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.

A few months later, I eventually got the logo finished and the website going. 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.

For quite a few years things were great. We all seemed to get along very well. We would go to each other’s shops, went to car shows and just plain had a good time. It kinda seemed like things were going “too well”.

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 mechanic shop. It was huge! It had enough space to do business as well as host our club meetings. We would use it as the club’s party place and gathering point for the club, their families, and volunteers when it was time to get things set for our yearly festival.

Things seemed to be going really well. It wasn’t just me as a member, but rather my whole family. 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. I cherished those moments, and even more so today! Man, me and Jeff had some BIG dreams for the club…

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 lost four members and friends 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 mentors. It was becoming a dark time amongst a lot of the club members.

The meeting after Jeff’s passing (August, 2018) was extremely hard. He passed the month before our festival and we were left without our exuberant leader for the show. We couldn’t cancel it, so we were forced to move on and “do it for Jeff”. It ended up being one of the hardest but greatest shows as many people shared their favorite “Jeff story” and every step of the show was done in honor of Jeff.

The hardest meeting was the meeting after that show… 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”!

However, one of the biggest surprises was when a member nominated me to be the president and then, 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 then, out of the blue, someone nominated the “other member”. The member I had trouble with on day one… Uh oh.

It was a square-off between the two of us. They put it to a vote and I came out on top. I was now the new president of Early Iron! Holy moley!! The club I dreamt of being a part of since I was a kid!

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 am sure it hurt the other member to know that his own father (vice president), voted for me to be the president. I also knew that I was probably going to be locking horns with this guy eventually.

We forged ahead anyway. After all, this was Jeff’s legacy we were dealing with.

But, the worst was yet to come.

To be concluded….

From Iron to Rust Part II

Part 2

RIP Hot Rod Rock & Rumble