"Welcome to the GSL Reunion. Seeing so many new faces here this morning is wonderful. We have with us today Luiz Tinoco from the Rio de Janiero Model Car Club, Rik Hoving from Amsterdam, a phalanx of Canadian modelers and other newcomers. To those who have returned to be with us again -- thanks for your continuing faith in the goal and dream of the GSL Championship, namely to provide the best, most cordial and fair professional-level scale automotive competition to be found anywhere.

The GSL Championship has provided a venue for the reappearance of many historic modeling personalities -- heroes whose modeling defined and launched the early years of our hobby. You see, we have accepted into our ranks hundreds of second-generation modelers who grew up under the tutelage of Jim Keeler, Augie Hiscano, Mike Johnson, Dennis Doty, Phil Jensen, Bob Nordberg, Tom Davison, the Yonts Brothers, Dave Shuklis, and many dozens of other incredible builders whose efforts defined the First Golden Age of our hobby. The names of those pioneers can be found in magazines like these (hold up samples of magazines).

The point is this: During the initial 15-year run of GSL, we hosted 463 different individuals -- both the old timers and newbies – who have inextricably joined the history of our hobby by competing at or attending the GSL Championships. With more than half of the people here this weekend new to the GSL experience, GSL can now add dozens of new names to the growing list of committed, dedicated modelers who have trusted their most prize possessions to the scrutiny of the GSL Judges and the admiration of everyone who has participated in the GSL Tradition.

This Reunion, officially GSL International Model Car Championship XVI, is presented after a three-year hiatus following the epochal Fifteenth GSL Championship in 1994. We have presented this Reunion because of the overwhelming response of modelers disappointed when we announced the Championship's Finale following GSL-XV. If you will indulge me for a moment, I would like to thank several individuals publicly who have worked tirelessly to make this GSL Reunion a reality. Without their help, there is no way that this Championship could have been presented to you:

I cannot adequately express my great appreciation to these friends and hobbyists whose friendship, dedication, incredible work and belief in the GSL Championship have made this all possible this weekend. Their loyalty wasn't free. It came through a common experience – seeing early competitors volunteer to drive to the airport in 1984 to pickup other contestants, or seeing uncounted contestants freely sharing their techniques with other inquiring hobbyists, or seeing Russ Schwenkler leap to his feet at GSL XIII to congratulate Randy Derr's narrow win over Russ' model, thereby establishing a tradition as the Awards are presented.

Inevitably, our ranks have diminished since GSL started. Friends of a lifetime have left us, though their contributions to the hobby and our memories of them will never die and will live forever in the National Model Car Builders' Museum. Might we please observe a moment of silence after I read the names of the following individuals known to me who, in one way or the other, have significantly contributed to the success of our hobby:

Alert to the future, we are happy to announce that we will hold a new series of GSL Championships every two years, beginning with this event: GSL-XVII will be presented in 1999, GSL-XVIII will be presented in 2001 and so forth. Through that schedule, highly-motivated modelers will have the opportunity to plan and construct their models and compete in each successive GSL Championship.

The GSL Tradition, long-established and now revived, looks to the future of our hobby with the same optimism, dedication to world-class craftsmanship and cordiality that have always defined our efforts.

Thank you for being a part of the GSL Reunion!

• GSL Reunion was presented because of overwhelming interest from Modelers
• GSL International Model Car Championship will be presented every two years in the future (e.g., GSL-XVII in 1997, GSL-XVIII in 1999 and so forth)
• GSL International Model Car Championship is now an official function of the National Model Car Builders' Museum.