All of us have a feel-good story to tell from time to time. While many of these revolve around hot rodders who find themselves a day late and a few bolts short, the end result is a story worth embellishing for late-night tales with fellow rodding insomniacs. This story is different, as it doesn't focus on any specific rodding element, but it's a story to be told, nonetheless.
For starters, I enjoyed the perfect summer. By definition a perfect summer revolves around driving to the NSRA Street Rod Nationals in Louisville, Kentucky, while seated behind the wheel of a highboy roadster. This being the 75th anniversary of the Deuce, it makes sense a perfect summer would be experienced behind the wheel of a '32. I found myself driving with Steve Coonan of The Rodder's Journal fame (and almost fortune) in his Deuce highboy roadster when it all began. (Turn to page 66 in this issue for the rest of the drive story.)
It was Wednesday, the last move-in day for exhibitors into the Kentucky Exposition Center (all 500,000 square feet), and I thought I was minding my own business when fellow staffer Ryan Manson said, "Hey, there's a cat in that trailer." Upon further examination, the kid was right. Sitting peacefully on a running board was a tabby. How did we see this cat, you ask? Well, turns out with the hundred or so semi trailers in attendance, this one had a glass side that allowed passersby to peer in.
Being the animal lover that I am, it was time to bring everything to a halt and find out more about the hitchhiker kitty. The trailer didn't have any markings, but I figured the driver would know. Well, he spoke little English but lots of French. Next stop: "Where's Tony LaPoint from Coast to Coast Street Rod?" Tony's company is out of Quebec, Canada, and I figured he would be my "bridge." Well, Tony was the right guy, as it was his trailer. After some interpreting from French to English, we figured out that the driver picked up his unwanted feline near Rochester, New York, where he had dropped off a car for Craig Perkins. After a quick phone call and a subsequent message, it was now a matter of time before Craig would call us back and, hopefully, confirm our suspicions and set him at ease in the process. In the meantime, I continued my walking with kitty when I ran into Pat Skiver-friend and Road Tour partner-along with our very own Jerry Dixey. Pat reminded me that ye ol' Jerry is fond of animals and his wife, Mary Ann, is dedicated to animal rights.
"Hey, Jerry, can you call Mary Ann and figure out what I'm going to do with this cat?" Now we were waiting for two phone calls-one from Mary Ann and the other from Craig. Back at our booth, Jerry was foraging for food and water for our formerly incarcerated feline. Kitty had just traveled some 600-plus miles in three days in an enclosed trailer with no food or water! But we were solving the last part of the equation. The friendly but fussy feline didn't like Jerry's leftover breakfast bacon, but an ample supply of water was to his satisfaction.
Next up, Kathy and Torry Tolbert, attending the Nats like thousands of other rodders, walked by the booth. Kathy saw kitty and asked, "What are you doing with a cat in the middle of a convention hall in Louisville, Kentucky?" I told her I was asking myself that very same question. As luck would have it, Kathy and Torry are cat lovers, having more than their share back home on their farm. Wouldn't you know it, she had the proper wet and dry cat food in their street rod and she said she would retrieve some. Half an hour passed and Kathy was back with food in hand.
Now the return phone calls began: Mary Ann had the phone number to the Metro Humane Society in Louisville, and Craig called back saying his daughters (Alexis, Sierra, and Miranda Perkins) were upset since Motor (yep, the purrfect name for a hot rod kitty) was theirs and had been missing for days.