Friday Night Cruise
By · CommentsLooking to change things up a little and with an eye towards shaky weather, I took a shot at attending the Agawam Cruise Night sponsored by the Valley Cruisers. The weather was marginal at best, with some large dark clouds floating around. My route to the show took me over the Memorial Bridge in downtown Springfield, and as I was navigating over the span I couldn’t help but notice the angry looking storm clouds to the southwest, it made me very nervous. This was the same bridge featured in many you tube videos when the tornado struck Springfield on June 1st.
Well, I experianced no rain, but the threat of bad weather keep many away. The event was very sparsely attended, and I felt kind of out of place as most of the attendees were club members. No awards tonight, but it was fun to get the “Gray Lady” out and roll her around a bit. Our weather has been awful and event after event have been rained out or rescheduled. Our busy upcoming weekend looks to be a washout again. We are scheduled to be in Stoughton, MA at Long Cadillac for “Cadillac Day” sponsored by the New England Region Cadillac LaSalle Club and then Sunday in Manchester, CT for the “Crusin’ On Main Street” event which can attract upwards of 2000 cars. Time will tell.
Fingers crossed.….
What A Wasted Weekend
By · CommentsIt has been a slow week, wanted to do cruise nights on Tuesday and Friday, but weather managed to nix both of them. Tuesday was just to hot to bother, and Friday again saw the threat of severe thunderstorms. good thing we canceled Friday because a very severe band of storms ran through, with trees down, large hail and very heavy rains.
My schedule is so messed up! I completely forgot about a show I wanted to attend in Stafford Springs, CT on Saturday, which was a beautiful day by the way. Business and Board meeting committments have really messed with my mind, it’s not like me to miss a great day for a show!!
Sunday I had the opportunity to attend “Cars Of The World” in Warwick, RI or a big show on the Connecticut shore, I opted to skip both in favor of a local show to benefit the Shriners Hospital and children’s cancer charities. While it was for a good cause, it was a terrible day. I won’t name the show, in an attempt to protect those who are doing the right thing, for all the right reasons in a very bad way.…. It was sunny and very hot when I arrived to find we were parking on an asphalt lot, great, hours in the blazing sun, with no shade in temps that were 90+ 
Low budget DJ and not a lot of activity all contributed to a few hours of my life I will never get back. The topper was when they announced the top 10 awards and best of show. The majority of winners were all Chevrolet, I’m told, just like what happened last year. The stunner though, was the best of show, a car that shall remain un-identified, it was not a Chevrolet. It was a convertible, metalflake purple, that was painted in his garage for $300.00, had rusted bumpers and an original shredded interior that was holier than a cathedral on Easter Sunday!!!! In fact, not 20 minutes before the award I was talking with the owner of the car who was admiring our paint job, when he was telling me how they painted it. OMG, what were they thinking, OK I get it, you want to give your buddy an award, so put him in the top 10, but “Best Of Show” are you kidding me. We will send a check next year because it is a really good cause, but there is no way we’ll be attending again, I’d have more fun taking a nap! 
Photos show a couple of beauties that were awarded nothing and completely overlooked. The ’33 Lasalle was an obvious standout in that field and did not even get in the top 10!
Hopefully, the coming week will be better, we are really looking forward to “Cadillac Day” sponsored by the New England Region of the Cadillac LaSalle Club and Long Cadillac out in Eastern Massachusetts on Saturday. Sunday will find us down in Manchester, CT where they close 1 mile of Main Street and could attract hundreds if not thousands of cars. Fingers crossed for better weather.
Talk later.….
Caddy Show Board
By · CommentsJust got the final proof back for our Show Board. This is what it is going to look like.
Holyoke Soldiers Home Cruise Night
By · CommentsI was happy to be able to attend the Holyoke Soldiers Home Cruise Night, Saturday from 4:00 – 7:30PM. This event scheduled only 4 times a year is a benefit fundraiser and all of the funds generated go directly to the residents. What a great way to honor those who put everything on the line to defend us!!! 
I was impressed with the facility, never having been there before (shame on me). I’ll admit it is not the best venue for a show, kind of hot out there in the parking lot, but they do have a great pavillion out in back, the food was terrific and we as car owners need to do everything in our power to assist, encourage and participate in the remaining events. Their next scheduled cruise is going to be August 20, and a final one on September 25th. Please mark your calendars and make every effort to attend, your efforts will bring a smile to many of the residents and help to put some money in their accounts.
Shortly after I arrived, Bob Simpson, a Holyoke resident arrived with his Kaiser Darrin and parked right behind me. Bob was a weekly winner with that car at Buttery Brook on Friday night, where I failed to get a photo, I didn’t miss the second opportunity, so here it is. 
The new Superintendant of the Home and I had a great conversation and it turns out he is a car guy too! He has a ’53 MG TD and as it turns out, I have the same car on the floor of my garage in pieces as I have begun a frame off restoration on it…
Please mark your calendars and lets try to help boost the attendance at their next event, it’s a great cause and the least we can do to help those who have been there for us.
See you there? (I’m going to keep pestering you…)
Buttery Brook Cruise Night
By · CommentsMary Lee and I returned from Maine yesterday at around 3:30, unpacked, dusted off the “Gray Lady” and went up to Cruise Night in South Hadley. Being a show winner at the first cruise night of the season Memorial day weekend, we were directed to the “Winner’s Circle” an area reserved for past show winners 
and assigned tag number 10 to identify us to all who would vote for the winner tonight (all entrants to the show were given a ballot and asked to vote for their favorite in the Winner’s Circle). 
So, while it was the judges who got us to the top, it was the participants who would determine the real winner. We were followed in by other past winners, a ’65 Mustang, ’57 Corvette Convertible and a ’54 Studebaker Pickup, along with a whole bunch of others competing for the weekly prize.
After the weekly winners were announced at the end of the night, one of which was a very rare Kaiser Darrin, they held the customary raffles and with a very close vote, someone said it was by only one vote separating the winner from the runner up, we were announced as the winners of the “Winners Circle” contest!! After the trophy presentation and photos,
we could finally kick back and relax, after what was a very long day that started at 5:00AM in Casco Bay, Maine. Nice to be there, but glad to be back here too.…
The rest of the weekend will be busy as well, with all of the rain we have been having, I’m not going to miss an opportunity to go out and play with my toy.… Tonight we will be at a Cruise Night at the Holyoke Soldiers Home in the “Paper City” and tomorrow will find us at the car show on the Belchertown Common, sponsored by the Belchertown Cruisers, which is a fundraiser for the Juvinile Diabetes Foundation.
Hope you are having as great a weekend as we are, till next time.….…
Valley Collector Car Club Show in Simsbury, Connecticut
By · CommentsWith no particular plan in place, we awoke Sunday to a brilliantly sunny summer day and over coffee decided to make a last minute trip to Simsbury, CT to attend the Valley Collector Car Club’s 10th Annual Charity Car Show. What the heck, we could always relax while in Maine next week, packed a cooler, left the dog with a neighbor and off we went. We left around 9:30AM and drove out routes 10 & 202 arriving in Simsbury around 10:30.
We were put in class K and directed to park in lot 6.
Our Division K winner
The show is held in a beautiful Town, at a spectacular spot, the Performing Arts Center right in downtown. I was more than a little disappointed to find ourselves parked next to an ’80’s vintage Buick Grand National and on our other side, a ’57 Turquoise and White Corvette that we had competed against 2 weeks ago in Windsor, CT., I couldn’t help but think, geez what the heck type of class is this.….…
It was not until about an hour later that I realized every car in our lot was from a different class! We had cars from classes K, J, L, M all parked together. As Cadillac owners we are always at a disadvantage in a show determined by popular vote, but dramatically more so here, voters initially were not instructed to vote for one car in every class, and our class was actually parked in field #2, a couple hundred yards
away and worse yet, our field #6 was very hard to locate on the map handed out. This show has the potential to be a real standout, it was meticulously organized, had computerized balloting, was in a perfect location and had some very unique vehicles, 
but unfortunately we had no shot at being awarded anything the way it was set up. How can something so well planned and organized be so poorly implemented? People were handed ballots with no clear instructions on how to vote them, no one I talked to understood what they were supposed to do with the ballot until they began announcing instructions just an hour before voting was to close, electronically read voting is a great idea, that has the potential to be a game changer, but not unless they can set it up much more clearly.
On a brighter note, we had intended to order a Show Board while there from a vendor we had seen at other shows, we spoke to him earlier in the day and made arrangements to finalize the transaction later in the day. 
Not 45 minutes later we won a driver’s raffle and scored a gift certificate from the very same vendor in the amount of $125.00!!! After the show broke up, we met with him, he took many photos and will have a proof to us in a week or so. As usual, we were mobbed with people admiring the car and asking many questions about it, many times we had groups of a dozen or more at one time around the car, it is nice to know some others appreciate it as much as we do.….
Overall, a nice day, a beautiful ride there and back, perfect location, BUT sadly, not an event we would be in a hurry to go back to, not to take anything away from the Club’s efforts, our time and effort is probably better spent somewhere else.….…Of course, “Your Mileage May Vary”.
The Week In Review
By · CommentsTuesday night we rode on out to the weekly cruise night at the Elks Club in Ludlow, MA. Great music, great cars and made some new friends. This was our first visit here and we surely will be back, there were probably 200 cars there.
Saturday had us at the Change The Wind Charity Car Show for the benefit of the Springfield Tornado victims. It was a great day with much support from the local community and hopefully a lot of money was made to go to some very good causes. Many car owners traveled great distances to participate, 
the ’58 Mercedes parked next to us had traveled from Boston and I also saw many out of State plates represented. We had the pleasure of meeting up with Fran & Ann Harris, the couple who we purchased the “Gray Lady” from more than 2 years ago.
I was impressed that such an organized event could be put together just a little more than a Month after our weather disaster here in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts. The “Million Dollar Circle” was made up of cars not normally seen at local events. There were at least 3 Springfield, MA built Rolls Royce autos there, along with beautiful Stutz, Pierce Arrow, Packard and Cadillac examples. Attendance seemed to be more than 400 cars and while not truly a competitive event, there were 17 trophy awards, one trophy representing each Town affected by the weather disaster. Mary Lee and I were lucky enough to receive the “Belchertown Award.” I’d like to say “see you again next year”, but sincerely hope a disaster like that never occurs again in our home towns.
We finally had a week of great weather and hopefully it will continue for the rest of the summer. Mary Lee and I are heading up to Maine next week for a little R & R, we will be back
on Friday in time to show the “Gray Lady” at Buttery Brook Park that night. Saturday I plan on attending an informal event at the Holyoke Soldiers Home in Holyoke, MA, not a formal show, but an opportunity to brighten the day for many of our disabled, ailing and aging veterans. It is an event held only about 3 times a year and we have not been able to attend so far due to scheduling, work and family issues,
we’re not going to miss this one. Sunday we will be attending the “Car Show on the Common” a fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation sponsored by the Belchertown Cruisers, all weather permitting of course.….
See you there?
Happy Independence Day!!!
By · CommentsIt’s been kind of a laid back weekend here, Friday night we went to the Cruise Night at Buttery Brook to compete for the “Best of the Best” a competition amongst past show winners at the park. Sadly, we were beat out by a 1957 Chevrolet Nomad Wagon.… Ahh well, we can’t win them all and we will have a second shot at them on July 15th. Saturday was another beautiful day, with plenty of rest and relaxation looking forward to 26th Annual Berkshire Charity Car Show on Sunday, but it was not to be, we awoke to sunshine, but by 8:00AM the showers began and it rained throughout the day. The show went on, as the weather up in the Berkshires was better I guess, but I did not want to take her highness out in the rain so we stayed home. Naturally today was beautifully sunny and hot again (it only rains on our scheduled events) so I took some time to get to some things done on the “Gray Lady”.
Earlier I wrote about our continuing problems with vapor lock, and I decided that I was tired of worrying about damage from the ongoing saga of the engine running hot. It still doesn’t make sense to me, that she runs so hot, so today she got fitted with a new 16″ electric fan that moves 2200 CFM on sale at NAPA for $109.00. 
I converted the fan as a “pusher” did a thru core installation and wired it as such to a manual switch under the dash, so I can use it at will and not have to worry about a thermostat kicking it on and off (I believe in the KISS theory, you know, Keep It Simple Stupid!) I’m happy to report that in stop and go traffic she now runs right where she is supposed to be, and on the highway I don’t need the fan at all and just turn it off. She will stay just this way until the ultimate resolution is finally figured out, for now it solves the airflow problem.
Today, I resolved the other issue that has been bugging me. I got the car with door edge guards on only 2 doors, I purchased others on E-Bay and have been fussing with them for weeks, trying to make them look presentable. 
It was not to be, they still looked like crap and because they are stainless steel I could have sent them out for re-finishing but it would have been shockingly expensive. When I saw the second door edge chip this weekend I snapped and went over to Autozone and bought an 18 foot roll of chrome door edging for 10 bucks! 
Yeah, yeah I know it’s plastic and not stainless, but unless you are a foot away with a magnifying glass you are never going to know and when I calculated out $600.00 for stainless repair or $10.00 for plastic, well the plastic won, and the remainder will pay for our trip to Maine the week after next.….…
Finally, after having put more than 400 miles on the old gal this season, I decided that I am done listening to talk radio on the AM radio. I installed an easily removable Kenwood deck under the dash with a FM tuner and CD player along with a port for my ipod. Not wanting to alter the original radio and speakers I debated this all week, and finally decided to add 2 additional speakers. Knowing that this is going to be a nice weather car only, I installed 2 5 1/4″ Kickers in the front air vents in the kick panels. My original plan was to put them in and cover them with the original air vents, but they had to be 4″ speakers or less and the sound was bad, so I pulled them back out, returned them, slightly enlarged the hole and put the larger ones in but the vents won’t cover them so I ended up using the speaker grills. So finally we can listen to some great music while cruising and I can restore everything back to original in less than an hour should I need to. I’ll post some photos the next time around.
Next week will be extremely busy, I’m short handed at work, Elks Cruise Night Tuesday night and the “Change The Wind” charity event car show in East Longmeadow on Saturday. Oh, and I almost forgot, I got a call this week to see if I was interested in a 1947 Fleetwood that has been in a local barn here for the past 20 years, all original complete car, got to find time to look at that too!!!!! Mary Lee is going to kill me!
Till then.….….
The Dreaded Vapor Lock
By · CommentsAfter not having been out for more than a week and with a beautiful evening in progress, I decieded to run on down to Mark’s Cruise Night in East Windsor, CT. It was a smooth ride down Interstate 91, that big old boat rides like a dream and much nicer than any of the new Cadillacs I’ve ridden in lately. Once at the site we got stuck in line waiting to get through the gate and after about 15 minutes of sitting in place, she over heated. I shut her down and when traffic began to move 10 minutes later, we were a no go due to vapor lock. We rolled her back into the shade and let her sit for 15 minutes and we were back in business. Not a big deal, but kind of put a damper on the evening.
It’s a continuing problem as Mary Lee and I had the same issue two weeks ago. she’s cool as a cucumber on the highway, but in stop and go traffic she heats up pretty quickly, not sure of the real issue, but on Thursday she gets fitted with a new auxillary electric fan and hopefully the problem will be resolved. She’ll also be getting a colder thermostat when the new gaskets arrive in a couple days. I’ll post more details when the project is finished.
Back to Mark’s for just a second, amazing turnout for this event every Monday evening, 837 cars were in attendance.
Live music, good food and a whole lot of fun. With that many vehicles there are sure to be a couple standouts and this trip was no exception. My highlights, a 1925 Springfield built Rolls Royce that purred like a kitten and a very nice 1954 Lincoln convertible along with a couple of very nice fifties era MG TD’s that I looked over very closely as that is my next project, a 1953 MG TD currently in pieces on my garage floor. 
Plus a cool ’58 Impala and another ’58 Dodge convertible owned by the same guy that I had met on previous occasions with the 2 Lincoln convertibles.
Our schedule going forward, will see us at Buttery Brook Park here in South Hadley where we will compete against other weekly show winners in a “Best of the Best” event within their regular Cruise Night on Friday night. Sunday we will be in Pittsfield, MA up in the Berkshires to attend the 26th Annual Berkshire Charity Car Show on the campus of Hillcrest Hospital. July 9th will find us in East Longmeadow, MA at the “Change The Wind” event, an important fundraiser for the victims of the Springfield tornado that tore through our area on June 1st. See you there?
Until then.….….…..
Mark the Date — July 9, 2011
By · CommentsWe sincerely hope everyone can pass this info along to help the victims of the recent tornadoes in Massachusetts. Many people in our community have been left with nothing and we are all trying to raise funds to help these people get back on their feet.
If you cannot attend please consider a donation as 100% of all monies collected will go directly to the affected victims.. Thanks
