Page 2 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast
Results 11 to 20 of 32

Thread: Douglas Willey

  1. #11
    Team Member Master Oil Racing Team's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Sandia, Texas
    Posts
    3,831
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    Ralph and Steve, I don't know if either of you heard this story, and it is nothing like Douglas telling it himself. The way he told it with a straight face and his dry humor had tears coming out of my eyes when I was laughing.

    Douglas was a hunting guide and took people on estates and other lands to hunt pheasants. Not sure what else he might have hunted, but I remember the pheasants, so this story might have been at a hunting lodge on someone's estate, or a gentleman's club or someplace else. I just can't recall. Anyway it was a very old and castle like with a huge fireplace that could hold big logs. The room was large with a very high ceiling and a good fire was burning. There were four aristocratic type gentlemen sitting at a table playing some game of cards. The room was totally silent and the men would just play their hands and no talking, joking or laughing. They were just being too serious and totally boring for Douglas. He was just standing around doing nothing and thought he should liven the party up. So Douglas walked over to the fireplace and took a long pee directly onto the burning wood. A large cloud of steam boiled out of the fireplace, rose up the face of the chimney, then floated over the heads of the card playing gentlemen. I can't remember exactly what Douglas said with that straight face, but basically the men just kept on playing like nothing had happened. A kind of "keep a stiff upper lip" and keep on playing.

    Like to hear more of that trip with Douglas Willey.



  2. #12
    Team Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Naples, Fl.
    Posts
    98
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    Wayne, not surprised at that, although Douglas did embellish his stories beyond the facts. I went on many pheasant shoots with him and sometimes Chris Applebee was along. He did organize his own shoots, but I only went on one that he was the guide. Normally he would arrange with some other organizer for me and a friend I had invited to be a guest. They were not cheap, the other shooters usually paid for the whole pheasant season. We would have to be at a certain location at 7:00, still dark, the organizer went through the safety procedures with the colonials and you were served a schnapps and a danish. Then, most of the time there was a small bus that that would take you out to the field, you would line up in a semi circle with bearer behind you with both guns and shells, only double barrels, no automatics. Then the beaters would start beating the bushes way out in front of you and pheasants started flying. You would empty one gun and the bearer would hand you another one, this went own until the beaters ran out of bushes. We get on the bus and go to another field, and repeat. Most of the shooters had their own dogs that would bring the birds in, Douglas had Springer Spaniels. The next trip on the bus was to one of these palatial manor houses for gin and tonics before lunch and Port wine after. I was ready for a nap, we get on the bus to another field and repeat again, then back to where we started and divide up the birds, maybe 300, I know I used 100 shells. Back at Douglas house, Jane had our dinner ready, but not before an adult beverage. Slept well!
    Likes crewman060 liked this post

  3. #13
    Team Member Master Oil Racing Team's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Sandia, Texas
    Posts
    3,831
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    I know he did his best to make a good story better. I don't how close to the facts that this is, but he told me he once took Nikita Kruschev on a pheasant hunt.



  4. #14
    BoatRacingFacts VIP racingfan1's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Bradford , Illinois
    Posts
    1,329
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    I believe I should do this in segments because there are a lot of different episodes.
    The first is that Steve and me had arranged to meet at the Atlanta airport for our flight to Europe. We are in line to check in and when they ask for my passport I don't have one, left it at home. We were supposed to meet Douglas Willey and Paul, I don't remember his last name, in Brussels for a ride to Grein, Austria. Of course I couldn't go, and Steve had never met Douglas, so he had to find Douglas in the Brussels airport and I had no way to tell Douglas about the problem. I told Steve to look for an old man with long hair down to his shoulders. Well, Steve did luckily see such a man and yelled Douglas and it was him and they went on to Grein. Douglas had great fun telling everyone about my stupidity. I had to catch a flight the next day to Brussels and rent a car to drive to Grein. Hans Krage brought our boats down from storage behind Dieter's shop. I will stop here for the next segment later.

    Per Ralph Donald on a different post
    Likes crewman060 liked this post

  5. #15
    BoatRacingFacts VIP racingfan1's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Bradford , Illinois
    Posts
    1,329
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    Because Ralph was not there, my only knowledge of Douglas is of what Ralph gave to me. Ralph left out that the Brussels airport is a very busy and crowded place, I mean crowded worse than Atlanta ever could be. I’m in a literal sea of people looking for a old guy with long gray hair. Keep in mind that there are literally thousands of people around, and I could not see for jack. What’s a southern boy to do? I look around and see some steps that will take me to the high ground. So up I go and I had a good view of the crowd. I spotted a guy that sorta looked as discribed and noticed he had a heavy orange OMC jacket on. Well hell, this had to be him, so down stairs I go toward this guy. I stop short and had a listen to what he was saying to another guy, ( this was Paul Brumberly Douglases bearer) and I put two and two together and said to him,Are you Douglas Willy? Well as some might remember, back then I was a pretty big boy with 22 inch arms. Douglas was shocked and jerked as he stepped back because of my stature and said , Yes, who the hell are you lad? I introduced myself and explained what had happened about Ralph and pass port, and his comment was, I’m shocked you Yanks won the war! To my shock I said, who the hell are you calling me a Yankee? Sir I’m a Southerner, not a Yankee. Well it was great times from there on. I will wait for Ralph to tell more about this. Steve

    Per Steve Litzell om a different post

  6. #16
    BoatRacingFacts VIP racingfan1's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Bradford , Illinois
    Posts
    1,329
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    My favorite Douglas Willey airport story was told to me by someone, but I can't remember who. Maybe Steve told it, and I thought it happened at the airport in San Francisco, but I could be wrong about that. Anyway, Douglas and his wife were on a long overseas flight after the time when smoking was no longer allowed on a plane. He was going crazy for a smoke and it was all his wife could do to keep him from sneaking into the bathroom to light one up. She finally convinced him that they would land soon, and he could smoke once they got into a terminal. It was later on that smoking became banned in one place after another, then final even in bars, but that was later. This terminal, however, banned smoking already. As soon as the plane stopped Douglas was ready to get inside the terminal for a smoke. He hurried out the gangway and was ready to fire up a cigarette when he found out he could not smoke in there either. He hollered out loud in exasperation for everyone to hear. "A fag...a fag....I got to have a fag!"

    Per Wayne on a different post
    Thanks crewman060 thanked for this post

  7. #17
    BoatRacingFacts VIP racingfan1's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Bradford , Illinois
    Posts
    1,329
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    Wayne, The incident took place at the Atlanta airport, Douglas and Jane were on the way to Fort Myers for a visit with me and Shirley. It was the week before the UIM WC at Cypress Gardens in 1997 where we all went together. I believe that was the first time Rossi showed up with his three cylinder engine.
    I wondered if my story telling was in the right place, where should it be?

    Per Ralph on a different post
    Thanks crewman060 thanked for this post

  8. #18
    Team Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Naples, Fl.
    Posts
    98
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    Thanks Dale for the transfer, I will continue soon about Grein and the race , which was not fun.
    Thanks crewman060 thanked for this post
    Likes crewman060 liked this post

  9. #19
    Team Member Master Oil Racing Team's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Sandia, Texas
    Posts
    3,831
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    Thanks Dale. Looking forward to more of you tale Ralph.

    Douglas really didn't call me a yank much, it was always "You colonials." He told me the first time I met him, "You colonials sure wasted a lot of good tea!" I told him that I was not a colonial, I was a Texan. I told him that the tea party occurred long before Texas became independent from Mexico. Texas was it's own country for ten years before we joined the United States, so I wasn't a colonial.



  10. #20
    Team Member smittythewelder's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Posts
    393
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    There are some more memories of Mr. Willey on this thread:

    http://www.boatracingfacts.com/forum...185#post154185

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 5 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 5 guests)

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •