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Special thanks to the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin and Josh and Carlos
for creating and sharing this movie.
Tour Highlights By: Dick Rash
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For most of the tour group, Sunday the 16th was a
travel day, with events starting at a picnic in Discovery Park around 5:00pm. I’m
getting a little ahead of myself as Robb Johnson and several members arrived
early, on Saturday. While they were at breakfast Sunday morning, a gentleman
sitting at a table next to Steve and Roly Weinhandl asked what was going on as
he had seen the antique cars in the parking lot. This man said he knew a guy in
Hermiston that had a 1909 Metz for sale. Steve, of course, wasted no time in
obtaining the phone number of the Metz owner and the hunt was on.
Steve, Roly and John Riley got a real treat when they visited the home of
Jack Smith in Hermiston, Or. The Metz wasn’t the only thing he owned. Jack was
very gracious in providing a tour of his collection, which included 11 fire
engines, a 1923 White Glacier Park Bus, a 1923 Durant touring, a 1917 Pierce
Touring, a 1907 IHC High wheeler and a 1918 Packard two ton truck.
Jack also has a collection of over 20 buggies and a rare Dayton Resalable.
His prize possession was a 1916 American LaFrance ladder truck. Jack said he
hadn’t driven it for about 5 years. Mr. Smith welcomed the club to stop at his
place if they ever tour in the area again. Sunday afternoon saw the trailers
pouring in. Robb was ready with tour books and tour bags, which included
sweatshirts with special logos.
Activities started with a picnic at Discovery Park. This park was designed in
1905 by the same person who designed Central Park in NYC. The Sycamore trees
were stunning and made for a great setting for our group.
There were 27 pre-16 cars on the tour; 10 Model T Fords, 6 Cadillacs, 2
Buicks, 2 Overlands, 1 Stanley Steamer, 1 Queen, 1 Pullman, 1 Hudson, 1 Chalmers
Detroit, 1 Case and 1 Warren Detroit. Monday morning had the threat of an
occasional shower but we only saw a total of 3 drops of rain for the entire
week. Our first stop was the historic Fort Walla Walla Museum. This site is a
portion of the original fort that now consists of about 15 acres. Guided tours
were provided of their 15 buildings. Walla Walla is the second oldest city in
Washington and history abounds. This is a museum that is well worth seeing with
original buildings and artifacts from the area.
Upon leaving the fort, we headed to the Oasis Restaurant in Milton-Freewater,
Oregon for lunch. This is about 500 feet over the border into Oregon. The Oasis
is historic and is one of those buildings that started out small and kept
expanding over the years.
Our next stop was at the home of member Carl Schmitt and his fabulous
collection of automobiles. Upon arriving at his home, we had to first cross
through a covered bridge with the wood planked floors. Of course everyone made a
beeline to the octagon shaped twostory garage. The “garage”(actually a
showroom) was finished in a light colored wood providing a great feeling of
warmth. In the middle of the floor was a turntable that allowed Carl to place
cars where he wanted them without a lot of unnecessary maneuvering.
My favorite was the 1903 Toledo shown above. His collection also included
cars from the 1901 Packard to the 1910 Mitchell and just about everything in
between. All of these cars have been professionally restored and are to die for.
The second floor consisted a walkway around the perimeter, housing miscellaneous
musical instruments, memorabilia, etc.
Carl was the consummate host, providing us with detailed histories of each of
the cars. It definitely made you want to go home and kick your tires. On Monday
evening a number of us made an impromptu stop to see the private collection of
Roy Scott. Roy has worked at the local Buick/Pontiac/GMC dealership for years
and thru his contacts is occasionally able to come up with a very low mileage,
unmolested classic. His specialty is convertibles. We were able to see a 1953
Cadillac Eldorado convertible, along with a couple of 1954 models, a 1955 and a
1957. He had a 1965 Pontiac convertible with a rare 428 cu in- 4 speed
combination. Also included were two 1950 Ford convertibles. There were 15-20
cars in this collection, all in excellent condition and many with very low
original miles. What a treat! Tuesday’s tour took us to Waitsburg for a quick
stop. We were able to check out the local antique store, grab some coffee, and,
in one case, change a tire. While I’m told it was no big deal, we found Les
Gitts checking for some loose wires – so he said.
Les Gitts’ 1906 Queen wins President’s Trophy
From Waitsburg we headed to Dayton and the site of the state’s oldest
courthouse. Restoration of the building was completed in about 1996 and still
has an active courtroom, which was in session during our stop.
Tour leader Robb Johnson’s sister and brotherin- law were the project
managers for the restoration. It was great to see Robb’s 92 year old aunt meet
us at the courthouse. Lunch was provided at the Dayton train depot. Members had
plenty of time to shop at the antique stores and gift shops. A couple of our
brave members decided to take a “shortcut” back to the hotel which included
going over the “mountains” on gravel roads. It was strange, but the road
they took ended up at a brewery back at the main highway. Of course they used
the fact the Queen had sprung a radiator leak and they had Page - 9 - to use
some stop leak and filled it back up to check out the brewery. The Queen was one
of a couple of cars that experienced some minor problems on the day. Bob Allen’s
1913 Overland lost a primer cup causing a compression loss. It was creatively
fixed. The Ellis’ Cadillac came close to losing it’s hood.
Is this an abandoned car in a field? No, it’s the Queen minus the radiator.
Fortunately there was a radiator shop across the street from the hotel and they
said they had time to fix it if they could get the radiator off in the next 10
minutes. Les said it took 7 minutes. Tuesday evening saw the ladies gather to
make some Edwardian draw string bags. Phyllis Hammatt, Elaine Ellis and Carolyn
Martin were the driving force behind putting this together. I’m told everyone
enjoyed their efforts.
Wednesday morning saw us heading to a local foundry that is very well known.
The equipment and size of some their projects was unbelievable. Carl Schmitt
once again provided us with information on how the process went, from 3-D
imaging to casting the final pieces of a Pierce Great Arrow that he is
restoring. It is amazing to see how much work goes into making quality castings.
From there we headed out into the country for a lunch at a small golf course. In
order to avoid traffic on the return, our leader, Robb, found an adventurous
route that was untried but totally correct in getting us back to our hotel. It
was within 1 mile of the hotel that Bob Allen’s 1913 Overland had a major
problem. He sheared off the right rear axle where the squared off shaft slides
into the differential. He indicates that will be a winter project. Our Wednesday
evening banquet was at the Whitman Hotel, built in 1903. The evening started off
with entertainment by 6 young teens called the Blue Mountain Troublemakers.
Everyone will agree they were awesome.
Members donated money to help send these talented artists to Japan where they
have 5 concerts planned. The evening was complete with the participants dressed
to kill in all of their finest. The camaraderie was evident everywhere.
Following dinner we rounded up the young ladies who were in their finest for
a great period photo
After dinner, Robb thanked everyone for their participation. In turn,
Vice-President and tour chairman, Harold Musolf III presented Robb with a framed
photo of his car leading the tour down the highway. This photo was taken by the
Union-Bulletin newspaper and put on their front page. President Dick Rash served
as MC for the evening, presenting several awards. The President’s trophy, for
the car he would most like to have in his garage, went to Les Gitts and his 1906
Queen. Elaine Ellis and Marsha Yeakel presented the ladies choice to Robb
Johnson and his 1910 Buick Model 16. Bob Allen and his 1913 Overland took the
Trouble Trophy. Mike and Marsha Yeakel were recognized for our Spirit of the
Tour award. Mike is always at the tours and is always willing to help others and
provides the type of spirit that keeps us going. Evelyn Knight and Richard
Little were recognized as having come the farthest, from Bakersfield, Ca.
Participants came from Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana and
Canada. Thursday morning finished off with a group breakfast at a local
restaurant and everyone headed home.
Bob Allen and Buffy win the Hard Luck Trophy
Robb Johnson’s 1910 Buick Ladies Choice.
Our tour gained a lot of interest from the area’s residents.
We also had plenty of news coverage, including the front page of the
Union-Bulletin. In fact, if you go to http://www.unionbulletin.
com/articles/2007/09/18/local_news/loc al03.txt you will find an article on the
tour. At the end of it you will see a picture of Pat Farrell. Click just below
it for a video of an interview Pat gave about the HCCA and the Stanley Steamer.
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