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Weekly New February 6. 2006Description
Ruth and I returned home late Saturday, and it seems appropriate that we should give a brief report on the Centennial of the Land Speed Record at Ormond Beach, FL, rather than my usual homely anecdote.
The 6-year preparation by Sue Davis and the Stanley Museum made for a memorable occasion that's hard to describe. The highlight was having 30 plus Stanleys driving on the beach on January 26, 100 years to the day after Fred Marriott went 127.66 m.p.h. in the Stanley Rocket to set a land speed record that stood for 4 years. The Rocket replica, built by Morris Frost in 1971, was made operable by Brent Campbell, and ran for the first time in over 30 years. After Brent piloted it onto the beach, he turned over the controls to Sarah Stanley (Davidson), great granddaughter of the Rocket's builder, F. E. Stanley, and to Robert Landrey, great grandson of Fred Marriott, who each drove the single seat replica up and down the beach in front of us and a crowd estimated at 2,000 people. The beach is narrow and soft now, in contrast to the hard wide beach on which the early daredevils raced. There were also 3 Vanderbilt Cup replicas in attendance (only two originals were built in 1906), at least three Mountain Wagons, and some fabulous Stanleys of all ages. The Stanley family was represented not only by Sarah, but also by her sister, Constance Boudeman, and their brother, Christy Stanley and his family. The Marriott family was represented by Robert Landrey who drove the Rocket, his parents, Robert (Sr.) and Virginia Landrey, and his brother.
Other activities surrounding the time on the beach included a reception at the late John D. Rockefeller's home, the Casements, at which time all the cars were lined up on the grounds in chronological order, the dedication of the Land Speed Record monument, several group meals and banquets, and 3 days of touring. In all we were at Ormond-Daytona for four days with near-perfect weather. At the high point (January 26) there were 207 people registered and in attendance. If all are counted, we had 21 F.A.H.P members (including family members) there, who had a total of 8 Stanley cars! They are Mike and Kathryn May (1913 Mountain Wagon), Bob Wilhelm and Joe McAleese (1918 Stanley), Brent and Martha Campbell (1917 Stanley roadster), Charlie Johnson and Sandy Heefner (1907 Model F Stanley), Sue Davis (the Stanley Museum's 1910 Model 70 Stanley), Don Davidson and Sarah Stanley (1913 Stanley roadster), Butch Cannard, Bill Schwoebel, Bill Rule, Walter O'Rourke, Ruth and I (1908 Model K and 1910 Model 71), and Tom Ackerman, Ernie Ross, and Lindsay and Marge Greenplate without cars. Photos abound, which will be shared in due course. Our two cars are still in Florida, awaiting the Concours d'Elegance event at Amelia Island in mid-March, to which they've been invited. The two Bills, Butch, Emil, and Jerry Novak expect to attend that one.
I see where 15 volunteers attended the work session last Thursday, and I thank you for getting a lot done. To continue work on the Model 735, recently from the paint shop, I have the boiler set up on the stand for getting the loose wire out of the way, attaching the bottom band, and then rewinding what is necessary to make the wire tight again. I hope Jim Sank will be returning the striped front wheels and hood in a few days. Also, we should be expecting the rear brakes for this car soon, along with the rear axle and brake parts for the Model EX.
Bob Reilly is expecting to take up his Executive Director duties on Thursday, 2/9, and along with many other things on his plate, we hope he can help us to better organize our work projects. Input from all of you will be needed and very helpful. We will be preparing for our Annual Meeting in the Museum on Thursday evening, February 16, at 7:30. Thank you for returning your ballots, and we encourage you to attend. Thanks for taking good care of the store in our absence. Tom
