But, to be truthful, the best time to be had was at the banquet, when a strange conflagration
of events conspired to turn the night into a magical experience.

First and second, we were honored to have Nancy Goia and Mary Ellen Heyde attend and
speak at our banquet. Nancy was accompanied by her husband Tom and daughter
Samantha, while Mary Ellen was escorted by her husband Gordon. Ms. Heyde, Vehicle Line
Director Lifestyle Vehicles, put forth a very well-crafted description and summary on her life
with Ford, and its place in the automotive industry. Nancy, Chief Thunderbird Nameplate
Engineer for Ford, especially entertained us with her stories of the rebirth of our favorite car
and the trials and tribulations she and her team went through to get the car from clay to steel.
We were all thrilled and excited to be privy to - through Nancy - some of the more intimate
and private moments of the car's metamorphosis.

After speaking for over an hour, Nancy was gracious enough to entertain our questions for
approximately 45 minutes. She answered every query with grace, tact, and a genuine desire
to salve the voracious curiosity with which each question was posed.

Nancy was also generous enough to autograph item after item from almost every member
in the audience before, during, and after dinner. Not once did she decline or complain,
and for that alone, we owe her a debt of gratitude.

ITC President, Malcolm Green, hands ITC Registrar, Bea Zastrow, her President's Award

After Nancy's speech and the handing out of door prizes,
the prestigious honor of bestowment of both the president's
award and the editor's award. This year's presidential
conferrence was twofold. Both Bea Zastrow (MD) and
Robert Marsico (NJ) were recipients. Bea, an inaugural ITC
meeting member, has been a constant for ITC, in presence,
support, and duty. A past president of MATC chapter,
International Convention hostess and currently ITC
Registrar, Bea is always ready to take up the slack with
prospective member work and consultation on club
necessities including field representation for the Script.


Bob Marsico, ITC member from inception and past president of the North Jersey Chapter, is
active in formation activities as well as legal consultation. He played a major role in ITC's legal
needs this past year with the litigation that was put upon the club and successfully defeated.

Next Rich Schatz presented the 2001 Script magazine Editor's Award for Distinction and
Valued Service to John Draxler (WI). John, ever present technical editor, 1964-66, has ready
answers to technical problems. He devotes the time to research AND deliver quality,
formatted information for publishing. John, who has also taken on the task of finishing the
Concours Rules editing and page design, has created a fantastic web site for the Thunderbird
enthusiast.

The evening became even more deeply memorable when a visiting English orchestral and
choir group offered to play a selection of materials for us. From the Lowell Middle School
about 90 kilometers east of London, the members, ranging in age from 9 to 16 years, gave
us their all. For well over an hour they performed like professionals, even though the evening
was drawing late - and the entourage was still on London time! Tom and Nancy Gioia's 8-year
old daughter Samantha was transfixed as were we all, to the sight of this famous group's
presentation of everything from Beetles to Bach!

After this musical interlude, the evening was concluded. Everyone said their final goodbyes
and thanks to Nancy, Mary Ellen, and families, and then turned to hug their friends and make
arrangements to meet in the morning at the farewell breakfast. Since a lot of people drove to
the convention in groups ranging from two cars to about 13 (the caravan my parents and I
were in), many were making final arrangements for the trek homeward.

That night as I lay in bed, I thought about what an interesting and different convention it had
been. It was still difficult to believe that we actually got to go to the Wixom plant and see
Thunderbirds being put together and driven off the line. I remembered the fun and excitement
of the Ford Launch Day, and how incredibly cool it was to be a part of something that is
usually reserved only for Ford employees.

It was also enjoyable to revisit Greenfield Village and the Ford Museum. My family and I chose
to stay exclusively in the museum as we had been to Greenfield Village during the 1995
convention, and felt that we hadn't been able to spend enough time at the incomparable
museum.

One of our inaugural vendors, Bill Gill of the Thunderbird Center, Hazel Park MI, was on hand
Saturday afternoon to give a very useful technical seminar on Thunderbirds. He not only
answered many questions, but handed out lots of goodies to the audience. Bill also, on the
prior Tuesday, treated many conventioneers both to a tour of his facility AND dinner
afterwards! Thanks are not enough to this great guy and his number one, Eric Bennett!