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VERN STOREY and the |
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Vern Storey was the spark plug of the spirit of speedsters in Spokane. He always remained true to his vow - to get people involved in speedsters. |
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click photos to enlarge |
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Vern's interest in speedsters began in 1986. When returning from a vacation to California, after sending their son Kent off to college, Vern and Cheri stopped off in Wilsonville, OR, to view speedsters gathering for a speedster run. Vern talked with Chuck Kroll, Tom Elliott and Bob Rankin. They peaked his interest. He came home very excited and could talk of nothing but speedsters from then on. He passed that excitement on to a couple guys in Spokane, Jim Patterson and Ed Jepperson. Both had speedster projects but had not attempted to do much with them. In the meantime Vern had accumulated parts and was well on his way to building his right hand drive speedster. He talked speedsters to anyone who showed the least bit of interest. He worked on his own speedster as well as encouraged and helped others with theirs. If he saw something that he thought could be done differently or easier he was often heard to ask, "Would you mind if I made a suggestion?" |
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| In the late 80's there was very little interest in speedsters in the Spokane area. Vern was promoting speedsters wherever he went. He encouraged Jim and Ed to continue on their way and somewhere along the way Don Rohrer became subject to his encouragement and help to build a speedster. With his continued encouragement and help Jim and Ed were ready to put their cars on the road for their first speedster run, the 1st Memorial Day speedster run in Spokane, hosted by Vern, Cheri and Kent Storey. Many of you attended that speedster run and well remember it. Snow, rain, wind, fog and bitter cold. Vern also arranged for the Spokane Model T Club to join the Portland and Seattle groups to host the Labor Day speedster run every third year. In 1990, Vern and Cheri, along with a friend, hosted the 1st Labor Day speedster run in Spokane, Vern's love of speedsters continued. | |||
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Vern & his father |
Vern & Kent |
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| Cheri rode with Vern as his navigator, sharing the job with their son Kent. Vern and Kent were a great team and one would always see them laughing and talking as they competed. | |||
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Vern & Cheri |
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| Vern continued to promote speedsters wherever he went, to whomever he was speaking. He shared his enthusiasm and ideas with many people. His love of speedsters had spread to many people. When Spokane first became subject to the speedster craze, one would find Vern in someone's garage late at night working on their speedster. All involved would have to go to work the next morning, but Vern would give one of his big grins and comment to the concerned wife that "This is our hobby!" | |||
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Vern's Speedster #12 Under Construction |
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| In the early 90's Vern's health began to fail. However, speedsters were never far from his heart. Vern still loved to talk speedsters and one could still find him at a members house giving encouragement and help. One of his long time goals was to get Gene Kicha involved in speedsters. Vern worked very hard and did accomplish that goal. Gene and Lee Burgess, Gene's navigator, competed in their first speedster run, the 1993 Labor Day run hosted by Gary & Di Hofer. Gene's son Gale soon completed his own speedster and joined in the fun. Vern and Kent were not able to complete that run, but one could find Vern just happy to have been part of the events of the day. Thanks to Vern, speedster run weekends have now become a family weekend for Gene and Carol, their children and grandchildren. | |||
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| We lost Vern in 1994. Cheri, Kent and many car enthusiasts wanted to honor Vern's memory with a memorial trophy to be awarded each Labor Day speedster run to the participant who best reflects the attributes of Vern. A committee was formed to oversee the completion of the traveling trophy award. A small plaque would also be presented to each winner that he/she would keep. | |||
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The Vern Storey Memorial Trophy
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Recipients Vern Storey Memorial Trophy
2008 Ted Alkier, Spokane, WA |
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| If you have been nominated for the Vern Storey Memorial Trophy you have been honored by your peers. If you have been named a recipient of the award you also have been honored by your peers, but know that you have received a very special commendation as you reflect Vern's best attributes - Humor - Willingness to help - Desire to finish - Safety - and Promoting the spirit of speedsters. | |||
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| Thanks to Vern the spirit of speedsters does live on for many of us who are speedster enthusiasts. Thank you Vern, Cheri and Kent for all you have contributed to the spirit of speedsters. | |||
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The Dream Lives on ...... 12
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