Amici...
You should'a been there. It was nice.
Last Saturday night, a very informal memorial was held out on TURN ONE at
GRATTAN RACEWAY. It was made up mostly of Group Two (vintage production
based racers), but a lot of others came as well. It started slowly as Tony
Drews, his daughter Tori, Bob Wismer, Shirley and I started the long walk down
the front straight to corner one. But one by one the group kept getting
bigger and bigger. People came. They paid their respects, and then left. At
times the number, standing in a circle at any one time numbered 35 or 40
strong. In honor of Uncle Jack's other loves, many were smoking good cigars,
and there were several bottles of single malted Scotch being past around the
circle. It was good stuff too. You know...the stuff they keep back up there
by the mirror. Not that junk down on the rail. We took turns telling
tales about Uncle Jack. Lots of racer, and mechanical stuff, but also lots of
deep personal things about Jack's multifaceted personality. Dry eyes became
scarce when Tony spoke of his days in the garage and at the track with Dad.
When Tori talked about her grandpa, and his loving ways, it was very
emotional. What a guy! We were all privileged to know him. Those Scotch
bottles
were soon empty, and we left them standing in the gravel in the bank where
Jack's gorgeous TR4 ended up last August. Still thinking about Jack, we all
then made the long trek back to our race paddocks. We finished with a
traditional Beady Eye Wine and Cheese party in Garage #8. The good Scotch was
gone, but there was plenty fine wine, good Wisconsin cheese, and some tasty
stuff someone brought up from the southern edge of Kentucky. It came in
unmarked mason jars. One jar tasted like apple pie, another like cherry, and
one like lemonade...but all three kicked like a mule.
Like I said...you should'a been there. It was nice...good for the soul.
Bill Dentinger
PS We walked away from the memorial smarter too. Tony Drews and I both
agree, that if you are going to hold any kind of function out in the kitty
litter...be sure you don't wear flip flops or sandals. Walking in the kitty
litter is like walking in 12" of quick sand (only with BIG kernels). That
space between you feet and the flip flops sure fills up fast. Pictures are
scarce, but I did get several. I'll try to post them, but may need some help.
I don't always get along with my vintage (kerosene powered) computer.
_______________________________________________
Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html
http://www.fot-racing.com
Fot@autox.team.net
http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/fot
|