Boys of Bonneville

On August 24, Nick and I along with many family members had the privilege to attend a special ceremony spotlighting my Great Grandfather Ab Jenkins.  We met downtown at the at about 5pm at the cinema.  The streets had been closed off to traffic and on display were several Ford GT racing cars.  The Mormon Meteor 3 (restored) was also set on center stage covered with cover.  The Mayor of Salt Lake was on sight and said a few words about Ab Jenkins and commemorated the day as "Ab Jenkins day".  They uncovered the car and everyone had a chance to view and take photos, etc. The car looked fantastic.  A special movie premier about Ab Jenkins life was scheduled for that evening at the cinema, so all invited family, friends (many which had worked on the restoration of the car) made our way in to the Cinema.  The director, producer, writers and some actors were at the event.  The movie had taken 4 years to piece together.  Patrick Dempsey was the narrator and they used live footage of the era both at the Bonneville Salt Flats and other racing location venues.  They followed Ab from a young boy who had a desire to go fast and race anything and everything to the records achieved by him in his elder years.  They touched on his years as Mayor of Salt Lake and his Mormon values.  He would always drink water and Milk.  One of his best friends Auggie Dusenburgh (who was Jewish and helped design the Mormon meteor) would call Ab the Salt Bishop or Bonneville Bishop.  He would in turn call Auggie the Gentile.  The night was a blast.  I was able to spend a special night with my son learning more about our family.  Nick also loved the Ford GT's on Display.  After the movie we made our way back outside to the street and checked out the rest of the GT's that were still around.  Nick thought it was pretty cool.  It was great to view this movie with my parents and siblings along with their families.  We had cousins in attendance also.  What a great evening.