Ron Hill Family: Hill Marine and Signature Propellers

[Ron Hill]

It is Sunday, October 14, 2007. The Blue Water Resort and Casino 300 Enduro is next weekend.... We've got things to do, rather than write about stuff that happened in 1965.... My problem, every time I start to write about this I get to laughing like a CRAZY MAN!!!!

My Mom, Dad and I headed for Ogallala, Nebraska on highway 80, because that is where the accident happened. As we neared Ogallala, we saw oil and parts of cars, and wood on the two lane road...(Interstate 80 wasn't four lanes all the way across the country in those days) and boat parts down in the ditch...

We stopped at this bridge, outside of town....I found a piece of my DU's deck, about 24 X 24, I could tell pretty well that my DU that had won the 1964 Nationals and 56 straight heats was now "TOAST"... With a tear in my eye, I walked up to my dad and said, "Looks like my DU is gone...."

We pulled into Ogallala, and found the trailer parked in a lot, bent and twisted, DU busted in half to the steering wheel, CU with big holes in the bottom, and the BU, "Whipper Snapper" hardly hurt....

We said, "Let's go up to the hospital and see Carl and Mary Ann, then we'll take the trailer and head home...." I was thinking, (Always postive Ron), Well, I can see my girl friend in La Jolla in about a week, rather than three weeks!!!

We went to the hospital, Carl was in bad shape, back broken, they had him medicated. His wife, Mary Ann, had a broke hip, pelvis, leg, knee, foot and angle. She was driving, when she hit the brakes, the other car hit them, broke most of her bones...

As we walked out of the hospital. we all just kind of said, "We're going to the Natioanls, BE DAMNED..."

We got up the next morning and hooked on to the trailer, tied the boats down a little and left for Beaver Falls....We didn't say much, we just drove. The Old Man's 56 Ford ran like a song....

We'd stop for gas, and look at the mess...knocked the fenders off the trailer, racks were Twisted and bent. We'd get gas, then we'd drive...The Old Man liked to drive 200 miles and switch. He'd drive about 60....so it would take about three and a half hours....I'd run the mother as fast as she'd go, about 85....Take me about two and half hours....

I'd USE four quarts of OIL, he wouldn't use any...The Old Man would say, "Damn, seems to burn a lot of oil when you drive..." My MOM was always fun, she'd sit next to me and kind of elbow me now and then...Not a lot of traffic back then, and for sure, no radar cops...

My Mom drove my dad's boat before I was born, but she'd never driven a boat after I was born...I'll bet she'd have made a damn good racer!!!

Somewhere about OHIO, may dad said, "Well, if we keep this pace up, we'll be in Beaver Falls about Tuesday........" He said, "We built the 'Whipper Snapper' in five days and YOU WEREN'T much help, maybe we could rebuilt your DU by Sunday!!!!

I said, "Dad, there is SEVEN FEET MISSING FROM A 13 foot boat."