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First, I want to comment on the 356 Registry East Coast Holiday at West Baden, IN. If you have never seen this place, you are missing one of the most amazing resort hotels ever. It was originally built in 1902 and finished in less than a year. It had the largest free standing dome in the world until the Houston Astrodome was built. The Atrium is 200 feet across and 6 stories high. An amazing engineering feat for 1902! (And we can't get a simple east end bridge across the Ohio river.)

It was redecorated in 1917 and was a high-end hotel until the stock market crash in 1929. Later it was sold to the Jesuits and used by them as a monastery for 30 years. Then it sold to the Northwood Institute as a culinary school. After the school closed, it sat empty and abandoned for 20 years and was literally falling down. It was recognized as a valuable landmark and saved and returned to its 1917 style decor at a cost of many, many millions. All the furnishings were locally made in the 1917 style. The renovation is first class.

Back to the ECH. Last year as John and Shelley Howe, Mike Long, Andy and I were returning from the Holiday in Lancaster, PA, John suggested we do a Holiday in the Louisville area. Frankly I could not think of a good place in Louisville to put on a Holiday but John knew of West Baden. The committee made a site visit and talked about the possibility of having the Registry Holiday there. The Resort was very receptive to the idea as we planned to take over the entire site. John wrote a proposal to the Registry and our bid was accepted. Then the work started. John is a 'computer guy' and his expertise was exercised as he and Shelley kept the registration and finances straight. They were the kingpin of the effort. Mike Long provided the trophies and took on the daunting task of setting up and running the Hospitality suite for the weekend. Andy took on the concour and the car displays in the Atrium, and I pitched in by obtaining sponsors and door prizes, running the Friday tech sessions, and, with Jim Perrin’s lead, the Literature Meet held on Friday evening.

The weather was great and the cars were displayed in the gardens on Saturday. Andy had a plot plan of the area and, working with the registration list, placed each class in an appropriate space. The Speedsters were in the middle of the garden and the special interest cars (Ray Knight's Sauter Roadster, Jim Perrin’s 904, Jim Watson's Buetler, Dick Weiss' Carrera Speedster and his Janis Joplin 356 Cabriolet) were at one end of the garden. Andy also arranged with the hotel for these cars (and others) to be displayed in the Atrium from Thursday until Saturday morning. The other 'Atrium cars' were Brett Johnson's 51 Glaser Cabriolet, John Woods' Cabriolet and Steve Gunder's 53 Coupe. A very impressive collection of rare and valuable 356's! I don't have an accurate count of the cars on display in the gardens on Saturday, but we estimate at least 150 of the finest 356's around.

At the last minute our guest speaker from Germany had to cancel and John Howe scurried around and got Vic Elford to be our speaker. We were also able to enlist Vic to give a presentation at the tech session and he even autographed items for folks. He was a very nice fellow and fun to visit with. At the dinner we gave John and Shelly a thank you trophy consisting of an original West Baden #7 mug (a rare antique item). How I obtained the rare West Baden mug is another story for another time. I was surprised when honored with a 'Lifetime Achievement' award from the group.

The last thing on the weekend's agenda was the Sunday morning swap meet. I successfully avoided buying anything, in keeping with my new philosophy (borrowed from Tony Proasi) that I am not running a 'museum'. One final thought about the Holiday. We had many volunteers to assist but the core group of five, headed up by John Howe, performed well and made it all come together. Most events of this level take two years of planning and many more workers. It was compared to putting 'nine men on a woman to have a baby in a month'.

Next was the KYPCA 50th anniversary celebration at The Palace. What a beautiful place. I am very glad it was saved and returned to it's former glory when it was known as Lowes. Good food and a great opportunity to put faces with names and see past members of Ky Region. The dress code was 'black tie optional'. I did note several folks dressed as suggested. The only way I could tell them from the wait staff was that the wait staff was carrying wine bottles and keeping glassed filled. Sorry folks, couldn't resist :-) Thanks to the committee for putting on a memorable celebration. Well done.

Now that the excitement of the ECH and the 50th is past, I am back in the garage, playing with cars. Oh yes, I did take on one other commitment. I am involved with the Louisville Concour at Churchill Downs the weekend of 3-4 October.

And my 'political' comment for the month: always remember 'Those that cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' As my parents would say ‘if you don’t have anything good to say, don't say anything.’ Well, I can't think of anything good to say about 'Washington'. ..and this month’s favorite: 'politicians are like diapers, they should be changed frequently for the same reason.'

Ken Daugherty