June 1966
Dale Davis admittedly isn’t a young man anymore, but he isn’t ready to give up yet, even though the Studebaker Corporation did.
Owner of Davis Motors on Main Street, Dale sits in his office these days, looks across the empty showroom and wonders what he can do to fill it up once more. Studebaker gave up on its auto-making last Christmas time. “I was doing all right, making money,” Dale declared. “But Studebaker was losing millions.”
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| One of the "needle-nose" models of the early 1950's. |
Dale was left with a half dozen new cars when the announcement came. One might think that no one would want to buy a new car from a defunct company. “But I sold all of them plus 11 more factory officials cars and I wish I had some more,” Dale added. The last new car was sold two weeks ago to a Pontiac man. I’ve wondered what his neighbors said when they saw him driving up in a brand new Studebaker in a town where Pontiacs pour off the line every day… and he even bought one from a company that went broke.”
Dale now sells just used cars. On the showroom wall hangs large colored photo of the once-proud Studebaker plant in South Bend, Indiana. On a table is a pile of dusty “New Car Buying Guide” booklets. The guide reveals why buying a Studebaker is a better buy than a Ford, Chevy, Dodge and the rest of them.
But that empty showroom bothers Dale Davis. He’s been thinking he’ll turn to selling boats or maybe those foreign cars... or even “those confounded motorcycles.”
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AMONG THE PROUD people in town these days are Mr. and Mrs. H. S. Spence, 123 Cloverport, whose son, Warrant Officer Herbert Spence, Jr., was awarded a certificate of membership in the GREX (Gemini Recovery Experts.) Herb serves aboard the carrier USS Wasp which picked up Astronauts Tom Stafford and Eugene Cernan on June 6. The certificate bears the signatures of both astronauts. Herb graduated from Rochester High in 1951 and enlisted in the Navy at that time.
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I’VE NEVER HAD the chance to catch an act by Paul Lennon, one of the bright young comedians playing Midwest nightclubs. Serving as master of ceremonies of various functions and occasionally on TV, Paul is the son of Carl Lennon, manager of Young’s Men’s Wear. Paul recently reported for his physical exam for the draft and this alone provided enough material for another nightclub act.
When all the potential draftees were lined up waiting for something to happen, a burly sergeant stepped up to Paul and asked him what his occupation was. When Paul replied that he’s a comedian and entertainer, the sarge barked, “Well, say something funny.”
Paul gave it a moment’s thought and finally turned to the other fellows in the room and replied, “All right, you guys can go home now. I’ve got the job!”
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FOR THE MANY local people now heading abroad for vacations or visits to their former homelands, there comes this word of warning: If you look like your passport photograph, you may not be well enough to travel.
