Ode To The 2009 N.T.B.A. NATS July 25,2009

[WebMistress]

I usually put in a disclaimer before an Ode; guess I’ll not break an ‘old family tradition’ as sung by Hank Jr. a few
years back. I have always believed and will continue to be convinced that we (NTBA members) are a family, a very
unique family. A few days ago Punkun posted about our NTBA family ties, after returning from the funeral of
someone close. When he posted about waving to friends at the end of an event, never to see them again, it
touched me deeply. It reminded me that this was the second Nats without Eman, Sierra Vista was his last.

But, there are others still with us, yet for one reason or another, not able to make it to Lenoir. Some that I missed
seeing were John & Rose plus BT. Punkun’s final thought was that we should make good use of every moment we
have together, enjoying each others unique personality. I think we accomplished that this year in spite of some
interruptions by rain and missed communications on activities. The things learned this year will make Colorado
Springs a very strong Nats. I’m ready now!

I took a long time to get to the disclaimer which is: The words printed below are an account of our 2009 Nats as
seen through the pups & my eyes. I know that I’ve left a lot of people out & have not mentioned all the cruises.
That’s because of the things listed below which kept me from doing a lot of cruises. That didn’t stop us from having
a GREAT time at a GREAT Nats. Our officers are to be commended along with all of you that made the sacrifices
necessary to be present in Lenoir. Punkun posted that he considers us his ‘extended family’. I guess I began to
develop similar feelings shortly after Dave & Mark put on the first Nats in 1999. Would I be wrong to suspect that
many of you feel the same?



Ode To The 2009 N.T.B.A. NATS
(Lenoir, North Carolina)

Each new Nats brings fresh ‘ground to pound’, just as should be,
At twelve hundred-sixty one miles, Lenoir was the longest for the pups and me.
North Carolina also presented the most eastern location for Nats attendees to see,
The trip for us was beautiful, through mountains passing tree after tree.

I planned two days travel, with pauses at rest stops for needed slumber,
This year I came to a sad conclusion; evidently the Storm King has our number.
Because both nights of travel to Lenoir contained rowdy storms within,
My Shepherd, King went into a nervous spin; a T-cleanup in Lenoir would begin.

But, it was ‘Lenoir or Bust’ and make it we did, enjoying the beautiful scenery,
Mile after mile, through Tennessee and North Carolina brought no lack of greenery.
And at one-thirty, Friday the twelfth, we arrived at the Red Carpet front door,
I have to be honest, the pups and I weren’t anxious to drive one mile more.
Saturday I first attacked the rain stained brass when cleaning the T,
But, three hours of unfriendly sun finally dispatched me,
To the ‘cool room’ from which the pups did intensely look,
I decided to rest a while and wait till some shade overtook.

With shade a plenty it was time for work to resume,
Well into the cleaning I heard a familiar ‘Varoom’.
I viewed the images from whence the sound; it was two T’s I knew very well,
‘Short-T’ with John and Tammy, the purple twenty-seven with Charles and Lavelle.

They were my evidence that other T’s had arrived,
Cleaning kept me Red Carpet bound plus a hurt right leg which survived
Each painful mile to Lenoir; I welcomed a respite with the T surprise,
The cleaning stopped when family came to call, my right leg felt that was wise.

Sunday morning, with cleaning complete, we headed to ‘Wally World’ to find a spot,
Imagine our surprise when we found Uncle Larry in the parking lot.
He said that he’d been on a cruise with Bucketheads in search of Bar-B-Que,
Unfortunately, Weelstang’s search ended when his transmission blew.
Uncle Larry was back with a new search for a trailer to fetch the Alum-a-T,
For relocating it to a transmission repair shop, at which it needed to be.

When we finished at ‘Wally-World’ we were Red Carpet bound,
Upon arrival it was evident that more T’s were in town.
I had already seen Tom Buckley arrive in his new ‘T’,
An hour later there was a honk; I looked up to see Egge waving at me;

And Wayne Daniels also arrived in his long, orange, ‘Ace of Spades’ T,
With him was his entire family, that was plain to see.
Wayne’s handle on our BBS is ‘Kniner’, a K-nine officer describes his job,
He also works with the ‘Gang Unit’, keeping kids lives from ending with a sob.

Later in the week Wayne helped with an electrical problem my T had,
He convinced me that we could do the ‘fix’, saving my return trip from going bad.
Steve Arnold had recommended what should be done,
Steve and Pat drove their T from California for a twenty-four hundred mile run.

By the time Monday rolled around many more T’s were roaming in town,
While I started dodging rain showers armed with a frown.
I drew the black bean on travel this year, few cruises did I make,
The rain, dimmer switch and charging wire took their toll on my cruising rate.
The main deterrent to travel was the guaranteed right leg ache,
I’m still looking for a fix to that problem; the pain needs to go, I need a break.

Monday evening we cruised to a private home where ‘specialty cars’ were on display,
I did not know why we were steered in our southerly way.
We pulled in to park and immediately saw T-Odd with a new camera in hand,
He was in a target rich environment since our T’s covered all the land.

I finally got a close up look at the new camera; it’s a ‘fancy rig’,
T-Odd wanted a ‘nifty’ camera since he’s been given a job that is big.
With Street Rodder absent this year and next, Todd has the pic taking assignment,
So, any pic considered for publication will have to be in high refinement.

I met more ‘early arrivers’, Tub T with a hug from Dottie were among the first,
Then our VP, Dale said, “Hello!” as he ran by me in a burst,
Next, Teresa, his better half gave me a second hug, that proved I wasn’t cursed.
Renewing acquaintances at the Nats, to me, is like quenching a year long thirst.

The pups and me continued to mill around still unaware of why we were there,
King and Queen saw another pup and tried to meet her with ‘frenzied care’.
Then someone asked, “Have you had a piece of T-Odd’s cake?”
From the back of my mind came a birthday double take,
I remembered hearing that T-Odd had reached the big ‘Four-O’,
Now at last I knew the reason for our T’s to show.
We concluded by grouping in front of the house for Aunt Pam’s camera shot,
I think Todd, as did all of us, enjoyed this celebration a lot.

By Tuesday I discovered the high beam lighting was all that my T had,
A terrible experience with a trucker last year meant high beams only would be bad.
It was imperative to find the problem, so I set about looking for the fix,
I suspected the dimmer switch since it had taken its’ share of licks.

I’d just begun the search thinking that it would be a multi-round bout,
Then Egge showed up and volunteered to help out.
We had to remove the steering column in order to reach the dimmer switch,
On my ole’ T that little job is a B, I, itch!

Egge ferried me about town to NAPA, then Advance where a switch was found,
There was plenty of room in Egge’s T, my legs were not bound.
Rain began to fall before the column was installed, over my T a cover was jerked.

Intermittent rain was back on Wednesday, but the column was remounted by then,
The pups and I were getting ‘stir-crazy’ each time the rain kept us in.
We missed the ‘Tamale Throw Down’, even when Weelstang held it a second time,
To get one of those tamales, I was prepared to stand in a long line.

I think it was Wednesday afternoon that we were in our room at leisure,
Through the window I saw a man knock on the door, he looked like Wheezer.
Paul Cleveland is his given name. the brother of ‘Spanky’ that we know as Bill,
Wheezer caught me by surprise, he’d been absent after our last Montain Home drill.

We caught up on past news and I asked if Spanky would be here this year,
Wheezer said no, but Spanky had bought a welder to bring the finish date near.
We talked about how to bring about the final completion of things,
Spanky! Wheezer’s got a message for you, be at Colorado Springs with your T.

By Thursday I had seen a lot of determined Bucketheads arrive in their T’s,
Harley Alcox, like Weelstang had a break down, bringing his T to its’ knees.
Harley’s breakdown occurred out in the middle of nowhere while in route,
A traveler helped secure the repair part; and Harley’s T was off with a scoot.
Year after year there has been a developing Buckethead creed,
When problems occur, others gather to help with what one might need.

A pin striper had arrived, setting his tent up at the Days Inn,
Almost immediately a continuous ribbon of One Shot paint did begin.
Lincolnut and angel put their yellow T under his brush,
When I reviewed the final results it gave me a rush.
The stripes, designs and colors were applied as if he was spinning,
The choices made to grace each surface gave that car a new aesthetic beginning.

At the Broyhill civic Center on Friday our NTBA annual meeting took place,
Our board members will remain for another term in their present space.
During the meeting special awards were given to Steve Arnold and Kniner,
Kniner’s T brought his entire family while Steve was our ‘high mileage driver’.

Twenty-three Tzer also got some attention, but I don’t remember what it was about,
I know that his T-bucket attitude was not questioned, in that he is stout.
After the meeting was over I got an unexpected treat,
When exiting the auditorium, Punkun, Melinda and I did meet.

Recently Punkun made a most interesting BBS post,
About members now passed from this life, but still missed the most.
Perhaps in addition to the RIP page our internet site hosts,
We should pause, at our annual meetings, to lift some thoughtful toasts.

Friday evening offered two activities from which to choose,
‘Friday After Five’ downtown or to ‘Tri-County Speedway’ one could cruise.
An unexpected treat awaited the T’s that were Tri-County Speedway bound,
The experience they were to undergo would lead them around and around!

Originally our members were to receive only a reduced ticket price at the door,
When our T’s arrived, Toolman was first in line and he negotiated a whole lot more.
A multifaceted venue was formulating in his mind, low ticket prices was a beginning,
As he gave additional ideas to the ‘powers that be’ his presentation was unrelenting.

The ticket prices were taken care of with some ‘late arrivers’ even getting in free,
Next, the lady track manager had the T’s park in a front space for all to see.
She kept studying the night’s schedule till she found a gap of time after one race,
She said the T’s could drive some laps if done within a twenty minute space.

Tim immediately began planning for a five lap run,
He knew that it would not be wise for a ‘true race’ to be done,
Three easy laps would be first, the last two ‘hammered’ in front of the stands,
Hopefully it would reveal our T’s masculinity through decibels to the fans.

When everything was said, driven and done,
Toolman’s mental concoction was brilliant and completely packed with fun,
Later in the evening a spectator approached Toolman from within the crowd,
He said, “Man! On the last two laps, YOU GUYS WERE REALLY LOUD!”

I venture to say that no similar story has happened thus far,
It is fitting to have occurred in the ‘Home State’ of NASCAR!
Who could have been picked, except Toolman, to accomplish that impossible feat?
It appears to me that a capital WELL DONE should be laid at Toolman’s feet.

As usual, Saturday was our only day to ‘Show and Shine’,
We would be on the streets of downtown Lenoir where our T’s would be in line.
The pups and I were late reaching downtown; the T’s were already in,
The event officials gave us a parking spot at the street’s end.

I decided to put up my tent which, for me alone, would be hard to do,
Thanks to those who helped with the tent, I couldn’t have done it without you.
We would spend a lot of the day under the tent since I have to avoid the sun,
But, the pups and me managed to mingle a bit while taking pics and having fun.

Uncle Larry had his ‘world class’ race track set up in the middle of the street,
All day long those valve cover racers did their downward streak.
Things are getting serious judging from the new race cars entered each year,
Aunt Pam now has a camera at the finish line to show the winner ‘crystal clear’.

After taking a lot of pictures of so many available T’s,
The pups and I headed back to our tent to see how much shade we could seize.
Little did we know that we would receive a great amount of Shade,
But, it would not be of the type that my tent had made.

The pups and me settled in up under our tent,
Four o’clock was nearing which would bring an end to our event.
Then an older black man walked up and started conversing with me,
Well into our conversation I noticed his cap showed the word ‘Tuskegee’.
I’d read and seen accounts of their service in World War Two,
To label the Tuskegee Airmen as heroes would be one hundred percent true.

I asked if the Tuskegee Airmen was home for anyone he knew,
He said, “It was for me, that’s where I paid my dues.”
By now we had been joined by Dennis Dielschneider who had parked next to us,
The planes we were talking about were what Dennis wanted to discuss.

Dennis is also a pilot which is something I never knew,
I listened as he and the Airman discussed how different planes flew.
I asked what number would represent the greatest membership if affixed,
He said, “Seventeen hundred, now I’m one of the remaining thirty-six!”

I finally got around to asking his name, he said it was George Shade,
I told him I had my camera and asked if pictures could be made,
Two quick pictures were taken since he had no trouble with that,
Dennis and I shook his hand and he said, “I’m going home to take a nap”.
I don’t expect the memory of this meeting to ever fade,
The day I met one of ‘The Tuskegee Airmen”, a hero named George Shade.

I had some welcomed Buckethead help to strike and load my tent,
Weelstang had finished the awards, ending our O-Nine event.
I shook Uncle Larry’s hand as we headed for our Red Carpet room,
And, as usual my thoughts were that our Nats had ended WAY too soon!

My mind began racing forward to our Colorado Springs Nats next year,
Wanting to start right then, but knowing the time was not near.
Let’s make a pact that we’ll all hold a tight line,
Readying our T’s for that Colorado Springs time.

Attention Toolman a Tristan, you will be in a T that is mostly new,
That means NO MORE ‘retaining wall’ jumping for you.
“Tell you what my revered family; let’s expand that coverage to you all,
Keep your T’s between the lines and OFF ALL WALLS!”

May God Bless & Keep You.(Till next year’s Nats when we’ll ask the great I AM
for another year extension)

Herman T. Quackenbush June 24, 2009
Aka: T-Pilot with Pups
Aka: John Eplen

T-Pilot with Pups
Kingsland, Texas(near Austin)