Roy Chambers Has Worn Many Hats In The Lone Star Region VCCA Roy Chambers hasn't always been a Texan, but most of us think of him as one. Roy and JoAnn and their daughters moved to Dallas from Kansas in August of 1963. Their son was already in college and did not move with them. They moved into their home on Royal Lane in Dallas, an address that became quite familiar to everyone in the Lone Star Region. It has been the site for many board meetings and club activities over the last 39 years and was always a favorite place to go for great Texas chili. Their move to Texas was brought about by a transfer due to a promotion for Roy from his employer which was RCA. Roy grew up on a farm and in his words, "I was a gear head even then, and grew up loving cars". His first old Chevy that he bought in 1969 was a 1926 Touring and it was just like one that his family had owned when he was a small boy. The people that he bought the 1926 Touring from also gave him a copy of a magazine called the G & D. This magazine really interested him, so JoAnn got him a membership in the VCCA in 1969. On April 25, 1971, when a group of Chevy lovers met at Meadowbrook Park in Arlington for their first meeting, Roy did not know any of the other people. There were 15 members from the group that already had their VCCA memberships. It was from these 15 that the first officers of the Lone Star Region were elected. Roy was elected to serve as a board member, and this was just the beginning of many offices he has held over the years. In 1975, Roy was elected to serve as secretary/treasurer and he has served as treasurer for several years at different times. He was the club's director in 1979 and 1992. Roy was also on the VCCA Board of Directors from 1980 thru 1982. In addition to being a charter member of the Lone Star Region, Roy is also a charter member of the San Jacinto Region and the Heart of Route 66 Region. He has been a steady influence over the years in the handling of the club's finances and with the club's only fund raiser, which is the Lone Star Swap Meet at Traders Village in Grand Prairie, TX. When the club first began, the budget was tight and Roy and JoAnn helped with the printing of the early newsletters by writing and printing them at Roy's business office. They specifically have memories of doing them with George and Peggy Slider when George was director. Those first newsletters did not have an official name and were jokingly referred to as the "No Name as Yet" newsletter. At the July meeting in 1972, the club voted to give the newsletter the name of "Bowtie Bulletin" and the name first appeared on the August issue. In 1976 the 15th Anniversary Meet for the VCCA was held in Colorado Springs, CO and Roy and JoAnn attended along with several others from the Lone Star Region. JoAnn has said many times that this trip really bonded all of these families together in a way that has lasted for 39 years. They have been to every VCCA Anniversary Meet since then and plan to go for the 50th anniversary next year in Flint, MI. The oldest Chevy that Roy and JoAnn have ever owned was a 1925 Speedster and they have owned too many others to mention since that first 1926 Touring was purchased in 1969. What a coincidence that their first old Chevy included a copy of the G & D! Some things are just meant to be. They currently have a 1969 Impala Convertible and really seem to be enjoying it. Roy and JoAnn have three children, eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren that they see often, as they are a very close-knit family. Some of them live in Texas and some in Kansas, so they make a lot of trips back to Kansas, where they started out together.

This article is an excerpt from the March 2010 "Bowtie Bulletin" The first national VCCA anniversary meet that Ray and Faye Guthrie attended was held in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1971. To the best of his knowledge, this was the first national anniversary meet to be held commemorating the beginning of the VCCA in 1961. Ray has attended all of the national anniversary meets since then, and is hoping to be able to go to the one in Flint, Michigan in 2011. The Lone Star Region of the VCCA had just been chartered in April of 1971 and Ray was one of the founding members. However, he had been a VCCA member since 1967 when he had seen an advertisement for the organization in Hemmings magazine and had joined. He told Benny Zimmerman about the VCCA and Benny also joined shortly after that. Their national VCCA membership numbers are only 30 numbers apart. On April 16, 1971, Jim Harris who was soon to become the first director of the Lone Star Region, sent out a letter to a group of Chevy enthusiasts inviting them to a meeting at Meadowbrook City Park Recreation Center Building in Arlington, TX. This meeting was set for April 25, 1971 and on this day the charter was made, officers were elected and the club was given the name Lone Star. Ray drove his 1957 Cameo to the meet in Indianapolis, and he has driven it to every other national meet since then. If he gets to go to Flint next summer, he plans to take the '57 Cameo again. Ray bought the '57 Cameo in April of 1962 when it was 5 years old and had 41,000 miles on it. It now has 175,000 miles on it and Ray's comment was that "It is probably in better shape than I am". He drove it to work for 10 years, a 50 mile roundtrip from Irving to Richardson every day. Like a lot of VCCA members, Ray had a love for old Chevys at a young age and bought his first 1933 2-Door in 1947. He also has a 1934 Coupe that he used for parades, after changing the fan for better air circulation. He says he has a total of 20 old Chevys, and even though they are not all in top condition, many of them are. At that first meet he attended in Indianapolis, he did not register for the meet, but just went to see what it would be like. Ray remembers that Doc Clinch, Jim Harris, Don Dunlap and the Fulmers also attended the 10th Anniversary VCCA meet and there possibly may have been others from the LSR in attendance. For every other anniversary meet after that, he would register his vehicle but would not have it judged. For the meet in Colorado Springs in 1976, Ray could not decide between his 1934 Coupe and his 1957 Cameo, so he put the'34 on a trailer and pulled it with the '57 Cameo. He drove the Cameo all the way to the top of Pike's Peak. He had been up Pike's Peak once before in a 1953 Oldsmobile, but the Cameo was more fun. He says that all of the trips to the VCCA anniversary meets have been enjoyable, but his favorite would probably be the one to Colorado Springs in 1976 because of the beautiful scenery. Ray's wife of 62 years, Faye, went with him on all of the trips thru 2001 in Springfield, IL. After that, her health didn't permit her to make the one in Grand Junction, CO in 2006, and she is no longer able to travel with him. Faye and Ray have one daughter, Kaye, who lives with her husband Mark Citzler in the Flower Mound area. Note: We lost Ray and Faye in February 2014, Faye passed on the 20th and Ray on the 24th. They are greatly missed and fondly remembered by the LSR family.

This article is an excerpt from the November 2010 "Bowtie Bulletin" Lloyd Nicholson Enjoys Antique Cars and an Antique Home At the charter meeting for the Lone Star Region, held in Arlington on April 25, 1971, Lloyd Nicholson was already acquainted with a couple of the other charter members because he worked with them at the General Motors assembly plant, also located in Arlington. They were Huston Shelton and Bill Fulmer. Lloyd decided to become one of the charter members on that day and has been a Lone Star Region member ever since. Lloyd's rebuilding of old cars began when he was a teenager growing up on a farm near Petty, Texas. His very first car was a 1930 Model A Town Sedan. When he wasn't busy with farm work, he would help his Uncle Joe with automotive work. He was known as the "grease monkey", doing anything that needed to be done on the old cars. By the time he began dating Nina, who would later become his wife, he had begun to take cars apart and put them back together himself. Some of their dates included Lloyd working on a car while Nina sat nearby reading a book, or going to a wrecking yard together. Nina said, "I can't say that I didn't know what I was getting into". Over the years, Lloyd has bought and sold over 350 cars. He has owned a 1918 Chevrolet Touring, a 1924 Chevrolet Coupe and a 1923 T-Bucket Street Rod, just to name a few. One that he really takes pride in is a 1954 Ford that only has 970 actual miles on it. Lloyd said, "It has never been rained on". One year he entered this car in the American Automobile Club of America's national meet and it was awarded First Place - Original in the USA and Canada. Lloyd has purchased 65 new automobiles from General Motors since the time that he began work at the Arlington plant April 1, 1954. In the mid 1980's, Lloyd teamed up with Arlington evangelist and gospel singer, Joe Atkinson, to compete in the Great American Antique Car Race. This is a race that tests your navigation skills, your ability to make needed repairs during overnight stops and the endurance of your automobile. Lloyd and Nina were the support crew, driving the truck and trailer and helping out in many areas during the long course of the race. Lloyd and Nina did this for four years, and they both said it is an experience that they will never forget. They traveled through many parts of the country and met lots of new people and media from all over the world. New York City was one of their favorite places to see, even though it did offer a lot of challenges to the racers. Governor Mark White proclaimed them Good Will Ambassadors for the state of Texas during one of the races. In 1985, Lloyd and Nina, bought a home in the small town of Honey Grove, TX. This is not too far from where they both grew up. The house had been built in 1895, a Queen Anne Victorian with three stories. They restored all of it except the third story and enjoyed the results of their hard work immensely. In 1988, they made a permanent move back to Honey Grove. After they finished with the restoration of the house, they joined a car club in Paris, Texas called the "Red River Honkers". They have been active in community work in Honey Grove, joining several organizations, including the Habitat for Humanity. Several members of the Lone Star Region have visited them and enjoyed a tour of their beautiful antique home. Lloyd and Nina have four children, three boys and a girl, who all drove antique cars to school when they reached driving age. They also have four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren , with some of them living in the Arlington area, some in Dallas and some in Kentucky. Lloyd and Nina don't make it back to Arlington very often to see their family, but when they do, members of the Lone Star Region are always pleased when they happen to see them at a club function or other car-related event.

This article is an excerpt from the July 2010 "Bowtie Bulletin" Huston Shelton is Known for Swap Meets and Old Chevys On August 25, 1971, Huston Shelton was hurrying home from a trip to another antique car outing in Graham, TX that was called "Graham Spring Fever Days". He had been on this tour with another car club that he belonged to, but he knew there was going to be a meeting to form a vintage Chevy club and he didn't want to miss it. Huston joined the Lone Star Region that day at the very first meeting, becoming a charter member, and has been a faithful member ever since. Like a lot of Lone Star Region club members, Huston liked old cars as a teenager and his first car was a 1931 Model A Ford. At the time he joined the club, he owned a 1941 Chevrolet 2 Door Sedan that he had purchased from a General Motors co-worker named Lloyd Nicholson. Lloyd Nicholson also became one of the Lone Star Region's charter members. The first national VCCA anniversary meet that Huston and his wife Betty attended was the 15th in 1976 in Colorado Springs, CO and they have attended every one since then. By that time, he owned a 1938 Coupe that he took to the meet and won a 2nd place award. This was the first of several other VCCA awards that Huston has received at the anniversary meets. Huston's favorite car of all those that he has owned over the years was a 1955 Convertible, red and cream color. It was used one year on a float that was sponsored by the Lone Star Region in the Arlington Fourth of July parade. He no longer has that convertible, but he does still have a 1965 Malibu that he bought new. At the present time, Huston has the 1965 Malibu 2 Door Hardtop, three 1954s and a 1967 El Camino. One thing that goes hand in hand with antique cars is swap meets and old car parts, and Huston has been very involved with both. When the Lone Star Region had the opportunity to begin a swap meet at Traders Village in Grand Prairie, TX, in 1976, Huston joined in with several other members in the club who were working to get it started. Due to the efforts of that group of people, the club still has a swap meet that is a source of income for its many activities. The first swap meet that Huston began selling at as a vendor was the widely known "Pate Swap Meet", and it is still his favorite swap meet. However, he has only missed going to the Petit Jean Arkansas swap meet one time and that was last year. And of course, he is always at the Lone Star Swap Meet in Grand Prairie. When car lovers in this area need a part for their old car, they know to check with Huston because he may just happen to have what they need. Huston says that the source of a lot of the items that he sells is flea markets, trade days or other swap meets. It would be hard to say how many cars that Huston has bought and sold over the years. He said, "Since the late 60's, I have had over 70 Model A's". Wouldn't that make Henry Ford proud? That doesn't even take into account all of the Chevrolets that he has owned and sold. Betty and Huston have two daughters and five grandsons that all live in this area, and are very close to them. When you see Huston at a swap meet, it is not unusual at all to see some of his family there giving him a hand.