New Car Show – New Orleans

With each new model year, while I was working for Gulf States Toyota, Toyota would have a new car showing to present new models to the news media. Those events were in various parts of the world. In 1975 it was in Toyoko, in 1976 it was in Mexico City, and in 1977 it was in New Orleans. I could not go in 1975 or 1976 due to family commitments; however, the president of Gulf States wanted me and three other department directors to attend the 1977 event in New Orleans.

My department had begun implementing the installation of online systems at several leading dealerships and the management from all the GST Dealerships would be there. There was a short presentation of the new systems, how they would affect their daily operations, and the benefits they would provide. The show had various parts covering Monday through Sunday; however, the other directors and I only needed to be there starting on Thursday. Our wives were invited to attend special events scheduled for them when we would be in meetings. GST flew us on a private jet to and from New Orleans. That was the first time Eva and two of the other director’s wives had flown on a plane.

I do not remember which hotel the event was held in, but it was huge. It was close to the river and not far from the French Quarter. Our rooms were suites and very nice. There was a formal dinner Thursday night for the Dealers, GST, and spouses as an icebreaker to meet new people. For kids from the Northside, we were fortunate to sit with some friendly couples who were easy to talk with. No events were held on Friday night that we were required to attend, so one of my coworkers and his wife joined us for dinner and went to a couple of clubs in the area that had live music. Most of the clubs had Jazz music, but one small club played Pop songs and customers would sing along with the music. We all had a wonderful time.

The new car unveiling and our presentations went well on Saturday, and we had some free time that afternoon. That night we had dinner and danced on the paddle-wheel river boat as it was travelling on the river. It was a beautiful night, with good food, and great dance music. Sunday afternoon we flew back to Houston. Eva got to know some of my coworkers and their wives better and she understood why I worked as many hours as I had.

Eva and I had gone to New Orleans in 1964 for our delayed Honeymoon after I was working at NASA; however, her first impression was not very good. We had not been back until this trip. She really had an exciting time and even her first flying experience was on a private jet with no check-in or luggage hassle. We have been to New Orleans other times since then, but only when traveling to other places. We took Tammy and Jennifer to see the fish market, Jackson Square, and other tourist spots. We walked some of the streets in the French Quarter during the morning so they could smell the air when the clubs were closed.

A lot of memories have been made since the GST trip in 1977, but this trip is from a time when all I had known was success in my work life. We had moved into a new home earlier that year and we had joined a new church. I had begun making minor changes in my life, but I had no clear sense of the changes that my future would include.