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The WPC Club, Inc. 
Plymouth,
Dodge, Fargo, DeSoto, Chrysler, Imperial,
Maxwell, Chalmers,
Jeep
and Eagle & related Automobiles. All Mopar
/ All Years /
2011: July
13-16 42nd WPC Club National
Meet, Article and Photos below.
St. Johnsbury, Vermont.
The
Northeast Kingdom
Once upon a
time In a Kingdom far, far away, the Northeast Kingdom to be exact. the WPC Club met for its annual l gathering. The
faithful were assembled by the Prince of the
kingdom to see the sights, meet with old friends and make new friends.
Under the guidance of a prince of a fellow, Jim
Blakeman. the gathered
throng had a very good time.
Oh wait, I
have been ~ watching too many movies, so now back to the WPC Meet in
Vermont
OFF TO
VERMONT
From our home
base in Michigan the trip too ' more than two days. We had the chance to
see several of the sights of previous annual meets in Ohio. New York and
Vermont before arriving at St. Johnsbury, Vermont
over on the New Hampshire boarder not too far from Canada The trip was
uneventful and the scenery spectacular. We actually did revisit the sites
of previous meets in the Cleveland area. Elmira New York and Killington,
Vermont. Lt was nice to relive those experiences and see how much some of
those places had changed..
We arrived in
St. Johnsbury at mid-day Tuesday and after a trip
into town found the hotel and many WPCers already
there, The hotel was right off the express way and proved to be a great
place to have a car meet. We were their first ever car meet and they
are now working to have more old car people come by and enjoy the
hospitality and we would heartily endorse
them.
The first
day's tour was north to the Old Stone House Museum in Browningtown
Center. After dealings. with road construction
detours we found our destination. The building is a truly massive structure
got time and location it was built in. Built in the 1830s from granite the four
story building is unique. It is the only stone building in Browningtown which had
less than a dozen houses and a church. After our tour with guides in every
room offering specifics about life in Vermont before the Civil War, we
walked over for lunch at a restored home just across the street. The lunch
and the conversation were great and filling.
On Thursday
we headed east to Mt. Washington and the Cog railway. We arrived very early
in the morning in order to take the Steam powered train to the top of the
mountain. We had so many members sign up for this tour that some had to
take the next train which was not steam powered. The black smoke enveloped
us on more than one occasion and we couldn't see much, but the ride was
enjoyable and somewhat brisk in the early haze. At the top of Mt.
Washington the observatory informed us that we had come on a special day,
as the weather was clear and cool (45 degrees F) hut that we could see for
miles in all four directions.
After our tour
to the top we boarded the train again and rode back down the mountain. We
regrouped and headed south in New Hampshire to North Conway for lunch of
everything imaginable made of turkey. It was very good. After lunch we
drove over to David Huckin's home to tour his
collection of Mopars highlighted by an impressive
collection of 1931-1933 Chrysler Imperials. Many of you will remember
several of these cars from WPC Meets, but most of them had never been show
at our meets. All the Imperials were arranged on the lawn for our pleasure;
and what a sight it was. Not to be outdone by the Imperials a circle of
Prowlers sat nearby, most of these cars were very low-mileage cars. Parked
in the back row were several Plymouths, another Chrysler imperial and a
Town and Country convertible. Many thanks to David for allowing us to see
his magnificent collection of Mopars.
Friday saw
our group head off to Cabot and its cheese factory. The creamery dates back
to 1893 and is now cooperatively owned by area diary
farmers. After the tour it was on to Peachum for
a chicken lunch hosted by the members of the local church. Following lunch
the members toured the church cemetery and learned of the history of the
region.
Saturday and
the big day had finally arrived, we drove north to Lyndon College where our
car show was located. Our show was held adjacent to the Theodore N. Vail Center, the center was named for the man who convened a
series of conferences in Lyndon that resulted in the formation of American
Telephone & Telegraph. The weather was perfect for the show, sunny and
warm. It was a steady stream of cars arriving for the meet during the
morning hours.
In the
evening we returned to Lyndon College for our banquet. The food was among
the best we've ever had at a national meet and was catered by the college.
Before the banquet and awards ceremony could begin we had to give away the
door prizes that had been assembled for the event. And we also had to solve
the case of the kidnapped bear. Once these items were handled we dined and
awarded trophies. The winning vehicles are pictured here in the WPC News.
Not pictured are the winners of the Dr. David George Briant
Award, given to Jim Blakeman for his efforts in
putting together this wonderful meet and the one award I always prefer not
to award the Hard Luck Trophy. This awa4d went to John and Vida Knab, from Illinois, who made it about 60 miles from
St. Johnsbury when a driver from Vermont decided
to turn directly into their path causing a terrible crash that resulted in
the totalling of their 1972 Plymouth Fury Gran
Coupe. Luckily John and Vida were not hurt and came the last
few miles to the meet with the Rouses in their 1955 Dodge Coronet.
This marks the second year in a row we have had a car totalled
on the way to the National Meet. While we lost two Mopars, their owners were not hurt.
A National
Meet is the work of many people and I must thank some by name.
First Jim Blakeman for inviting us to Vermont,
and putting on a really great meet. Pat and Mary Opipari
for undertaking the photography of the meet and successfully delivering the
photos for the magazine despite the US Post Office that lost the original packet sent to HQ. The members of
the board who worked so hard to make the meet a success, Barb Weiser,
Paul Niles, Bob McClure, Wayne Simonson, Greg Biskey,
and Don Piscitelli who served as our head
judge. Wayne and Sue Simonson acted as liaison between Jim and the
National Board making a trip very early to Vermont to scout out locations
with Jim. Not to be forgotten are the many WPC members who pitched in
during the meet and helped with parking and ballot counting and the myriad
other items that need to be done during a meet. I thank you all for
your help, we couldn't do it without
you.
The call has
gone out to gather next year in the middle Kingdom of Kalamazoo, not nearly so far, far away.
- Dick Bowman
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