Chrysler 300 Club International
Bartlesville, Oklahoma
Sept 30 - Oct 4, 2026

Emails from the meet
Hello 300 fans,
We all know that a Rob Kern meet is going to be a fantastic meet. Rob never fails to impress. I'll spare the hyperbole as it is not my style. One of our smaller meets, it allowed more intimate socialization and camaraderie among the members attending, which is a huge benefit of attending ANY meet! The indisputable fact is that we not just a club, we are family. Nowhere was this more evident than at Bartlesville. As my buddy Randy Thorne said to me after the banquet, now comes the time that is both happy and sad. I guess bittersweet would be the appropriate term. We have to say goodbye to our friends and fellow "300 nuts," but we also cherish the time we had together as a "family" and look forward to the next meet And we did have a great time!
The rather apocalyptic weather forecast turned out to be incorrect, and except for a rainy night on Wednesday and only light rain on Thursday morning, the weather was really good for a meet. This allowed us to fully enjoy the great activities that Rob arranged for us. I'm a big fan of history and architecture and the Thursday visit of Woolaroc and the Phillips mansion was really special. Among many things we learned, we discovered that Frank and Jane Phillips not only had a beautiful home, they were Chrysler people! The tour guide told us that as many as four Chryslers once occupied the large detached set of garages! Unfortunately, none of those cars remain.
Bartlesville and the surrounding area is beautiful, with rolling hills, lakes, and wooded areas. The town itself is very historic, with beautiful old homes and buildings. On Friday we visited nearby Pawhuska, and that also is neat little place with a very attractive, historic and vibrant downtown. I didn't venture out to the Drummond Ranch (went to the Cowboy Museum instead), but I understand it was really cool as well!
On Friday night we all attended Rob's signature event: Letter Car Jeopardy. I had never had the pleasure of attending one of Rob's prior Jeopardy events, and it turned out to be boatloads of fun! I was privileged to be a contestant, and after getting the hang of it, I guess I did pretty well at answering (albeit forgetting to state the answer as a question, and messing up a J question of all things).
Saturday was a nearly perfect day for the car show, and the local CDJR dealer could not have been more accommodating. While we didn't have a huge turnout of cars, what we had was fantastic, including a never before seen mostly original Cameo Tan E coupe, a beautiful Marti Gras red G coupe from new member Kirk Smith (driven up from Dallas/Ft. Worth), Kelly and Mark's fabulous Cloud White C coupe (new to most of us), and more. Most notable to me about the show was not the number of cars, but how much our members and non-members attending enjoyed seeing the cars and how much they enjoyed the event. We had a couple new members join the club, and all of us made new friends. That is a very important aspect of our meets irrespective of size. There are always new (to us) cars, members, and prospective members to meet and enjoy time with.
The banquet was at the hotel and I must say, while I'm not generally a huge fan of buffets, the food at this one was outstanding! The Tiramisu dessert was like that which you would find in a fine Italian restaurant, perhaps better - I kid you not (no bs, it really was)! Members also brought in some really cool stuff to be auctioned off after the banquet as well.
Of course, we also had our "parking lot" gatherings, which is a quintessential aspect of our meets, spoiled only by getting busted by the Casino management for drinking alcohol in the parking lot, which evidently was verboten. Oh well, it wouldn't be a real meet unless one of us "radicals" causes some trouble!
My wife was unable to join me for the meet due to illness, but after I described what I saw in and around Bartlesville, she has suggested that we go back some time so that she can see it as well and further check out the area. I will say this - and just my personal bias - but I was very impressed with what I saw of Oklahoma. Should we ever relocate to a warmer climate, Oklahoma is one of the few states that we would ever consider. Folks are friendly, cost of living is reasonable, and it is a neat mix of midwestern, southern and western culture. I really enjoyed the visit. A HUGE thanks to Rob and all involved in orchestrating this meet!
Carl Bilter
Rob and Marnie once again did a fantastic job, even with Marnie recovering from a recent shoulder surgery. Kathy and I also found the events very interesting. We also enjoyed the history of the Phillips 66 company. Its founder Frank Phillips started out as a barber, changed his career to banking and then became an oil tycoon when one of his oil wells struck. Additionally, Kathy loved visiting the set for the filming of The Pioneer Woman show with Ree Drummond.
We had a wonderful time. Letter Car Jeopardy was once again a huge success. Everyone had a great time. Some of the best time was just sitting and relaxing in the parking lot with a cold drink and Club members/ friends solving the world's problems. Also wanted to mention, seeing that Oklahoma is known for its beef, Kathy and I had a steak dinner at Tumbleweeds Steak House in Bartlesville that was to die for. A very casual setting with terrific food.
Brian and Kathy Frank
Wonderful meet! We were very grateful to meet some of the members and make it to the car show Saturday. Looking forward to the next meet.
John Holmberg
I just wanted to add my thanks to Rob and crew for working so hard to put together another interesting and educational meet. The smaller size was a blessing in a way in that we all got to spend a lot more quality time together as a 300 family. The weather was better than predicted.
I had to leave a little early to make it out to Hershey in time for the AACA National Meet. Lots of driving, but what a great way to see our beautiful country. On the way out, I covered most of the 13 miles of Route 66 in Kansas and stopped at the Kansas Rt 66 Visitors Center in Baxter Springs. It was really fun seeing everyone and visiting the historic places Rob planned out for us. BTW, the food in Bartlesville was spectacular, all the restaurants we ate at were exceptional. Rob worked his magic and put together yet another fantastic edition of his classic Letter Car Jeopardy.
Thank you Rob and all who attended for yet another memorable Letter Car meet.
Mark Obermann