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2009 Florida State Meet (Conclusion)

We made it through Atlanta easy enough, but drove through some heavy rain from McDonough to Macon. In Forsythe the temperature jumped from 62 to 72 degrees in the space of a mile. By the time we got into Florida it was in the 80s. We didn’t see a single Studebaker until we pulled into the Holiday Inn in Deland that evening at 5:30 P.M.

While I’m checking in and chatting with old friends Wayne pulled around back to unload the Starliner. He undid all the tie-downs and put the ramps in place and then he came up to the room asking me for a coat hanger. He was pretty quiet so I asked him what he needed the hanger for and he said he couldn’t find his keys so he needed the hanger to unlock the door so he could get his spare key inside the car.

From my 3rd floor window I can see Wayne walking around the car scratching his head and wiping the sweat from his forehead and walking around the trailer several times. I told myself something is not right. Finally, Wayne came up to the room one more time to tell me he found the extra key but it wasn’t for the ignition - it was for the gas cap. So there it was - we had driven all the way from Atlanta to Deland Florida and the key was still on the work bench at home.

So I immediately started calling some of our friends to see if anyone could help him. I told them what had happened. I thought maybe I could borrow someone else’s ’53 keys that might work on our car - but no luck.

Wayne tried to explain to me that

Studebaker keys won’t work in a car with a Cadillac steering column in it. Thanks to my quick thinking - how about a locksmith - maybe they can make a key for you? A phone call later we learned it would cost $145 and the steering column would have to be disassembled - meaning more $$$. Wayne decided just to leave it on the trailer and eat crow all weekend.

We enjoyed catching up with old friends and seeing some Studebakers we hadn’t seen before - such as the 1924 Big Six Ambulance - hearse with the skeleton in the front seat. As always the North Central Florida Chapter did a great job. The hospitality room was their best yet - they never ran out of goodies all day long. The delicious lunch was spare ribs and chicken barbecue that was catered in from Gainesville and cooked on-site Saturday morning. Dinner and the awards banquet were great with lots of folks in Halloween costumes. The banquet room was pretty big and I’d guess there were about 120 people there - maybe more.

At the end of the show, two hard luck stories had been told when Stephen Cade stood up and shouted across the room for Wayne to tell his hard luck story. Wayne did so and closed by saying his wasn’t a Studebaker hard luck story; it was more of a brain dysfunction. The entire room laughed and clapped - but he didn’t win the hard luck trophy. That went to a guy who melted something on his motor.

As we were leaving Sunday morning several people in the parking lot waived their car keys at Wayne - all with big grins. Some came up to me suggesting I keep the car keys the next time.

Kudos to the members of the North Central Florida Chapter for their hard work and putting on a great show - even though our car didn’t get off the trailer.

South GA Chapter members present included: George and Ann Klutkowski, Glenn and Jackie Hayes, Joel and Karel Daniel, Wayne and Ann Lee, Stephen Cade and family, and Edward Burris.