A definite highlight for the month of October was my first ever trip to the fabled Hershey. I’m sure the inspiration to make the trip was the result of all of the pictures I’ve seen and the stories that I’ve read and heard recited over the years. The “Heavens to Hershey” story Ron Caruso wrote for the November 07 issue of our Round-Up might even have had something to do with it although I would never admit that to Ron.

I have been to Hershey to play golf and I have previously visited the candy factory and I now know that there is not any way the stories or my prior experiences prepared me for what I saw when I got off of the bus. The bus was something else. Charlie Schifano made the connection and Nancy and I made the trip with Charlie and Connie along with Jack and Nancy Wolfe. When we boarded the bus shortly after 3:30 AM in New Stanton, we sat across the isle from Gary Wiegand who had boarded the bus at an earlier stop. The bus part of the trip was very well managed and it was easy to see that it was run by a veteran. I could not have wanted a better ride considering it started way before dawn and concluded long after sunset.

We were lucky in as much as the weather was great. It was unseasonably cool in the morning but was sunny and got only better throughout the day. I’m not really in need of any car parts but it was neat to see what was there in the way of parts and other auto related collectables. I could not have imagined the size of the car corral or the number of show cars.

I was pleased to run into so many members of the WPR as we moved around the various fields although there were many, many members there that we missed. After reviewing the awards list on line, congratulations to Jim Laughlin and Ron Caruso for achieving their Preservation Awards.

Dick McKelvey

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