Friday, September 4, 2009

Littleton Cruise, Shine & Show

Received the following from a reader, James Smith:

"Bill:

I thought I’d pass on my thoughts and photos of the 10th Annual Cruise, Shine & Show put on by the North Country Cruisers on August 30th at the Southern Aroostook Museum in Littleton (just north of Houlton). Feel free to edit as you wish and use as many or as few photos as you want. [Ed. the pix are now up in the HotKarz gallery]

With rains the day prior, the venue on the front lawn of the Museum was well cut and dry, with gates opening promptly at 8:00. Well staffed, free coffee and donuts waiting, registration went surprising smooth with no questions as to classifications. They were well organized. No admission w as charged for the entrants and spectators for the full day of activities which included the show, car balancing (teeter-totter) contests, games for the kids and access to the Museum (what life in North Maine was really like).

Over 130 cars and trucks plus a couple of dozen tractors of all makes and model years were presented. Participants from the local area and a good number from New Brunswick, Downeast, Maine and as far away as Gray, Maine were in attendance. The event was run as smooth as any show I’ve been two, including tabulating of participant ballots and award presentation (excellent trophies). The local area sponsors definitely stepped up to the plate in financing the local North Country Cruisers. It should be noted that the members of the club could show their cars but were not allowed to vote in ANY classes. I observed no block voting of any kind.

What struck me the most is the friendliness of the participants and spectators, and not enough can be said about the staff themselves. After the awards and wrap-up announcements, I was pleasantly surprised to see many of staff thanking participants for attending on the way out. Nice touch that should brin g many back next year. I know my 2 hour drive was well worth my time to meet other car nuts and talk about common interests.

Regards,

James Smith
(Blutorange ’70 914-6 Porsche)"

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Thursday, September 3, 2009

Eye-Catcher

This last Wednesday we skipped into Two Trails Fabulous 50's Diner in (Rte 25 & 113 Standish) and quickly noticed that something was dramatically different. If you have not seen it, you can check it out here.

And along with this came the following story:

Frankie's Cruiser
In the 1960's the cops were chasing a local hot rodder named Frankie. In an effort to get away, Frankie decided to escape through the Two Trails Fabulous 50's Diner parking lot. In his haste to escape, Frankie lost control and hit the well-house, propelling him into the diner itself. The hot rod '51 Dodge went through the building with the front end protruding out the front of the building, lodging itself under the sign. Frankie disappeared and has not been seen since. This was not looked upon as unusual, however, as Frankie was not completely all there, anyway. The car was removed and hauled away.

A few years ago, the owners of the Diner and some friends were looking for car parts in a Limington bone yard. Seeing the front end of an old hot rod, and knowing the story of Frankie and his crash, it was decided to bring the front end of the car back to its former glory and place it in the original position on the roof of the diner. Frank Howard, with the support of his wife Jane went to work on the project. The car has been restored and now rests on the entrance roof of the diner.

Signed: Watt Alie

Well, I don't know about the story by "what a lie", but I can tell you (and I hate to admit it) that Frank did a superb job on the project.

If you get a chance, swing on by for next Wednesday's cruise, 6-8, and check it out for yourself.

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Charlie Beig's Part II

Earlier this evening we slid into the cruise at Charlie Beigg's in Windham. Considering it was only their second cruise, and it was not widely advertised, it came off rather well, with about two dozen pieces of iron showing up, including a truly beautiful 1961 Mazerrati.

The Beigg's cruises are expected to last through September, at least, and begin at 5pm. While the good folks who own Charlie Beigg's (Tony & Claire) are new to this, they seem anxious to get this down pat, so next year can be even better. I have no doubt that the Charlie Beigg's cruise-in will become one of the better ones in the area. Yes, they have a ways to go, but they are learning, and ready to make the committment. And for that, they deserve our full support.

So, set aside next Thursday evening to come on by, and let them know you support their support of us. And who knows - they may even host a show next season, to replace the WalMart show.

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Charlie Beigg's

There is a fairly new cruise tonight at Charlie Beigg's restaurant, 754 Roosevelt Trail Hwy 302. Windham, Maine. I think we'll be taking a spin on over and check it out. If you get a chance, stop by and say "Hi". I think it starts around 5:30-6:00pm

By the way - the cruise at C.H.O.P. on Tuesdays will now start at 5pm and end at 7pm, since the sun is setting earlier these days.

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Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Vineyard Church Show

As most of you know, this Saturday is the 3rd annual Vineyard Church Car Show. At first, I was anxious to attend this show, as I had missed it before.

But in looking over the flyer, I have changed my mind, and will not be spending time and money on this, as it seems they have decided to let the show deteriorate to a level that I do not find acceptable. Not that you will, or should, feel the same. This is just my personal opinion, and I will explain why I feel as I do.

In previous years, they had enough on the ball to have had sufficient classes. But that has been cut back. For example:

1) Unless you have a Street Rod or Truck, there is no class for your pre-1950 vehicle.

2) Foreign & Tuners are grouped together - Lord only knows what the thinking is here! Imagine a VW or a Jaguar in among the Tuners - neither group will be content.

3) Custom vehicles will now be lumped in with all other vehicles of their decade. Now just what chance does a stock 55 Ford have against a truly righteous custom 55 Ford?

Yes, they do have a Special Interest class, but I would bet the farm that it will be loaded with vehicles that do not belong in that class, simply because there are so few classes for many vehicles.

This evening, as I enjoyed the huge turn-out at the C.H.O.P. cruise, I heard several folks say they will not attend the Vineyard show this year, because of the screwed up class structure. And after looking over their flyer, I understand.

I realize the show benefits a "good cause" - they all do. But a show that wants to raise money for a cause needs to provide benefit for those who are paying the money. And Vineyard is not doing that this year.

So that gives me another day to get in my supply of cordwood...

If Vineyard decides next year to give more consideration to the folks they are plying for money, and if they clean up their act and actually take some time to build a proper, workable class structure instead of just tossing a few classes together, then I will likely attend, and they can have my time and money, and be welcome to it. If not, I'm sure I can find something else to do.

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Greene Village Day

Hey, folks! From Charlie Noonan:

The community of Greene (just outside Lewiston) is hosting their Greene Village Day on September 12th. It includes a cruise-in and parade. Check out the details (plus all the other activities) at http://www.greenevillageday.com/. Sounds like a great time for the entire family.
Enjoy!

Bill

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Monday, August 31, 2009

Mixed Feelings

As many of you know, we spent the weekend in Pittsburg NH, Colebrook NH and Canaan VT for the Moose Festival. This has always been one of our favorites.

This year had a damper put on it, in more ways than one.

The Friday cruise, parade and street fair in Colebrook was great, as usual. And we ran into the Peacocks, from Dresden (where men are men and sheep are nervous). We also had the opportunity to visit with old friends and cruise Moose Alley to see the moosie-moosies (I almost hit one, but thanks to Jim Peacock's timely warning, it was avoided).

But the show in Canaan on Saturday had its problems, which we had never experienced at their show before.

Sure, the weather was not great - drizzly and cold in the early morning, then just plain cold the rest of the day. But the weather is not what put a damper on things.

Although the show was very well organized, as usual, it did not take long for the problems to show up. First, one entrant, after the voting had already begun, was forced to change his number because of a "clerical error", mistake #1. This certainly cost him some votes, but the organizers chose to ignore that, which was mistake #2.

And a group of about a half dozen locals was seen voting in a bloc - and they only voted for other locals. The Moose Festival has tried hard to eliminate this problem, using split ballots, but this crew figured a way around that, to tilt the results in 5 classes. Because of this, several top cars lost out to a few clunkers - literally.

To top things off, the announcer had a small cheapie amp, so anyone more than 50 feet from him could not hear a word he was saying. And when he announced the winners, he only announced the registration numbers - not the make/model, and not the owners, as had been the norm at this show.

For a kicker, he then asked the winners to go get their cars and drive by to pick up their trophies. Many winners were several hundred feet away, and had a hard time driving through the crowd. So the ceremony lasted forever as we all stood around in the raw, cold mountain wind.

In previous years, they would place a colored ribbon on the winners' cars, and ask them to drive up close to the grandstand in advance of the ceremony so they could drive by for their trophy. That saved a lot of time.

All in all, while we had a good time with old friends, and fun at the fair, eating moose burgers and enjoying all the contests, it seems the organizers this year were new at this, and the old crew did not pass on the methods that worked. I sincerely hope they get it together for next year, because there was just too much that went bad this year.

Meanwhile, we have decided to once again float on over to Shaw's Ridge again this year. Though Frank gets all worked up into a lather, he does put on a pretty good show. If you have not been to this show before, it would be a good idea to expect something a bit different - Frank's show is more of an ART show than a car show. Think of it as a giant cruise-in, where the classes are almost strictly by decade and trophies are awarded. If you understand this, you will have a great time.

And I have it on good authority that the weather will be near perfect for the cruises tomorrow evening. Our fave is C.H.O.P. in Cumberland, and we'll be there as usual. This cruise has never disappointed us. But wherever you choose to cruise, have a good time!

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Sunday, August 30, 2009

Reply For Andy

Andy, of Team 207, had asked if I had heard anything about folks refusing to vote for tuners, presumably because they were seen as "poachers".

I have not heard anything to that effect. In fact, if a person actually thinks about it, it would be nearly impossible for tuners to poach - if they register in the most appropriate class, and since they are all in the same class, and most shows do not allow you to vote your class, I do not see how poaching is possible. I do see a potential for bloc voting on the other classes, but I personally have not seen Team 207 do that, either.

I do not doubt that some folks may have a bias against tuners, and may refuse to vote for them because of that bias. That is human nature - if we do not like, or appreciate something, we tend to ignore it, or try to harm it. For some it is the loud, bassy music. For others, it is a bias against anything that is not an old classic. Having a newer car myself, I have also been a victim of that bias - for example, our vehicle is "too new" to participate in the Blast From The Past cruise night.

While I do not have any bias, I have had instances where we were positioned very close to the tuner class, and the loud bass in their music drove us away from our vehicle for the day. But I still vote the class, because it is a legitimate class. And I would encourage everyone to do the same.

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Settler's Green NO Date Change

We had received an email from someone with the MWVOCC about a date change for Settler's Green. Well, I have since received another call from our friend Bob Hatch that he has checked with the president (no, not Obama) and the date has not changed - it is still scheduled for September 13th.

Bill

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Dialing 207

Someone asked who "Team 207" is, as they have not heard of it.

As far as I can tell from what I have seen at shows and heard from their members, they are a Club of car folks who drive Tuners. When you see a number of tuners at a show, there is a good chance many, if not all, belong to Team 207.

Team 207 - please correct me if I am wrong.

Bill

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