Slipstream - July 2017

Kruder’s Cars & Conversations
By Bill Kruder, Region Advertising Chair
Photos courtesy of the Author
hen I was looking for
W
this month’s interviewee
I decided it was time
that I talked to a woman
with a passion for Porsche. I have
talked to guys, couples, but not interviewed
a woman to date. Let me
start by saying up front: until this
interview we had never met, much
less said hello. However, reading
Slipstream since 1995, I guess you
could say I met her in print having
read her articles over the years.
I’ll give you the opportunity to
as well. So here is the next in my
series of “conversations”…
Linda Bambina, member since
1981 and happy co-driver
2015 Carrera and
1962 356 Karmann coupe
(minus the top now)
Bill Kruder: Well let’s start with
where you are from. I presume not Dallas?
Linda Bambina: What? You can
tell I’m not from here (laughing)?
Actually, I’m from Midland. My dad
was in the oil business and in the
60s there were three things there:
cattle, cotton, and oil. After college
I ended up out near Palm Springs
for a couple years then ended up
moving to Dallas.
BK: And where did you go to college?
LB: I didn’t stray too far. I went
to Texas Tech which is only about
two hours north of Midland.
BK: What did you major in?
LB: I was a Secondary Education
major.
BK: And what did you teach?
LB: I taught Special Education
for ten years, then moved into the
Gifted program, taught Texas history
for some fourteen years, then
became a noisy librarian and eventually
retired after 39 years.
BK: So tell me how you and your
husband Alan met?
12 July
LB: Alan had moved here from
outside Buffalo, NY and we were
both teachers at R.L. Turner High
School in Carrollton. I was teaching
Special Education and we both
were assigned the same lunch period.
After about a year or so of
lunches we started dating.
BK: That’s a long time before you
ever had a first date.
LB: Well let’s just say life is
complicated; when we did have
our first date, I was in charge of a
Sock Hop and managed to rope
Alan into helping me, no surprise
there (laughing). Well, after the
Sock Hop, Alan asked me to stop
for a drink. We went to a brandnew
place called The Wild Turkey,
then to Don Carter Bowling Lanes
to meet up with his roommate, followed
by a stop at his house before
I said “I need to go home” at 4 am!
BK: Wow that’s some first date! And
how long after did you guys get married?
LB: It was like three weeks later:
we were engaged, and got married
in July 1980, the hottest summer
on record. We had 42 days in a row
over 100 degrees which still stands
today, I think.
BK: Let’s talk cars now. What were
you driving then? Alan?
LB: Talk about polar extremes
in cars, I was driving a Ford Pinto,
yes a Pinto (laughing); Alan was
driving a ‘75 911 S in Grand Prix
White. Loves white Porsches.
BK: And what was your first car?
LB: Hard to believe but it was a
1927 Model T, and no I’m not that
old. Got my license at 15 and drove
it all over Midland and later, Lubbock.
BK: So when did you first drive a
Porsche?
LB: It was Alan’s ‘75 911 S. We
went over to this big parking lot in
North Dallas and he bravely taught
me to drive it.
BK: So tell me about when you became
active in the club?
LB: Well Alan had belonged to
the Niagara Region before moving
here in 1978, and I joined in 1981.
We had met Joan and Barry Gibbs
who owned IXXI Enterprises at the
time. Joan was president in ’83 and
she needed someone to be the Advertising
Chair. I said “yes” and that
led to many years and positions over
the next 14 years. (Interesting side
note: we have had only two women
presidents: Joan was the first in
1983 and Fran Ussery in 1984.)
BK: So was Alan also active in the
club?
LB: He was in activities but I was
the one who was involved with the
board and kind of pulled Alan in. It
wasn’t until 1986 that Alan became
President and he did that for two
terms, staying on through the 1987
DFW Parade which was such a busy
time.
BK: And what other positions have
you held?
LB: Let’s see, I was Ad Chair,
Secretary, and Co-Vice President
with Alan back when we had fullblown
monthly dinner meetings
with programs.
BK: I know you have done a lot more
than just hold positions. Tell me about
Autocross and Mineral Wells?
LB: Well we had Autocrosses in
parking lots but light poles became
an issue (smiling). In 1986, one
of our members discovered there
was an old airfield in Mineral Wells
that we could use. Let me tell you
it was more field than an airfield.
So a group of us with our yard
tools in hand started clearing out a
“course”; we originally cleared only
what we would be driving on.
BK: I’m told you have been active at
the national level too with the Porsche
Parade?
LB: The first Parade for which I
had an active role (I was the Reg-