Thread: Wayne Baldwin's Amazing Story: Baldy's Eual Eldred Baldwin

  1. #811
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    With both houses sold, we were without our shop also. It wasn't a problem right now though because of the racing season over and it would be a few months before we got started again. Jack Chance could do the work on new motors coming in at his shop, which he always did anyway. I was sometime during the middle to latter part of 1968 that Baldy began to sell off all our DeSilva runabouts including our first ever new boat, an A/B DeSilva. It was a beautiful piece of work when we bought it, now it was an ugly silver blue solid paint job. He sold the Jumbo C/D DeSilva, which I only ran a C Konig on and the B DeSilva which I don't remember any great success with since all runabout classes in Lone Star were very tough. My biggest problem with the runabouts was that cockpits were always so wide, I could never get a snug fit, and so I had some control problems in the corners, always bouncing around and tearing the bottom pads loose from their grommets.

    Baldy's partner Joe wanted to start raising cattle on the pasture part of Barbon upon the ridge and hilltop so he built a barn for hay and implement storage. Baldy had some 2 X 6's built up inside of part of the barn where we hung the hydros while he had the motor box rebuilt with an aluminum skin. And he redesigned the insides where we hung the motors after having done an add on to the box previously. Our Marchetti C hydro went to the paint shop to have the "Spider" black stripes painted on like we had planned to do with the others, but didn't get around to it.

    While Bud Turcotte and I and Joe Rome were back at San Marcos, Baldy and Jack were getting things ready for next year. Clayton Elmer was settled in at Emmords and he Baldy and Joe were learning the boat and motorcycle business.



  2. #812
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    I was surprised to find myself in a class with Joe Rome when the next semester started up. As we were both business majors, I should not have been surprised except for the fact that he had an extra year on me. Bookkeeping was one of the requirements and it just so happened we ended up in the same class. It was the only class Joe and I had together.

    I usually liked to get a desk up front on the first or second row. I grew up during my primary education years being seated alphabetically so I was used to being right up near the teacher's desk and was not afraid of it. In college I found that I would pay more attention that way, if we had a choice. I guess Joe was used to his spot at well because I ended up sitting next to Joe back in what would be the R's alphabetically.

    I was always bad in math, and there was too much math distraction for me to figure out the concept of credits and debits, journal entries, reconciliation and all that. I was used to a number of years in English classes with foreign words such as prepositions, pronouns, dangling participles and such words as you only use in English classes but I had learned enough to know what the were. Credits and debits were plusses and minuses. Why create all the confusion. Anyway, I had a tough time with the balancing act. If you added something into one category, you had to take a like amount from another. There were the income statements, balance sheets and all kinds of reports. About the only thing I got out of that class was that before you walked in that door, you better have a pencil. It had better be a N0. 2, and it had better be sharp. I did end up with a B though because of Joe Rome.

    The first test we had, the teacher left the room. He told the class that if we were totally stumped, we could go up to his desk and look the answer up. I was totally engrossed in trying to go through some problems when Joe took a walk to the front. Joe had previously had an accounting class, and knew more than I did, but given he didn't have to sweat so much for the answer, he did it the easy way. He came back and sat down at his desk and wrote in a few answers. He saw me trying to work through the problem and he said the answer is up there. I said "I know", but I never had a situation like that come up before. Then I noticed a number of students working their way to the answer book and back to their desks. Joe said "He told us it was alright!" So I joined in and got the hang of it.

    Looking back that was a clever move by a professor who knew that most of us were in there for just the one accounting class we were required to take, and he was going to put all his efforts into the students that were going to pursue bookkeeping, accounting, become CPA's etc. He allowed us dummies to have more or less a gimme class so we could concentrate more on our majors.



  3. #813
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    Almost got too far ahead of myself.

    It was sometime in January 1969, maybe the second or third weekend that the Lone Star Boat Racing Association annual banquete and meetings were held. Saturday night was the banquete and awards ceremony for the 1968 racing season, followed at one O'clock Sunday afternoon with the old business and new business consisting of election of Commodore and other officers, approval of records, and other rules or items to discuss. Rather than the Holiday Inn on 146, it was held at another place on the way to the Highlands race course owned by a Baytown Boat Club member. The boat club building was not yet built.

    I made sure Ginger would be home that weekend and I picked her up to be my date for the banquete. It was a good turnout with members from all the clubs from Dallas down to Corpus Christi and San Antonio past Beaumont and all the way to St. Charles, Louisiana. Baldy had a fine time seeing many he had not seen in a couple of months and was looking forward to the upcoming racing. There was lots to talk about.

    We got through the fine dinner and then came the awards ceremony. This consisted of high point drivers in each class, sportsmanship and Pit Man of the Year. They were giving out some very nice light blue windbreakers made of cotton or some type of woven fabric....not plastic with a large patch on back with a race boat and class and the driver's number sewn on it. on the left front was a 2 1/2 by 4 inch dark blue patch with white border. It had a pair of crossed checkered flags and below that the driver's name and under the name was his city and state. I won high point in B and D Hydro so I won two jackets . It was kind of disappointing though that not just one of the jackets was too large, but both of them were. I wore a small and both of the jackets were either large or extra large. It was like wearing a tent. The shoulders hung way off. I would have been better off not putting my arms in the sleeves and just drape them over my shoulders and wear one like a cape. While I was very pleased to have been awarded two jackets, I never wore either one. I ended up giving one to my sister Jan, and I forget what happed to the other. With the jackets being a little bit of disappointment, Ginger and I left the banquet in time to catch a movie at the local drive in between Baytown and Highlands. She didn't know anyone but me at the Banquete, so we left to be on our own and watch a movie.



  4. #814
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    QUOTE from post #817:

    "Ginger and I left in time to catch a movie at the local drive in, because she didn't know anyone at the party". END QUOTE

    Wayne:

    Methinks, for whatever reason, you are trying to pull the wool over our eyes somewhat. The reason I think this, is most all males of our age have been to the drive in movies with a pretty girl, and remember the main reasons they went to a drive in, instead of another type of movie entertainment.

    Also, as much as I remember your love of boat racing and being around the participants, and talking shop/racing, and taking photos of them, I have a hard time believing that is the real/only reason you left the party.

    Finally, you might remember, when dealing in remembrances such as these that took place many years ago, all of us of a similar age remember what things were like, especially with pretty girls, and a drive in movie nearby.

    Just be up front and honest, as the story is much better that way, The telling of this tale would have been much more believable if you had just said it like it was, "we left to be on our own", and left off the movie part. Future episodes will be much more believable if you don't "bend the truth", or attempt to be of better moral character than you were at that time.

    Remember, I knew you prior to your marriage to your lovely wife Debbie.

  5. #815
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    AAHHH....Bil Van! What are we going to do with you?

    I became friends with lots of pretty women including your wife Eileen, but I have always been nothing but a gentleman. I was always surprised that I was able to go out with some of them so I would never do anything to scare them off.

    I do love boat racing and like to talk about it, but if you had been paying close attention to the thread you would remember that I hung around with the kids near my age and that was mostly my pit crew, plus at that time now included Marsha and Steve Wetherbee, Denny Henderson, and Craig and Ashley Lawrence. Joe Bowdler had died, and there were not any other young racers on the circuit. And I just had my first sip of alchohol, but I was under 21 so I did not hang around because Ginger and I would have just sat there looking at people enjoying themselves while we just sat at a table listening to the noise. Besides, I was upset with getting my first high point jacket that hung off my shoulders and had a "stupid runabout" in place of a hydro.

    As far as drive in movies with girls, I only saw that in the movies. Like I said....I'm the shy type. I missed out on all that. I got embarrassed when I took Ginger to see Dustin Hoffman's bang up first movie "The Graduate".

    Would you believe that I don't remember much of the movie? It's because it was terrible. We didn't even stay until halfway, but not for what you suggest Bill Van. It was a western and it stunk. I looked up the westerns playing in theaters at that time and I am positive it was Bandolero with Rachael Welch. I never cared for her as an actress and didn't like any of her movies.

    As far as knowing me before I met Debbie, that's true. In fact it was later on in this particular year that I remember meeting you. But how do you think I carried on before meeting Debbie?

    No truth bent here. Maybe some memory lapses, but friends help straighten me out.



  6. #816
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    Wayne:

    Re your post #819.

    I stand by my post in regards to your probable behavior.



    The only thing I would be proud of you for is if you were able to pay attention to Ginger to HER satisfaction, with Raquel Welch on the screen, especially if looking "up" at her, as was the prevailing view of the screen of the screen from the seat of the car and especially if "up close" the the screen. Of course, if you were in the back seat, that is an entirely different view on the situation, and I'm not just talking about the view of the movie screen.

    I myself was never much for Brunettes, and always preferred Blondes, natural or not, but Raquel was one exception that would get my attention. If fact, I saw her on a program on TV not long ago, at her present age, and she still looks mighty fine. Isn't medical science wonderful these days?? Regards the quality of the movie itself, the producers./financiers of same probably realized what most red blooded American males did at the time. A Raquel movie did not require much of a plot, just a maximum of Raquel and a minimum of clothing.

  7. #817
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    Bill Van.....you are wrong on all counts. My "probable behavior" is what you might think yourself, but that's not me.

    Your mind was in the gutter, and you need to have Eileen edit your posts on Sunday night.

    Ginger was a very pretty and sweet girl. I don't like that kind of talk about her. She will still be in the picture for a little longer for this story, and I always have fond memories of our time together.

    As far as Raquel Welch goes, movie moguls banked on her and were successful. I personally didn't get excited by her, maybe because she was overhyped. I would not and did not have a care about a woman running around with soft wolf or whatever animal skin clothing making an interesting movie to watch. I know she was in some such a kind of a movie because the posters were all over the place. Maybe Charlton Heston was in it too, but I'm not sure. I know he was in Planet of the Apes which came out in 1968, but I didn't like movies like that either. Never saw any of the Ape movies other than excerpts).

    So.....done with that......let's move on.

    I found the negatives I have been looking for after several months, and so can continue the story. I am going to go one from where I left off, but for those of you who want to look back at the time the additions took place go to post number 772 and post number 780. I am sorry for the inconvenience of the readers that have been following this thread, and the new readers I just want to try as much as possible to keep the narrative and pictures in the same time it happened. So I have to do this from time to time when I find something I couldn't find, or somebody sends me something.



  8. #818
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    Back to where we left off.

    Earlier I had mentioned that our 1968 annual banquete and meeting was someplace different. And as I said it was on the highway from Baytown toward the exit to Highlands where the current Baytown Boat Club exists and was being built when this meeting took place.

    Baldy and I sat two or three rows back from the front row, on the right side facing the Commodore and elected officials. After old business was done, we elected the new officials and they took their positions, We went through rules, etc. and maybe the only things done were to tighten up more with NOA. Seems like Lone Star had some step down rules that NOA didn't have, and I think the big thing was dual sanctions between Lone Star and NOA. Trying to coordinate Lone Star Races with NOA and get notices out through Knoxville.

    The main thing I remember about that meeting though is a confrontation with Baldy and Louis Williams on trying to correct or erase Louis' A hydro competition record set in 1966. Baldy presented the case that the record was recorded wrong. It was ten miles per hour faster than the B hydro record, and was faster than the F hydro record on the same Texas race course. The commission considered Baldy's proposition, but in the end let the record remain. I think everyone understood Baldy's point, but the referee at the time had committed suicide. Not that that had anything to do with it, but it was a very sad time. After the commission agreed to let the record stand Louis said to Baldy "It was running good that day". Joe and I both know the smile and look that Louis would have had.

    Here is part of the 1969 rulebook.
    Attached Images Attached Images



  9. #819
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    Thanks to Joe Rome and Clayton Elmer I was told the place of the 1968 Lone Star Boat Racing Association meeting was at the TOWER MOTEL . It was owned by Emmet Hutto, a big member of the Baytown Boat Club and part of Bruce Nicholson's team. The Hotel was new and we switched from staying at the Holiday Inn on 146 to Emmet's "Tower" Motel for the meeting and we always stayed there after it opened when we raced in Highlands. The Baytown Boat Club building was built on the San Jacinto River west of Highlands, Texas not long after that and that's where all the rest of the Lone Star banquetes and meeting's were held. It's also the current venue for the races that the OPC crowd in Texas have held so many successful races over the past number of years. A few J hydros have been racing there for several years in the hopes to bring in some new racers.



  10. #820
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    The March issue of Roostertail published election results of both NOA's District 15 and Lone Star Boat Racing Association. NOA District 15 was headed mostly by North Texas racers in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and had some Am/Pro racers. There were a lot of races up there in which Texas and Oklahoma racers supported each others races. Dudley Malone, Clyde Bayer, Charlie Huff, David Smith and many others raced with us in Texas. Also Ben and Tommy Posey were very much in the middle of things in the growing OPC classes. S.C. "Pop" Willis was a true leader up there. Charlie Fowler from the Houston area was elected to represent the area dominated by Lone Star, but a lot of the racers from the Gulf Coast, South and Central Texas interacted with North Texas. Alan Registar always came down south with Craig and Ashley Lawrence and Denny Henderson. And John Snell and brother Albert live in the East Texas area. So while we had two groups with two sets of officers, we all got along very well. The one difference was the races up north were always NOA sanctioned while a lot of the races down south were dual sanction with NOA being insurance provider and sending out notices and Lone Star being the sponsor along with the local club. However, many of the Lone Star races were Lone Star sanction only, and thus results didn't appear in "The Roostertail".

    ADD: Don't know why there are so many misspellings in the two notices, but here are the corrections. Just in case someone wants it correct. District 15 Vice Chairman Pros Alan Registar. Lone Star Vice President Louis Williams, Jr., Sec/Treas. Charles Fowler....same officer as in District 15., and W.C. Morton a very talented cabinet maker and boat maker from Baytown, Texas Note: W. J. McGinnis was more popularly known as "Possum" McGinnis. W. A. "Slim" Elmer is Clayton Elmer's Dad. And for some reason Louis Williams, Jr. was listed on the racing commission rather than his compadre J. Alvin Roddy. Makes no difference though, they were both a deep red 14-T.
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