Woody Dunn Memorial
-- Outstanding Contribution

The Woody Dunn Memorial Trophy is not the oldest trophy given by Nebraska Region. However, it is the most prestigious trophy and is, therefore, listed first among the annual awards.

The Woody Dunn is presented to a member who has made an outstanding contribution to the Nebraska Region over the past year.  It is not necessarily presented each year.

How the trophy is awarded:
Recipients are determined by a vote of the Region's Board of Governors, however, Nebraska Region members are allowed to submit nominations.

About the Trophy:
The Woody Dunn Trophy stands over 18 inches tall and weighs in at about 15 pounds.

The trophy was donated to the Region by Woody Dunn's parents. Two members, Roly Styskal and Dave Hollenbaugh, were in charge of purchasing the trophy.

• Original purpose of the Woody Dunn
• Who was Woody Dunn?

Who was Woody Dunn?

by Patt Buell

When I first saw the trophy in the early 1970's I wondered who was the man that this trophy was named for. It is a very large trophy and looks very prestigious. When I first saw it, I was in awe and wondered "Who was Woody Dunn?" I asked all the older members but all I found out was that he was a member of Nebraska Region and was killed in a car accident traveling back to Lincoln.

I read the early club newsletters and found in the January 1957 Exhaust Notes: "Probably of greatest significance is the announcement of a new Nebraska Region Award, the Woody Dunn Memorial Trophy. It will be presented to the member deemed most valuable to the club during the preceding year. This is a perpetual, or traveling, trophy, gold and white, two feet high and most impressive."

"The idea for this recognition came from Roly Styskal and Dave Hollenbaugh. Roly told us he has purchased the trophy, with the intention of donating it to the Region. Everyone who knew Woody will appreciate the thought behind the award, and will understand why such a magnificent trophy should bear the name of this late and great NRSCCA sparkplug. Our deepest and most sincere thanks to Roly and Dave."

I also found in the March 1958 Exhaust Notes: "January SMALL CARS carried an article about the national Volkswagen Club. Their annual Safety Award is presented in the name of Woody Dunn, a Nebraska Region member who lost his life in a truck/car accident here in Nebraska. Our Region trophy honoring Woody is presented to the Region's most valuable member. We're very pleased that a man, many here in our Region knew and loved, leaves his name to such a worthy memorial."

I forgot about the Woody Dunn trophy for at least a decade, until I interviewed Sandy Downs when I was editor in 2005. Sandy was one of our 1954 NRSCCA founders.

Sandy knew Woody Dunn, and said, "Woody was in the Air Force stationed in Lincoln and Dave Hollenbaugh was Woody's roommate." He thought Woody's family owned the Woodbury Soap Company in Connecticut. Sandy said he was coming back from Chicago to Lincoln one weekend and was killed in a car/truck accident. Woody's parents donated the money for the trophy in their son's name and two members in the NRSCCA bought the trophy, the Woody Dunn Memorial, to be presented to the member deemed most valuable to the club throughout the preceding year."

Sandy Downs was the first recipient of the trophy in December 1956.

I then went out on the internet and looked up the Woodbury Soap Company and found this: "In 1901 The Andrew Jergens Company purchased the John H. Woodbury Company and their highly popular products skin soaps which included Woodbury Facial Soap ... Woodbury was one of the first to market a skin soap as distinct from just soap."

But I still had not found anything on Woody. So, in hope of finding something in Lincoln, I emailed NRSCCA member, Eric Gregory, who works for the Lincoln paper and he gave me the email to their archives. I want to thank Denise Matulka of the Lincoln Journal Star, as well as Eric, for this information.

Denise found an article of the accident on June 6, 1956 in the Lincoln Star (full article). It states it was a car truck accident on Highway 6 outside of Oakland, IA. Dunn was driving a small German car. The driver of the truck escaped injury. He had been passing another truck and hit Woody head on. Woody died instantly.

It states that Lt. David Hollenbaugh (also an NRSCCA member), his former roommate, said that Woody had left base about two months before to attend school in Chicago and was headed to Lincoln for a visit.

Woody was only 26 years old. His full name was Woodbury Dunn.