Warbird Information Exchange

I don't know how many of you guys ever got the chance to visit the worlds best aviators bar Trader Jon's, but for those of you that did not, I am truely sorry. Todays Pensacola News Journal is reporting that about 10,000 items in all of memorabillia from Trader's was officially donated to the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation last Friday. Hopefully it will displayed somewhere in the near future. Beau ti full! I know it seems like everytime I post something its usually refering to an article somewhere that you guys have to go look for www.pensacolanewsjournal.com sorry about that. Traders was a heck of a place that I spent a lot of time in & met some really cool & famous people. I knew the place so well that Trader used to have me give tours to first time visitors explaining things about the pictures & stuff. One day he asked me to tell an older gentleman what my favorite item in there was, so I showed him the replica of the Thompson air race trophy that Cook Cleland had won in his BIG engine Corsair. Trader was standing behind the bar giggling while I explained to the fellow all about the trophy & the man who won it. When I finished the fellow say's thats pretty good. He held out his hand to shake mine & said I am glad to meet you son, I am Cook Cleland. I bout peed my pants!
Regards
Robbie

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Fly Fast Make Noise!

the navy guy who bought the joint sure made out compared to his military pay. i'd say he was pretty savvy in his handling the negotiations!!

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

Matt got beaten up badly in the deal.
I'm not even sure he broke even. He
was a hell of a nice guy who wanted
to preserve an important part of Naval
Aviation history. I hate that he left the
Pensacola area and wish him well in his
future endeavours.

Owen

Just copy and paste the article.

John

to bad.... his heart was in the right place. what did him in?? lack of experience in the bar / restaurant biz??? my wife is a server at a 5 star restaurant & has 25 years experience as a bartender / server in simular caliber establishments. it's ball busting work as a server let alone an owner!!! it sounds glamorous & fun but it takes dedication times 100 & 80 to 100 hours a week as an owner in food / bar service. not much different in independent retail, which is my bag. same committment time wise, but less bull sh*t wise from the health dept etc. i salute his attempt to make a go of the legendary place.

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

Trader Jon's
Law firm donates memorabilia to Naval Aviation Museum group

Troy Moon
@PensacolaNewsJournal.com
Retired Vice Adm. Jack Fetterman believes a replica of Trader Jon's -- the legendary Pensacola nightclub that was an off-base home to generations of Navy pilots and sailors -- could be resurrected as a restaurant in the proposed maritime park on Pensacola's waterfront.

Fetterman opened the possibility of Trader Jon's continuing on into the 21st century after a Pensacola law firm donated the Navy and military memorabilia from the bar -- about 10,000 items in all -- to the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation on Friday. Fetterman is CEO and president of the foundation.

"If we can get the maritime waterfront going, then this memorabilia and a re-creation of Trader Jon's, with a restaurant, would support a maritime museum," Fetterman said.

Trader Jon's opened on New Year's Day 1953 and was synonymous with its owner and namesake, Martin "Trader Jon'' Weissman, who died in 2000 at the age of 84. His wife, Jackii Weissman, died this year.

Trader Jon's closed in 1998, two years after "Trader Jon" Weissman suffered a stroke. The bar reopened in 2000 after then-Navy pilot Matt Heckemeyer purchased the club. Heckemeyer closed the doors for good in November 2003 and recently sold the memorabilia to the Pensacola law firm of Aylstock, Witkin & Sasser.

The memorabilia, which has been appraised at more than $2 million, according to the firm, is stored locally.

"We are proud to help save the history of people who made history," said senior law partner Bryan Aylstock. "Trader Jon's was more than a bar. It was a treasure chest of collective experiences and memories that must remain in Pensacola."

Trader Jon's was a must-stop for generations of Navy pilots and sailors, many of whom traded memorabilia for free drinks. On the walls hung flight suits, autographs of some of the nation's greatest pilots and astronauts, squadron insignias and airplane replicas.

Fetterman said he hopes the memorabilia would be the centerpiece of a complex modeled after Trader Jon's in the proposed park.

But if plans for the park don't pass, Fetterman said there are other options for the memorabilia, including finding a stand-alone venue for the collection somewhere in the city.


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Kewwwll..my first cut and paste

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He bowls overhand...He is the most interesting man in the world.
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