One of the highlights of the weekend was the annual Friday "early bird tour" organized once again by Gordon Logan. This year we cruised the back roads between Salado and Georgetown.  In Georgetown they roped off spaces around the square and the local folks came out to view the Packards while members selected one of the fine eating establishments around the square and visited the many antique and other shops in the vicinity.  We had a total of 19 Packards and one Packard powered Studebaker on the trip. On the way back to the Stagecoach we visited a local winery and sampled just a little of the product but not enough to effect driving!  Gordon is the C.E.O. of Sport Clips and he arranged for a staff photographer to take a picture of all our cars as we arrived on the square.  At the awards meeting on Saturday night we were presented with an 8x10 photo suitable for framing.  Thanks Gordon!

 

The swap meet appeared to be the biggest ever----------at least in my memory.  There were some really nice things for sale but personally I had a bad day.   Last year we sold about  $150 worth of extra parts, which encouraged me to bring a bunch of stuff which I ended up hauling back home!  I sold a total of six dollars worth and bought fifteen dollars worth, therefore I'm guessing I sold all the good stuff last year!

 

Another highlight, at least for me, was the unexpected appearance of a 1940 180 Club Sedan!  This is a sister car to our 1940 that we call Franklin.  Only 176 of these cars were built and ours is number 176. When I saw this car pull in I went for it like a bee on honey and I was soon joined by Jim Hollingsworth who is the roster keeper for the 1940 Packards.  This was, until now, an undiscovered 160 Club Sedan and it lives in Bastrop.  Jim got all the important numbers down for his roster but the most important one for me was the build sequence and this black beauty was number 127 out of the 176. 

 

At the Sunday morning business meeting it was decided to hold the meet on 'Palm Sunday" weekend.  (most religious denominations are represented in the Salado area for those who would like to attend Sunday service)  That is not the most desirable date, but we have done it before, and it was the best available for next year.  There was a discussion about registration fees.  We will keep it at $20 for one more year but probably it will go up to at least $25 soon. There seems to be a desire to increase the number of prewar awards and our region was asked to work on a proposal to present to the other regions. Ben may ask some of you to help with that job.  

 

The Texas Packard Meet is a mecca for Packard lovers and if you have any interest in Packards you need to be there for the 35th anniversary in 2012!  It is the oldest and largest regional Packard meet in the country.  We had participants from California, Missouri, Ohio, Michigan, Louisana, etc. besides from all over Texas.  Thirty-four years ago we were happy to have 14 cars and approximately 40 participants.   It grew out of an exchange visit the Lone Star Packard Club had with the San Antonio Club, which at the time was a region of Packards International.  They would come to Houston and then the next year we would go to San Antonio.  At the time there was the North Texas Club, the P.I. Club in San Antonio, and our club.  I happened to be at an LSP board meeting one night when we discussed having all three clubs participate in a yearly activity.  John Belmar, a now deceased former director, picked up the phone and called Jim Hollingsworth in Dallas to see if they were game.  They were and that is how the Texas Packard Meet came into being.  Originally it was called the "All Texas Packard Meet" but as we got more and more people from out of state we decided to change it to the Texas Packard Meet.  Salado was originally selected because one of the Packard owners belonged to another club that used the Stagecoach Inn as their meeting place and  we followed their example.  Thirty-one of the meets have been held in Salado.  There was a time in the 80's when we decided to move it around.  One was held in Galveston, one in Brenham, and the one in San Antonio.  At the San Antonio state meet we decided we should go back to Salado because people would always know where we were meeting and the attendance numbers appear to prove we were correct.  This year we had approximately 100 master registrations.  It was also originally a strictly judged event but about 12 years ago we decided to make it more fun and just go with "people's choice" and that has been a big success.