Safety First!
So, each month the Downtown Kiwanis Club chose a girl and boy for a Best Driver of the Month Award. To my surprise, I won the award for the month of December, 1959 along with Jeanette Norman. I wondered how on God’s green earth did I win???
To win the award, a person would have to have written a paper on why some individual deserved such prestigious recognition from the Wichita Kiwanis. Unbeknownst to me, a girl from the class of 1962 wrote the paper explaining in detail my superb driving skills and submitted it to the Wichita Kiwanis Club. Bingo, I’m a winner!
According to her write-up, I drove her and some other kids safely home from an event held at the WSU Roundhouse. I certainly never thought of myself as a particularly good driver, although I’d never received a traffic ticket to this point in time.
Jeanette Norman and I were each recognized and presented nice award plaques by Sid Moore during class general assemblies in our auditorium. The following day we were to be recognized again, this time by the Wichita Kiwanis during their monthly luncheon meeting at the Lassen Hotel downtown.
My dad said I could use our family’s 1954 Buick Special for transportation on awards day. I asked Jeanette if she needed a ride from East High to the Lassen and back, which she thought that was a fine idea. We met in front of the library on the second floor at 11:15 a.m. with our hall passes in hand. It had snowed on this morning. We trudged to the Buick in the parking lot to begin our journey to the Lassen.
Okay, open the car door for Jeanette, start the car for warm up, scrape ice and snow from windows and we’re off. You may remember that there is a slight decline from the parking lot to Grove Street. That decline was just enough to cause the Buick to lose traction and skid on the ice across Grove and BAM! That’s right classmates, Tom Vosper had a traffic accident while driving on his way to receive his safe driver’s award. This I Confess.
My brain said, “Tom, get the hell out of here.” I shifted the Buick to reverse, and thankfully it grabbed traction and backed up enough for me to see glass and chrome in the snow. Not good! Just think about the headlines in the Eagle and Beacon newspapers. “High School Students Wreck Cars on Way to Receiving Safe Driver Awards.”
Jeanette said, “Tom, aren’t you going to stop?”
“I don’t think so, Jeanette; we’d be laughed out of town.”
“Yes, Tom, but if we leave the scene of the accident, you could be charged with hit and run.”
“I can’t help it, Jeanette. I just asked God, and He said running is the right thing to do. We really shouldn’t argue with Him, Jeanette.” We continued going north on Grove and turned left onto Douglas.
We arrived on time at the Lassen, where I had a chance to observe the damage to the Buick. Yup, there was damage to the passenger side, a busted headlight and missing chrome. I’m guessing the taillight on the car I hit must have been smashed. Couldn’t worry about that at the time as we have a luncheon appointment with the Kiwanis.
Upon entering the hotel, we were met by some of the Kiwanis hierarchy and ushered to our seats at the head table, which was on a riser. At this point in time, I was scared spitless! I just knew that at any moment the police would come bursting in the meeting room shouting, ”There he is, boys, nab him and cuff the little bastard.”
Next thing I knew, we all were instructed to stand and say the Pledge of Alliance to the Flag. Did I mention that my seat was right next to the American flag? Well, it was, until I knocked the flag off the riser on to the floor below. At this point the popular expression, “This just ain’t my day,” came to mind. I wonder how composed I looked to the Kiwanis as I scooped the flag off the floor.
Thank the Lord, I made it through lunch without any mishaps. After lunch the Kiwanis presented the awards to Jeanette and me. We headed back to East High and talked very little, not a word about the wreck. I never did thank Jeanette for not squealing on me, nor did I tell her how sorry I was for putting such pressure on her. Maybe she will read my confession, and if so, thank you and I’m very sorry Jeanette.
One last hurtle was explaining to my dad how the headlight got trashed. I told him exactly everything that happened just the way I described it to you. My dad was such an honest guy, he made Abe look like a habitual liar. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he made me confess everything to Sid Moore, to the Kiwanis, to my classmates, and then search for who owned the damaged car. But instead, he said “Puny, we won’t breathe a word of this to a single soul.” (Puny is a nickname dad gave me because I didn’t weigh much when I was born.)
Lastly, I hope the statute of limitations has run out and that no one can sue me for my true confession. If it happens that the car I banged up belonged to you, I’m sorry. I am a safe driver. Just ask my wife, Donna Wilcox Vosper, East High Class of 1962.
Oh, I remember sliding on ice lots of times. On the way to school one time I put my brakes on, slid between between traffic on Central and whipped across two snow covered lawns and back onto the street without stopping at all. I decided that the bumper car ride at Joyland had been a significant part of my driver’s ed training.
I’m so glad for American society that you did not choose a Wall Street career. I guess God tolerated your theological rationalization. I suspect you could have had a fabulous career if you dodged the SEC and various exchanges’ self-regulatory sharks. But ice is terrifying to me, more so as I age. Fools with FWD think they have greater traction because they can plow ahead sometimes…I learned that was a mistake.
That is me, Dan Tontz, in the photo above along with Tom and others. But I have no recall of this event. I don’t recognize the photo or anything else about the luncheon. Who knows—maybe I also had a car accident that day—that could explain why I don’t remember any of this.
Plus: after Skip reminded me of our car racing days around Pershing Circle, I know I did NOT deserve that safe driving award!!
PS. My Dad was a member of the Wichita Kiwanis Club. Thanks, Dad.
Good writing, Tommy! I laughed so hard. I guess I am an accessory as I have also kept this dirty secret. Keep up the good work! Love to you from your big sister.