When the Dallas Trocars - a club dedicated to collecting and
restoring old hearses - make a call on the Baker Hotel this
weekend, the question might be are they picking up or dropping
off?
Actually, the wacky-in-a-fun-kind-of-way group is mostly just
taking their classic - though unusual - rides on a road trip.
They want to see first-hand what the ghost stories about Mineral
Wells' famous high-rise are all about, and show off their
off-beat hobby to the locals.
The Trocars will stage a funeral corps procession Saturday to
the Baker. They plan to appear there between 6:30 and 7 p.m. At
8 p.m., members of the group will display their cars to the
general public until the members leave at 6 a.m. Sunday morning.
"The Baker appealed to us because it's just a nice old
building with a lot of history," said club member Larry Reeves.
"Something about it appealed to our sensibilities. As hearse
club members, we get together about every September or October
to go to a haunted house, but we thought this would be a great
kick off to our season to go to something that is purportedly
haunted."
More than 26 Dallas Trocars members from the Metroplex will
be part of the entourage, along with a few funeral cars. Among
the cars expected are a 1961 Cadillac Miller-Meteor landau,
owned by Reeves and a 1956 Pontiac Star Chief owned by Alex
Lohmann. A 1964 Cadillac and a 1984 Cadillac will also be part
of the procession.
According to Reeves and Lohmann, the Trocars are an informal
club organized on the basis of getting together to "do something
interesting."
"Every couple of months, we try and do a cruise - we're not a
club of by-laws or rules," Reeves said. "If someone finds
something interesting to do, they're in charge of it. We get
together every couple of months and do something interesting."
"We don't have the hierarchy of president and vice
president," said the 26-year-old Lohmann. "We don't have
chapters and scheduled meetings. Our purpose is to get together
and have fun somewhere instead of dictating what people will do.
Our only rule is to have either a hearse, limousine or flower
car."
The club's name comes from the name of an embalming
instrument - trocar. It also suggests "trophy car," hence the
Dallas Trocars.
