It all came
about around August of '91. I had my '67 R/T painted about 5
months earlier and I had just gotten a set of BF Goodrich tires
mounted my Magnum 500 wheels, so I was out cruising - 
showing
them bad boys off. Les Holleman, a long time friend of mine, and I
had just pulled into the Byron Mexican Restaurant (it's closed
now) when a man and a woman in a mid 80's Dodge truck pulls up in
the parking space beside us. As we were walking towards the
entrance, the lady says to her husband, "Why don't you ask
him what's in his R/T?"
He said, "A 440, I would imagine." I said,
"Yep." Then we all went in and ate. When we were
through, so were they, and we all introduced ourselves. This was
the first time that I had met Mike and Debra Bieker. We talked for
about an hour in the parking lot. He had just put a 440 in his '83
truck and I was about to put a 440 in "Big Orange", my
'78 Power Wagon. Bieker said he would be glad to help me, and help
he did. He rebuilt the whole motor for me - I just helped a
little, learned and listened.
The first car show I ever participated in was at the Labor
Day show at the Macon Coliseum in '91. It was me (R/T), Bieker
('73 Charger) and Jerry Linton (2 Hemi cars). Drake Mathews was
there with his '64 Dodge 330 and John Underwood entered his
Sublime Superbird replica, but I didn't know either one of them at
that time. And believe it or not, there were a lot of Mopars at
this particular show. Jeff Demory sold a '70 Road Runner - Plum
Crazy 4-speed car. This is the show that I met Jerry Christie at
also.
I asked Mike Bieker about other Mopar people in the area and
since he has worked at different parts houses around here, he knew
a few. To make a short story long, here's what we did. I told him
to call all the Mopar people he knew and I'd call the few what I
knew, and we would all meet in Warner Robins next to the Subway on
Watson (where the Chick Fil-a is now, is where we parked). This, I
believe, was the first attempt at an organized all Mopar gathering
in this area. It was Mike Bieker, Jerry Linton and me that planted
the club seed. Mike and I knew more people to get in touch with,
but Jerry Linton had the Hemi cars - which helped draw the crowd
(`66 Belvedere & `66 Satellite). We had about 9 Mopars there.
I can't remember who all they were, but I do remember Greg Griner
(Dakota convertible) and Al Pratt ('76 Fury cop car) and of course
the three of us.
Our second meeting was in the old Sears Auto Center in
Warner Robins back parking lot (now Tire's Plus) next to Checkers
on Watson Blvd. Before this meeting, I had heard legends of a man
named Barry Jones who owned a white '66 Hemi Charger. I looked him
up in the phone book, left a message on his machine that there
would be a Mopar gathering, and along about meeting time, in rolls
a white '66 Charger with "426 HEMI" badges on the
fenders. This was the first time I met Barry. Jerry Linton had his
green '66 Satellite 4-speed and things started getting regular. I
started making a list at the first meeting, you know: people's
names, cars, and phone numbers. I added to it at every meeting. We
met a few people who just saw us as they were riding by and turned
around and visited. This second meeting included Al Pratt, Gary
Jenson, Scott Waters, Jerry Linton, Mike and James Bieker and
others as well. Later on, we started meeting at the Sonic on
Russell Parkway. We even tried the "Steak and Shake" on
Watson, but the parking wasn't too good.
I had some business cards made up to stick on old Mopars
when I would see them parked and this worked pretty good. I even
passed them out to Mopar people to do the same so that the word
would spread faster.
We are regulars now at many local car shows: Road Rebels,
Peach Outlet Mall, Wings N Wheels (which I help judge), Heart of
Georgia Charity Run, Dogwood Festival in Perry and of course the
Silver Dollar Mopar Extravaganza. I can remember going to car
shows in the mid to late '80's that had over 100 cars and not a
single Mopar. That has changed.
One time Mike Bieker and I even set our cars out in front of
Western Auto (he was working there then). There were 4 cars - 3
Mopars and 1 Camaro. This is where I first met Robert and Marti
Briley.
Cara Debiase, who was James Bieker's girlfriend, typed up
the list of people I had acquired and I would make copies and pass
them out every so often. (Cara also bought a Sublime green Dart
with a 340 in it from Roger Willis). I modified a Credit Union
civil service calendar for our club meeting schedule and passed
out copies. We had regular meeting at the Sonic in Warner Robins -
the first Saturday and 3rd Sunday. I figured that some people work
on Saturday and they could come on Sunday and the folks that went
to church on Sunday evening could make it to the Saturday
meetings. The Sonic finally closed from bad management I heard and
we were left with just Flinchers' in Macon as a primary meeting
spot. Flinchers' is an ideal place for a car club meeting with the
awning and patio and all. We used to go there when I was little
and my parents used to go there on dates. In fact, it was there at
a Mopar meeting that I first met my wife Bobbie Jo. Rob and Kitty
Merritt were responsible for that introduction - and I appreciate
it! We always had our meeting with the bi-annual Flinchers' Gang
Reunion cruise-in put on by John Knowles. We really brought the
Mopars out for the inferior crowd to see. Give them some culture.
I heard about Chevy people saying "Where did all these Mopars
come from?". Now that gives me a good feeling knowing that a
Chevy guy had to park outside on the curb to make room for the
elite. We would have up to 18 Mopars at this "mostly"
Chevy night, which is a lot for this area.
We've had a few cruises. We cruised to the Farm House
Restaurant in Forsyth twice and The Steak House Restaurant in
Hawkinsville once.
We started having meetings at Vinson Valley and had very good
turn-outs. Seeing how my mom owns the place, we get a cut rate.
This is a great place to relax, grill out and do lots of bench
racing. We have about 2 picnics a year there.
Around 1997, the club started getting more organized and
publicized when Sam Ingram, a friend of mine from Tucson, Arizona,
came back to live in Georgia. I have known Sam since the 4th or
5th grade. He and his wife, Barbara, had been in a Gold Wing Club
in Tucson, from where we drew some good ideas and he knew a lot
about computers and most importantly of all, he was a Mopar Man.
Sam and Barbara both got jobs at National Bank Products shortly
after moving here, which is a graphics type business. It is there
that we had 6 dozen T-shirts and 2 dozen hats made with our club
logo, which club members came up with at meetings. Sam asked me
why we didn't have a newsletter. I said, "Because I can't do
one." He said, "I can and will." Well, he did and
then he taught me. The first issue came off the press in May,
1998. It was simply titled "The Newsletter" for lack of
a better title. Then Rob Merritt says, "How about calling it
The Pistol Grip?" This sounded cool and 100% Mopar. The name
stuck and has been called "The Pistol Grip" from the
second issue to the present. No more numerous phone calls to folks
without an econo-calendar because the newsletter would have the
meeting calendar in it - and classified ads. The only down side to
all of this is, with a monthly newsletter, you have to have dues.
We started out charging $15.00 a year per member, which covers the
cost of the newsletter plus stamps, ink and supplies.
With the extra cash from the dues, we bought a grill,
drinks, sometimes chips or watermelons or hot dogs and burgers,
and even a few door prizes. Anyone wanting to know where the money
is going, feel free to ask. We keep good records. No one will say
it's none of your business and if you want to get more involved
with the leadership of the club - we're always looking for
dependable volunteers. At some meeting, we have 50/50 drawing and
I try to bring the newsletter from North Georgia Mopar Club for
ya'll to check out and read the classifieds.
And the big news of year 2000 is that we now have a major
sponsor for the club, Bill Butler - Chrysler - Plymouth - Dodge -
Jeep in Warner Robins. The dealership is located on Watson Blvd.
Their sponsorship has really helped out our club, plus we get club
discounts too.
Dan Cook of Dan Cook Racing in Jupiter, FL. is a MGMC member
and has helped us out on parts, labor, advice, and even given us
rides in his race cars. He made Bobbie & I an excellent deal
on a 426 Hemi, which he delivered and installed in my `70
Challenger, plus he rebuilt & made mobile our `69 Super Bee,
Six Pack and all (check it out on dancookracing
.com). So there you have it folks, the whole shocking story of
MGMC.
opar
Club
iddle
Georgia
HISTORY OF THE MIDDLE GEORGIA MOPAR CLUB 