLY 409 neon sign that had been made and donated by Dave Brazelton of Western Sign Co. It was absolutely beautiful!! Then I said we had one more item to be auctioned off. And I rolled out my pet project for the Convention......a ONE ONLY 409 barbeque grille that I had made!!!! If I might say...it turned out awesome. It had zoomie headers that would let out the smoke when you had it fired up!! Brand new rechromed real 409 valve covers and a real 400HP air cleaner!!! And the rest was powder coated Chevrolet orange. It was a big hit!! Again, hopefully somone here can post a picture.
Our sponsors had donated gifts that we drew numbers and gave away free. Shafer's Classic Reproductions gave us a complete 63-64 425HP aluminized exhaust system ( DQ won it!!); Ron Kunkle donated a 61-62 idler pulley assembly and a 62-63 4-speed, 4-core radiator; Speciality Reproductions donated one of their awesome 62 Super Sport trunk panel sets; A&M Soffseal donated weatherstrip certificates; M. Parker Autoworks donated a gift certificate for new wiring; Show Cars donated 2 complete heater delete sets...a 61-62 and a 63-64; and Classic Motor Co. donated a complete 61-64 gas tank, sending unit and installation straps.
Then, after dinner was over.......I finally told these grown men what the 348 and 409 mile marker signs were for!! Seeing all these 40 to 60 year old guys carrying their signs into the banquet....and not knowing why...was priceless for me!! This just shows that we men "are not necessarly smart...we're just imminetly trainable"!!!! This is what I explained to them. Never ever will we have an assembly of 348 and 409 persons together again that we had that evening. A lot of us had never met face to face before...either thru this forum or buying parts from a company across the country. We had many, many famous persons in that room that evening also. It was my goal to provide everyone with a once in a lifetime memory of this week. This sign could be hung in their garage or den or whatever to remind them of this evening. So...I said I had 450 brand new Sharpie black permanent markers here.....come up and get one and go have all your friends and dignitaries sign your own personal sign!! You should have seen everyone's eyes light up!! I think Hayden had a line for over an hour at his table. Needless to say...everyone went home with his own prized possesion!!
Then, we picked the winning ticket for the stroker motor. It was won by Larry Barnes of Ark City, Kansas. Larry had the white 58 409 with the Lamar aluminum Z-11 heads!! AWESOME CAR!! Word has it that Larry will be putting this engine in his new car......it's ready to be picked up at Paul Newman's...it has had a complete late model Corvette suspension put under it. The car???? A 1954 CORVETTE!!! This guy needs to be certified!!!!!!
Last event of the evening...I lied again about not having any trophys. We had the Hayden Proffitt "My Favorite Car" award. It went to John Ginn who had an immaculate 62 Corona Cream bubbletop. The car has scored above 990 in all the shows it has been in!! We really had some seriously nice cars here!!
That was it.......the dinner started at 6:30 and we all got done about 10.
As I said in an earlier post...this has been an incredible ride for me personally!! It was an honor to put this all on for you. Everyone seemed happy about the week...and for that I am grateful!!
For those of you that were not able to make it.....this is how it went.
I lied about only allowing only 348 and 409 cars into the car show!! We had one blown 427 show up for a little while on Friday. We have here in KC one, from what I have been told...only 2 were built.......a monster grocery cart with a blown 427 and zoomie headers!!!!!!
I scheduled it to show up on Friday from 11 to 1 as a surprise. And I had him park south of the Expo Center and come driving into the car show!! It is a sight to behold!! It probably stands 10-12' tall. I didn't get any pictures so hopefully someone can post one here!! It is sponsored by our local grocery chain Price Chopper. This would make Jesse James and his Monster Garage buddies proud!!!!At the banquet Friday evening, we started with a benediction by Brad Steward, who works for me. After Brad's prayer, I announced that we would play the National anthem. While we were waiting for the music to start...slowly everyone started to stand up and look around for a flag. When the music came on...everyone was on their feet and laughing!!!
That's because "our" national anthem was sung by The Beach Boys!!!! We had almost 300 people singing "She's real fine...my 409" in unison!!!! I tricked 'em!!!! After everyone got seated, I explained the schedule of events for the evening. I explained that we had our stroker motor that we would give away. We also had an auction item......a ONE ONLY 409 neon sign that had been made and donated by Dave Brazelton of Western Sign Co. It was absolutely beautiful!! Then I said we had one more item to be auctioned off. And I rolled out my pet project for the Convention......a ONE ONLY 409 barbeque grille that I had made!!!! If I might say...it turned out awesome. It had zoomie headers that would let out the smoke when you had it fired up!! Brand new rechromed real 409 valve covers and a real 400HP air cleaner!!! And the rest was powder coated Chevrolet orange. It was a big hit!! Again, hopefully somone here can post a picture.
Our sponsors had donated gifts that we drew numbers and gave away free. Shafer's Classic Reproductions gave us a complete 63-64 425HP aluminized exhaust system ( DQ won it!!); Ron Kunkle donated a 61-62 idler pulley assembly and a 62-63 4-speed, 4-core radiator; Speciality Reproductions donated one of their awesome 62 Super Sport trunk panel sets; A&M Soffseal donated weatherstrip certificates; M. Parker Autoworks donated a gift certificate for new wiring; Show Cars donated 2 complete heater delete sets...a 61-62 and a 63-64; and Classic Motor Co. donated a complete 61-64 gas tank, sending unit and installation straps.
Then, after dinner was over.......I finally told these grown men what the 348 and 409 mile marker signs were for!! Seeing all these 40 to 60 year old guys carrying their signs into the banquet....and not knowing why...was priceless for me!! This just shows that we men "are not necessarly smart...we're just imminetly trainable"!!!! This is what I explained to them. Never ever will we have an assembly of 348 and 409 persons together again that we had that evening. A lot of us had never met face to face before...either thru this forum or buying parts from a company across the country. We had many, many famous persons in that room that evening also. It was my goal to provide everyone with a once in a lifetime memory of this week. This sign could be hung in their garage or den or whatever to remind them of this evening. So...I said I had 450 brand new Sharpie black permanent markers here.....come up and get one and go have all your friends and dignitaries sign your own personal sign!! You should have seen everyone's eyes light up!! I think Hayden had a line for over an hour at his table. Needless to say...everyone went home with his own prized possesion!!
Then, we picked the winning ticket for the stroker motor. It was won by Larry Barnes of Ark City, Kansas. Larry had the white 58 409 with the Lamar aluminum Z-11 heads!! AWESOME CAR!! Word has it that Larry will be putting this engine in his new car......it's ready to be picked up at Paul Newman's...it has had a complete late model Corvette suspension put under it. The car???? A 1954 CORVETTE!!! This guy needs to be certified!!!!!!
Last event of the evening...I lied again about not having any trophys. We had the Hayden Proffitt "My Favorite Car" award. It went to John Ginn who had an immaculate 62 Corona Cream bubbletop. The car has scored above 990 in all the shows it has been in!! We really had some seriously nice cars here!!
That was it.......the dinner started at 6:30 and we all got done about 10.
As I said in an earlier post...this has been an incredible ride for me personally!! It was an honor to put this all on for you. Everyone seemed happy about the week...and for that I am grateful!!
NUT
