While Pontiac may not be the hub of activity associated with the
Woodward Dream Cruise, it turned out to be the hub of some very
special guests who came to view the Futurliner. There was a great
deal of interest and activity at the show site, despite the heat,
but fortunately not so much that the Futurliner crew wasn't able to
have some quality interaction with these special guests. |
We had the pleasure of having two former Paraders stop by.
Jim Gentzel and Tom Van Voorhis had a great time reminiscing about
their Parader days. It was also very special in watching the
reaction of their family members, especially Tom's grandchildren, as
they got to witness for the first time the Futurliner they had heard
about for so many years. |
One early guest was Frank Frye who had a very direct connection
with Futurliner #10. Frank had driven #10 when it belonged to the
Goebel Brewing Company. Frank dropped off a photo of the Goebel Land
Cruiser (below) and has offered to provide additional photos and
information. Later in the day Jack Frye also stopped by with some of
his own tales of the Goeble Cruiser.
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Another source of valuable archive material came from Ray Tuck.
Ray had seen the Futurliner at the show at Greenfield Village
earlier this year. That prompted him to go home and search through
family photos of when his grandfather had worked the Parade of
Progress when the Streamliners were used. As we stared in awe at
this great collection of photos, he smiled and informed us that
these were copies that he had made for us to add to our archives.
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Many visitors to the Futurliner had come long distances to see
it. People such as, Steve Karr, who had contacted us and came from
Alabama and others who came from California and elsewhere. There was
a man from Australia that stopped by and two gentlemen from Sweden
who wanted to see what a Futurliner is supposed to look like. These
two men live down the road from Rune Johssson, who is currently
restoring another of the Futurliners.
We also had a number of local residents, many with connections to
Pontiac Motors and the GMC Truck and Coach, that expressed their
sincere gratitude and appreciation to us for bringing the Futurliner
back home during these uncertain times for the community.
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