The Brown's won awards at the 2018 AASRA Charity Car Show for Bobby's '57 Cameo, and for Verna's '65 Chevelle convertible.
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Stuffing envelopes with letters to vendors for our annual swap meet.
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This article is an excerpt from the February 2011 "Bowtie Bulletin"
Bennie Zimmerman - Long Time VCCA Member
Bennie Zimmerman first heard of the Vintage Chevrolet Club of America in 1967 from his friend Ray Guthrie. Shortly after Ray told him that he had joined the VCCA, Bennie decided that he would join also and their VCCA national identification numbers are only 30 numbers apart. When he heard there would be a meeting on April 25, 1971 to form a club in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, he attended that meeting and joined the club that day to become one of the Lone Star Region’s charter members.
At the charter meeting, Bennie met Roy Chambers for the first time. This was the beginning of a long friendship between them that was easy to keep going since they both live in the same area of Dallas. Bennie was born in the small east Texas community of Perryville, but moved to Dallas in 1948 where he first worked for Austin Steel Brothers. He left this job to work for a time at the defense plant in Fort Worth that was then known as Consolidated. This plant is what is now called Lockheed-Martin. In 1950 Bennie went to work for Kroehler Furniture Company and worked there until his retirement in 1980. Bennie has lived in the same home in Dallas since 1969.
Bennie has had an interest in antique cars all of his life. At the time that he joined the Lone Star Region he owned a 1928 Chevrolet 4 door sedan. He and his brother had a stripped down 1930 Chevy that they used when they went fishing in their teenage years. He has owned and sold many cars over the years and they have all been Chevrolets except one. Due to health issues, he has gradually been downsizing for several years, and at the present time he still owns six antique Chevrolets. Two of his favorites are a 1950 2 door hard top and a 1955 red and white convertible. Chevrolet first made a hard top in 1950 and that is one of the reasons that his is so special to him. Anyone that knows Bennie and Margie has seen them drive the 1955 convertible to many of the Lone Star Region activities.
Bennie attended his first National VCCA Anniversary meet in 1976 when it was held in Colorado Springs, CO. He and Margie have attended several of the meets since then, and many times combined the VCCA meet with a side trip to see other attractions along the way.
He served as Director of the Lone Star Region during 2001 and 2002 and as a Board Member several times. Bennie was always a very active club member, attending almost all of the activities and rarely missing any of the tours. He acquired quite a reputation for his fondness for ice cream, especially Blue Bell and that hasn’t changed. During a recent stay at a physical therapy facility, Bennie said, “After dinner they always asked if anyone wanted ice cream, and I always raised my hand, and they brought me Blue Bell”. Bennie isn’t able to get out much anymore or do any traveling, but he still enjoys hearing any news about the Lone Star Region and receiving visits and phone calls.
With their combined families, Bennie and Margie have had a very busy and interesting life. Together they have several grandchildren and great-grandchildren that they have enjoyed watching grow up. Bennie has two daughters, one that lives in Sulphur Springs, TX and one in Fort Collins, CO. The VCCA and the Lone Star Region have also been a big part of their lives, which gives us all many good memories to share.
Note: Bennie passed away in June 2015. The LSR family misses him. When stories are told of the early days of the LSR the mention of Bennie brings a smile to everyone.
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This article is an excerpt from the July 2010 "Bowtie Bulletin"
Huston Shelton is Known for Swap Meets and Old Chevys
On August 25, 1971, Huston Shelton was hurrying home from a trip to another antique car outing in Graham, TX that was called "Graham Spring Fever Days". He had been on this tour with another car club that he belonged to, but he knew there was going to be a meeting to form a vintage Chevy club and he didn't want to miss it. Huston joined the Lone Star Region that day at the very first meeting, becoming a charter member, and has been a faithful member ever since.
Like a lot of Lone Star Region club members, Huston liked old cars as a teenager and his first car was a 1931 Model A Ford. At the time he joined the club, he owned a 1941 Chevrolet 2 Door Sedan that he had purchased from a General Motors co-worker named Lloyd Nicholson. Lloyd Nicholson also became one of the Lone Star Region's charter members.
The first national VCCA anniversary meet that Huston and his wife Betty attended was the 15th in 1976 in Colorado Springs, CO and they have attended every one since then. By that time, he owned a 1938 Coupe that he took to the meet and won a 2nd place award. This was the first of several other VCCA awards that Huston has received at the anniversary meets.
Huston's favorite car of all those that he has owned over the years was a 1955 Convertible, red and cream color. It was used one year on a float that was sponsored by the Lone Star Region in the Arlington Fourth of July parade. He no longer has that convertible, but he does still have a 1965 Malibu that he bought new. At the present time, Huston has the 1965 Malibu 2 Door Hardtop, three 1954s and a 1967 El Camino.
One thing that goes hand in hand with antique cars is swap meets and old car parts, and Huston has been very involved with both. When the Lone Star Region had the opportunity to begin a swap meet at Traders Village in Grand Prairie, TX, in 1976, Huston joined in with several other members in the club who were working to get it started. Due to the efforts of that group of people, the club still has a swap meet that is a source of income for its many activities. The first swap meet that Huston began selling at as a vendor was the widely known "Pate Swap Meet", and it is still his favorite swap meet. However, he has only missed going to the Petit Jean Arkansas swap meet one time and that was last year. And of course, he is always at the Lone Star Swap Meet in Grand Prairie. When car lovers in this area need a part for their old car, they know to check with Huston because he may just happen to have what they need. Huston says that the source of a lot of the items that he sells is flea markets, trade days or other swap meets.
It would be hard to say how many cars that Huston has bought and sold over the years. He said, "Since the late 60's, I have had over 70 Model A's". Wouldn't that make Henry Ford proud? That doesn't even take into account all of the Chevrolets that he has owned and sold.
Betty and Huston have two daughters and five grandsons that all live in this area, and are very close to them. When you see Huston at a swap meet, it is not unusual at all to see some of his family there giving him a hand.
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This article is an excerpt from the September 2010 "Bowtie Bulletin"
Eddie & Betty Sewell and a '32 Chevy Named "Puff"
My love affair with vintage automobiles began in 1958 when I was eleven years old. We had just moved to Cleburne and my dad was in the process of buying a home. While he was negotiating with the owner, my twin brother and I went outside. The owner's teenage son was working on a Model A coupe and we talked him into taking us for a ride. I was hooked. I intended to buy a Model A as soon as I could drive.
T. Lindsay Baker, a friend of mine from Boy Scouts, had a 1931 Model A coupe with a rumble seat and a roll down back glass that he had just restored. He graduated in 1965. That summer, my brother and I went with him in the Model A to visit his aunt and uncle in Galveston, a trip that took thirteen and a half hours. I had not had any luck trying to find a Model A to buy. During the trip, he mentioned that he had acquired a 1932 Chevy sedan that he wanted to sell, since he was only interested in Fords. When we got back, I went to look at the car and decided to buy it. Boy was it rough! It had 101,000 thousand miles on it and thirty layers of seat covers, but it was mine !!! I drove it my senior year to high school, while working on it in my spare time.
My car's name is "Puff" as in Puff the Magic Dragon. That may sound a bit strange, but there is a story behind the name. When I first bought the car, the radiator was all but stopped up. The water in it was a rusty red color. Someone had drilled a hole in the fill spout just below where the cap went. One very hot day, I stopped for a traffic light at the courthouse. The car overheated and spewed a huge cloud of red steam out of that hole. It looked like a fire breathing dragon. Peter, Paul and Mary had just come out with the song "Puff the Magic Dragon". My brother said the car reminded him of the song and the name stuck.
I graduated from high school in 1966 and Puff and I went to East Texas State University. There he caught on fire. He was repainted brown with black fenders and top. It was while I was in college that I met Betty on a blind date (the only blind date I have ever been on). On our second date, it snowed. It snowed just as hard inside the car as out. It must have been true love because she went out with me again. If snow was bad, rain was worse. We got soaked every time it rained.
I finally proposed and Betty and I became engaged. We were both studying to become teachers. Her field was Special Education and mine was History. We graduated in 1970 with our bachelor degrees, and in 1973 with our masters. I got a job teaching history at Cleburne High School and she got a job in Weatherford.
We got married on April 10th 197l. A week later, a friend of mine in the Packard Club, Hayden Vandever, stopped by and told us that a group of Chevy lovers were going to meet at Meadowbrook Park in Arlington to form a club on April 25th. We made plans to attend that meeting. When we got there, we did not know anyone. We liked what they wanted to do and joined that day.
We really enjoyed the meetings and the family atmosphere there. We rarely missed a meeting and meanwhile continued to collect parts for the elusive future restoration of Puff. We visited some of the "finest" junk yards between here and Stephenville searching for parts, not counting countless swap meets for the next thirty years.
Over the years we became more involved in the club. I served as assistant newsletter editor, board member, and assistant director. Betty served as membership secretary for five years, has helped with numerous Christmas parties (one for which she provided all the table decorations), and has worked in the registration tent for many swap meets. We sponsored the club's 39th anniversary party this past April, and have sponsored two day tours, one in the fall of 2006 and one in the spring of 2009. We are currently in the planning stages of this year's fall day tour scheduled for November 6, 2010.
Finally in 2001, Puff wore completely out and quit running. By now he was in such bad condition I knew that I could not do all the work required to restore him. So in July, 2001, Puff went to Hatfield Restoration in Canton for a frame off total restoration. By now after thirty-seven years, my garage looked like a Chevy parts house. Everything went to Canton. Thirty five months later in June, 2005, Puff came home fully reborn.
By now Betty and I were retired and started taking Puff on tours. We have been to most of the Southern Fall Tours. We really enjoy touring and the many friends we have made there. In 2006, we made the journey to Grand Junction, Colorado for the 45th Anniversary Meet. We had Puff judged there and he scored 964 out of 1000 points.
We have been married 15 days longer than there has been a Lone Star Region Chevrolet Club. We will celebrate our 40th anniversary next April and have already celebrated our 45th in June of owning Puff.
By: Eddie Sewell, September, 2010
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This article is an excerpt from the November 2010 "Bowtie Bulletin"
Lloyd Nicholson Enjoys Antique Cars and an Antique Home
At the charter meeting for the Lone Star Region, held in Arlington on April 25, 1971, Lloyd Nicholson was already acquainted with a couple of the other charter members because he worked with them at the General Motors assembly plant, also located in Arlington. They were Huston Shelton and Bill Fulmer. Lloyd decided to become one of the charter members on that day and has been a Lone Star Region member ever since. Lloyd's rebuilding of old cars began when he was a teenager growing up on a farm near Petty, Texas. His very first car was a 1930 Model A Town Sedan. When he wasn't busy with farm work, he would help his Uncle Joe with automotive work. He was known as the "grease monkey", doing anything that needed to be done on the old cars. By the time he began dating Nina, who would later become his wife, he had begun to take cars apart and put them back together himself. Some of their dates included Lloyd working on a car while Nina sat nearby reading a book, or going to a wrecking yard together. Nina said, "I can't say that I didn't know what I was getting into".
Over the years, Lloyd has bought and sold over 350 cars. He has owned a 1918 Chevrolet Touring, a 1924 Chevrolet Coupe and a 1923 T-Bucket Street Rod, just to name a few. One that he really takes pride in is a 1954 Ford that only has 970 actual miles on it. Lloyd said, "It has never been rained on". One year he entered this car in the American Automobile Club of America's national meet and it was awarded First Place - Original in the USA and Canada. Lloyd has purchased 65 new automobiles from General Motors since the time that he began work at the Arlington plant April 1, 1954.
In the mid 1980's, Lloyd teamed up with Arlington evangelist and gospel singer, Joe Atkinson, to compete in the Great American Antique Car Race. This is a race that tests your navigation skills, your ability to make needed repairs during overnight stops and the endurance of your automobile. Lloyd and Nina were the support crew, driving the truck and trailer and helping out in many areas during the long course of the race. Lloyd and Nina did this for four years, and they both said it is an experience that they will never forget. They traveled through many parts of the country and met lots of new people and media from all over the world. New York City was one of their favorite places to see, even though it did offer a lot of challenges to the racers. Governor Mark White proclaimed them Good Will Ambassadors for the state of Texas during one of the races.
In 1985, Lloyd and Nina, bought a home in the small town of Honey Grove, TX. This is not too far from where they both grew up. The house had been built in 1895, a Queen Anne Victorian with three stories. They restored all of it except the third story and enjoyed the results of their hard work immensely. In 1988, they made a permanent move back to Honey Grove. After they finished with the restoration of the house, they joined a car club in Paris, Texas called the "Red River Honkers". They have been active in community work in Honey Grove, joining several organizations, including the Habitat for Humanity. Several members of the Lone Star Region have visited them and enjoyed a tour of their beautiful antique home.
Lloyd and Nina have four children, three boys and a girl, who all drove antique cars to school when they reached driving age. They also have four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren , with some of them living in the Arlington area, some in Dallas and some in Kentucky. Lloyd and Nina don't make it back to Arlington very often to see their family, but when they do, members of the Lone Star Region are always pleased when they happen to see them at a club function or other car-related event.
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