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Meritt
MARKS |
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| By Roy Marks |
Recipient of the First Annual “Doc" Daugherty Memorial Award
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1980 |
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Meritt Marks is a Hudson man from a Hudson
family! He learned in 1935 to drive his father’s 1929 Essex Town Sedan near
Harmarville, Pennsylvania. |
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| Meritt was driving
his 1932 Essex the day he met his future wife, Elma Monnier, at the Twin
Willows Skating Rink in Butler, Pennsylvania. When they married in 1940, the
couple bought two 1936 Hudson Eights! Meritt ’s parents were loyal Hudson
owners and Meritt and Elma continued the tradition, purchasing a series of
Hudsons during their years in Pennsylvania and later, when they moved to
Pinellas Park, Florida. They even passed their loyalty down to the next
generation: the first car owned by their son, Roy, was a ‘29 Essex! But then
came the sad day in 1957:
no more Hudsons were being built! With his undying love for Hudsons, Meritt realized that parts would eventually become scarce. He already had an interest in antique automobiles, having bought a duplicate of his first car (a 1927 |
$2 dues to join the new club. By October 1, the Club had 30 members and by. January 1960 the number reached 100! The Marks’ dining room became a print shop as the entire family was pressed into service to compose, type, mimeograph and mail out the new newsletter. During the first National Meet at Natural Bridge, Virginia, in 1960, Fred Long, Leroy Anderson, Bill Sturm, Meritt and others arrived at some guidelines for the new group, including the decision to prohibit judged competitions for trophies. Those attending also agreed that since Meritt had founded the Club, he should become its first president! Meritt served as president of the Club until 1965, when he passed the torch to D. C. “Doc” |
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Essex) which he restored and drove to work. As a regular reader of
automobile magazines, Meritt had gradually compiled a list of present-day
Hudson owners. He began a dialogue with some of them about starting a club
for Hudson enthusiasts. Bob Johnson, from Florida’s east coast, encouraged
Meritt to begin the club. The rest is history: The Hudson-Essex-Terraplane
Club. On September 17, 1959, Meritt mailed 160 postcards to Hudson enthusiasts, asking each for |
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Daugherty, and he continued to edit and publish the newsletter until 1965, when the Souers family took over. For many years afterwards he served as coordinator for Hudson information, fielding hundreds of telephone calls from Hudson owners with parts or technical inquiries, and referring them to the proper channels. | |
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Doc and Meritt with and HET Club Cake |
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Meritt and Elma (far right) attend the first National HET Meet in Natural Bridge, Virginia 1960. |
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| The H-E-T Club may not believe in awarding trophies for judged cars, but it does believe in honoring those who work f greater good of the organization and its members. Meritt was surprised and gratified to recipient 1980, the first ‘Doc’ Daugherty Award for his obvious achievement: creating and nurturing the Hudson-Essex-Terraplane Club. |
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Forty years later, Meritt and Elma attend the National Meet in Nashville, 1999 |
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