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hotel because it could seat 800 for din-
ner. We scooped up four other nearby
hotels for the overflow. SAAC-24 plans
were beginning to come together
nicely.
We started to put together a
schedule, made up of events that had
proven popular at past conventions. At
first it looked like we might be able to
include a NASCAR driving school on
Friday as the Richard Petty School
used MIS and we dutifully announced
this in a
Snakebite Bulletin
in Novem-
ber. Plans fell through, however, and it
was probably a good thing as they re-
quired a minimum number of students
and wanted us to commit to and there
was no way we could tell in advance if
we could meet that number. Not hav-
ing the Petty School presented no
problem in the scheduling department
because we used the time for open
track sessions.
The SHELBY AMERICAN
Spring 2016 78
Tom Honegger of Lima, Ohio brought his
daughter, Joanne, 18, with him to the con-
vention. She had always wondered what
her dad’s attraction was to these events.
She convinced him to let her drive his ‘67
GT350 on the track and he signed her up
for one of the Ladies’ Sessions. After her
time in the car on MIS she got it. She fi-
nally knew why the car that had occupied
one of their garages all these years had
captivated her old man. When the day was
over she told him, “Dad, I think we bonded
today.” For a father, it doesn’t get much
better than that. He put “Ohio State Buck-
eyes” across the top of the windshield as a
thumb-in-the-eye for any University of
Michigan fans who where there; the two
schools have an ongoing football rivalry.