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Arnie Beswick has been a member of our club for many years and is a dear friend
to many of our members. We are "Arnie's home club". Within 24 hours after his
August 3, 2003 accident this club formed The Arnie Beswick Accident Recovery
Fund and began acting as a clearing house for individual and organizational
contributions. 100% of these funds would go to Arnie.
On
Saturday, November 15, 2003 Arnie attended our monthly meeting. Considering all
he has been through, he is doing very well. He needs additional surgery under
his right eye and on both hands but his strength is returning. He can now walk
very well - "even run" added Arnie! This meeting was a very emotional
experience for Arnie and for all who attended. He entered our meeting room to a
rousing applause from the over 50 club members and guests in attendance.
This feature page is dedicated to that meeting.
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| After the opening ceremonies,
long time member and retiring Secretary / Treasurer, Randy Ray was presented
with a custom GTO Years wall clock. |
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| Cruisin' Tiger, Jim Martino
owner of Best of Show Restorations, presented Arnie with a tiger-stripe can
of paint symbolizing his donation of a new paint job for The Tameless Tiger.
A very generous offer worth perhaps $5000!
At the table, left to right, are John & Janette
Holmes, Arnie's wife Evelyn and Arnie Beswick. |
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| Our President, Steve Lucas,
described then presented to Arnie an event shirt from our 2003 Indian
Uprising Car Show. Those attending our show had the opportunity to sign this
shirt for Arnie and make a donation. A $100 Bill was pinned to the
inside collar of this shirt. The final picture is Arnie showing the shirt. |
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| Next, Steve Lucas presented
Arnie with a new fire suit with the understanding that there was an "open
tab" at the supplier allowing Arnie to exchange this suit for one of his
choice. This was paid for from our club treasury. |
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| The highlight of our meeting was
the presentation of a check for $10,000. Pictured from left to right
are Arnie, Jim Stern / VP, Larry Hoehler / VP, Steve Lucas / President and
Randy Ray / Treasurer. During the
ceremony, it was made clear, these monies were from many clubs,
organizations and individuals. One of the contributors was, of course, our
club. |
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| During the standing ovation
which followed, Arnie was speechless and choked with emotion. Later he would
sit and tell an exacting story of the chain of events which lead to this
horrible fire and what he thought and did when it happened. The silence in
the room was deafening. When he concluded, another round of applause
erupted. |
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| Careful records were kept of
every individual and organization who contributed to The Arnie Beswick
Accident Recovery Fund. Their names, the amount of their contribution and
notes of well wishes filled several ring binders. These were also presented
to Arnie. This picture is of Jeff Hill
looking through one of the binders. Jeff is one of our founding members. In
the red shirt, to the right of Jeff in this picture, is member Ken
Citterman. Ken deserves recognition for making the largest total cash
donation by an individual. |
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| At the close of our meeting,
Arnie received best wishes from all who attended and exchanged stories.
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| I draw your attention to member
Joe Panico (black jacket, dark hair, speaking with Arnie in the first
picture on the right). Joe had just won the meeting 50/50 drawing, this
month worth $54. Seconds after this picture was taken Joe slipped his
winnings in Arnie's shirt pocket. Joe might be upset with me for noticing
and telling you about it but I could not resist. |
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| We could have talked all night
but, alas, another group was scheduled for this meeting room at 6:30 PM and
we had to vacate. Mind you, our meetings generally end between 5:00 and
5:30! |
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To all who contributed, a hearty
Thank You! Arnie said "I don't know how I am going to pay everyone back." I did
my best to convince him that he has it backwards; it is his fans who are paying
him back for all he has already done.
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The
Cruisin' Tigers GTO Club, Inc.
