The 24th Annual Keels and Wheels celebration was last weekend. Despite the down pour on Friday night, we had great weather on Saturday and Sunday. There were 11 Packards this year and seven of them were from our club. A big thank you goes to those who displayed their Packard for this very worthy activity. We also had members displaying cars other than Packards. Jay and Mary Matthews showed a 1917 Chevrolet, Richard & Irina Mitchell showed their ’30 Packard, a ’31 LaSalle, ’31 Rolls Royce, and five Stutz, Jeff Pate with a highly customized Chevrolet his Classic Cars of Houston restored.

Over the years, Keels and Wheels have contributed more than a million dollars to charity. Much of that has gone to the former Boy's Harbor now known as Today’s Harbor for Children. As you know, K&W is one of our community service events each year.

Awards:
Dan Grilli won Best in Class with his ’48 Super 8. Our ‘55 Clipper won the silver award, 2nd place in the class. My '47 won a ribbon awarded by the youth judges from Hagerty. It was fun explaining to them the difference between a straight 8 and a v8. I appreciate Hagerty establishing this program to foster interest in classic cars by the younger generation. Our friend Angelica Brothers, who spoke at one of our meetings, was the sponsor of this group. Richard Mitchell won 1st place for one of his Stutz. Jay Matthews won the Tom Timmins Memorial Award presented by Evelyn for all the work he has done on his 1917 Chevrolet.

The 42nd Annual Texas Packard meet was a great success by every measure. I hesitate to mention names of those who helped for fear of leaving someone out but I am going to try anyway. We could not have pulled this off without the help of LSP members: Rena and Jack, Ben and Janice, Tony and Shirley, Rich and Karen, Bill and Judy, Doug and Maureen, Larry and Lily, Janice Musgrove, and JC and Sherry. In addition Assistant Director John was always offering to help as needed as well as new member Tom Drisdale. The Katy bunch did much of their work on Tuesday night work sessions making car tags, stuffing envelopes etc. It was our wish to begin the rebuilding of our meet after the expansion of Interstate 35 forced a move out of Salado. We had 75 master registrations which exceeded last year's total and 45 cars scheduled for the show. Unfortunately, while we had really cold weather to deal with a year ago, the rain in Salado had a very negative impact on how many of those cars actually showed up. Some got there but never got out of their box trailer. While many cars stayed home, the owners did not.

I am guessing the 75 registrations probably resulted in over 125 people. Lone Star Packard had 34 folks present counting the Myers who hold dual membership with Ark-La-Tex. I appreciate the support from LSP!
The numbers indicate the move back to Salado was the right decision. We had people from all over Texas plus six other states.
In order to make things work, we had to think out of the box. We had the show and the dinner off site at the Salado Civic Center operated by the school district. The school people were wonderful to work with; however, Saturday morning we had that really big down pour! We did not stay long before heading back to the hotel. Actually, the rain started just as the parade left the hotel and got worse the closer we got to the show field.
It also affected the number of people who were in front of the shops watching us parade down Main Street.
No decision yet but I think the consensus was that we have the people's choice show on the hotel grounds next year.
The Thursday night ice cream social and Packard bingo was a success and it likely will now become a regular event.

The Friday night mixer at the Barrow Craft Brewery was very popular. On Friday nights they have food trucks and an outdoor concert and craft beer as well as on site produced root beer. The brewery owns the land up to the edge of Salado Creek and we were allowed to park the Packards next to the creek.
It made for beautiful pictures and since this is a big deal every Friday night in Salado, a lot of people enjoyed looking at our cars. I am thinking maybe we should move the parade from Saturday morning to Friday evening for the trip from the hotel to the Barrow Brewery. There should be a lot more people on Main Street at that time to view the Packard parade.
We have time to think about next year’s schedule.

It took all 4 Texas Packard Clubs to make the return to Salado successful. Thank you all!

On Saturday the 16th, we met at the new Red River BBQ Restaurant in League City. The new building is much larger and it is located behind the original building where we have met before. The original building was remodeled and is now the Red River Cantina. Saturday was the all you can eat rib special and I noticed about half of our folks got the ribs. We had 27 people who sent an RSVP but one of those got the "hard luck" award. Jay took off from Bellville in plenty of time to get to our League City meeting but ran into one traffic snag along I-10 after another. When he finally thought the road was clear and he could make it they shut the freeway down for a long funeral procession. He finally gave up and was home after 3 hours. Thanks for trying Jay! Packards at the meeting We were happy to see the 5 Packards make it to the meeting. Thanks to the Carlsons for bringing the '56 Clipper, to the Eanes for bringing their '54 Pacific, to the Lortzs for bringing the '53 convertible, to Chris for bringing the '55 Clipper and we brought the '47 Clipper.

Following lunch, we traveled the short distance to our home in the Meadows. Carol had apple pie, key lime pie, brownies, and Blue Bell homemade vanilla. After everyone's sweet tooth was satisfied, we moved on to a short meeting. Basically, I just gave a summary of Salado preparations and distributed a copy of the schedule of events which will appear in everyone's registration material. We will also need to help Rena with registration and help Carol with decorating and setting up the Bluebonnet room at the civic center for our banquet. North Texas and Arklatex will be working with the hospitality room. We showed a copy of the car tags for the show that Jan has been working on.

I neglected to mention that Judy Anderson has had some health setbacks and I know she and Bill would appreciate prayers.

We lowered our dues this year to $10 annually, which is half the original amount. Out of approximately 50 families, we only have about 26 who have paid for 2019. Please send your check to the Trokeys as soon as possible so you can be in the next directory and not miss out on the emails

Plans for March are being formulated at this time and will be announced.

As we begin our 55th year as the nation’s third oldest region of PAC, we continue to not only be one of the oldest but one of the most active regions. We hope you will enjoy this first edition of our new format for the OWNER'S MANUAL which will now be a monthly rather than quarterly publication to keep us well informed.

Despite cold and very windy weather, 29 LSP members ventured to the western frontier of our membership area to visit the Hemi Hideout near Brookshire. Patricia and Ron arranged this visit for us and their other club, The Katy Cruisers.

Unfortunately, the storm which hit the area last night knocked out the electricity. Still, what little sunlight that came through the glass areas plus many folks using the light on their phone, we were able to check out the numerous examples of Chrysler "muscle cars". We last visited the hideout two or three years ago and there were some new additions. Just before we left for the restaurant, the Texas Tradition, in nearby Katy, the lights came on allowing visitors to not only get a better look at the cars but also the hundreds of neon auto related signs in the collection.

Speaking of the Texas Tradition, I don't think I have ever had a better hamburger than the one Carol and I shared for lunch on their homemade bun! Karen and Rich had arranged for us to eat there once before but it may have been close to ten years ago. We will have to go back.

We welcomed new member, Tom Drisdale, and his son to their first LSP meeting. Tom is an old friend of mine from elementary through high school. He got interested in Packards by looking at our pictures on Face book. Actually, he has a little bit of history with Studebaker/Packard, as his grandfather was an executive at Mozart and Keller Studebaker in downtown Houston. They added Packard to their showroom floor in 1957 and 1958.

Tom found a 1940 110 Coupe in the Austin area Craig's List and snapped it up. It needs a little work but he is picking it up in a few days and we can expect to see it soon. I think it is very similar to Ben and Janice’s 1940.

We have yet another new Packard in our region! John and Lynn Eanes just purchased a 1954 Pacific hard top similar to the one they already have. I think John found it on the Los Angeles Craig's List and it is now home in Galveston. Interesting story - I guess a lot of folks had been bothering this elderly couple in an attempt to buy it really cheap and then flip the car for a profit. They were not very friendly until John told them he was a member of the Lone Star Packard Region and wanted the car to keep. I guess it pays to be recognized as a member of LSP! We look forward to seeing this new car.

I encourage both Tom and John to get a picture of their new cars to Doug for the Website so everyone can see them.

At this time, we do not have plans finalized for the February meeting. It will likely be on our regular 3rd weekend and probably in the Clear Lake/League City area. As soon as we nail it down you will get a notice.

May this note find all of you in good health and great holiday spirits. Sunday, December 9, we kicked off the season with our annual Christmas Holiday party. We had a record 55 members and guests meet at Hasta la Pasta Italian Restaurant on the West Grand Parkway in Katy. The food was very good and despite the crowd the service was equally good. Usually, the Baccaros win the attendance count but John and Vivian had a total of 10 in attendance and they had more they could have brought!

Following lunch, we arrived at Jack & Rena’s Car Cave for the party. We had a gift swap which follows the "Texas Steal" game. Everyone had a great time, even if they had to give up their gift. Prior to the gift swap, Jack grabbed his guitar and he and Rena led us in a round of Christmas songs. Many of the ladies brought desserts and I probably sampled more than I should have but it is a known fact that our ladies make really good treats!

During the meeting, I reminded the members that our officer terms are for two years and that we will be beginning the second year of the current two year term. We appreciate the officers and those who volunteer to help our region be one of the most active regions in PAC. We also notified members that following our established practice, we will be making a $50 donation to the Packard Foundation for the restoration of the Packard Proving Grounds in the name of Bernie Stebenne.

It was announced that our next meeting will be a return visit to the Hemi Hideout Saturday, January 19 at 9 AM. Following the visit we will travel back to Katy for lunch at the Texas Traditions. We will be joined at both sites by members of the Katy Cruisers.

I took the opportunity to ask for volunteers for Salado. J.C. and Sherry have already volunteered to help us set up and decorate the civic center for our Saturday evening program. We also need someone to make some signage for the lobby area of the Holiday Inn and maybe a new box for the long distance award (It needs to be clear that the Packard needs to be driven to Salado). Janice and Ben said they would work in the hospitality room but I am hoping there will be enough workers from the other clubs to handle much of it. Speaking of the hospitality room, spoke to Angelica from Hagerty last week and they are going to provide us with those large bags and maybe some of the goodies she passed out at our meeting a couple of months ago. They may even make a contribution to the hospitality room. Anthony is going to help Larry with lining up the cars for the show but they could probably use more help. Because of his experience with making car tags for his own show the last 5 years, I asked Lenny if he would make the windshield signs showing the various classes and he agreed. The closer we get the more things I will think about that need to be done. Reminder, if you have misplaced the information sheet and or the TPM Registration form we sent out in September, you can go to http://texaspackardmeet.org/ and print copies. Make your reservations early with the Holiday Inn by calling the direct number shown on the information sheet and mention the Packard meet to get the special rate. Rena has more than a dozen registrations as of yesterday including one that came in from California. Our national publicity began appearing a couple of weeks ago in the Cormorant News Bulletin and I got a note from the Texas Highways magazine that it would be in their next issue, so we expect more out of state registrations to come soon.

Doug Carlson and Tony Darrow are the only members that drove their Packards. The winner of our David McDonald award – for the member that drove his car to the most meetings in 2018 - will be announced at the next meeting.

We all have a great time at our meetings but they do not just happen. Please thank the Trokeys, Carters and Sartins for making this one such a great success.

Despite cold, damp weather and numerous freeway construction obstacles, thirty members of Lone Star Packards made our meeting on November 10. We met at the Pappas BBQ Restaurant at 7007 Southwest Freeway for lunch, dessert, our business meeting and the 50/50 drawing won by Robert Quinn. We also were pleased to have our "trifecta" of V8 Clippers presented by the Darrow’s ‘57, the Carlson’s '56 and our '55. I had planned on bringing the '48 but after seeing the traffic situation on the morning news it did not take long for me to decide I would rather navigate all the mess with an Ultramatic transmission and power steering! It was a little over 70 miles round trip for us and as much as I love driving our '48 lwb on the straight away, it is not a lot of fun in heavy Houston traffic!

My thanks to Ben and Janice for making all the arrangements for the meeting at Pappas, and for providing the Packard cake for dessert. Following lunch, Ben and Janice also arranged for us to tour fellow member Jeff Pate's Classic Cars of Houston restoration shop approximately 2 miles away. Jeff is an excellent and informative host. He explained how expensive some of the restorations are and mentioned that the total cost is often more than the street value of the car. Why do people have them restored? Many times it is because of an emotional attachment for a car that one's father may have bought new or maybe it was the first car someone owned. It is impossible to put a value on those kinds of feelings. I started out in this hobby trying to either find my grandfather's metallic green 1950 sedan with Ultramatic that I learned to drive on or at least a twin. Seven Packards later, I still don't have it and probably never will. However, if I had found it I would have been willing to spend much more than it was worth to get it back on the road. We got to see Jerry Ehrman's red '53 Caribbean, that Jeff is working hard to correct a previous shops effort, and also an Auburn belonging to Chris' boss. I think my favorite was the dark blue 1949 Buick convertible.

Many paid Karen for this year's Christmas lunch scheduled Sunday, December 9 at 1:00 pm. If you did not, please get your money to her by December 1, so she can finalize arrangements with the Hasta la Pasta Restaurant in Katy.The information sheet and also the registration form for Salado was sent out in September for you to copy and complete. It can be found on the texaspackardmeet.org website for you to copy. In addition, Janice plans on including it in the next OWNERS MANUAL which is scheduled to come out later this month or early December. Jim Hill will include it in the next issue of the STAGECOACH which will probably arrive in December. Please complete the form and mail to Rena Sartin.

Our December meeting will be the Christmas party as mentioned. The Orrs are working on a return trip to the "Hemi Hideout" for our January meeting. If this does not work out, we will try to arrange for us to meet at the "Jay" Cafe in Needville again and then tour Brazos Bend State Park following lunch. Our March meeting will be just a month before Salado. It may be wise to hold March open to have a business meeting to make sure we have everything covered - more to follow.

On Sunday, October 14, we met at the Brookwood Community near Brookshire at noon where Lenny Holzband made arrangements with the administration for us to provide a parade of Packards for the residents of Brookwood. Despite the inconvenient time, which was dictated by Brookwood due to their church service at 1 PM and the extreme heat, we had a nice representation of Packards. I guess we once again won the long distance award as our trusty '55 Clipper recorded 155 miles round trip. Actually, John and Vivian probably drove as far in their '53 convertible. I am getting closer to pulling the trigger on an A/C for the '55 as it was plenty hot for an afternoon drive home! In addition, we want to thank the Holzbands for their '41 120 sedan, the Carlsons for their (air conditioned) '56 Clipper, the Darrows for their '57 Clipper. Also thanks to the Sartins for bringing their classic Mustang, and the Carters for at least driving their 1940 to the Swinging Door. This activity will count as one of our two yearly public service activities with Keels and Wheels being the other.
Following the parade, we motored through a scenic route to the Swinging Door Restaurant. The Swinging Door was one of our favored meeting places in the 90's but we had not been there in a while. It is just as good as ever and we were treated very nice - we need to put it back on our list. We were joined by those who did not drive through Brookwood and had a total of 27 for lunch.
At the meeting, we voted to postpone a fall tour for a couple of months. For November, Ben is going to work on a visit to a local restoration shop. This will probably be on November 10 in order to keep it away from holiday plans - more information will follow. December 9 we will be at the Hasta la Pasta restaurant on SH 99 and then we will move to the Sartin's garage in nearby Katy. Please send pre-payment for the Christmas Lunch to Rich and Karen. The cost will be $18 per person and the club will pay the tax and gratuity.
In January, the Orrs have us on the list for another visit to the Hemi Hideout in Brookshire. We will have more information as we get closer. In February, we will do our "WINTER TOUR” by visiting the Gullo Collection, which we had planned for November, but they were closed to the public while they decorated for Christmas. We will have lunch nearby and plan to also visit Old Iron Works to check out some of the completed classics as well as those in progress. Right now March is open and of course April is Salado.
We always have half a dozen or more of our cars in the Keels and Wheels Show and fund raiser for Children's Harbor. Let's make it a record turnout this year! Please consider showing your car. If you cannot, then come out and visit with us on Packard row under the 100 year old Oaks.
I mentioned that Dick Bautch had been having difficulty getting his Super 8 going and he could use advice from the membership though he thinks he has isolated the problem as the accelerator pump in the carb. The Andersons are having a little over heating issue with their new 1941 120 Coupe Special but making progress.
We also covered the topic of Packards available. First and foremost, we need to help Janice Musgrove sell the '55 400 that Dale was working on. I can give you more details if interested.
Next, we mentioned that Sherry and J.C. Hairrell visited the Dan Hall collection in the Mineola area. Like fellow Arklatex member Wendall Spradbury, Dan Hall is selling his collection of some 30 Packards in various conditions plus a lot of parts. The Hairrels spent more than an hour visiting and taking pictures which they will share with us.
I also mentioned the green '48 that we sent out pictures of a week or so ago because the owners have become very motivated. However, since we were in Fort Bend County and the car is located in Sugar Land, John checked it out after the meeting. He said the body is solid but it needs everything else including paint, interior, chrome plus whatever engine work is needed. John said it is not a parts car because of the shape of the body but not far away from it. The owners have an unrealistic view of the value in the current condition.

Despite the temperature being 92 and the feel like temperature being at least 96, 42 members of the Lone Star Region drove to today's meeting. Doug and Maureen loaded their '56 up and headed to the meeting. The Lortzs and the Darrows braved Mosquitoes as big as Humming Birds to drive their Packards with the top down or windows down. We met at the Potatoe Patch Cafe, home of the "throwed rolls" on FM 1960 just east of the Hardy Toll Rd. Food was good and so was the service.
During the meeting we discussed several items of interest:
Lenny related that we will provide a parade for the residents of Brookwood on Sunday, October 14. We will meet in the parking lot near the gift shop at 12 noon. Following the parade we will spend a little time letting the residents check out our cars and then we will take a 45 minute drive through the country to the Swinging Door BBQ restaurant .This activity will serve as our other public service activity since the car show benefiting the Houston food bank was canceled. We may have members of the Gulf Coast AACA as well as the Katy Cruizers join us to make it a really special event for the residents. Thanks to Lenny and Paula for working on this. By the way, Lenny is having eye surgery later this week so please remember him in your prayers.
Several officers and members gave reports:
Rich related that the club is very solvent and dues money is coming in from new members.
Ben said we have over 50 members and when you count spouses and children the result is we have 94 people that make up the Lone Star Region. Our club, though small, appears to be bucking the trend as we continue to grow and we actually have a number of members who are not on Medicare yet!
Janice reported the September birthdays.
Karen spoke about the Christmas party on December 9th at the Hasta La Pasta Restaurant on Grand Parkway. Following lunch, we caravan the short distance to the Sartin's car barn for desserts, games, tire kicking, and other fun activities.
I reported that Rena Sartin also came to our rescue by volunteering to serve as the Texas Packard Meet registrar for the 2019 meet. For personal reasons the fellow who had volunteered felt other obligations caused him to feel a need to resign. Thank you Rena! The announcements of the meet have been sent electronically to the dozen or more contacts. We will need a lot of help from the membership once we get to Salado so thank you in advance.
Shirley mentioned they recently made a trip to San Marcos to visit Dick's Garage antique car museum. Since the founder’s death several months ago, the family has decided to sell the collection (approximately 100 cars including a number of fine Packards) and start a charitable foundation in Dick's honor. The museum will close in December and all the cars will go to auction. We went last month. There had been 7 Packards in the collection when we went two years ago but only 5 remain. While we were there, we also took a ride on the glass bottom boats on Spring Lake. It was once the site of the Aquarena Springs theme park and the home of Ralph the swimming pig! The site is now operated by Texas State University (still Southwest Texas State to me). If you go to the museum, check out the view from the glass bottom boats before you leave.
Ron Jordan was our guest speaker today. He related that he bought his first Packard, a '51 Patrician, with proceeds from his paper route when he was actually too young to legally drive. He has been buying and collecting them ever since and currently owns four 1956 Packards. When Carol and I joined LSP back in the 70's, Ron was the Director. He also was the meet chair for the 1984 National Packard Club Meet that we hosted at the Shamrock Hotel in 1984. For your information, our key note speaker was the late James Nance the last president of the Packard Motor Car Company. He gave a really great account of the last days of Packard and all the problems he faced. He died two weeks later so his appearance at the Shamrock was probably his last public appearance.
It was also mentioned that we have no definite plans for a fall tour in November. If no one comes up with something, we will come up with a regular meeting.
I mentioned that if anyone was interested in a brand new Packard, check out the 1940 110 sedan at the "The Body Shop" in Spring. I can put you in touch with Paul Trimmier, the owner. Also, I failed to mention that Janice Musgrove still wants to sell the '55 400 that Dale almost finished. The engine, power windows and interior have all been done but it is missing a front fender and probably would need some TLC to get going.

WOW, we had a great Lone Star Meeting today! Despite the heat, the unexpected thunder shower, and road construction, 45 members made it to Luna's Mexican Restaurant on South Shore Blvd. At least 41 friends made it to our house for dessert and our business meeting following lunch. We scrambled for enough chairs but utilizing some the Trokeys brought, all of our folding chairs and the canvas chairs we use at Keels and Wheels, plus our regular furniture, we were able to seat every one.

Many thanks to Doug and John who brought out their '56 and '54 Packards. We had the '40 and the '47 all shinned up and ready to go when the downpour came. Since the wipers on the '40 are giving me grief, I put it up and we just drove the '47 Custom but the garage was open and the '40 along with the '48 and '55 were ready to greet guests. Wouldn't you know the rain stopped as we were leaving for the restaurant and never came back, so we could have brought the '40.

We were happy to get to visit with the Calistrats who we don’t get to see as often as we would like and were thankful their son Andy was able to come with them. The Carlsons gave Janice Musgrove a ride and we were very happy she got to come. Janice still has the '55 400 that Dale almost finished and she would like to sell. Please give her a call if interested. Dick Bautch made the meeting and that was great as he has missed a lot due to his recent broken arm. We also met Chuck Fleming and family from Baytown. The Flemings have a '55 Super Clipper. We are looking forward to welcoming them into the club.

Several important items were discussed at the meeting:
1. Since we are no longer paying for postage and printing of the Owner's Manual, we do not need to collect as much money for dues. Beginning in January, our dues will be reduced to $10 per family a year. This will be a one year trial and we will re-visit our dues structure a year from now. We certainly will continue with our 50/50 drawings at our meetings.
2. Karen gave a report on the Christmas party which will be held at Hasta la Pasta and the Sartins on December 9th. The club will contribute $5/person towards this activity.
3. We also mentioned we have no activity set for September or the fall tour in November. One member said he would check to see if they could help out in September. No comments regarding the fall tour.

Bill Anderson recently sold his Thunderbird and is seriously looking for a Packard. Bill won today's 50/50 drawing so he has a little more money to spend on the Packard!

I also mentioned that the Trimmer’s 1940 110 sedan is almost finished. It has undergone a total frame off restoration and is virtually a new Packard. Paul has decided to sell it and if you are interested I will get you in touch. The car is at The Body Shop (that is the name of the facility) in Spring. I am going to call them and ask for some pictures when complete and we will post them.

We had a brief up-date on Salado preparations. I am breathing a sigh of relief as we guaranteed 30 rooms and already have 29 booked. There will be plenty of work to do and I know we can count on our membership to help.

Many thanks to the Sartins for once again extending their hospitality and letting us use the car barn for our June meeting. I also want to thank the rest of the Katy bunch and the Carters for doing so much to make this function as well as all our others a success. Despite "doom and gloom" from the weather people, we did not have a tropical storm. We never got a drop of rain and there were no dark clouds in the sky. I had contemplated bringing one of our Packards on the 60 mile trip because the latest weather reports said bad weather would be late Saturday and Sunday. It also said the high temp for the day was going to be 88 degrees. For South Texas in June that is cool weather. However, we decided to be wimps and drive our air conditioned Explorer. Boy was I glad! On the way home the temperature monitor on the dash board said 98 degrees as we drove down the Sam Houston Tollway on the way to the Gulf Freeway. We would have fried in a Packard! Can't wait for winter to return!
We were really pleased to see Rich and Karen's '38 Coupe make its first LSP meeting in a long time. Rich and friends have worked long and hard to get it back on the road and we are happy for them. The Carlsons again rode in comfort in their air conditioned '56 Clipper. One of these days we are going to surprise every one when we roll up in our Clipper with the windows up. (I may do it just as a joke).
We had 43 members in attendance this afternoon. The club furnished the BBQ and everyone brought a dish or a dessert to go along with the main course. Karen got the BBQ from Midway BBQ in Katy.
During the meeting we got various committee reports and I brought everyone up to date on our plans for the Texas Packard Meet in Salado 2019.
From Activity Director Chris there will be no meeting next month due to the National Meet in Ohio. In August the senior Baccaros plus Anthony will host in League City. We will have lunch at the new Red River BBQ which was built right behind the old one where we have eaten several times. The old building which faces Main Street (518) is being rebuilt and converted to Red River Cantina. I don't think it will be open by then but we will try it in the future. Following lunch we will travel to our house which is about a mile away in the Meadows sub-division. By August the temperature will likely be in the 100's, therefore Packards are not required. Since it is so close we will bring a couple of ours to the restaurant - more information to follow.
Among the highlights of the Salado report:
The headquarters hotel will be the Holiday Inn Express.
On Thursday night for the early birds, there will be an ice cream social and Packard Bingo as many of you enjoyed in Kerrville.
On Friday morning Gordon Logan will again design a great "early bird tour".
Friday evening, we will have a mixer and car display at the Salado Brewery which is in the middle of town. They will have a special area for our cars and there will be food trucks providing dinner.
We are negotiating with the school district to use the Civic Center on Main St. for the Saturday morning car show and swap meet, as well as the dinner and awards program that evening. All the paper work has been submitted and we are just waiting to hear back from them. The Civic Center is actually the original high school and the district's administrative offices are on the top floor. I must mention that since it is school property, no alcoholic beverages will be allowed. If the Civic Center does not work out for some reason, we have a plan "B" and maybe even a Plan "C" to pursue but I have my fingers crossed. Once the site is settled, we have three caterers from whom we will take proposals. Due to logistics some changes in our format were necessary but we will still have all the aspects of the Texas Packard Meet we have enjoyed each year.
We did stress that we need to fill up the first 30 rooms as soon as possible. We only agreed to 30 because we did not want to be responsible for any unsold rooms and thought 30 would be safe. As soon as we sell those first 30, we will know we won't be responsible for unsold rooms plus we will be pretty sure we will have a successful meet. As of Friday, 16 of those 30 have been reserved. Thank you!
If you have not done so, please call the Holiday Inn in Salado at 254-947-4004 to reserve your room. You must call this number to get the Texas Packard Meet rate, as it is not available on the national Holiday Inn reservation number. If you reserve now and then cannot go, they have a 72 hour cancellation rule and you can cancel without penalty in that time frame. The Meet rate for Thursday night is $89. On Friday and Saturday it is $109. If you want two beds it jumps another $10. There are more than 80 rooms in the hotel and the manager will continuously move rooms to the block at our rate until March 4th. After that it will be the regular hotel rate. I am hoping to sell it out so please call.
Once again, we had a great time at the meeting and it was good to see everyone who attended.

On Saturday the 19th we met once again at the Spaghetti Western on Shepherd Drive. This is a central location and the food is very good. I have heard from members more than once that they don't like to just go to a restaurant and then go home. Since we were not going to a member's nearby home, we decided to have a guest speaker at this meeting.
Angelica Brothers spoke to us about the various programs offered to collector car enthusiasts by the Hagerty Insurance Company. Angelica is the regional director for Hagerty and she brought along one of her agents to assist with the presentation. Her presentation was most informative as we learned about such things as Hagerty helping find parts for your car, financing a purchase, agreed value, compensation for tools, spare parts, towing services, etc. If you have a fender bender and you have the skills to make repairs yourself, they will pay you just like they would pay a commercial garage.
Following her presentation, she thanked me for inviting her, and said she would like to help us any way she could and possibly include sponsoring some activity. I immediately thought of the fact that we would be in charge of hospitality at the Texas Packard Meet and she seemed agreeable to helping with the purchase of needed supplies.
We had just fewer than 30 members present today and three beautiful Packards. We brought our '55, John and Vivian Lortz brought their '53 convertible and Doug and Maureen Carlson brought their air conditioned ’56.
The temperature today was 92 but the weatherman said it would feel like 95. He was wrong, it felt like 100!
On the drive home, we were wishing for Maureen and Doug's air conditioning! Not only did the temperature keep us from having more Packards but TEXDOT had freeway closures in several areas of I-45 and I-10 due to construction. Though the restaurant is centrally located, many of us had a real obstacle course to navigate before we could get there. When we got home about 2:30, Carol said for me to put the Packard in the garage, cover it up and don't get it out until winter. Not sure I can do that but I did make a suggestion that seemed to cause some heads to nod. I proposed that for the August meeting, we meet somewhere fairly central for a breakfast meeting around 8 in the morning. It would still be hot but we could be home before the temp reaches the top of the scale which you can bet there will be some three digit days in August.
We will not meet in July because of the National Meet which is in Columbus, Ohio. Our next meeting will be on June 16th in the Sartin's car barn. They have about 30 cars including a new Packard convertible recently acquired at auction. Jan and some of the ladies proposed the club provide BBQ and each of us bring a side dish such as a salad, vegetable or dessert to go with the BBQ. The group approved that plan today. When we begin asking for your RSVP, please tell us what you will be bringing.
Ben again promoted the thermos type cups the club is selling and he has a few left from the original order. More will be ordered if there is a demand. JC and Sherry would like new club shirts but I advised that Lenny and Paula were out of town but would be happy to help get them upon their return

After 605 miles of trouble free traveling, our "55 Clipper Custom is home snug in the garage. (averaging a little over 60 miles per hour) While the hotel is nice and the fellowship with our friends is wonderful wherever we are, I am really glad the group almost unanimously voted to return to Salado next year. Kerrville is just too far for us, (as well as many others) since we still drive our car to the meet. I think we probably drove our Packard farther than anyone since David Stewart was not there with his trusty '25 Packard from Longview. Regardless, no one could have worked harder to make a successful meet than Beverly and all her helpers including David Miller and his wife who are the leaders of the Heart of Texas Region. The Lortzs, Myers, Darrows and Baccaros displayed Packards but we had a lot of our members in attendance. Trokeys, Carlsons, Carters, and Jerry Ehrman attended. At the banquet, the Darrows won the dress up contest, dressed in their finest 50's clothing.
We have been working with the Visitors Bureau of the Salado Chamber of Commerce to come up with a plan "B" for our return which utilizes the Holiday Inn instead of the Stagecoach Inn. Beverly and I have been very frustrated with the Stagecoach Inn and finally decided a week or so ago to abandon efforts to return there, at least for the 2019 meet. Who knows what the future will bring? The Lincoln Club has been using the Holiday Inn Express for two years since the closing of the Stagecoach and they will meet there again in two weeks. Chadly Hallas, from the Visitors Bureau put together a great plan for our return which not only utilizes the Holiday Inn but the craft brewery in town and also possibly the Barton House Restaurant. (Regarding the restaurant, I think the BBQ chicken and chicken fried steak buffet in Kerrville was good and I hope we can do something similar as opposed to the sit down dinner format.) The Friday night mixer will involve the brewery as well as food trucks and music and ample parking for the cars. The show and swap meet will be on the grounds of the restaurant which is actually an old house built by a prominent Salado doctor in 1888. On the way home today Larry and Lily Myers drove through Salado to check out the venues and they reported it all looked good.
It appears I have become the chair of the event so that means I will have to have a lot of help and guidance from our entire LSP family, as well as the other regions. We have a large void to fill as Beverly Clark Teel and her helpers have worked very hard for a long time. Both Margaret White and Beverly no longer even have Packards since the passing of Roger and Billy but they have continued to work for the Texas Packard Meet. It is imperative that we rebuild our meet and I think the return to the more central location of Salado will do a lot in that regard.  We need to promote this event in all our advertising as "Going home to Salado".
In other news, I am sad to report that Dick Bautch recently fell and broke his arm up near the shoulder. He is home but in a lot of pain.  Please join me in saying a prayer for a quick recovery so we can see Dick in the near future.
In talking to several members over the weekend, we are planning a "pot lunch" affair in the Katy area for our May meeting. More details will follow but I expect we will need to start talking about the 2019 meet at that time. We have about six families who are showing at Keels and Wheels this year. Discount tickets are available on line so please come join us under the oaks on Packard row up front if you are not displaying.

On a warm, slightly cloudy Sunday afternoon, March 18 there were 22 members and 3 guests at our March meeting and lunch at Los Cucos in Kingwood co-hosted by Ron & Juanita Jordan and John and Vivian Lortz. Our hard working Director, Tommy Baccaro, is suffering with bronchitis and unable to join us, so Assistant Director, John Lortz presided over the meeting. This is what happened…….
Rich sent word that we are in good shape financially. Lenny is working on a meeting for June at the Historical George Ranch. Cost is a bit too much, so he is perusing other venues.
At this time, we do not have a meeting scheduled for May. If anyone wants to plan an event, let Tommy know.
Lenny is assisting with a Car Show this Saturday March 24 from 10 am to 3 pm. It is at Lamar Consolidated in Rosenberg at the Natatorium on FM1640. The show is a fundraiser for the Auto-Tech program at the High School. This is the class that former member, the late Dale Musgrove, taught and Lenny thought it would be nice to honor his memory by participating. The donation will be $20 per car, paid at the gate. If anyone is interested, they can call Lenny at 713-823-9369 or email at lenny.adventures@gmail.com and he will go early to save spaces so we could be together.
Contact Doug Carlson to update pictures or anything that should be updated on your vehicle(s) on the clubs website. Doug needs your help to keep our site current.
Several members noticed all the blue Packard shirts members were wearing and wanted one. Lenny took orders for 8 shirts, but needs a total of 12 before he can place the order. He will be ordering ladies' and men’s shirts. He can also order men's shirts in a button down long sleeve if anyone wants one. Contact Lenny via email at lenny.adventures@gmail.com with your size and style along with name for embroidery.
Here is the link to register for the Texas Packard Meet (TPM) April 5, 6, 7 in Kerrville: http://texaspackardmeet.org/ It’s not too late to register for Kerrville. So far, members going are: Baccaro, Jordan, Lortz, Carlson, Carter, Darrow, and Erhman.
Tommy will give us an update on what is happening with the TPM next month. There will not be a regular meeting In April as the TPM is considered as our monthly meeting.
We had many drive quite a distance - - Jerry Ehrman from Orange, John & Lynn Eanes from Galveston, several others from Fort Bend County, and Dick Bautch from Houston. Those in the Kingwood area had a quick drive. This is why it is good to move our meetings around the vast Houston Metro area to make it easier for us every once in a while.
Our guests were the Lortz’s son John, his wife Donna and their son Chase.
It was good to see Leon Ahlers and his ‘41 Convertible Sedan. The Darrow’s ’57 Clipper, the Jordan’s ’56 Caribbean Hardtop, the Carlson’s ’56 Clipper Super, and the Lortz’s ‘53 Convertible.
March birthdays were recognized and it was great that Leon was there as his birthday was not on the March birthday list -- sorry about that Leon and glad you spoke up -- It has been corrected!!
Speaking of our membership list - we will soon have this updated with all paid 2018 members. When it is sent out, please verify all your information for spelling, address, email address, phone #, birthday, vehicles, etc.
It was great to see Jerry as he is recuperating from recent knee replacement surgery. Also our member Judy Anderson is at the Legion Oaks Rehab facility at 7107 Queenston Blvd, Houston, TX 77095 recovering from two surgeries. We wish her the best through this difficult time.
Without the Baccaros in attendance we muddled through and finished up by enjoying cake provided by our hosts.