OLI DAY
BUSINESS & PROFESSIONAL
H
S
THROUGH DECEMBER 18
entrepreneur
RIDE from page 37
HUNDREDS OF ARTI$T- MADE GIFT CREATIONS
RenCen's Wintergarden venue if the
club could transport everyone there
from the Dearborn Hyatt Regency.
On short notice, Ron and Linda
scrounged up 35 busses to take
1,500 people downtown. "It was a
huge operation," said Ron.
One of their most challenging
but most lucrative events was the
2004 Ryder Cup golf tournament
at Oakland Hills Country Club in
Bloomfield Township. The Sherrs
handled the transportation needs of
six corporate clients.
"That event went a long way
toward paying for our daughter's
wedding," noted Ron.
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Although Action Tours is run by a
husband and wife, it's not a mom-
and-pop operation by any stretch.
Ron says that until 2009, their busi-
ness averaged some 300 deluxe
motor coach excursions a year.
Unfortunately, today's slumping
economy has hit the convention
business hard. Still, he estimates he
and Linda have handled about 7,500
coaches over the past 30 years.
Engaging a plush, 55-seat, air-
conditioned bus with a top-notch
driver for several hours can cost
a client hundreds of dollars. "It
sounds like a lot," said Ron, "but
when broken down, the cost per
passenger is quite reasonable."
The Sherrs have established close
ties with the bus companies they
contract with. "We're fair, we keep
our word and we tip the drivers
well," Ron said. "The most experi-
enced drivers always want to work
for us."
Going into business 30 years
ago was Linda's brainstorm. Back
then, they we're raising their young
daughters, Bonnie, Robin and
Dawn. Linda ran her own preschool
exercise class called Wiggleworm
in their house and Ron was at the
midpoint of his career as a physi-
cal education teacher in the Detroit
Public Schools.
The Sherrs had the reputation of
jumping headfirst into whatever were
the newest and most exciting hap-
penings in town — and their friends
would constantly ask them for tips
on where to go and what to do.
Linda realized there could be a busi-
ness opportunity there, arranging
entertaining trips for visiting groups.
Although, at first, some of their
more staid friends scoffed at their
plans for Action Tours, the couple
stumbled upon a void to fill as well
as a means to boost their home-
town's sagging image.
"Linda and I had no real back-
ground — but we're good organiz-
ers, we're not afraid to try things
and we're people people," Ron said.
Connecting With People
The business grew steadily. One
idea that proved popular among fel-
low Jews was offering guided bus
tours of old Jewish Detroit. While
gray-haired riders waxed nostalgic
about the delis on Dexter and the
shuls off 12th Street, young people
discovered a whole new "Old
World" just off the Lodge Freeway.
As Action Tours expanded, the
Sherrs hired part-time tour guides.
Ron, for his part, thinks of himself
as a comedian and uses humor to
break the ice with his passengers.
He's quick with a quip, but if you
listen closely, you might hear groans
from his regular bus drivers who
endure the same one-liners time
after time.
Linda is quick on her feet, too.
Once she arranged for a client to
have a fake policeman fool conven-
tioneers by appearing to "arrest"
the corporation's top exec during
a banquet in Greektown. When the
actor she hired didn't show, Linda
improvised and convinced a Detroit
cop she found on Monroe Street to
make his stage debut. The prank
and the day were saved.
Another time about 20 years ago,
Linda and Ron were escorting the
New York Yankees old-timers who
were in town for a charity exhibi-
tion baseball game against their
old Tiger rivals. In the hotel, Linda,
who has charmed countless out-of-
towners over the years, had a very
pleasant chat with a very pleasant
white-haired man. They commiser-
ated about children, schools and
how raising a family had changed
so much over the years.
Later, Linda told Ron of the
extended conversation, and he
asked who her companion was.
Linda said she had no idea, "but
everyone was calling him Whitey."
If Ron — the former slugging and
pitching star on the Metro Detroit
softball circuit — could have cor-
nered Hall of Fame hurler Whitey
Ford for 30 minutes, he would not
have wasted time engaging in family
chitchat.
But, then again, maybe that's why
Whitey found Linda so appealing.