Our Little Bird

It's difficult to tell the story of our "Bird" without going back a few years where the story
really began. At the time we met in February 1956, Don had a 56 T-Bird on order. It arrived
shortly before we were married in April. It was black with a red and white interior, spoke
wheel covers and continental kit. He paid $3,600 for it out the door. We honeymooned in
Fort Bragg, California for a few days and then returned to Santa Rosa to get our duplex in
order and be ready to return to work the following week. He was in the Air Force and I worked
for Pacific Telephone Company in downtown Santa Rosa. We went to Hamilton AFB to shop
for groceries to set up housekeeping. We had everything packed in to that little car. On the
return trip, just south of Petaluma, we came around a bend in the highway and there sat a
vehicle making an illegal left turn. Don hit the brakes and we slid in to the trailer of a semi
truck. The front hit first, we spun around and hit the back. Needless to say we were sick. And
the $100 deductible wasn't easy to come by either. We had scrambled groceries. But neither of us
were hurt. We made the first car payment the day after the car accident. The car was repaired
and Don commuted to Hamilton in it.

It was our only vehicle, so I rode the bus or walked to work. Don has always been an outdoor
person who hunts and fishes year around. We laugh when recalling him going fishing on the
Russian River with a one piece fishing rod, tied to the outside of the Thunderbird. It wasn't too
long before we were expecting an addition to our family. About a month before the event we
traded the Thunderbird for a 57 Station Wagon. Don hated it from the day he drove it home
from Ames Ford in San Rafael. Time passed and we bought a pick up. Then one October day
in 1959, I stopped at the Post Office on my way home. I parked near Bishop Motors in Santa
Rosa, and there on the used car lot sat this little 57 Thunderbird. I couldn't wait for Don to get
home. No Cell phones in those days. The following Saturday morning he went to run some errands
and before long was in the driveway with the T-Bird. We went for a ride, and knew we had to have
it. The price was $3,395. It had approximately 21,000 miles on it. The original invoice shows it was
delivered to Bishop Motors in Santa Rosa on May 7th 1957. It is Colonial White with Hard Top, red interior. Accessories were Windshield Washers, Fordomatic Drive, Power Steering, Whitewall tires, Signal seek Radio, Heater and Defroster, Backup Lights and Ford Shield Wheel Covers. The original sticker price was $3,233.42. The first owners lived on Montgomery Drive.

Don commuted to Hamilton AFB in it until June of 1963, when the Air Force sent us to Elmendorf
Air Force Base at Anchorage, Alaska. Before shipping the car, Don discovered it had a cracked
block. So that was replaced and it was put aboard an Ocean Freighter and shipped to Seward, AK.
Don picked it up there and drove it to Anchorage. We tried to only drive it in the summer, but
occasionally when Don was off hunting in the truck, I would drive it to work. The defroster doesn't
work 100% when it's 0 to -20 degrees. But, a scraper does the trick. This little car survived the
Alaska earthquake in March of 1964. The ground shook and she bounced for seven minutes. One
day the fish and game shot a moose that was chasing the kids to school. The trunk of the car was
splattered with moose blood. We joined the Thunderbird club in Anchorage. Neither of us remembers what the name of the group was. We were fortunate to be reassigned back to Hamilton
AFB after 5 years in Alaska. The car was shipped back to Oakland. It had a new paint job in 1969.
New dash and seat covers sometime after that. It now has around 120,000 original miles. We were
driving through Coddingtown one evening and a Highway Patrolman put his red lights on us.
It was Frank Furnish inviting us to join the Thunderbirds of Sonoma that he was starting. We
accepted the invitation and have been members ever since.

Our daughter came home from the hospital in this car in 1961 and her husband drove it from the
church to the reception on their wedding day in August 1988. Thunderbirds have been a part of our lives for almost 50 years.

Don & Jackie Forster
CTCI #7873

Sadly Jackie passed away on July 10, 2007 after a four year battle with cancer. She will be missed.