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Meet 'Flash' Gordon
In the case of Gulf Breeze resident "Flash" Gordon Sprague, no saying could be more accurate. Sprague, 70, might have a head full of white hair, and his gait might have slowed a tad. Deep inside, however, he remains a little boy still seeking all the wonderment the ever-changing world has to offer. "I still don't know what I want to do with my life," Sprague said recently. "I work every day trying to figure that out." Sprague already has lived a full life most would envy. He served four years in the U.S. Air Force; got married, started his family and graduated from Florida State University; managed parks and recreation departments in Clearwater, West Palm Beach, Jacksonville and Memphis; and was a phenomenally successful sales manager and senior vice president for the world's seventhlargest financial services company. Sprague and his wife, Bette, are major supporters of Florida State. They gave the university $1 million to upgrade the office of Seminoles football coach and close friend Bobby Bowden, whose office bears the Spragues' names.
Not too shabby for the oldest of four children who grew up dirt-poor on a farm in rugged, rural Vermont, where people lived by the strength of their hands and the sweat of their brows. "When you come from that environment and have the opportunity to do the things I did in life, sometimes you just have to pinch yourself," Sprague said.
Several years ago, Sprague got interested in collecting antiques. Not necessarily furniture, china, art or wine, mind you, but rather antique automobiles. He owns two buildings — the Gordon Sprague Antique Auto Museum — in Gulf Breeze that house famous race cars, award-winning vehicles and farm equipment dating to the early 1900s, and hundreds of toys. Sprague owns a similar private museum on one of his family's seven Vermont dairy farms. When he isn't away tending to business in the Green Mountain State, Sprague occasionally can be seen cruising the streets of Gulf Breeze in one of his many perfectly restored antique automobiles.
'This is my soul' A first-time visitor recently marveled at the contents of Sprague's 6,000-square-foot Gulf Breeze museum. After hosting a meeting of the Gulf Breeze Historical Society, which he previously served as president, Sprague gave a newspaper reporter a tour of his two buildings. His only stipulation was that the museum's location not be publicized. Sprague, however, gladly allows local civic, church and school groups to schedule tours by simply making an appointment on the telephone. His number is in the directory. The museum contents are mind-boggling. Visitors' jaws drop as they observe meticulously restored vehicles including, to name a few: a 1912 Model T Speedster; 1915 Model T Ford Pickup; 1927 Chrysler Imperial 80 Roadster, national award-winning 1936 Ford Pickup, 1977 Rolls- Royce Shadow II on loan from Florida State; several NASCAR stock cars, including the 1969 Daytona 500- winning Dodge Daytona and the 1993 Ford Thunderbird that sat on the pole in the first Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The collection, which has been visited by the Archbishop of Canterbury and former presidential candidate John Kerry, among countless other celebrities, is worth several million dollars. "This stuff is my soul," Sprague said matter-of-factly. "Much of this stuff represents a time in my life. Once collecting gets into your blood, it's hard to quit. But, again, I don't go looking for this stuff. It really does find me."
During his parks and recreation service in Memphis, Sprague met real-estate mogul Avron Fogelman, owner at the time of the Kansas City Royals major-league baseball team. Fogelman was into collecting, which intrigued Sprague. Sprague and Fogelman partnered in developing rental real estate, particularly apartments. "He owned 16,000 apartments in the Southeast," Sprague said. "Through him, I got on the fast track about money." Fogelman put Sprague in charge of several properties, rolling them into a syndicate and selling them to high-networth investors. Sprague and two other associates covered the entire country; Sprague covered all territory west of the Mississippi River. Eventually, Sprague's success took a physical toll. All of the travel left him exhausted. He took some time off, but soon got even more involved in the world of high finance.
"I went to them doing the same thing as a wholesaler, calling on financial planners, stock brokers, insurance agents, people who were marketing to clients' mutual funds," he recalled. "AIM was about managing money in mutual funds. "I became their No. 1 salesman in the first nine months I was there. I led them in sales for the next three years. It's all history from that point on." Sprague traveled all over the world and, frankly, made millions of dollars. Eventually, he was promoted to a senior management position and became AIM's most popular motivational speaker. At one period, Sprague was booked solid for more than a year in advance. Sprague retired in 2001 and dabbled in auto racing for three years, going undefeated in his mid-60s driving a restored, high-winged Dodge Daytona made famous by Alabama stock-car legend Bobby Allison.
Sprague and Bette, an accomplished tennis player and official in her own right, settled in Gulf Breeze after retirement. They built an indoor tennis facility that has hosted televised United States Tennis Association events. Someday, it's gone Visitors to Sprague's museum often get teary-eyed as they admire the collection, which brings back so many of their memories. "They (tears) happen a lot, particularly with older people," he said. "On the other hand, I've had ladies who have told me in confidence that their first romantic experience was in the rumble seat in a car like these." Sprague isn't sure what will become of his antique collection as he pursues the next phase of his life. He's had offers from other collectors seeking to add to their inventories. He politely declines to do business.
"Someday it will all be gone," he said. "My children (a son and daughter) have no interest in it. The only criteria I will establish is that when it goes, it will all go to one person. What they do with it from there is up to them. "I feel so blessed to have been alive in the time that I'm in," he said. "When you have the good fortune I've had, being able to share with other people and giving back to the community is the most important thing." QUICK QUIZ
Which American city boasts a museum that features Bobby Allison's winning car from the 1969 Daytona 500, the pole- Winning car driven by Dick Mast in the inaugural Brickyard 400 and stock cars driven by NASCAR stars Bill Elliott and Mark Martin?
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