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.

Despite intermittent rain, 35 Lone Star Packard members met at Spring Creek BBQ in League City on Saturday the 17th. Following lunch we traveled the short distance to Chris and Jamie Baccaro's new home in the Sedona Sub-division of League City. In addition to Chris and Jamie's '56 Patrician, we had our '55 Clipper, and ’48 Limo, the Darrow's '57 Clipper. Plus, Robert Quinn brought his really sharp'56 Rocket 88 hard top.
*John Lortz was the winner of $38 in the 50/50 drawing.
*Rich says we continue to be financially sound and gave us a report on our contributions to the Packard Foundation's efforts to restore the Packard Proving Grounds in Shelby Township, Michigan.
*The March meeting will be in the Kingwood/Porter area on Sunday the 18th. The Lortzs and the Jordons will give us more information as we get closer.
*Your director related that it was possible to take a tour of historic downtown Houston on "Mr. History's" special bus. It only holds 20 at a time so one group would ride while the other ate in a downtown restaurant and then the bus would return and that group would eat. There seemed to be interest in this activity.
*Chris mentioned there might be an opportunity to visit another brewery downtown. The former home of Houston's premier Packard dealer, Meador Motors, is now the home of the new Texas Brewery. Several cars in our region originated at Meador Motors including our 1948 "Sedan for Seven". I would love to get a picture of our '48 on what was the showroom floor!
*Ben reported we had 17 that have not renewed, but they all got a self-addressed envelope in the mail to send in their dues to Rich. Ben gave a report on possible club project.
*Doug has had some difficulty renewing our website domain, but is making progress with the help of Bob Supina.
*As a matter of interest, we asked Bob Ess to tell us about his Packard and give a status report on its progress. It is a solid blue '55 Patrician. The motor is completed and will be installed soon. It is a rare solid blue color but there is actually a similar '56 belonging to one of John Eanes' customers that we are hoping to get into the club.
*Jerry Erhman told us he will be having knee replacement surgery Monday. We will be sending our thoughts and prayers to him for a speedy recovery.
We shared the importance of Boys and Girls Harbor, and the fact that they are supported by proceeds from Keels and Wheels. Anyone needing an application should go to the K and W website or just let me know and I will get them one. Please come out even if you are not displaying.
We also talked about the Kerrville meet coming up in April. There will be one group leaving on Thursday and maybe another on Friday. 

On Saturday, January 20 we met at Hal Naumann's shop in Tomball. Hal is a really nice guy who is probably the biggest collector as well as most knowledgeable person regarding Kaiser Frazer products in the country. Hal and yours truly started the Orphan Car Society of Houston back in the 90's and we had a lot of fun with it. We plan on getting it going again. Despite the rain, we had 40 LSP members and three Packards in attendance. (I have already made arrangements with my granddaughter Maya to detail the '55 after today's rain.) I had asked several friends in AACA that also have "Orphans" and Julie and Bill Palmer did attend. They have four Hudsons! Hal's daughter and her family made homemade chili for us and the Kaiser folks and it was delicious! Thanks for being such great hosts. Also thank you to all who brought desserts.
At the meeting we recognized guests such as Julie, who I have already welcomed, but forgot to introduce John Lortz Jr. who accompanied his dad. John is a frequent visitor so we just consider him a regular. We also recognized Steve Slaughter as our newest member and his guest. Steve is a former member of the North Texas Region but he recently moved to Galveston and joined LSP. Steve has a '56 400 currently getting a transmission overhaul.
I also reminded everyone to pay their dues to Rich so we can get the roster out a little earlier this year. (The Darrows don't have to pay as they get free membership because they won the David McDonald Participation award for 2017.)
Chris gave an activity report which included announcing the next meeting which will be on Saturday, February 17 at the Spring Creek BBQ Restaurant on 45 South. Not sure if that is League City or Dickinson as it might be just right on the line. Please go through the serving line and then proceed to the private meeting room. We will meet there at 12:30. Following lunch we will travel the short distance to Chris and Jamie's home in the Sedona subdivision. Let's have a great turn out of Packards!! The Jordans and the Lortzs have volunteered to organize something in the Kingwood area for March. More details will follow.
We also spent a lot of time with me explaining the situation with the plans to return to Salado in 2019 for the Texas Packard Meet. It is still our desire but a couple of unexpected events have complicated things. We are still working hard on the move. I have enlisted the support of our friend Tim Fleischer, the editor of the Salado paper and magazine. He is meeting with the city manager on our behalf next week and will get back to me Thursday. In the meantime I asked how many in our group were planning to go to Kerrville this April for the TPM. It appears at least four couples will be going. We will help the North Texas Region with hospitality duties.
I reminded everyone about our clubs two public service events. Keels and Wheels will be the first weekend in May. Literature is being delivered this week to former participants for this worthwhile event. It is really a lot of fun as Bob Fuller puts the Packards in a prime spot near the front under the Oaks. We all bring our chairs and enjoy Packards and fellowship all weekend. This year we plan on bringing the '48 Limo and the '40 Club Sedan. Proceeds go to Boys and Girls Harbor in LaPorte which provides homes to kids who find themselves without a home through any cause of their own. Please consider displaying and helping this worthy cause. Our other public service activity is the "Show and Shine" event Lenny and Paula host in October which benefits the Houston Food Bank. This past event was not well attended by Packards because the weather caused a cancellation and rescheduling but hopefully we will have a great show this October as we have in the past.
Don't forget to send a picture of your car(s) to Doug Carlson for display on the Lone Star Packards website. You are missing a treat if you do not visit the LSP website. Doug does a great job! Between the website and all the publications the Carters put out, I bet there is no region in PAC better informed than LSP!

On Saturday, December 9,  the Lone Star Packards Region held their annual Christmas luncheon and party. We had a great turn out with 40 members participating. We began with lunch at Gina's Italian Restaurant in Friendswood. Gina's is one of our favorites and Anthony, Carol, and I had selected four of our favorites from the menu to be on the special menu for our luncheon. The abbreviated menu allowed the kitchen to concentrate on those items and the service was fairly quick considering there were 40 of us!

We greeted new member Robert Quinn who lives near us in Seabrook. Robert has a '40 Packard and a '53 Packard as well as a '56 Oldsmobile and a Corvette. In the small world department it was discovered that Robert and J.C. Hairrell used to work together at Ellington. Though he has been a member for a while, it was the first time Bob Ess was able to attend one of our meetings though his wife Kim and their son have attended. We were happy to see Janice Musgrove in attendance and hope she will make many more in the future. The Calistrats also joined us which was good, as both of them have dealt with recent health issues.

Following lunch, we caravaned the short distance to Evelyn Timmins' home. We had our meeting, desserts, and entertainment in the car barn among the many cars Evelyn and Tom acquired and restored. It was a perfect setting and several of the ladies brought goodies to share. As usual Evelyn was a wonderful and gracious hostess. Thank you, Evelyn, for all your hard work in preparation and to the Carters for lending a hand. Jan had us all bring a tree ornament and by utilizing the words left and right mixed into a Christmas story, we all got to bring a new Christmas ornament home. (except yours truly as I forgot mine on a table while I picked up chairs).

During the meeting various committees reported. Rich said we are in good shape money wise, Ben said we have almost 50 members, Jan and Ben did not have much to add as editors but I made a plea to furnish them with pictures and stories about our cars and our activities so they do not have to search for "fillers" in the up-coming Owner's Manual.

Chris announced we would be meeting on January 20th in Tomball for a joint meeting with the Kaiser Club. We will meet at Hal Naumann's shop where he keeps his collection, and like the time we met there before, his daughter will cook chili for everyone. There will be a pot there for us to all chip in to defray the cost. On February 17th we will meet at the Spring Creek BBQ on 45 South in League City. Following lunch we will caravan the short distance to Chris and Jamie's new home in the Sedona subdivision. More information on these two monthly activities will be forthcoming but please mark the dates.

A sheet was passed around for members to sign up to organize a month's activity. I suggested someone consider organizing a trip to the George Ranch as it has been about ten years or more since we visited there. If you did not sign up for a month because you wanted to discuss it or think about it some more, please feel free to call Chris or myself and we will happily fix you up!

It was a treat to see the younger Baccaros driving the Scottish heather and Dover white '56 Patrician to its first LSP meeting since Walter and Pat Trimmier brought it to one in Richmond in the early 90's. It would not even go into reverse when John Lortz and I picked it up several months ago. Chris got the push buttons to work, the brakes to stop, and all the lights to work but still has quite a bit more to do including re-installing the factory air.

On behalf of the officers we wish you a safe Merry Christmas/Happy Holiday season and a Happy New Year.

For I don't know how many years, Lone Star Packard Club has had a fall tour. On weekend tours we have gone to places like Nacogdoches and Henderson, Galveston, the Golden Triangle area, Brenham, and the Painted Churches tour. On single day tours we have been to see Richard and Irena's collection in Montgomery, spent several hours at the Gullo Museum, and visited some private collections. This year the group decided on a one day tour. November 11, was chosen as the date and Rena and Jack suggested they duplicate and lead us on a Model "A" tour, which they had taken to the Round Top/ Warrenton area. The Trokeys and Sartins tried it out one day. Then on Saturday with the Sartins in the lead, 19 LSP members and about 7 cars following, we left the Trokey's home in Katy at 9:05 headed through the back roads to the first stop at Neumann’s Bakery in Bellville. The club has stopped at the bakery several times in the past. We enjoyed about 30 minutes of coffee and kolaches and other goodies and then headed out towards Industry. Throughout the trip we were on the scenic back roads of rural Texas (some of the most beautiful rolling hills and farms in Texas). 

We arrived in Round Top a little after 11 AM. Most of you are familiar with the Round Top/Warrenton area as the site of the huge antique fair held there each year. We have made several LSP trips there in the past. This year, the main purpose of our visit was to see and tour the site of the Round Top Music Festival just outside of town. The focal point of the site is the magnificent performance hall but the chapel and homes, and gardens are spectacular as well! The whole thing began in the 70's as a dream come true for famous concert pianist, James Dick. He envisioned a place for students of the arts to gather, study, and perform in a rural setting far from the distractions of a big city. He fell in love with Round Top and moved there in the early 70's. He bought six acres and moved a beautiful old home which was about to be torn down in nearby LaGrange to the acreage, thus saving it. Once moved, a second story was tastefully added to make six extra rooms for guest performers and/or students visiting during the summer. Those six acres has now grown to approximately 200 acres! Some of the original construction was aided by a grant from Houston philanthropist Ima Hogg who owned a home nearby. Miss Hogg was the daughter of the late Texas Governor James Hogg and Houstonians know her mostly for her home in the Memorial Park area known as "Bayou Bend". It is now open to the public and the home, beautiful furnishings, and the surrounding gardens or a must for any tour of Houston. LSP has visited the site twice over the years. Early on Mr. Dick decided his dream would not involve a heavy debt. Nothing has been built until the money was in place so development has been slow. Currently their fund raising efforts are a year or so from completion of an addition to the back of the stage area of the magnificent performance hall. The complex now includes his home and one other, a dorm complex for students, the performance hall which also contains several museum rooms, the gardens, and the all wood and marble performance hall. The performance hall and other structures were all built primarily by skilled craftsmen and artisans from the local area. That was and continues to be Mr. Dick’s intention and it is mind blowing that there were so many people locally that could accomplish such beauty! I am not sure when the buildings and grounds are open for touring, but I expect in the summer when the students are there studying and performing the touring is limited. We paid for a docent to take us on a tour and it was well worth the $8 group fee. There are so many little things and related stories you would miss without the docent.

Following the tour, we traveled back into downtown Round Top to visit the shops and then meet for lunch at a Mexican restaurant on the square. After an hour or so we loaded up and headed to Fayetteville. The Baccaros have been to this little village before not only on AACA tours but we also used our '55 Clipper at the restored Gulf Station to film a commercial for "old time service" for one of our son's former employers. Among other things a visit to Orsak's cafe for pie or cobbler is a must! Just by chance, a group of pickers and fiddlers had gathered around the square and in the gazebo so some of our members enjoyed visiting and the free pickin'. After leaving this little town we headed back towards Katy.

LSP is not just for Packard owners as we have several members looking for Packards and some that just appreciate them. One of our non-Packard classics did suffer a fuel problem. We thought it was out of gas because of an unreliable gauge; therefore, we went into New Ulm and found a beer joint/ice house that happened to have two gas pumps outside to get 5 gallons to bring back. It was a rundown looking place with locals sitting at wooden tables drinking long necks and heavy with smoke. They were friendly folks and the lady in charge said she did not have a gas can to sell but she would get hers out of her pick up if I would promise to bring it back. I will stop and have a beer with them the next time we pass through New Ulm. (However, I won’t stay long because I can't stand the smoke. Former smokers are the most intolerant of the smoke fragrance) unfortunately, the gas did not help so after a long wait they had to be towed home. The car started right up on Sunday morning in the driveway! We think the angle it was sitting on the side of the road had much to do with it not starting.

This was a neat outing because we had three Clippers in sequence parked together several times. These were our '55, then the Carlson's '56, and finally the Darrow's '57. We need to add a '54 and '58 to the mix. Our '55 Clipper performed flawlessly, except with the windows down road noise is really loud! If we ever get A/C added it will help the noise problem but the weather was perfect for cruising even if we did not have A/C. We came from League City to the meeting point in Katy and the round trip back to the coast was 278 miles. We made it into our driveway a little after 7pm. While we consider ourselves fortunate to own some older Packards and we love them, there is nothing like cruising at highway speeds in a Packard V8! Most of the others should have made it home earlier with the exception of the one that had trouble. I hope we can have a weekend tour next year as this old guy did get tired on the way home.

This was a great weekend for the Lone Star Region of P.A.C. Saturday thirty members of LSP met at the Savannah Bakery and Cafe on Old Galveston Rd. Everyone enjoyed the great sandwiches, soups, salads and many also tried out the desserts. John Eanes surprised us all by driving his recently acquired 1941 120 Deluxe 2 door Sedan. I really liked it as it was the same two-tone green that adorned my grandfather's four door '41. That particular '41 was the first car in which I ever rode! (Of course it was home from the hospital as an infant). In addition to John Eanes' '41, Mike Rigsby brought his '39 Coupe, John Lortz and grandson, Tommy, brought the '53 convertible, Carol brought the '55 Clipper while Anthony and I drove the '40 Club Sedan, Tony and Shirley Darrow brought their recently restored Avanti. I had not seen the Avanti since I saw the body suspended from their garage ceiling a couple of years ago when they hosted an LSP meeting.

The weather was clear and sunny with breezy cold wind; therefore I was pleased with the turnout of 30 people and 6 cars! During the business meeting, several items of interest were discussed:

*Rich gave a report on the treasury (we are sound) and then shared that the $1,000 donation to the Packard Foundation for the restoration of the PACKARD PROVING GROUNDS has been made in the name of the late Dale Musgrove.

* The Sartins and the rest of the "Katy Bunch" have been working on a one day fall tour. Per the vote of the membership to have an abbreviated tour this year instead of a weekend trip. Rena said they have picked Saturday, November 11 as the date for the tour leaving that morning from the Katy area and going through the back roads to places like Warrenton, Burton, and Round Top and maybe other interesting spots. We will eat somewhere, do some antiquing, and check out any places of interest. The date was picked because it was the first date where a significant number of us could make it and any later date was thought to be too close to Thanksgiving. We will post more details as we get closer but please try to make our fall tour. Obviously we would like for you bring a Packard, but you are welcome to bring something else including other collector cars or even your daily driver if you need to do so. The tour will be our November meeting.

* The Christmas party will be on Saturday, December 9 beginning at Gina's Restaurant in Friendswood. Following the meal we will caravan to Evelyn's home for refreshments and a visit to the famous Timmins' car barn! You are encouraged to bring something to share. More details to follow.

* I mentioned that our two year term for officers is coming to a close. We will ask for nominations at the December meeting. I believe most of the officers are willing to "re-up" so a simple motion in that regard would be acceptable. I stated that I would be fine with stepping down but I would like to remain involved in the negotiations to move the Texas Packard Meet back to Salado in 2019 so that it will be more centrally located for the four participating regions. We have a second meeting scheduled in January with the Salado Chamber and the new management of the Stagecoach Inn. Representatives of the four regions will be in attendance.

* I also mentioned that we will pass the calendar around at the Christmas party for members to sign up for hosting or planning a meeting during 2018.

Following the lunch Saturday, we drove about a mile down Old Galveston Rd. to historic Ellington Field which is celebrating its 100th birthday! Being a native Houstonian, I still say Ellington Air Force Base half of the time. It was established in WWI to train pilots for the war and continued in that endeavor through the second WW as well as Korea and Vietnam. It was decommissioned by the Carter administration and is now operated as a general aviation facility by the city of Houston.

Ellington Field is the new home of the Lone Star Flight Museum which we have visited several times before when it was located on Galveston Island. Due to severe damage to the facility as well as many of the artifacts and some of the planes during Hurricane Ike, the decision was made to move inland to Ellington Field. It is a beautiful facility and we were given a 2 hour tour by a most informed docent. The planes are beautifully restored and all of them fly! We also saw an example of the Rolls Royce Merlin Engine similar to the ones Rolls Royce asked Packard to build during WWII. This meeting was originally scheduled for September but Hurricane Harvey and the resulting hardships caused us to change it to October. If you did not make it to this meeting, you need to go see the museum. It is worth your time!

On Sunday, the Darrows, Holzbands, and the Baccaros all displayed at the 5th Annual Congregation Emanu El Show and Shine benefiting the Houston Food Bank. This is really a fun affair located behind Rice University on Sunset Blvd. with no pressure for judging and a wide array of classic cars on display. In addition to those of us who displayed products of our favorite car company, Nancy and John Eudy and Dick Bautch came by to visit. I also got to visit with several friends from the AACA. A big thank you goes out to Paula and Lenny Holzband for organizing this fun event each year as this counts as one of our public service events we do each year.

Stay tuned for more details involving the November tour as well as the Christmas Holiday Party.

The after-effects of Hurricane Harvey left us unsure as to whether we should or should not have a meeting in September. Finally, we decided to find a central location where we could enjoy each others company and discuss our common interest which is primarily Packards. We chose the Spaghetti Western Italian Restaurant on South Shepherd as probably the most central location since we are spread out over such a large geographic area. We have been there at least twice before and the food was as good as usual and the service was good. The a/c was a little under performing but it was about 92 or more outside. We did have 26 members plus Andy Calistrat and John Lortz Jr. who accompanied their parents. We would love to see them as regulars.

This time we also had a lot of experiences to share regarding hurricane Harvey. Unfortunately, we did have several that were too busy with flood recovery to make it and our prayers and thoughts are with them. The heat was responsible for keeping us from having a good turnout of Packards. This morning I heard the forecast say that we can expect our first real cool front in about two weeks. Hopefully we can have a big turnout of Packards in October for our meeting at the newly relocated Lone Star Flight Museum as well as Lenny's Shine and Show benefiting the Houston food bank the week before. More details to follow.

Rich reported we continue to be in good shape financially. He shared that he and Mike Grimes have been working with the Packard Proving Grounds to find a suitable item for our $1,000 donation in the name of our late friend Dale Musgrove. They are considering a plaque be attached to a restored cabinet at the top of the stairs where the quarters for the test drivers was located. At this location it will be seen by everyone who tours the facility. Thanks to Mike and Rich for working on this project.

Ben and Janice passed around a hard copy of the Owner's Manual. He explained that we are only making a few hard copies for distribution to national officers and the membership is encouraged to print the soft copies or just read it on your computer. The cost of printing a hard copy for all of our members would be in the $700 range each quarter if we stuck to black and white. It would be a lot cheaper, but we all enjoy the colored pictures. Ben reported he would contact Lenny on the status of our new club shirts.

Our thanks to Lenny and Paula for arranging a great eatery for our monthly get together as well as a really nice up-scale setting for our meeting and desserts following lunch. We met at 1 PM at the Jay's Cafe in Needville, a Rosenberg suburb, where we had a private room and all of us ordered from the menu. The food was great! We were told the desserts were to die for but since Lenny and Paula had arranged for desserts back at the Lake House of their Del Webb community, we passed. The waiter encouraged us to come back sometime just to have dessert and coffee. My sweet tooth tells me that would be a great Sunday afternoon adventure.

Despite the extreme heat, we had 30 people at lunch. It was good to see so many of you. The long distance award went to JC and Sherry who drove more than 80 miles from their home in the Magnolia area. I would guess that we were in second place as we drove 128 miles round trip from League City to Needville. Due to the extreme heat, only two Packards made the trip. Lenny and Paula brought their beautiful 1941 120 and we brought our 1955 Clipper Custom. Our Clipper performed flawlessly even though we were told the temperature reading reached 101 degrees on one of the air conditioned cars! The occupants in our '55 were sweltering on the way home! Jamie, our daughter-in-law, asked Chris if it was safe to drive these old cars in such heat. He responded he was more worried about mom and dad than he was the Packard. Probably we will not do that again until we get our '55 air conditioned. I'm pretty sure Carol agrees with me. Looking forward to cold weather!

During the meeting we discussed a wide range of topics. We have had a number of members under the weather lately and we gave a report on all we knew of. Ben reported we had approximately 45 families in our club and we are still following up on prospects. Rich reported we continue to be solvent and have money in the bank. He also reported that we have had over $800 donated to the club in remembrance of former director and life member Dale Musgrove. The family had requested donations be made to the club rather than sending flowers etc. A motion was made, seconded and approved that we add enough to the donations to equal $1000 and donate it to the restoration of the Packard Proving Grounds in Dale's name.

We had planned to meet at the Lone Star Flight Museum's new location at Ellington Field for our September meeting. However, after some discussion we decided to wait until October as there is likely going to be a crush of visitors after the grand opening on labor day weekend. That means, we will probably have two activities in October as we will again participate in the car show Lenny organizes on the 22nd at his Temple which benefits the Houston Food Bank. This is one of our two public service activities with the other being our participation in May with the Boys and Girls Harbor Show at Lakewood Yacht Club. We will be working on a September activity to replace the Museum tour so if you have an idea please call me or send an email.

We took orders for new club shirts. Lenny will order them and you can pay upon delivery. If you were not in attendance, and would like to order one, they are blue with silver Packard logo for $25 and $5 more for your name. (first name or nickname only) You might email Lenny if you would like one and have not ordered.

I also reminded members that the current two year term for our officers will expire in December. Please consider serving your club in some capacity. Thank you to those already serving. Each of you contributes in a way that helps this club continue to serve our members by providing a community of Packard lovers dedicated to not only having fun with each other but also preserving the Packard name. LSP is about to complete its 53rd year! We are the third oldest region in the Packard Club!