The Birth of an Idea

Back on a cold and snowy Friday the 13th in 1978 Rob "Masked Man" was driving up Snake Road in his 1974 Dodge Van. The snow was blinding as it came down, shining by the glare of his headlights. Then he had a Vision. This Vision was of a New and Better Van Club, Small, Tight Knit, With Attitude. Rob was one of a several people not satisfied with the  "ECVC" (Electric City Van Club). So a few Days Later on October 22nd 1978 the first "13's Truckers" meeting was held. At this time there was three members that left "ECVC". They were Rob "Masked Man" (He Was OUR FIRST Treasurer) , Rich "Sky Hawk" (He Was OUR FIRST Spokesman) , and Dave "Energizer" (He is One of OUR Present Spokesman). Only Rob and Rich actually made the first meeting because Dave had to Work. (Yea Right). At that first meeting the name "13's Truckers" was made Official. The Idea for the name came from Rich, then Rob and Dave had agreed on it. Several different stories have circulated over the years about what the name actually means. (Maybe someday we will tell you.) The second meeting was soon after and was attended by all three members and at this point we started forming the framework of the new club. We decided that we would not have a President/Vice-President type of rule. We had seen where Vice-Presidents did very little and at least in the case of the "Other Club" were unable to run a meeting. We also felt that we had little use for a Sargeant at Arms, only for the fact that a meeting should BE FUN and not ruled by an Iron-Fisted Sargeant at Arms. So the position of "Spokesman" was created. The "Spokesman" would keep the meetings going and once elected remain in office until Retirement or Removal. A Secretary, a Treasurer, and Public Relations would round out the rest of the officers. By the next meeting Joe "Midnight Rambler" had joined us. He was another member of "ECVC" that had enough and wanted to Make Vannin' FUN Again. He was also an excellent artist so we put him to work designing a club logo for us. Within a matter of weeks Joe had about six designs for us to choose from. By this time the club had grown adding Bobby "Wood Man" (He Made OUR FIRST License Plates), Paul "Drumsticks" (He Was OUR FIRST Public Relations Man) and ??????????. We soon decided on OUR LOGO from the designs that Joe had, and It Was the "CAT".

To be continued...