2004 In Review
The
Legend
of
Stone
Soup

In Europe, during the economic depression of the late 1800's, a group of men seeking employment gathered under bridges, in parks and by the roadside. Hungry, cold and depressed, these men came together seeing companionship, information and hope. 

One evening around sunset, as the men stood silently huddled around a roaring bonfire, a stranger to the group stepped forward and placed a large iron pot on the fire. Into this pot he poured a couple of gallons of fresh water. He then selected a potato-sized stone, which he meticulously cleaned and dropped into the simmering water. After a while he took a spoon and tasted the contents of the pot. The following dialogue ensued between the stranger and various member of the group:

"What are you doing?"
"I'm making stone soup."
"Never heard of it - how does it taste?"
"I have salt, but salt is no good unless you have something to put it on. How much do you need?"
"A couple tablespoons would do nicely."
The salt was added and the contents were again stirred and sampled by the stranger.
"How does it taste now?"
"Much better, but do you know what really makes stone soup great? Potatoes."
Another member of the group spoke up.

"I have eaten nothing but potatoes for a week and the rest of this sack will probably just go to waste."
The potatoes were cut up, placed in the pot and stirred.
"It would sure be nice if we had an onion or two" said the stranger.
"I've got plenty of onions, but little else" said another.
"Here.
"The onions were added in the same fashion, as were carrots, celery and tomatoes.

The crowd grew as the aroma of the stone soup reached the hungry men.
"Now all we need is a little meat of some kind" declared the stranger.
"Well," said one of the group, "I have a couple of chickens here, but they aren't very good without vegetables, so go ahead and add them to the soup."
That night the entire group ate their fill of stone soup, and for the first time in weeks no one went to bed hungry.
With their stomach filled, and their hopes revived, these men were able to get on with their lives, confident that their contributions had made a real difference in the lives of their fellow men.
The end product of this cooperation thus became greater than the sum of it's parts, and the story of Stone Soup is told to this day.

And it is in this same atmosphere of cooperation that the "Lone Star T's Stone Soup Project" was started to share the knowledge of the history, maintenance, and restoration of the Model T and to pass that knowledge onto future generations.