Pub. 54 2013-2014 Issue 4

21 2014 SUMMER D onnie Buckalew, BuckalewChevrolet, Conroe was recognized at the TADA Convention in San Antonio as the Key Director for 2014. Robin Mercer, TADA Key Director in 2013 presented the award to Donnie with the following remarks: “Each year at the annual conference TADA honors the indi- vidual who exhibits the highest level of leadership and service to the association and the industry. The board member whose self- sacrifice, devotion to family values and to the greater good deserves recognition as the TADA Walter B. Wainwright Key Director. This is the one TADA honor that is kept a secret until the moment that it is presented. That moment is now. The 2014 TADA Key Director is about as Texan as a person could be. Besides being a great car dealer, our winner was born a Texan, has never lived anywhere but Texas, was a star high school football player, is an avid hunter, supports the local fair and rodeo and has a voice and demeanor right out of a western movie. He is a big, tough cowboy type but he lets his daughter do the riding. Traveling to horse shows all over the nation, he was the wrangler/show assistant while Mom served as horseshow cheer- leader and wardrobe consultant. Our honoree was born the 2nd of 4 children, but that family has now grown to include 2 sisters, 1 brother, 2 step sisters, 1 step brother, 5 brother-in-laws, 2 sister-in-laws, 6 nieces, and 7 nephews. Whenever there is a family gathering, he typically is right there in the middle, aggravating whomever he can. He is big on practical jokes, and his favorite Christmas gift for the younger kids is a drum set, a horn, a microphone and speaker, a bag of candy, or anything that will agitate that child’s parent. But he is also a good sport when the roles are reversed. Just ask him about the time when he was the president of the Montgomery County Fair Association and he lost a bet. There he was, center stage, in front of hundreds, dressed in a pink dress and wig and belting out Diana Ross tunes. It was priceless. Our winner’s family moved to Conroe in 1965, when his dad had the opportunity to be a partner in the Chevrolet dealership there. Growing up, he developed a love for sports and hunting. In high school, he was a unanimous first team all-district football and baseball player, and a member of the first team All-Greater Houston Area football team. He ran faster than his size said he was supposed to. In other words, once he got moving in one direction, he would just run over or through whoever got in his way to make the tackle. His grandfather introduced him to hunting at an early age. Even though he was taught the rules, some lessons are learned the hard way. He and a couple of high school buddies went hunting one Saturday morning and all they shot was a hole in the floor- board of a brand new Chevrolet pickup truck! Our Key Director has passed his love for hunting on to his daughter. Now, he is on a deer lease with her, his son-in-law, and several other family members and friends. This lease is centrally located somewhere between Beaumont and El Paso, or Browns- ville and Amarillo, depending on which direction you’re headed. It is close to some property that his brother-in-law owns, and they don’t want a lot of people coming to visit when they are at the deer lease, so don’t ask where it is. They are true believers, in “what happens at the deer lease, stays at the deer lease.” He attended Baylor University. His high school sweetheart followed him there, and in July of this year they will celebrate their 34th wedding anniversary. It is truly a celebration for him, because, let’s face it..., he gets to look at his beautiful wife every morning. She on the other hand..., well, you get the picture. She graduated from Baylor magna cum laude . He, on the other hand, graduated from Baylor ‘praise the laude.’ Our winner is past president of HADA, past president of the Montgomery County Fair Association, past president of the Conroe Chamber of Commerce, and past president of the Conroe Noon Lions Club. He remains active in all of these organizations as well as others. You would think that a person with that many ‘past president titles’ would be ready to retire. But his dad says, ‘There is no way he is retiring before I do.’ A community leader, an exemplary car dealer, a loving father and husband, a true champion for the association and the industry, your 2014 TADA Walter B. Wainwright Key Director, Donnie Buckalew.”  Donnie, his wife, Leesa and their daughter, Dayna who came for the presentation as a surprise to her Dad came to the stage to receive the honor from Robin Mercer and TADA Chairman Rick Cavender. TADA Key Director Donnie Buckalew