And who better than our own Roger F. (aka “volksroger”) and wife Carole? Since joining our club in February, 2005, Roger has been the perfect example of commitment and dedication in the support of our club. Besides attending about 80% of our functions, he often provides the base for our prize drawings at our monthly meetings. And last summer, when we lost some of our members, he was there for the majority of the memorial ceremonies, representing our club and showing that we cared. He has always offered to help, in any way he can.

So, how did the they come to love VWs? Well, like many, it all started in their younger years. Carole bought a 1963 in Dayton, TN right after graduating from High School. Roger bought his new 1967 at Dewey Motors on Union Avenue, while attending (then) Memphis State U. And the love never died. It was still living under the snow, waiting for the spring.

Then came retirement. The snow was melting. Browsing the internet began warming the memories of Roger’s first love…. cars. They went through a period of looking for that perfect ’62 or ’64 Chevy Impala. They tried their hand at bidding on some they found on Ebay. But after losing out on that “perfect” one, they re-discovered VWs on a site, www.oldbug.com. While vacationing in Eureka Springs, they found out about the big show there and attended the next one. The snow was gone and the sun was shining bright! Yup; they were locked onto the idea of owning a classic VW. Now they just had to FIND it!

Time for some “Ebay Roulette.” “Who will be the lucky winner?” Not Roger and Carole. Well, not the first time around. We know how it works. There’s a “Buy Now” for more than we want to pay. So bid lower and wait to win. But, then somebody snags the Buy Now and runs away with the win. But, sometimes Lady Luck smiles. Sometimes you get a second chance. The deal went sour and their dream Bug was back on Ebay. But, ever frugal, Roger was going for a low price again. Thank goodness that Carole snapped him out of that mode when she said, “Roger opportunity knocks but once and here is our second knock. So lets do the Buy It Now.”

On FEB 2, 2005 (Ground Hog Day), they became winners and proud adopted parents of “Elsie.” She was shipped from Parker, CO and their baby arrived on Valentines Day, FEB 14, 2005. So, that date is now “Love (Bug) Day.” By my account, they joined our club the very next day! Wow.

We will talk about the Roger & Carole some more in a little bit. But what about this Love Bug “Elsie?” Well, she’s a Turquoise 1961 VW Sedan Deluxe. Besides being the love child to them, I am proud to say that her claim to fame is also that she was the “cover girl”… I mean cover car… for the FINAL edition of VW Trends, MAR 2005. Some point after the magazine shoot, her owner decided to sell her on Ebay.

But going back even further in time… the previous owner, Josh L., found and rescued her from a 30-year long rest in a field in California. Josh became the second owner when he bought her from the estate of the original owner. Elsie was purchased new, from Econo Motors in Riverside, CA.

Josh did an outstanding job of restoring Elsie, right down to the Coker tires. I don’t know if she looked this good, even when brand new. What a gem. But, upon discovering he was becoming a father for the second time, Josh decided to sell his Bug, which he had planned on keeping for himself; lucky day for Roger & Carole.

Space does not allow me to share the photos of the restoration process. But you can access them at the URL:

 http://home.comcast.net/~joshandsony1/vw/vw.html or http://home.comcast.net/~joshandsony1/vw1/vw1.html

Roger says,

“I am truly blessed with only doing routine maintenance and I’m grateful to have Kenny at Faulk’s Automotive to take … excellent care of her. So I plan to just keep pampering her and enjoying her as she is.

I take her out for a spin whenever the weather is nice; she doesn’t like to get her “feet” wet!

Elsie had become my # 1 hobby. I jumped into going to as many car shows locally as I could and we even drove her to the show in Eureka Springs, AR (333 lonnnng HOT miles in August!).

I drive her down to our Starbucks on Goodman Road frequently and park her right out front and then enjoy meeting folks who so admire her and have their own pleasant memories about VWs in their lives. Through Elsie I have met many, many new friends.

I spend a lot of time haunting the department stores for “little bugs”. When my collection spills too far over into Carole’s bookcases I bring the extras to our Club raffle so my fellow bug lovers can enjoy them as I do.

Carole and I met, through mutual friends, in 1997. We started dating in 2001 (cautious huh!) and were married in August 2002. I have been married twice before and have 3 grown kids and 6 grandchildren. Carole told me the third time is the charm and I listened because she told me she was also 3^rd wife of her first husband who died in ’97.”

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