By Tom Sawvel
Life has been good since I retired in 01-01-01. Arlene and I divide our time between our home in Medina, Minnesota, the place up north on UPPER TRELIPE lake near Remer (north of Brainerd), and our place in Ft. Myers, Florida, which we bought in 2001. We live in the Kelly Greens Golf Community in a condo with a garage – right on the ninth hole of the golf course.
We usually come to Florida in the middle of January and stay until April. It’s a good place to be. We’ve got lots of friends – especially five couples that we originally met when we used to vacation on Sanibel Island. I play golf a couple of times a week, and there are plenty of good walking and bike paths as well.
For anybody who knows me, it will come as no surprise that I spend a lot of time playing in the garage. Down here I’ve got my ’65 Chevelle convertible to play with and enjoy. I also have built a scale model Chris Craft boat and a couple of rubber powered airplanes with 27” wing span.
Right now I’m working on a remote control sailboat that I intend to race with some old guys in a nearby complex. Then back home I’ve got my ’34 Ford street rod, and I currently have a ’46 Ford pickup, and a ’64 El Camino at the lake. These both need body work so they are not show quality. They are what we call “go to the dump trucks”.
The ’34 Ford is my favorite car, and I take it to as many car shows as Arlene will allow. I am currently building a fresh flathead engine, which will be tricked out to match the rest of the car. The original engine is the one I started with in 1957 and it was getting tired. The MSRA “Back to the 50s” has always been the highlight of the summer car season and is my favorite car show, with four days of cars and fun.
We usually try to make it to one “out of state” show a year. I won’t bother you with all the details, but I hope to update this site from time to time, and I will include our escapades
I haven’t lost touch with the business. I talk to Troy a couple of times a week to see how things are going, and I’m delighted the company is doing so well under his guidance. It looks as though they are headed for the biggest year ever.
Troy and I follow the same philosophy in business. You do a good job for the customer by giving him a good product with good service for a good price. When you do that, customers tend to be loyal. We’ve made a lot of friends in the industry. Very often, when a production manager for a company we serve changes jobs, we end up making equipment sales there, too.
If anyone would like to read a little more about what I’ve been up to, check out this article based one my experiences, ”ANOTHER TRIP TO THE SALT.”
February 06
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