Retrospect: Reitenour was honored for long-distance races

Twenty-five years ago this week, a local man was honored for his cross-continent drives.

The July 26, 1995, edition of The Commercial Review featured a story about the Portland Area Chamber of Commerce awarding George Reitenour with a plaque for his participation in the Interstate Batteries Great North American Race for four consecutive years.

Reitenour received the plaque during a luncheon in which he shared his experience from the most recent of those races, a 14-day journey from Ottawa, Canada to Mexico City.

The Portland appliance store owner reflected on moments of frustration such as when the floorboards in the Spirit of Jay County — a 1936 Studebaker Dictator — caught fire.

“It smelled like it was burning for days after that, but it wasn’t,” Reitenour said.

There was the time he had a close encounter with some wildlife in Virginia.

“I about ran over a big black bear,” he said. “I think that’s the first time I ever saw a bear on a highway.”

And there was the time in Texas that he wasn’t quite focused when making a turn on a gravel road.

“I was kind of losing it and not as perky as I should have been,” Reitenour said.

Eventually, it was the heat that spelled the end for Reitenour and the Spirit of Jay County. Both car and driver struggled in the heat of Texas, eventually forcing Reitenour to withdraw from the race. At that time, he was in sixth place overall, 21 seconds behind the lead car.