Gordon "NSANI-T" and Charlene "Ms.T" Hoy were inducted at the Nationals in 2005, along with NTBA "First Lady" Melinda Johnson. Charlene was actually inducted first, making her the first woman into the Hall of Fame. The Hoys say they were "absolutely thrilled" at being nominated. Gordo and Charlene share member number 137 and have been involved in the growth of the NTBA since the spring of 1999. They have attended every Nationals from the beginning. Charlene has served as the NTBA national secretary since 2002, and she says that, while she has been honored to serve in that position and has enjoyed helping to build the club, she is looking forward to "retirement" after this year's elections.

Gordon has also been very involved in building the NTBA, but I think his real claim to fame is his work in building the Cowtown Ts. Gordo volunteered in late 1999 to step in and help get the Kansas City club re-focused and growing. The club had grown out of a group that included other types of cars, called "Roadsters Unlimited." With the formation of the NTBA, Gordo and others in the KC club thought it was a good time to have a club focused on Tbuckets, so the Cowtown Ts were born. Gordon served as the fi rst president and Charlene the fi rst secretary-treasurer, from fall of 1999 until the summer of 2003. During that period the club grew from 6 members to nearly 40. The charter members of the Cowtown Ts were the Hoys, "Fat Pat" Anderson, Howard "T-Bopper" and Sharon Anderson, Don "Tweety" and Pearl Bird, Gary and Lisa Hotchkin, Larry and Cindy Johnson and Kevin "HiTec-T" and Laura Seward.

Gordon, a native of Kansas City, says he has been a hot-rodder "forever," but he didn't get his first T until 1983, when he bought a "totaled" T from an insurance company for $250. Hmmm, I wonder if his being an auto insurance adjuster had anything to do with that?!?! Gordo had the T running in 2 months, then sold it 4 months later for $2,000!! Nice return on investment, there, Gordo!! After a 13 year break, Gordo and Charlene bought their current T in 1996, just before they were married. I guess Gordo wanted Charlene to have a nice wedding present (wink, wink). They drove it as-was until the end of the bucket season that year, then proceeded with a frameoff rebuild.

After the rebuild, the NSANI-T had a new Speedway body and CCR pick-up bed, a .030 over SBC 350 with a dual-quad tunnel ram, a Comp cam driven by Pete Jackson gears, roller rockers, a Mallory Unilite spark-spreader, driving a Chevy 10-bolt rearend through a TH350. Weld ProStar wheels carry 33x21.50x15 meats on the rear and 4x15 skinnies up front. The car was painted Ford Mustang Thistle (metallic purple) and had a new Amethyst Tweed interior with a new set of gauges. You can see the results on the NTBA website in the Cowtown Ts chapter section under Who's Who (http://www.nationaltbucketalliance. com/members/i99-137/index.asp).

Since the rebuild Gordo has continued to tweak the car here and there, and recently repainted it as shown in the accompanying photos. Charlene says the car has be very dependable and they have (knock on wood) never been stranded. They have driven it to every NTBA Nationals and currently have just shy of 50,000 miles on the bucket since the rebuild. They still enjoy driving it every chance they get. The Hoys say they have lost track of the number of car shows they have entered… somewhere north of 50, and they have at least that many trophies, plaques and awards for the bucket. I can say from personal observation that it is one sweet ride, very nicely detailed and lovingly cared-for.

Until the end of 2006, Gordo worked as office manager and estimator for a collision repair center in Belton, Missouri. Now he's adjusting to the retired life. Charlene works for a law offi ce specializing in commercial collections. They have been married for 10 years, but dated for several years before that after meeting in a bowling alley. Charlene says she wasn't a hot-rod person before meeting Gordon, but she says she thoroughly enjoys it now and really appreciates the time she gets to spend with the Buckethead family. Gordo apparently didn't get totally burned out during his fi rst round as president of the Cowtown Ts, because he stepped back into that position this January, when current president Gary Hotchkin stepped down after three years.

After spending several hours talking with the Hoys about hot-rodding, the NTBA and Cowtown Ts, and life in general, I can say with confi dence that we will be seeing a lot of Gordo and Charlene in the future.

Congratulations, Gordon and Charlene Hoy… true Hall of Famers and valued members of the Buckethead family!!!