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Emil's and Nina's 1961Thunderbird on the Bethany Campus
~ Promoting 21st Century Bethany College in Silicon Valley with alumni and students
~ Promoting 21st Century Bethany College in Silicon Valley with alumni and students
My grandmother, Nina Sohlberg Fry, driving my Uncle Emil, Dr. Deere, around Bethany College in their 1961 Thunderbird became part of the weekly campus landscape to the end of his life in 1966.
The car stayed in the Kansas family until 1984 when it was sold to a Lindsborg resident. Twenty years later from California, I repurchased it. In the San Francisco Bay Area it became a show car, and "a promoter" of Lindsborg and Bethany College at the fundraising events of the Concours D'Elegance shows which found it winning trophies at Palo Alto's Stanford University and at Hillsborough, the longest-running vintage car event in the United States.
To celebrate Bethany's 125th Anniversary, a Bethany College California Alumni fundraising gathering occurred around the car in 2006 at the Classics-by-the-Sea on the cliffs of the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay Hotel. This was the Thunderbird's first debut as a show car which set a precedent for me to always hand out brochures on Lindsborg, Bethany College and the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery.
The Thunderbird was sold in August of 2011; however, in January of that year, a great and unexpected event occurred, with the visit of the Bethany Swedes baseball team to Menlo College which is across the street from my home in Menlo Park. What a "little" miracle, to celebrate its 50th year! The Bethany Swedes were here to play an exhibition baseball game with the Menlo College team. To learn more, click on the photograph below.
The car stayed in the Kansas family until 1984 when it was sold to a Lindsborg resident. Twenty years later from California, I repurchased it. In the San Francisco Bay Area it became a show car, and "a promoter" of Lindsborg and Bethany College at the fundraising events of the Concours D'Elegance shows which found it winning trophies at Palo Alto's Stanford University and at Hillsborough, the longest-running vintage car event in the United States.
To celebrate Bethany's 125th Anniversary, a Bethany College California Alumni fundraising gathering occurred around the car in 2006 at the Classics-by-the-Sea on the cliffs of the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay Hotel. This was the Thunderbird's first debut as a show car which set a precedent for me to always hand out brochures on Lindsborg, Bethany College and the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery.
The Thunderbird was sold in August of 2011; however, in January of that year, a great and unexpected event occurred, with the visit of the Bethany Swedes baseball team to Menlo College which is across the street from my home in Menlo Park. What a "little" miracle, to celebrate its 50th year! The Bethany Swedes were here to play an exhibition baseball game with the Menlo College team. To learn more, click on the photograph below.
From The Bethany Magazine
The Thunderbird at The Old Deere Farm
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"Let Us Celebrate Them"
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Swedes: TheWayTheyWere
~ restoring lost local histories ~
reconnecting past to present
* * *
All color photography throughout Swedes: The Way They Were is by Fran Cochran unless otherwise indicated.
Copyright © since October 8, 2015 to Current Year
as indicated on main menu sections of
www.swedesthewaytheywere.org. All rights reserved.
"Let Us Celebrate Them"
* * *
Swedes: TheWayTheyWere
~ restoring lost local histories ~
reconnecting past to present
* * *
All color photography throughout Swedes: The Way They Were is by Fran Cochran unless otherwise indicated.
Copyright © since October 8, 2015 to Current Year
as indicated on main menu sections of
www.swedesthewaytheywere.org. All rights reserved.
