Greetings,
The new Home Page photo was taken a couple of years ago at the National Packard Museum in Warren, Ohio. Through the efforts of the Two Wheel Power Hour radio show host Larry Ward, the opportunity presented itself to have a few Penton Sportcycles displayed along with some memorabilia and such in the Museum's Vintage Motorcycle display,
As most all of you know, the Penton Sportcycle has a fairly extensive amount of memorabilia connected to it, with much of it being generated "back in the day" by such creative folks as Barb and Matt Weisman, as well as a decent amount of items that were created by a need or a want. If you spend a few minutes looking through an old Hi-Point catalog you will see that the range of items is fairly extensive, from tools to cuff links and pens as well as signs and riding gear and much, much more.
For the National Packard Museum display it was decided to highlight some of the memorabilia as well as the Sportcycles. If you look at the Jackpiner you will see that the front wheel has been removed to allow for a bit of an "in the shop doing maintaince" look and to provide a setting for numerous items to be displayed. It was interesting to see folks just standing in front of the display, not wanting to miss a single item, and pointing things out and asking questions as well. One of the more unusual items mixed into the display is an empty beer bottle that was part of a beer stash that traveled from the Factory in Austria to Amherst, Ohio in a container of Penton Sportcycles. A big Thank You goes out to Larry Maiers for not only suppling that bottle for the display but for also emptying it " back in the day" :D
Mary Ann Popcheck is the Executive Director of the National Packard Museum and was a joy to work with. Mary Ann has a saying about the three types of folks who visit a museum. I can't remember it word for word, but the gist of her saying is that there are those who just casually walk past the displays, those who give a quick study of the displays, and then those who stop and study every detail of the display, reading and studying everything that is in front of them. Mary Ann said she was very impressed by how many folks were drawn into the display and spent time studying all of the details.
Hopefully, you as well will enjoy looking at it though this photo. Be sure to click on the photo as it will enlarge for easier viewing.
The link below will allow you to see more of the display which included the actual 250cc BMW that John Penton rode, thanks to the Borer Family, as well as the magazine with him on the cover and a poster sized image of that cover as well. A click on that photo will enlarge it as well.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/XD1drp5xDBr619im9
Paul