A contingent of ‘49ers, including Dennis Akerman, Paul Cichon, Randy & Susan Denchfield, Horace DiTecco, Jay Friedman, Art Gardner, Dan Gardner (all the way from Scotland), Rege McDonough, Jim Murdoch, John Pontarini and yours truly (and, no doubt, others too.) made the annual pilgrimage to the Mecca of the old car hobby, Hershey, October 6-10. A few of us arrived Tuesday, the 6th, in fine weather, while most of us arrived Wednesday and were “treated” to blustery, chilly conditions and dark, threatening skies. Art Gardner arrived late that day, having driven his ’49 Club Coupe, “The Cadster”, 750 miles from Georgia without incident, with hopes of selling his pride and joy in the massive car corral.
As Thursday dawned with fair weather and sunny skies, Jay and I donned our walking shoes and embarked on the daunting task of covering the many acres of the swap meet in a quest for those elusive ’49 Cadillac parts, while Art stationed himself at his car to wait for prospective buyers. The pickings were good, and by day’s end we had succeeded in filling to overflowing a “granny” cart and kid’s wagon with sundry ’49 parts. Meanwhile Paul Cichon, owner of a gorgeous ’49 hearse named Morticia, was successful in finding a rare and beautiful Miller-Meteor factory brochure depicting all models of hearses offered in ’62 and workmen performing the conversions and body drop.
Friday commenced with a light drizzle, which fortunately dissipated by late morning, followed by bright sunshine, all too often a scarce commodity at Hershey. Having successfully traversed the remaining flea market fields, we rendezvoused at the CLC hospitality tent where we were treated to coffee, soda and various snacks, including peanuts served in a ’49 sombrero hub cap courtesy of ‘49er Bill Edmunds and his wife Jay Ann. The conversations, of course, centered on our favorite passion and it was a wonderful opportunity to for a reunion with other CLC members. Art G. announced the bittersweet news that “The Cadster” had indeed been sold, and was on its way to a new home in Connecticut.
On Saturday, the final day, we attended the AACA National Show, under overcast skies but with mild temperatures, where we viewed a multitude of beautiful antique autos from all eras, including many rare, one-of-a-kind makes. ‘49ers Randy and Susan Denchfield entered their very nice, original, un-restored 6269 4-door with only 39,000 miles in the Historical Preservation Original Class. Also seen was a Belden Blue ’49 convertible from Pittsburgh which was restored in 1995 but appeared to have just come out of the shop. All in all, it was a successful meet, the weather cooperated and a “sweet” time was had by all.
