BACK IN TIME: Fishy 1955 Ford tale in Sanford

Fifty years ago, I was age 20 and owned a 4-door 1955 Ford Customline. That car got me 100,000 miles through high school and college. I lived in Sanford, Florida, 35 miles from Daytona Beach. My then girlfriend's father had just bought a new 24' boat and took a group of us deep-sea fishing in the Atlantic Ocean one sunny Saturday.
Other than getting seasick, I got a 7-foot, 100 lb. sand shark. It was the biggest cacth of the day and everyone was excited for me to bring it home (35 miles inland) and show it off. They told me to take it to the Sanford shoemaker and he would make me some custom sharkskin shoes. Neato! They told me to take it to the Sanford Herald Newspaper and they would put my picture in the paper so everyone in town would see my spectacular catch.
So, back in Sanford, we unloaded the boat and I hog-tied the 7-foot shark over the trunk of my 1955 Ford, with his head tied to one back door handle and his tail tied to the opposite side back door handle. Off I went to the shoemakers.
"How much will you charge to make me some neat sharkskin shoes?" I asked. "Nothing," he replied. I thought, "What a greet deal," then he broke into a belly laugh. I sheepishly asked what was so funny. He couldn't talk, he was laughing so hard; "Whoever told you I'd make shoes out of your fish was pulling your leg. Get that smelly shark away from my store." Discouraged, I drove through Sanford, 3 miles, shark on the trunk of my Ford, to the Sanford Herald newspaper. It was 5:30 p.m. Closed! And, my 100 lb. shark was starting to small in the Florida summer heat. Its Saturday, late-afternoon, what to do now?
On to the city dump, just 5 miles from the newspaper office. Just my luck, the chain was across the road to the dump. Closed! No giving up, I had a girlfriend, Betty, who lived nearby the dump. She told about the dump's back entrance. I snuck into the unguarded dump, untied the shark and slid it off the back of my 1955 Ford. Smelly problem solved (after I washed the car).
One week later, reading the Sanford Herald newspaper, I saw this story: "Something Fishy at the City Dump. It is a mystery how a very large share found its way to the Sanford Dump. Our dump is 35 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean and the dump manager reports no one coming in to drop the shark off. Anyone who can solve this mystery, please call the Sanford Sheriff at xxxxxxx."
Conclusion? I made the newspaper after all, any way the mystery is now solved - 50 years later.

- Paul Placek, Special to the Herald