Roy E. Schabel was not a celebrity, but a person who loved motorcycles and people. He had the ability to bring a spark of life to those around him, just as he did to a freshly built motor. Known only as "Duck", the Litchfield Township businessman never used his real name with any lending institution. There were only a handful of people who knew him by his real name. Duck was a Vietnam veteran who acquired his nickname doing Donald Duck impressions for friends and operated Duck's Putter Parts. The duck paraphernalia that adorned his motorcycle repair shop was a testimony to the name recognition that it gave him both personally and professionally. People came from across the country to have him repair their motorcycle engines and transmissions. Over a period of twelve years Duck judged motorcycle entries to the Cleveland Auto-Rama. As a judge, he was impartial and fair. When Duck became a judge, the problems associated with awarding motorcycle trophies disappeared. Most of the entrants were entertained by Duck's impersonations after the show closed, although very few people knew he was doing them. Roy's life was snuffed out on October 2nd, 1988 when a drunk driver swerved left of center and collided with his motorcycle head on. We at the Cleveland Federated Auto Parts Auto-Rama have decided to honor Roy E. "Duck" Schabel with an ongoing award in his name beginning in 2005. This prestigious award will carry a cash award of $3500.00. The award will be given to the best motorcycle first-time shown that exhibits the most creative originality, design engineering, and workmanship.

In addition to these judging guidelines, there are a two hard and fast rules, which are to be followed with no exceptions.

1. The motorcycle must have its first showing ever at the Cleveland Federated Auto Parts Auto-Rama. Showing the motorcycle at any indoor or outdoor show will make it ineligible for contention. This includes any part of the entry; such as the frame, engine, fenders, or fuel tank. No freshly restored antique motorcycles.

Realizing that motorcycle owners and builders may need some form of exposure to develop interest or to gain sponsorship and give credit to suppliers and/or sponsors, magazine build-up coverage is allowed. No articles or stories with photos of the motorcycle in finished form will be allowed until after the award has been presented.

2. The motorcycle must be totally operational. It must start, stop, move forward, and turn left and right, before it is placed on the floor for display.

The process of elimination will begin on Thursday evening after move-in has been completed. Entries do not need to be 100% set up but should be to a state that they can be evaluated fairly. The five top finalists will be announced Friday morning. At that time signage will be provided for their display areas designating them as one of the FAB 5. There will be a show and tell period at 1:00 P.M. Friday. Each owner will be given a maximum of fifteen minutes to inform the judges of any and all information they feel is pertinent to helping his entry do the very best that it can. There will be a FAB 5 contenders meeting at 7:00 pm Friday for the builders and owners. They will be able to meet the other finalists, the judging staff and ask questions on how their motorcycle will be judged. The winner will be announced during the awards presentation Sunday afternoon.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call 1-216-382-1616 or contact us through our website, www.clevelandautorama.com.