By Tom Oncken
It is really difficult for me to believe that the 2nd annual meet at Tony and Andrea Robinson’s home has already come and gone. For those of you who missed it, it’s a shame you did not come and have some fun with us in Lipan on March 8th and 9th. If you are one of the individuals who sent Tony your RSVP and then did not show up, shame on you too!
As you may have noticed from an earlier article, I have had some medical issues and have not been up to par for the early part of this year. My son, Mike, invited me to ride to the meet with him and two of my grandchildren. Charlie came last year and became an AOMCI calendar star with his brother, Tommy, who attended last year, but stayed at home because of a field trip to the downtown Houston aquarium. Their older sister, Emma, decided to come with us this time and witness some of the things that the boys talked about so much last year.
I do not know how we managed to do it, but we held this event on a weekend where the weather was fabulous for an outboard meet occurring in early March. It reminded me of the weather that we had at the December wet meet in Burnet late last year. Somebody was smiling down upon us. On our way to the meet, we stopped by the Natty Flats barbeque restaurant to show Emma the world’s largest cedar rocking chair. After that brief stop, we drove the final few miles to Tony and Andrea’s home. We arrived at 3:00 PM, so we could visit with any others who came early.
When we got out of the truck and began to visit with some of the other folks who had arrived, Tony dashed out of the house and seemed somewhat anxious as he greeted us and shaked our hands. It seems that Tony and Andrea had made a decision earlier in the year to adopt a family of children. The children were supposed to arrive the weekend before the meet, but as you may have guessed, they arrived on Friday, March 8th, just before all of the guests for the meet began showing up. Ben McCauley has been Tony’s wingman for the past two years, so he had it all under control for the time being while Tony was inside signing important documents to make his family larger.
I cannot think of a more special beginning to our second annual Lipan Swap Meet. Tony and Andrea introduced us to their new family members including Max who is 13, Monica who is 16, and sister Ivy who is 18. If I remember correctly, the children will be foster children for six months before everything is finalized. I hope they have survived the weekend of older guys showing off old outboard motors, literature, and stationary engines. Max seemed to fit right in with most of our group while Monica, Ivy, and Andrea spent more time inside the house.
Ben McCauley had to go assist a relative with a broken down vehicle, so Tony finally came out and started directing the swap meet. He had two things planned for Friday night, which included going out for dinner and then taking a trip over to Granbury to visit the historical light plant like we did last year. Emma was looking forward to seeing the big stationary engines at the light plant.
At about 5:00 PM, our group headed out for a special dinner. Tony borrowed a church bus to make the trip to dinner and then go to Granbury. Since Mike, the kids, and I were going to stay in Weatherford that night, Mike drove his vehicle and followed Tony. We traveled about 14 miles south of Lipan to the town of Bluff Dale, Texas. Our destination was Jaspers Café advertised as having “burgers with an attitude”.
Jaspers is a quaint small café with a very large and exotic menu which is loaded with abundant choices. Tony was disappointed that I ordered a standard hamburger called a “Classic Burger”. Most of the burgers were something unusual like a “Mac Daddy” that was overflowing with Mac-n-cheese blended with chili and venison sausage. Regular burgers were 100% Texas beef served on a Kaiser bun, but if you were adventurous, you could have Elk, Buffalo, Axis Deer, Boar, or Akauski Kobe (whatever that is). You also could order a Black Bean veggie patty (yuck!).
Regardless, I would go back in half a heart-beat because everything tasted great. My hamburger would have put a quarter-pounder to shame by weight. The onion rings were fabulous and I stole a French fry from my granddaughter and it was more like a potato wedge fried to perfection with some fancy dip that I could not describe to you. The bottom line here is nobody complained and everyone was stuffed when we left. I am not sure if Tony has any other surprises when it comes to eating establishments, but it is going to be really hard to beat Jaspers. So, if we have a third Lipan swap meet, you know who gets my vote for our Friday night meal.
Even though we all probably felt like it was time to lie down and take a nap, we all regrouped at the church bus and headed to Granbury which is east of Bluff Dale by about 15 miles. Several individuals went with us this year that had not gone last year to the power plant. Although I had been there before, I had no problem going again because those large stationary machines inside the Granbury Light Plant are magnificent.
Tony gave the complete tour of the Granbury Light Plant which involved cranking up some of the air compressors and firing up one of the big diesel engines. If you want to know more about the engines housed in this plant, just refer back to last year’s articles in The Antique Outboarder and Texas Chapter News. The repeat trip was once again a blast. Friday came to an end and the van returned to Tony’s house while Mike took us to our hotel in Weatherford.
After taking the kids by a nearby IHOP the next morning, we once again traveled to Lipan. A crowd had already arrived and it was a great turnout. John Slator, Rich Reich, and Steve Seale stayed overnight in Tony’s motorhome and Ed Bachman and Bruce Miller stayed in Bruce’s camper after the Granbury trip the previous night.
I wish to thank a very special guest at this year’s gathering. Our Founder, Dave Reinhartsen, made an appearance and actually took some of the photos seen in this article. Thanks, Dave. It was good to see you at a meet again.
A few of the Granbury Flywheelers made an additional appearance this year. Ronnie Barton, John Maltby, M.J. Parker, Jack Wesley, and Allan Wright were in attendance and brought along some of their neat toys. M.J. brought his trailer with a 471 Detroit Diesel on board. That monster ran loud and strong.
Ben McCauley obtained a Martin “60” while at the meet that appeared to be “stuck”. As it turns out, it was not stuck in the traditional way where the piston rings seize to the cylinder walls. This time, it was the old “mud dauber” bandit at work.
Saturday dinner was again from Natty Flats BBQ restaurant in Lipan. There is one thing I can say about Tony’s annual meet, it is a great place to go if you like to eat great food. The table was set with brisket, ground brisket, some ribs, potato salad, and all the other things you would expect of a Texas feast including some great desserts.
I have not yet confirmed that Tony will be having a 3rd Annual Lipan Swap Meet, but I am hopeful. If I am able, I would like to do as we have with Louis’ annual meet and mail out a physical swap meet notice. If you have any people you would like to add to that list, I am open to building a file for it. Future member prospects are welcome.
Again, I want to thank the whole Robinson clan for sharing their home with us. Thank you Tony, Andrea, Chase, Ivy, Monica, and Max! We all appreciate the time and effort you all managed to put into this swap meet this year.
To view all the photos provided covering the Lipan Meet, please follow this link:http://www.texaschapteraomci.com/gallery/2nd-annual-lipan-swap-meet/