This article is an excerpt from the March 2010 "Bowtie Bulletin"

The first national VCCA anniversary meet that Ray and Faye Guthrie attended was held in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1971. To the best of his knowledge, this was the first national anniversary meet to be held commemorating the beginning of the VCCA in 1961. Ray has attended all of the national anniversary meets since then, and is hoping to be able to go to the one in Flint, Michigan in 2011.

The Lone Star Region of the VCCA had just been chartered in April of 1971 and Ray was one of the founding members. However, he had been a VCCA member since 1967 when he had seen an advertisement for the organization in Hemmings magazine and had joined. He told Benny Zimmerman about the VCCA and Benny also joined shortly after that. Their national VCCA membership numbers are only 30 numbers apart. On April 16, 1971, Jim Harris who was soon to become the first director of the Lone Star Region, sent out a letter to a group of Chevy enthusiasts inviting them to a meeting at Meadowbrook City Park Recreation Center Building in Arlington, TX. This meeting was set for April 25, 1971 and on this day the charter was made, officers were elected and the club was given the name Lone Star.

Ray drove his 1957 Cameo to the meet in Indianapolis, and he has driven it to every other national meet since then. If he gets to go to Flint next summer, he plans to take the '57 Cameo again. Ray bought the '57 Cameo in April of 1962 when it was 5 years old and had 41,000 miles on it. It now has 175,000 miles on it and Ray's comment was that "It is probably in better shape than I am". He drove it to work for 10 years, a 50 mile roundtrip from Irving to Richardson every day.

Like a lot of VCCA members, Ray had a love for old Chevys at a young age and bought his first 1933 2-Door in 1947. He also has a 1934 Coupe that he used for parades, after changing the fan for better air circulation. He says he has a total of 20 old Chevys, and even though they are not all in top condition, many of them are.

At that first meet he attended in Indianapolis, he did not register for the meet, but just went to see what it would be like. Ray remembers that Doc Clinch, Jim Harris, Don Dunlap and the Fulmers also attended the 10th Anniversary VCCA meet and there possibly may have been others from the LSR in attendance. For every other anniversary meet after that, he would register his vehicle but would not have it judged.

For the meet in Colorado Springs in 1976, Ray could not decide between his 1934 Coupe and his 1957 Cameo, so he put the'34 on a trailer and pulled it with the '57 Cameo. He drove the Cameo all the way to the top of Pike's Peak. He had been up Pike's Peak once before in a 1953 Oldsmobile, but the Cameo was more fun. He says that all of the trips to the VCCA anniversary meets have been enjoyable, but his favorite would probably be the one to Colorado Springs in 1976 because of the beautiful scenery.

Ray's wife of 62 years, Faye, went with him on all of the trips thru 2001 in Springfield, IL. After that, her health didn't permit her to make the one in Grand Junction, CO in 2006, and she is no longer able to travel with him. Faye and Ray have one daughter, Kaye, who lives with her husband Mark Citzler in the Flower Mound area.

Note: We lost Ray and Faye in February 2014, Faye passed on the 20th and Ray on the 24th. They are greatly missed and fondly remembered by the LSR family.