Pub. 56 2015-2016 Issue 4

6 E ach year at the annual conference, we recognize the most valuable member of the TADA Board of Directors. It is the only award that is kept a secret until it is announced at the conference. The award named for the esteemed association executive Walter Wainwright was presented by former Key DirectorMarvinMarcell as follows: A native Texan, this year’s honoree was not born into a dealer family, did not marry into a dealer family, and from child- hood never dreamed that he could even be a Texas franchised dealer. However, he loved anything that had wheels, he was a hard worker, and was very close to the vest with his money. All essential qualities necessary to succeed as a car dealer. Our winner embraced personal mobility and the freedom that individual transportation brought to the quality of life, beginning with a green Schwinn racer, progressing in a few years to a pedal motorcycle, which was the fastest you could go in a vehicle without having a driver’s license. AnewMoped Riverside fromMontgomery Ward was the coolest ride for a junior high kid in a small town on the outskirts of a big city. When our winner wasn’t hunting in the fields across fromhis house with his trusty 410 single shot, he was sharpening his baseball pitching skills by throwing strikes into the flower bed in the backyard. He and his buddies were just too busy to be interested in girls as they matriculated into high school. They were too preoccupied with sports, playing practical jokes and slipping out of the house at 14 or 15 years old to drive their parents’ car to a secret rendezvous to plan more mischief. Later on they became consumed with hot rods, street racing and sneaking a few friends into the Belknap Drive-In in the trunk of a car, often accompanied by a few cases of beer. When not cruising their street rods around the Bellaire Shopping Center, our hero and his friends were taking on all challengers in a street race behind the Bell Helicopter Plant on Industrial Boulevard. At an appointed time, Bonnevilles, Roadrunners, Barracu- das and 442’s magically appeared to burn rubber down the city street, honoring a tradition celebrated from the beaches of California to the drag strips of Daytona. Regardless of the challenges from all over the Tarrant County metroplex, today’s honoree was usually victorious in his gleaming 1967 GTO primed for speed by his own hand in the family garage. Using the money he earned from his high school job at an auto parts aftermarket supply house, our gearhead advanced Key Director Award MIKE DUNNAHOO