July 10-14, 2007
By Rob Bender

McKinney , TX to Tulsa . This caravan included Don and Stephanie Fenton, Larry Rawlings, Brian Donahue , his buddy Rick Theissen, Jim Kerbel, son, Jake Kerbel , James Morris, and yeah, I was there. On the way up we were joined by George Reaves en route, and later in Tulsa met up with Lee Green and daughter Jennifer, Shawn and E.J. Wheeler, Randy Allen, Bryan Liptoi and John and Dawn Wolf.

Already on the scene in Tulsa were Bob and Linda Cook, Mark and Lynn Waterman, Ross and Dorothy Clegg, Tommy and Judy Rivers, John and Colleen Darling, Robert Kern, Marty and Paul Parker and Shawn Patterson.

This event was well put together. POCI, in working with the Oklahoma Tourism Board, had blocked off several square blocks of downtown Tulsa for the convention. There were city parking lots reserved for in and out POCI member parking, the Swap Meet in another lot and a display by Pontiac that included the Solstice GXP and yet to be released G8. Trailer parking was available a few blocks away and POCI rented vans for shuttle service. Even a couple of hoses were set up in one of the trailer lots to hand wash your car.

The weather cooperated on the days that counted, including race day and show day. It rained part of Thursday, but there were a couple of seminars to choose from, as well as several vendor booths and displays to keep us occupied. The day at the track, Friday, the 13th was hampered by rain early on, but the track was dried and ready to go by late morning. The only affect Friday the 13th had on us was it hexed our times in the bracket racing – at least that’s the story we’re sticking to. By late afternoon, all of us “he men” were sitting around staring at each other while we watched Jennifer Green go round after bracket round making it all the way to the Finals. Shawn Patterson also hung in there and made it to the Finals in the “Dirty Bird”.

The Popular Vote Car Show day was Saturday, and it turned to be a perfect day with the weather sunny and warm. There was also a Points Judged Car Show on Friday. I understood there were 360 cars in the Saturday show field which stretched for several blocks. All cars were in specific classes and positioned accordingly. For example, not only the GTO’s would be lined up together, the 1965 GTO’s lined the better side of one street! You can’t forget the beautiful vintage Oaklands which were set under a row of trees. And it was the 30th Anniversary of the Can Am; they of course were grouped in a prestigious location.

POCI had indeed put on a great event. We were fortunate to have it held close to Dallas in 2007 allowing a fair contingent of DAPA members to participate.