The 61st Texas Tour is in the Book Question

As Co-chair for the 2024 Texas Tour, hosted by the Dallas Model A Ford Club, my desire was to have it in Nacogdoches, the oldest town in Texas, rich with Texas history. I love planning tours, but it wouldn’t have been the success that it was without the help of so many club members! There were 34 club members who comprised the tour committee, and several others stepped up at the tour and volunteered their time. Hats off to you all! Thank you all so much.Heather Anderson was my co-chair, and as Chuck and I now live in East Texas, she was the go-to person at the Dallas club’s monthly meetings leading up to the tour. I warned Heather that I would walk her legs off at the tour. She and her husband, Mike, were great sports, taking orders from me, a former teacher. Early on in the planning of this event, I asked Tex Willis if he would bring in the American flag dressed in his 1928 military uniform and his son to bring in the Texas flag in his current military uniform. As time went along, I learned that Bobby, Tex’s son, would not be able to attend the tour. I frantically hunted for someone to take his place. Then, just one month before the event, Tex has to move suddenly and was having shoulder problems. I thought, “Who can I use instead of the Willis family?” Back in the early years of our membership in the Dallas Club, the Gulliksens’ sons had been in the color guard of the Civil Air Patrol. I immediately looked up a group in Nacogdoches, and they were eager to participate as our color guard. It turns out that Nacogdoches is the Texas headquarters for the Civil Air Patrol and our club member, Don Gulliksen, had been made the state Wing Commander. All was solved!

About two weeks before the tour, registrations exploded past the projected estimate. With our projections based on previous years, we had initially reserved half of the Convention Center at the Fredonia Hotel, about5,000 square feet. Then on Tuesday, June 11th —two days before the event—I received an email from the Fredonia Hotel stating that the numbers had grown so much that we would be overcrowded. They opened the entire 10,000 square-foot space to us for no upcharge! There would be plenty of moving around room for raffles, hospitality, the Hubley races, fashions, and dinners. Amazingly, the late registrants filled the cancellations, so it all balanced out with the food.Raffle items poured in, too! They kept arriving from many people inside and outside of our club, with 213 items in all. Only two items ended up with no tickets to be drawn, and those items were given to the Lone Star club, who will be hosting the tour in Giddings next year. Very few businesses donated items this time. Other income came from ads in the tour booklet, fifteen in total. All T-shirts from the cancellations were sold. Many extra patches and radiator badges were also sold. We had 126 registrations above the 9 cancellations. There were 122 vehicles, with 80 to 100 being Model As and 259 people. States represented were Texas, of course, and Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, and North Carolina. We had ten fashion models and five fashion displays. There were seven car evaluations. Several ladies earned their “Lady Drives an A” patch.

Here’s a day-by-day recap:

Wednesday afternoon: As registrar, I had planned to work the registration table, but got pulled away to help organize raffles, and print labels and name tags. (Hint: be sure to bring a printer!) Ron and Sylvia Garrett quickly volunteered to man the table until my return. They had past experience in 2014. Garland Sullins and Sheryl Burk also stepped up. They ended up working all three days (Wednesday through Friday). Additionally, the Garretts went with us to Ratcliff Lake to help park cars, set out cookies, and set up 100 chairs.

Thursday afternoon: Keith Weiss manned the repair tent, stepping up to fill the shoes of our dear member, Merle Gulick, who had passed away in November of 2023. In a mix-up, he had no canopy, and Billy Evans suggested renting one. Having already arranged to rent chairs for the Grand Tour, I contacted the rental place and thirty minutes later, they arrived and set up a double size canopy for a ridiculously low price! With no room in our pickup for the chairs, they also volunteered to deliver them. Much less work for us. They picked up the chairs and canopy on Sunday, too. Again, no work for us!

Thursday night Welcome Dinner: The dinner entertainment was a big hit with our hilarious Jim Talkington as Antonio Gil Y’Barbo, Tex Willis as Father Margil, and his wife, Chana, as a Caddo Indian woman. These people gave us a little history of Nacogdoches. Things went smoothly, with just one little hitch. Committee chairs Pat and Bill Buckmeyer, Wanda and Dell Rice, Jean and Jim Talkington quickly fixed the miscounting of some items.

Friday Mini-Tours: One site wasn’t open as planned, but the group deftly bypassed it for another site. Unfortunately, a little fender bender left a Model A with a bent rear bumper when it was rear-ended by another driver (not one of ours). The Model A-ers were from Mississippi, and the good part was that the driver’s husband was a State Farm agent, so they were well-covered.

Friday night Ice Cream Sundaes, Fashion Viewing and Hubley Races: This was a big hit! It was the first time to try something like this, and it was very well attended with lots of time to socialize. Martin Parmer (aka Chuck Cheshire) of the Fredonia Rebellion in Nacogdoches made his appearance to announce the Hubley races. His story was then told by his great-great niece, Gayle Parmer Corry, our dear club member. There were three kiddos, ages 5 to 6 who won Hubley awards for first, second and third place. They are hooked forever.

The winner of the adult and overall category was from Kansas. Saturday Grand Tour: It was a beautiful, sunny day for a drive through the Davy Crockett National Forest. Unfortunately, no matter how good the directions are, someone seems to always stray from the route. A couple of groups ended up on a dirt washboard road. (I want to go and find out how that happened!) And, there is always a possibility of a “roadside seminar” (aka car trouble). There were four such incidents, and our wonderful Willis brothers, Tex and Scarecrow, plus friends, came to the rescue. Tex even trailered a car to Fort Worth on Sunday morning.

Saturday night Farewell Dinner: Wonderfully emceed by our club president, Doug Scott, we all loved how he walked around the room instead of standing at the podium. Awards were presented. (We lost one and a replacement was quickly made!) Groucho and Harpo Marx (alias Tex and Scarecrow) were the entertainment for the evening. The Marx brothers had abruptly turned from a singing group to a comedy act in Nacogdoches in 1913. The Hard Luck award went to the person with the story of his Model A being rear-ended. Most of the hard luck stories had to do with overheating. Finally, raffle items were distributed. Lots of happy people! Everyone liked the use of the computer to play era music and display tour photos on the large overhead screens. Thank you, Mike Anderson, for your time and effort with that, as well as with on-line registrations. As well as you plan, there are issues that pop up, but in 2024 all were resolved, with some even better than expected. This was a very successful event, thanks to all who volunteered and all who attended. By the way, according to my husband of 58 wonderful years, this will be my last tour to chair. I will give advice if wanted, though! I had fun chairing this tour!

Heather and I thank all of you who helped make this Texas Tour successful! You are appreciated!

Written by: Nancy Cheshire