2023 Fall Meet
Report
The 52nd
Annual Chrysler 300 Club Fall National Meet is now in the history
books. Virginia and I had a GREAT time hosting everyone to
Fredericksburg, Texas. First arrivals were on Saturday and continued
through Wednesday. Although not as many folks as we had hoped came to
Fredericksburg, it turned out that the smaller crowd was an
advantage, because everyone got to visit with nearly everyone else.
Virginia and I met quite a few members for the first time and
Fredericksburg was the first meet ever attended by at least 5
members. How cool is that!
The weather
turned out to be in our favor. The week prior to the meet the Weather
Guessers were predicting nearly triple digit high temps and rain. The
weather we were given was mid-80’s, lower humidity and clear
skies.
Monday we went
to the National Museum of the Pacific War and it is off-the-charts!
We had intended to tour the whole museum in the morning, but it took
all day. The consensus was that you couldn’t get through it and
see all of the exhibits in two days! In my opinion the National
Museum of the Pacific War should be on everyone’s bucket list.
We broke up the museum tour for lunch at Das Auslander German
Restaurant for a great German style meal. After lunch, most of us
went back to the Museum.
Our business
meeting was Monday evening where several first-time attendees were
recognized.
Tuesday was our
cruise through the beautiful Texas Hill Country.
We visited the
Texas Ranger Heritage Center, the LBJ State Park and the LBJ Ranch
Road Tour.
Air Force
One-Half was open and most took a look inside.
Although the
Texas White House is closed for restoration, it’s still a neat
building to see and in a great setting. Quite a few folks took the
walk around the house.
During the ranch
road tour, we got split up for a bit, because a skunk decided to walk
down the road in our midst. Fortunately, the skunk didn’t spray
anyone.
Tuesday
afternoon was an unexpected treat. After working to contact him for a
year, Richard Atwell finally got back to me only three weeks before
our meet. He opened his very high-end car collection to us Tuesday
afternoon. His collection is Pebble Beach Concours quality,
containing Marmon’s, Talbo Lago’s, Lagonda’s,
Franklin’s, a Cunningham, and maybe a dozen Rolls Royce’s,
the majority from the 1930’s. We also got to see his
one-of-five 1940 Chrysler Newport dual cowl phaeton.
The week before
our Meet Len Zimmerer brought his beautiful C300 to Crenwelge Motors
and Crenwelge’s put it on their showroom floor!
Wednesday was
our car show hosted by Crenwelge Motors, the Chrysler dealer in
Fredericksburg. They provided car wash facilities for us and emptied
out their front new car lot to park all 13 of our Brutes in front of
the dealership. Their layout for our cars was great.
Quite a few
people told me they had driven by, saw our cars and turned around to
come back and see them up close. Crenwelge’s also set out a
great spread of cookies, cake bites and lemonade. Pre-ordered box
lunches were delivered during our car show. The box lunches were
especially appreciated by our wives, who said their husbands would
not leave a car show to get lunch. Along with everything else,
Crenwelge’s donated ball caps and T-shirts that were handed out
at the Monday night business meeting and at the banquet.
Wednesday
evening was our banquet at the Inn on Barons Creek Convention Center.
Our meal was Texas Barbecue catered by Eaker Barbecue of
Fredericksburg. They served the best brisket I have had and the
chicken quarters were great, too. Also included was Cowboy Beans,
Kimchi Rice and Mac and Cheese. The table center pieces contained
desert – pecans and bite sized chocolates. Drinks at our
banquet were BYOB, which seemed to be a popular idea. Our members
were mixing different drinks at many of the tables and passing them
around. Our caterer said it looked like a great party.
All good times
must end and Thursday morning was spent saying bittersweet goodbyes
to new friends and longtime friends (I won’t say old friends –
even if it’s appropriate).
To everyone –
THANK YOU for coming to Fredericksburg and we look forward to seeing
you in Kokomo!
Respectfully
submitted,
Randy and
Virginia Thorne
