19. MOVE TO CHARLOTTE

We moved to Charlotte in the fall of 1976. Barbara and I had just returned from Hawaii and were truly excited about the move since Charlotte seemed such an exciting area and had so much to offer. One of the first things I did was to buy four season tickets to the Charlotte Checkers ice hockey team. I felt this would be, in addition to helping entertain customers, exciting for Blain and make the move more enjoyable for him. As it turned out, this was a huge mistake since after taking Blain to one game, the team went broke and shut down completely. Lucky for Servomation the season was nearly over and the loss was only $500.00.

Shortly after arriving in Charlotte, I was summoned to the New York corporate office to receive an award for my performance while in Fayetteville. It was a three-day trip and included a tour of all the corporate facilities. It was hosted by the Servomation president, Alan Lucht, and was an impressive trip that further proved Servomation was a great company with which to be affiliated.

Figure 50 - 5921 Sullins Rd., Charlotte

Each day, while I was working, Barbara was out with a realtor searching for a house. After viewing many homes that came close to pleasing her, she finally spotted one for sale by owner and told the realtor she would like to see it. As it happened, the realtor was the wife of Jim Tracy, one of my customers. At Barbara’s request, she rang the doorbell and advised the owner that she was a realtor and her client [Barbara] was interested in the house. The owner gave her permission on the spot to list it and show it. This wound up costing me about $7,000.00 in realtor’s fees, but it was worth it since Barbara really loved that house. It was on Sullins Road and was on the eighth fairway of the Pawtucket Golf Course. Barbara called me to come see it and I too fell in love with it at first sight. This was to be our home for the next fourteen years.

Figure 51 - Mom in backyard of Charlotte house

Shortly after arriving in Charlotte, I became a member of the Carolina Ambassadors. This was an organization of businessmen whose sole purpose was to award scholarships. These scholarships were funded in part by the sponsorship of beauty pageants. It
was a week-long event and was very enjoyable to both Barbara and me.

I would serve as an escort for one of the contestants and Barbara was assigned as a chaperone. This made it necessary for her to spend three or four nights at the Radisson Plaza Hotel where she would help the contestants dress and prepare for the actual contest.

This week would also include a party and dance on Friday night and a formal dinner and dance on Saturday to culminate the week’s activities. Present at these two events would normally be beauty contestants from throughout North Carolina as well as many other beauty queens representing many states. In addition, Miss America was always present for the Saturday night event. As a matter of fact, I have pictures of me dancing with many of them, as well as Miss America, and was really proud to be involved with these lovely young ladies.

I would also take the advantage of the Saturday event to entertain customers. This would include renting a stretch limo for transportation to and from the event as well as having Miss America pose with the customer for a portrait which I would frame and present to him for display on his office wall.
These events were just another example of the generosity of Servomation when it came to customer relations. They were always considered second to none in this category. This was the main reason I was so enthused about working with them.