A Delayed Loss
Posted: November 18th, 2007, 11:46 pm
For most of this weekend my mind has been on an old friend, and tonight I just feel like I have to write this.
Saturday, while applying the last coat of Polyurethane to the Chinese Checkerboard, I decided that I should get a project cart/tool box. After I finished I started to search the Internet to see what was available. During my search, in an article that I was skimming through, I came across a name that I had not seen in more than twenty years. Augie Hiscano. Most of you probably have never heard the name before, but some might have if they were a serious model car builder in their youth. Augie was a master model builder. His list of accomplishments is impressive. He won the largest national model car competition ever held, the 1964 Revell National Championship against over 500,000 other entries. He is the only person to have won “Best of Show” in the National Championships four times. Augie had many interest, building full sized hot rods, drag racing, but what he loved most was building miniatures. He found a job that would keep him close to his hobbies, he managed Orange Blossom Hobby Shop in Miami for 35 years until he retired. After he retired he and his wife traveled the country as he was invited to speak at many shows, and not just model car shows, but the full spectrum of hobbies. When invited to a model airplane show, he decided to build something that they could identify with. He built a 14 cylinder radial aircraft engine, the same type engine used on the DC3, except his was the size of a dime. I tell you all of this so that you will understand just how much talent this man had.. I first met Augie when I was in my late teens, and he became a mentor to me as far as building models was concerned. More importantly, he instilled in me the idea that if a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing your best. Over the years I lost track of Augie, I was busy wrecking my own life. However without ever thinking about it, Augie’s lessons stuck with me. I realize now how much I owe to this quite unassuming man. As I read the article more closely, I found out that my old friend had passed away a little over two years ago. Even though he passed two years ago, the loss that I felt was immediate. Somehow we never think about those that shaped our lives, other than family, until we realize they are gone. If God allows me into Heaven I know that I will see Augie there, with the same smile and wave that I last saw twenty some years ago.
Thank you for bearing with me as I got that off my chest.
TW
Saturday, while applying the last coat of Polyurethane to the Chinese Checkerboard, I decided that I should get a project cart/tool box. After I finished I started to search the Internet to see what was available. During my search, in an article that I was skimming through, I came across a name that I had not seen in more than twenty years. Augie Hiscano. Most of you probably have never heard the name before, but some might have if they were a serious model car builder in their youth. Augie was a master model builder. His list of accomplishments is impressive. He won the largest national model car competition ever held, the 1964 Revell National Championship against over 500,000 other entries. He is the only person to have won “Best of Show” in the National Championships four times. Augie had many interest, building full sized hot rods, drag racing, but what he loved most was building miniatures. He found a job that would keep him close to his hobbies, he managed Orange Blossom Hobby Shop in Miami for 35 years until he retired. After he retired he and his wife traveled the country as he was invited to speak at many shows, and not just model car shows, but the full spectrum of hobbies. When invited to a model airplane show, he decided to build something that they could identify with. He built a 14 cylinder radial aircraft engine, the same type engine used on the DC3, except his was the size of a dime. I tell you all of this so that you will understand just how much talent this man had.. I first met Augie when I was in my late teens, and he became a mentor to me as far as building models was concerned. More importantly, he instilled in me the idea that if a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing your best. Over the years I lost track of Augie, I was busy wrecking my own life. However without ever thinking about it, Augie’s lessons stuck with me. I realize now how much I owe to this quite unassuming man. As I read the article more closely, I found out that my old friend had passed away a little over two years ago. Even though he passed two years ago, the loss that I felt was immediate. Somehow we never think about those that shaped our lives, other than family, until we realize they are gone. If God allows me into Heaven I know that I will see Augie there, with the same smile and wave that I last saw twenty some years ago.
Thank you for bearing with me as I got that off my chest.
TW