rneMirror

The Opinion Page

Editor's Notebook
By J. Timothy Penn
A few days ago, October 16-17, in
fact, I attended the best reunion
that I have ever attended ... and it
wasn't even "my" reunion.
Well, it was in a way because I'm
an employee of Volkswagen of
America, Inc., and a little of it
belonged to me, but it really be-
longed to the attendees-the peo-
ple who worked in the Service
organization for Volkswagen when
our company first got started. The
reunion was limited to the em-
ployees who worked in Service
from 1955 to 1962.
At first, I wanted to write the story
about this reunion right away, but
this month's issue of the Mirror is
pretty full so I'm saving the story for
next month.
The story of these "Service Old-
timers," as they call themselves, is
well worth waiting for. (Not be-
cause of my writing, but because
of the story that they have to tell
about our company in its formative
years.)
Special thanks to Erhard Grewen-
dorf, who put the reunion together
with the help of a few of his Service
pals, and Otto Sonnenschmidt of
Volkswagen United States, who
got me and the Mirror invited to the
reunion in Washington, D.C.
It was a reunion full of unforgetta-
ble memories, vividly recalled
scenes of yesteryear and the bold,
but human people who lived them.
Be sure to tune in again next month
at this time ...
Dale R. Ellery, who has been
writing the Tax Tips column for the
Mirror over the last few months,
has been elected president of
the World Trade Club of Greater
Detroit. Congratulations to our
Director of Taxes and Customs
here at corporate headquarters,
and thanks for the great columns.
Nearby in this column is a picture
of William P Devine with his 1979
VW Super Beetle Convertible. Bill
Jr., the son of Vorelco's Bill Devine,
is a_sophomore at the University of
Detroit majoring in marketing and
management.
He recently entered his Super
Beetle in the University of Detroit's
Streeter & Beater automobile show
for students and faculty-and won
first place in a field of 20 competi-
tive entries.
Other winning competitors in-
cluded a 1957 Studebaker Golden
Hawk, a 1974 Ford Gran Torino,
and a 1980 MG Roadster.
Bill Jr. bought the Beetle in June,
1986 with a little help from dad. It
had several mechanical problems,
but the body was rust free and in
excellent condition.
Bill Sr. proudly said that Bill Jr. did
all the work on the car himself, but
had some great technical advice
from a number of helpful VWoA
employees with the same interest
in restoring old Volkswagens. His
advisors included Wolfgang We-
ber, Wolfgang Guder, Tom Wall,
Gus Holweg, Ray Vogelsang and
Gary Baker of VWoA, as well as
Tim Sullivan and Leroy Reese of
Tom Sullivan Volkswagen in
Southfield, Michigan.
Bill Sr. and Jr. both wanted to use
the Mirror to say thanks to all-and
to show off the picture of the car.
Sad news recently passed along to
us by Lucie Kirylak about the death
in September of former Service
executive Franz X. Kammerbauer.
Kammerbauer, who left VWoA
shortly after the move from Engle-
wood Cliffs to Troy, was weH known
not only at Volkswagen, but all
around the industry. At the time of
his death at age 50, he was
president and chief executive offi-
cer of BBS Of America, Inc., an
automotive supplier. He was one of
the service "pioneers" who held
their reunion I wrote about earlier.
We certainly look forward to the
good news and not the bad, but
whatever you think would be of
interest to your fellow employees, it
would be greatly appreciated if
you would pass it along to me so it
can find it's way into the pages of
the Mirror.
See ya in the funny papers ...
Cartoon Cap1
Entering the monthly Carto
Caption Contest through the Mir.
is easy-winning isn't.
However, for the first time since '
started the contest more than thr
years ago we have a repeat winn
Richard Grandy's winning capti
is on Page Six this month as usu
He entered and won again desp
the fact that we messed up getti1
him his check for winning the fi
time around.
Editorial One
Thanksgiving is a special natio1
holiday, richly steeped in individ1
and collective meaning. Than
giving signifies family, food, ft
history, and tradition all wrapp
up into one mid-week day.
The Pilgrims celebrated the f1
Thanksgiving Day in Februa
1621, to thank God for deliven
them safely to this bountiful far
Afterward, Thanksgiving was ce
brated sporadically until 17t
when President George Washir
ton proclaimed a day for put
thanksgiving and prayer to c
knowledge Gods favor in
ing our republic. Still, it wasn't UJ
1864 that the fourth Thursday
November was designated
President Abraham Lincoln as t
national day of thanksgiving. We
been observing it as a holiday e1
since. This year we celebrate