Part 2

~Behind the Curtain~

This is the second part to the story…

If you are new to the story, read Part I here.

Joining the club was a dream come true! I was so excited to attend the first meeting. Everyone there was real welcoming and accepting, making me feel right at home. Jeff talked to the members about how I was a Graphic Artist and said that I was the missing link the club needed to take things to the next level.

For years Jeff saw potential in the club. He saw the club as a beacon to the community - a club who would put on one of the biggest Streetrod festivals in Colorado… and I was the missing link to help us get there with my experience with art and marketing!

Jeff Woodward in his perch Announcing at the Early Iron Festival

Everyone seemed to always light up when Jeff shared his dreams he had for the club with the members. All that did was turn my excitement to extreme anxiety! I was the link to get the club there? That’s a crap ton to throw on someone’s shoulders and I hadn’t heard Jeff’s plan till that night!

Jeff shared how I could finally deliver the club a logo, website, advertising… Stuff I wanted to do for the club, but wasn’t aware it would happen immediately!

I swallowed hard and nodded my head in agreement. After all, I wanted to be in this freaking club so bad!

Little did I know however, the club already had a member supposedly working on this stuff. This club member was not present that night and while I was accepting this huge challenge, I was also setting myself up for a huge battle to come.

Meetings at the time were once a month. I really wanted to impress everyone at the next meeting, so I came up with some early concepts of a logo and web design to show off. That very next meeting is where I met the “other member” and put my first wedge between myself and some of the members of the club.

The meeting started out in the same fashion as the last with the normal club business. I noticed the missing member was in attendance and thought I would introduce myself after the meeting. Unfortunately, my introduction came in the form of an insult during the meeting because Jeff decided to have me share my concepts with the club. I looked over during this time and noticed this member’s face start scowling… Uh oh!

After my presentation, different members expressed what they liked and didn’t like. But the mystery member spoke right up in disgust and he said he was still working on the logo and had other ideas. I was shocked that I had not been made aware of this individual and what he was already doing for the club. I found out later that He was asked to do the logo years before and was taking WAY longer than most of the members wanted. I was really being used as a tool for them to finally get what they wanted, while also being the buffer so they didn’t have to fire him from his duty.

I eventually did get the logo finished, the website going, and produced every ounce of graphic design element required to promote their yearly Streetrod Festival. The “other member” seemed to be ok with everything I was doing but once in a while, he had to assert his dominance by giving some harsh feedback. I just took it in stride and kept going because I LOVED being a part of the club and I had some really good friends.

As years went by, I ended up starting my own graphic design and custom sign business and eventually purchased a really sweet downtown shop. It was some really sweet digs as it used to be an old Triumph dealership, Tire, and mechanic shop. It was huge and had enough space to host our club meetings.

Things seemed to be going really well. I seemingly got along with everyone in the club. I worked hard for the club along with my wife and three daughters. We were all heavily engrossed in it dealing with some portion of club business almost daily. Jeff would stop by almost every evening and we would cuss ‘n discuss till late in the evening.

Early Iron Club gathered at Clark Auto for a meeting

Illustration of Jeff Woodward used for a memorial gift at the Early Iron show 2019

It was about 2017 when things started getting a little difficult. We started loosing a ton of friends and members. Some due to illness and some just due to natural happenings. It was just weird that I lost four between 2017 and 2019. It was really hard because they were ALL really good friends! Amongst them was Jeff, who I consider one of my best friends and mentor. Things got really tuff.

The meeting after Jeff’s passing (August, 2018) was extremely hard. It was the meeting to decide who would replace Jeff as president. Also, the Vice president wanted to step down. So it was a meeting to decide the two most important positions. This was the beginning of where I realized that not only did the “other member” still harbor bad feeling toward me, but he also had a “crew”!

One of the biggest surprises was when one member nominated me to be the president, and the next thing I knew, another seconded the nomination! What was going on? I couldn’t believe it. The vice president asked if there were any other nominations for the president roll and someone nominated the “other member”! Uh oh…

It was a square-off between the two of us. They put it to a vote and I accually came out on top. I was now the new president of Early Iron! Holy moley!!

The club decided to put the “other member” in as Vice president out of default from the vote. So not only did I have a target on my back, I had my direct adversary as vice president. I don’t know if it hurt the other member to know that his own father (vice president), voted for me to be the president… All I know is, there was a very evident rift created.

We forged ahead anyway by putting on a great festival that year all in memory of Jeff. Even though it was hard to do, everyone worked together and got through it. A few months after that show, we lost another member. The father to the “other member” and the former vice president.

The worst was yet to come.

To be concluded….

From Iron to Rust Part II

Part 2

RIP Hot Rod Rock & Rumble