Well I suppose it's time for me to give my side of the story.
In 2011 Gene Burkland was inducted into the Dry Lakes Hall of Fame and Betty and Tom accepted the hardware.
For the many years that I have been to Bonneville I had never really connected with the Burklands until
when the 'liner rolled. I went to the trailer and told Gene what I had seen and described the strange action
of the parachutes.That was the largest amount of time I had spent in their pits.
Then at the 2011 Gas Up I was asked to introduce them. My body of knowledge was limited but I did have an
opinion of what it took to accomplish what they had. Then the two of them took the microphone and in their
low key manner they accepted the award for Gene. The section of them in the Gas Up foto album has a warmth
that is easy to feel. Their acceptance was sincere and moving. I saw the remaining strength of that team thru
the camera lens.
I talked to both of them after the ceremony was concluded. It was as though I had known them forever. At that
time I started to think of them as the "entertainment" for The Bonneville NW Reunion for 2013. Durning the past year
Tom and I had some correspondence regarding the Treit and Davenport streamliner. Tom was always so helpful and
he made comments, with his engineering background as the basis for his statements, that were direct hits. It
would have been handy if he was a neighbor to Hume as the car was built.
So I asked them to speak. I know Betty must have figured it was a trap. When I left them to their own to compose their
package I made it as simple as possible. Whatever amount of time you want or need.....it's yours.
They didn't have to use fotos, but they did, they didn't have to draw graphs all they needed to do was tell their story AND THEY DID.
It was like a family get together after "the folks" just returned from their trip to New York. No glasses tinkling, no chairs
sliding and squealing as the leg slid across the floor, no interruptions by the clean up crew. Just reverent silence.
That silence showed both respect and fascination.
Baseball players frequently describe hitting a homerun as "so easy." When everything is just right success comes easy.
The evening was "so easy" when we had Tom and Betty as our home run hitters.
They just aren't under contract for next year. I wish they were.
I don't know how to thank them with the praise they deserve.
FREUD
OK you folks that attended, please tell your impression of the evening.
We need to get more people in attendance.
Our side kick pals should also enjoy what we do each year.
Give Ray Therat some time to post fotos. He's doing my foto job on Marlo's 'liner this week.
gf
www.bonnevillenwreunion.com
