40th Anniversary of Kent State

As many of us know May 4th is the 40th anniversary of the massacre at Kent State in Ohio. Our country was in the middle of a revolution that changed us forever.

Unfortunately, I had not thought of Kent State for years. I say unfortunately in that I missed the passing of a good friend who was one of the students wounded that day 40 years ago. Jim Russell was a very unique man. When he and his wife Nell moved to Oregon in the early '80s they lived in a surplus M.A.S.H. tent while they built their house, that took them 11 years.

I met Jim shortly after the first section of the house was finished. Jim and Nell and their daughter Rebecca expanded the house a couple more times over the years. Jim was a serious Model Railroader, the Northern Pacific Railroad was his favorite and he modeled it as it was in 1956. We spent many an afternoon chasing trains up and down I-5 and through the Columbia Gorge.

Jim was the Best Man at my wedding, his toast was classic 'Mr Spock' "Live long and prosper." As both of us moved to other jobs we lost touch, we would run into one another every now and then at the Local Hobby Shop, chat for an hour or so, promise to get together for lunch or dinner, but those plans never seemed to come together.

Today being the 40th anniversary of Kent State, I like so many others went searching for information regarding the insanity of that day. I found information about Jim and as I read it noted that he had died in 2007. My heart sunk when the information permeated my brain. It is strange to mourn the passing of a friend that has been gone for almost 3 years.

You see Jim wasn't only one of the 9 students who were wounded that day 40 years ago but he was also the step brother of William Schroeder, one of those who lost their life on that fateful day.

Jim was never bitter over the event of May 4, 1970, he used his experience to let others know about how things can go terribly wrong when no one is in charge. Jim would speak to graduating High School classes around the Portland area letting them know the real truth of the events of that day. The insanity of that day was that of the 13 students wounded or killed only 1 was actually involved in the protest, the others was bystanders. Jim and William were walking by the commons when the National Guard opened fire.

Good Bye, my friend you and your life will never be forgotten.

What happened to Winning?????

I guess what I'm trying to figure is how we managed to get from structured contest with a set judging standard as with the Revell/Pactra contests of the '60s to "It's what I like". It seems that somewhere along the way we've gone soft on being willing to stand up and telling someone that their build didn't deserve to win. There are ways to tell a builder that your straight from the box unpainted 1974 Vega didn't have what it took to win against a museum quality build and not have confrontation.

Several years ago I took my '37 Ford Club Coupe (different from Revell's Business Coupe), which had won a Best in Show at a judged contest, and entered it in a contest here in the PNW. When I set it down on the table in the Street Rod class I knew full well that there was not a chance that it would even place. I knew what to expect based on the competition and the judges, but at least I was there to support the event. But, when you take a build that consistently wins and enter it into a contest and you size up the competition, like we all do, you don't expect the Best of Show to go to a build with paint so thick that it fills the running boards on a Revell '32 Roadster.

When I judge I break the class down to those that have potential to win and those that don't. The very first criteria is finish, if the paint is smugged, orange peeled, heavy(runs & sags), etc the rest of the build had better be outstanding or it doesn't get a second look. So, the initial breakdown is subjective, when it comes to placement it becomes objective and points com into play. The more work the builds puts into the build the more points are awarded. A detailed engine gets more points then one that isn't, the same goes for the interior and chassis. Finish even though pointed is a mix of being subjective and objective. A build with smooth paint and well painted trim will garner more points then a build that has poorly executed BMF.

I guess it comes down to that when I use to check the contest annuals at the Washoe County Library in Reno in the late '60s I wished I could build like those guys. A blank judging sheet was in the annual so you could see what the points system was and knew in order to win this was the level you had to build to. Now that I can build to those standards we've become a hobby where we don't want to hurt anyone's feeling by telling them that they didn't win.

I guess at the end of the day we should all get our cupcakes and juice box and get big ol' group hug, that way no one looses.

To bad life isn't that way.