Winner of Ms Belvedere announced.....

[BobT-47P15]

.....but the winner is no longer with us. Nor is his wife. They had no children. Only nieces and nephews. So, I wonder what they will do next. Meahwhile, car is on display at a Dodge dealership.

Miss Belvedere, you have a winner: But Raymond Humbertson died in 1979

6/23/2007

Raymond E. Humbertson's nephew remembers him as "a very generous, very fun guy" who liked to work on cars.

Too bad he's not around to work on the 1957 Belvedere he won Friday.

At 384,743, Raymond Humbertson's 1957 entry to guess Tulsa's population in 2007 came closest to the actual number of 382,457. The prize is the 1957 Plymouth Belvedere that was buried at the Tulsa County Courthouse 50 years ago and recovered on June 15, plus a savings account worth a little more than $700.

But Humbertson died of cancer in 1979 at the age of 57. His wife, Margaret Humbertson, died in 1988, leaving two elderly sisters in Maryland as his closest living relatives.

"I loved Raymond," said his nephew Donald Humbertson, speaking by phone from Woodbridge, Va. "There were six of us kids, and since he had no kids of his own, I guess he kind of gravitated to us.

"He was just sort of a happy-go-lucky guy."

Donald Humbertson, a Washington, D.C.-area educator, said his uncle was a career Marine and a Korean War veteran who spent the last few years of his life as an administrator at Northern Virginia Community College.

Donald Humbertson said he didn't know that his uncle had ever been to Tulsa but that he might have been stationed here as a recruiting officer.

"He moved around a lot," Donald Humbertson said.

Coincidentally, the Humbertsons are holding a family reunion Saturday to unveil a new family monument in a Cumberland, W.Va., cemetery.

"This will probably give us something to talk about," said Raymond Humbertson's grand-niece, Dina Lawyer.

Lawyer learned of Raymond Humbertson's sudden celebrity from her father-in-law in Mississippi, who had seen Humbertson's name in a Tulsaworld.com breaking news story shortly after the winner was disclosed.

About 100 spectators crowded East Tulsa Dodge's showroom for Friday's noon announcement of the winner. Dealership owner Yvonne Hovell said a steady stream of visitors has come through to see the Belvedere since it took up residence there Sunday night.

"The Service Department opens at 7 in the morning, and people would be standing outside, waiting to get in to see the car," Hovell said.

"At 8 o'clock at night, we'd have to tell people it was time to go home."

The car will be moved to a storage building on Monday.

Bob Morgan of the accounting firm Deloitte said 812 entries were tabulated, most from forms that seem to have been placed at various locations around town. About 50 were mailed, including one with a science fiction story attached and a return address of "Jupiter Excursions, Inc."

The birth years of those who entered the contest range from 1888 to 1957, and their guesses for Tulsa's current population range from zero to "north of 2 billion."

The city's population 50 years ago has been estimated at 250,000.

Some authorities estimated that the Belvedere would have been worth as much as $50,000 if it had been in good condition, but it turned out to be so badly damaged by water that its value now is almost entirely historical.

Meanwhile, plans are under way for yet another Tulsa time capsule, this one in Centennial Park next to the Plymouth Prowler that was buried in 1998.

Tulsa's Young Professionals and the Junior League of Tulsa confirmed that they are putting together a capsule that they hope will also include "a large item" to be unveiled in 2057.

"Maybe a Dodge pickup," Tulsa Young Professionals' Marnie Ducato joked to Hovell. "A Harley-Davidson motorcycle has been mentioned, or maybe part of an airplane."

The 2057 time capsule is scheduled to be buried on Nov. 10.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Randy Krehbiel 581-8365

[62rebelP23]

not only was the Plymouth name consigned to history, but the winner as well. fitting, actually.. and the poor condition of the car, supposedly entombed in "state-of-the-art" conditions back in '57, illustrates once and for all that merely holding on to a thing intending to revive it one day is folly. all the time it is deteriorating; metal is corroding, upholstery is drying, fading, and cracking, wiring is corroding, fuel, oil, and coolants are evaporating. these are machines, and as such need constant attention even when idle! i hope that the Prowler does not suffer the same damage.

[Norm's Coupe]

Just as well the winners can't pick up their winnings. I think if I were the winner, I would refuse it. Would cost me more to pull the good parts and junk the rest if I took it. I would let the City of Tulsa pay the bill and worry about disposing of it.

[bobby horne]

With all the time, money, and effort to do this "time capsule" thing, they should put some thinking into making a capsule that would preserve what is inside, not just a leaky concrete box.

[BobT-47P15]

Kinda makes you wonder - if they had had more lead time to think about it, would they have come up with a better idea to preserve the car. Since it was a rather short notice thing with Chrysler donating the car, etc they took their best shot at the moment.

[PatS....]

All they would have had to do is put in a sump pump...or two.

[Norm's Coupe]

All they would have had to do is put in a sump pump...or two.

Sump pump would have worked. However, sump pumps go bad after so many hours of working. Usually only last about 10 years or so. If the vault is sealed you could not get into it to repair or replace the pump if needed.

[Normspeed]

I'd take the car no matter the condition. Imagine my surprise to see that my dear old favorite Uncle Raymond won it! I'd better call Tulsa right away.

[Allan Faust]

Too bad it wasn't RAyMONd C. HuMbERTson = Norm Carter (with a few extra letters....) hey I won....

Allan

[David Maxwell]

... in the future. There is no rule that says a time capsul has to be underground. A mosoleum made of concrete, properly preparred would work, even in Tulsa. Out here in California, it would be a piece of cake. Just don't create the time capsule along the coast where salty air would be a factor. Heck a mosoleum in the central valley would leave a 50 year old car as good as new when opened. No chance of flooding and generally dry air. A good seal with inert gasses and even the rubber parts would be fresh as new.

[PatS....]

I don't see the fascination of burying cars. It's not like they are going to go away and be a rarity in the future.

Bury a new computer, a cell phone, a TV...no-one will know what they are AND they won't work in 50 years

[BobT-47P15]

They did bury a new Prowler in a park in Tulsa in 1998. In a steel box, filled with some type gas, and sitting on the ground. They then heaped dirt around it like a berm. Link to a YOU TUBE video item:

Here's another note from another source:

In 1998, a Plymouth Prowler was sealed in a mausoleum as a time capsule in Tulsa, Oklahoma. While similar in concept to the Buried 1957 Plymouth Belvidere that formerly resided near the courthouse, the buried Prowler was sealed in Centennial Park in an above-ground vault and sealed with a plastic "box" instead of plastic sheets that covered the Belvidere. Experts believe the Prowler has a better chance of looking how it did when it was sealed when the time capsule is opened in 2048, whereupon it will be returned to DaimlerChrysler[1].

I found this pic on a website of some things that were in the trunk of Ms

Belvedere.

This is what we would like to have seen:

[jd52cranbrook]

I think the Prowler was encased above ground?