Hung Over in a Barnyard!

[oldcarfudd]

The weather covered most of the bases during Hershey and the Seventh Hangover. Hot and humid Wednesday, rain Thursday, cold and dry Friday, some rain Saturday morning but improvement later, intermittent light rain Sunday and Monday, cold and dry on Tuesday. The rain produced some no-shows on the field Saturday. For example, three Stanleys were entered but only John Linderman’s showed up. Among the cars that drove on the Hangover, there was NO untarnished brass by the end of the tour!

Despite the no-shows, Saturday offered plenty of shiny eye candy for the pre-16 gang. Kelly Williams, who’s normally deeply immersed in Stanleys, surprised everyone by coming over to The Dark Side; he and his wife, Stephanie Stauffer, showed and toured their newly-acquired 1913 Paige.

Kelly Williams, known as a steam car guy, showed this Paige.

Steve and Pamela Heald, now recuperated from hosting the Reliabilty Tour, took a Senior with their rear-entrance Cadillac.

Steve Heald shows off his period costume and his Cadillac.

Bob Barrett impressed show-goers (and, later, kids at our school visit) by playing tunes on the exhaust-powered organ mounted on his Silver Ghost’s running board.

Bob Barrett, one-man orchestra leader

And there were three generations of Reins on the field: Manny and Sandy, showing a Model 17 Buick; their son Nick, showing an E-M-F; and daughter Erica Scanel and her husband Mark, showing their daughter Addison, who thought the front compartment of Grandpa’s Buick was a playpen just for her.

Addison Scanel thinks the playpen Grandpa brought is just neat!

Teenage member Olivia Memmelaar earned a First Junior with a Model T she mostly restored herself, but can’t legally drive yet; I apologize to Olivia for having no picture of it.

The Hangover was based in Denver, PA for the second year. Trailer parking went much easier this time. We had a catered light supper, and the bar was open, so those of us who felt over-Hersheyed finally got to relax. As always, we enjoyed the attendance of foreign brass-car enthusiasts who make the trek to Hershey and stay to ride with us around the Pennsylvania countryside. This year’s overseas visitors came from opposite sides of the planet: England and New Zealand.

Sunday’s tour, starting in light rain but improving, was a Poker Run. Participants started with a playing card, and then drew one more at each of four tour destinations. The best hand (not a very good one!) got a prize at Sunday night’s dinner. Early in the day we went to two big antique shopping malls where you could buy pretty nearly anything you wanted and lots and lots of things you probably didn’t want. Since I’m not a shopper, I left early in the hope of getting some pictures for this report. And I lucked out by finding myself in the middle of a parade of old-order Mennonites leaving their church service on bicycles and in horse-drawn buggies. I parked my Buick and brought out my cell phone.

Young Mennonite men weren't bothered by the Buick - - -

- - - but this nervous horse gave it a wide berth!

Covered bridges are always popular, especially with people from far away. Sunday’s tour went through seven of them, but I only got pictures at one.

Bob Ladd's Chalmers leads Steve Bono's REO out of the covered bridge.

Keith and Karen Billet leaving the covered bridge in their Ford Torpedo.

And then there was Crooked Lane. Yes, that’s the name of a road, but it’s not nearly descriptive enough. After a couple of right-angle bends, it narrows to one lane and becomes a gravel driveway. Then it goes smack-dab into a farmer’s barnyard, hangs a right around his barn, ambles past his house, and meanders over a brook, before the pavement resumes. No one could believe this was a public road. Now you know the source of the title of this report.

John Gillette's Locomobile approaches the barnyard.

Is this really a road?

David Deardorff's Pullman approaches the barnyard.

Well, if you say so - - -

We had lunch at Good and Plenty, whose name is pretty descriptive. Then we went to Ephrata cloister, a restored/preserved settlement created by a sect from Germany seeking religious freedom. Despite the chilly day, about half of us went for ice cream. Dinner was a catered buffet back at the hotel. We heard from HCCA President Bob Ladd about what the national board is doing, and from Tracy Lesher, who described the editorship of the Gazette as her dream job (and it shows!)

Monday we had a good run to the Montessori school where Tracy teaches, and where her boys go to learn. The run was marred only by a missing stop sign. Drivers were supposed to go through two stop signs before making a turn; several of them missed the turn while looking for the second stop sign. The guy who laid out the route (full disclosure: ‘twas I) heard about that one! The kids all had letters from their parents giving them permission to ride in cars that had no seat belts, and whose drivers hadn’t passed background checks. (What a horrible commentary on the state of our world.) So we gave lots of rides and blew lots of horns. Sorry, I can’t give rides and take pictures at the same time, but Tracy Lesher took lots for the Gazette. The next five pictures are hers – thank you, Tracy!

Gee, that's a funny-looking car!

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But it sure is neat to ride in!

This is fun!

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The kids probably have no idea how rare a ride in a Silver Ghost is.

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Your scribe pontificates about his Buick.

Lunch was at the Holiday Inn and Classic Auto Mall in Morgantown. We were last at that hotel three years ago at a BBC, when the food had deteriorated to a level approximating pig swill; that prompted the BBC to move to Strasburg. Since then the place in Morgantown has got new management, which gave us a good lunch based on Philly cheese steak sandwiches. That management has also transformed the adjacent defunct mall into an eclectic collection of motor vehicles of all types and eras, including brass-era barn finds. It acts as a broker for sales of some cars, but most are a private collection and not for sale.

How about an original Liberty Brush?

Or maybe a Woods Mobilette?

Or, for the next Creepy-Crawly, an original Packard truck?

After one more year in Denver, Jeff Lesher contemplates moving the Hangover here. After lunch, we had a cold, slightly wet ride home, but some of us stopped for ice cream anyway.

In past years, the Hangover would have ended here, and in fact some people had to go home. But, by popular demand, Jeff had added a third day. Those staying over were invited to an informal evening with beer, wine and pizza at the Leshers’ home.

And the third day was great touring! Cold, but clear and dry. Jeff had laid out a winding, scenic, hilly route. We had coffee and donuts at a Jaguar restoration shop.

OK, so it's not brass. But it's going to be beautiful!

We were the last group that will be allowed to visit a Mennonite pretzel factory and get right out on the floor; the regulators are forcing them to wall off outsiders, so future visitors will have to be content to view the operation through a window.

The photo doesn't show how fast these ladies are shaping pretzels.

These pretzels will now be slid into the oven.

We had an impromptu visit to a Mennonite company that makes roof trusses; while we were looking at their trusses, they and their kids were looking at our cars.

Car guys look at roofs; roof guys look at car.

We had lunch at Shady Maple. The only way not to gain weight there is not to go in. We’ve heard of three-pound tours; what about a three-pound day? Kelly Williams’s Stanley got revenge by zapping his Paige’s magneto; it came back from Shady Maple on the vulture truck.

Why won't the mag work?

And then it really was over. Same time, same headquarters next year. Bring your sweaters, ski underwear and rain gear, but bring a brass car and be there!

Gil Fitzhugh the Elder

[J&J]

Gil- great writeup and pictures- thank you

[FullerMetz]

Another fantastic tour report Gil! Makes me really wish I could be there. Some really nice cars.