While J.C. Webb, fourth from left, was on hand to talk about and show off his newly restored motor, the Rotary Club of Crowley welcomed a new member in Acadia Police Jury Vice President Julie Borill, center, at Tuesday’s meeting. Also on hand were President Mike Goss, far left, Scott Privat, second from left, and program organizer Suzy Webb, far right.
The Rotary Club of Crowley honored Daniel Schexnayder, third from left, with its Vocational Award, in the field of trade, Tuesday. Congratulating him were, from left, President Mike Goss, Barbara Schexnayder, Daniel’s wife, and Rotarian Chris Brammer, who nominated him.
After his appearance on History Channel’s “American Restoration,” J.C. Webb, husband of Rotarian Suzy Webb, showed off the restored 1939 Evinrude motor that left him shocked and very pleased with the results.
“It’s unbelievable, the detail and the work that went into this,” he said.
Webb told the club the story behind his motor as well as some background on the Evinrude motor itself.
As the story goes, the motor once belonged to his grandfather and sat on the shelf of his repair shop for many years. It did not run then.
The motor shifted ownership to Webb’s father and stayed on his shelves for years.
Finally, Webb gained ownership and about a year ago looked into getting it restored.
Among the places he looked to getting it restored at was Rick’s Restorations, which is the company owned and operated by Las Vegas area metal artist and antique restoration expert Rick Dale, who has been restoring various vintage items for almost 30 years.
Dale, according to Webb, always enjoys items that have a story behind them, and the story behind the motor peaked the interests of Dale and “American Restoration.”
After some time, Webb agreed to fly to Las Vegas and be on the show, beginning the journey Mardi Gras weekend.
While there, the Webbs also got to tour Rick’s Restoration and met the crew that works there and when he returned two months later to retrieve his restored motor, he saw what the crew could actually do.
“They’re just down-to-earth guys who do amazing work,” said Webb.
That amazing work was displayed at the club’s meeting Tuesday as Webb spoke, but not only the detail that went into the motor, but the extras as well.
For starters, the motor is stored in a specially designed box accented with an old logo of the motor company, an antique rod and reel and a handle that is specially designed to counter-balance the top-heavy motor.
According to Webb, there were boxes made for the motor in 1939, but Dale promised that if he could not find one of those boxes, he would make one himself. He delivered.
“He does some amazing work,” he said.
Webb said that to his knowledge, there are some of these motors still in existence, but the ones that work are very few and now Webb can include his motor in that number.
The episode of “American Restoration” that Webb appeared on, entitled “Motor Mayhem,” that originally aired on May 9 seemed to be well received, at least according to the program’s Facebook page as well as Evinrude. Evinrude, meanwhile, got in contact with Webb and asked for more information about his motor’s story with some pictures from the restoration as well as some before shots to publish in their annual magazine.
Earlier in the meeting, the club also welcomed a new member in Acadia Parish Police Jury Vice President Julie Borill and awarded its Vocational Award in the field of trade to Daniel Schexnayder.
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