Not much more to be said, EXCEPT.......this is why we do what we do. Be proud of your club and its various beneficial activities.

'Thank you all for helping make  this possible! Love, April"
So read the note I received and the photo shown below from Food and Shelter as a result of the $700 we collected and donated in Harlan's name, just in time to buy turkeys for the annual Citywide Thanksgiving dinner. These were gifts from the heart, given by our membership in honor of a great man, and given to a great cause, something which Harlan highly approved of.
Posted Thanksgiving morning. Harlan’s van sold this week. It stayed in the club and will become the new Midway Deli delivery van. Good job Midway Bob. 

Posted Tuesday, November 26th - Thanks to everyone who donated money to offer to Kelley for the sound system (she refused the money), we donated $700.00 in the name of Harlan Butler to the Food and Shelter Thanksgiving meal fund. As you probably know, Food and Shelter is responsible for the annual city of Norman Thanksgiving meal at Norman High School. April Heiple said our contribution in Harlan's name would help purchase turkey's again this year. She said that they can always use donations like these around the holidays. 

For those of you who still wish to give in Harlan's name, we will pass the hat this Saturday at Midway. Remember your coffee is free if you are wearing a Harlan UBU Hippybus bracelet.


cRc canine members Hawkeye (standing) and Trapper (resting) guard Steve’s Willy’s jeep with affection for all, but mostly for Steve. Photo taken by Lani


NEWS FLASH - 4PM SATURDAY . . HARLAN'S 1942 HARLEY SOLD TODAY. GOOD JOB EVERYONE AT THE SHOP SALES EVENT. THANKS FOR COMING DOWN.

Posted Saturday, November 23rd COFFEE GROUNDS 
A good group assembled at Harlan's shop in Noble and managed to drink 72 cups of coffee and eat 1/2 a rum cake and 3 dozen donuts..........and kick the tires on the 1969 Corvette and the 1942 Harley and the 1974 Van........oh yes, and carry away about $850.00 of garage sale items from the shop. We had about 30 members come down between 7am and 10:30am. Vinny and Ron got so excited that they drove all the way from Norman to Purcell and then back up to Noble (because they could not find my shop in Purcell)! A good time was had and everyone enjoyed seeing the 2 secret vehicles that Harlan enjoyed but did not publicly display.

Kelley may have an offer on the Corvette, so if you are interested - you better call quickly so you don't get left out. The price on the  Corvette at $45k. Kelley's number is 405-503-1551 so give her a call. If we don't sell it locally, it will going on "Bring a trailer" on December 4th. And that is my report.
Posted November 22 - TESLA unveils a very radical design in a pickup truck, one that will go 0-60 in 4.5 seconds. To see and learn, click the button below.
Posted November 22:
Hey Dave, where has my favorite page gone?
A couple of times each year, we "freshen" the website by hiding pages that are "one time events". We also bring on new pages as things seem to become important to the membership. Since it is now winter, and car shows are only a fond memory - that page is offline right now and will be back in the spring. 

Also the "meet your members"  interview page is offline, we are going to go to a different format on that process. We have two new pages under construction, a PARADE INFORMATION page where all upcoming parades will be listed, and a FOOD AND SHELTER page. food and Shelter has become such a big partnership for the CRc that I thought we would put all things Food and Shelter related (The annual car show, the crop walk), and other things like that on a dedicated page. So watch for these pages to develop over the next week or so.
Posted November 18th - update on the Harlan tool and other goodies sale.......today Jim Hoffman and I transported Harlan's beautiful 1942 Harley-Davidson motorcycle to the shop. It will be cleaned up this week (doesn't need much more than dusting) and on display for you to enjoy on Saturday. What a beautiful (and very heavy) bike. Did I mention it was VERY HEAVY? Did I mention that Philip and I got it started? See video above and also one on the potato-potato-potato page.

Ray Langley and (Mayor) Bob Thompson also came down and we discovered the third carburetor in the Corvette had a stuck float (it takes 4 cRc members to detect a flooding carb), which has been corrected and his 1969 Corvette (427) is running smoothly for being in the garage for 8 years and it will also be on display. Come and drool but not on the car. It will be for sale later, but Marshall Pierson and Ray are working on its value since it is a semi-rare vehicle. Bet you didn't even know he had it. The last time I saw it was about 9 years ago at Rivermont retirement center when he drove it. The club was 2 years old then and just beginning to do community projects. Wow have we come a long way.


Did you know Harlan had a pretty good sized scale model car collection? That will also be available for purchase on Saturday. Some are in good condition, others are not. You decide.  Just make an offer on these toys. Some will really go well in your own shop if you have a similar car in your fleet. 

 We transported the Harley motorcycle in Harlan's 1974 Ford "shorty" van. Some of you have probably have seen it before, others not. It will be for sale and available to crawl all over on Saturday. Kelley told me that Harlan loved the van and the Hippy Bus more than anything. I drove the van today with the '42 Harley strapped in the rear and I can see why Harlan loved it. 

Yeah the right front brake grabs a bit before the rest, and it is a bit loud because it is mostly wood and metal inside, but wow is it a fun little van to drive. Marilyn and I are too old for van camping trips (we believe the ground has hardened as a result of the hole in the Ozone layer, whatever that is!) but I can remember the day when something like that would have been perfect for two cots and a 2-burner Coleman by a creek. (about 1974!)

And a 1942 Harley-Davidson motorcycle just rolls right into it upright with lots of room to spare. Kelley would like to get $3,800 for it (the van, not the motorcycle), but would go a bit less for a club member. If you are interested Saturday, we can put the van on my lift for you to inspect. You may also drive it. I think there are some Expedition leather bench seats in the Harlan shop and maybe a bumper that we would toss in the deal. Harlan had it all.

The van is painted flat red-lead primer on the outside, certainly nothing special to look at, but I now see what Harlan saw in the van, a go-most-anywhere (reliable 302 engine), automatic, two door (front), two side door, two rear door van. 

And now about that 1942 Harley which almost no one had ever seen. I only saw it at his house one evening. I never saw him ride it. I will tell you that it is BEAUTIFUL.
It is not the military army version but the civilian sport version. Which means that instead of flat army drab green paint, it has beautiful gloss paint and instead of green olive drab panniers it has brown leather panniers and it has LOTS OF CHROME. Harley made these bikes between 1942 and 1945 and most were  classified as 1942 WLA bikes , which meant they went into military service. Not this one. It will be on display in Keith and Terry's shop (adjoins my shop) this Saturday. Come and admire it. I certainly have. About three years ago, a magazine did a feature on Harlan's bike, which is pictured below. (nice lady not included). I TOLD YOU that you had not seen this bike! (And some of you still have not noticed it......)



And that is today's report. We will have donuts and leftover coffee from the swap meet (just kidding!).....it will all be fresh and ready for you to enjoy at 7:30am this Saturday. Dress warmly, the weather will be nice but cool in the morning. Remember my shop is uninsulated. Key in on the word UNINSULATED!
See you at Harlan's cool coffee call, 
Dave Saunders, proud to be a friend of Harlan who was "That Guy".
405-406-3730

Posted Nov 18 - the Harlan shop/tool sale is on! Saturday, November 24, the sale of tools and supplies at Harlan's shop will take place. All money collected will be donated in his name to Food and Shelter. You pick your items and make a donation- If you want, you can write a check to food and Shelter. Snapshots of some of the things are shown below. Click on them to enlarge. We will have coffee and donuts at Dave's shop next door. We will have the gate open and the coffee hot about 7:30am.
How to get there: Come straight through Noble, like you were going to Purcell on highway 77. After you come out of the town heading south, in about a mile, you will pass a cemetery on your left. Look for a tall red lettered L.E.D. type sign down ahead on the right - that is Noble Farm and Building Supply, 8800 Highway 77 South. The entrance to the shops are through a security gate, inside a fence. (We will have the gate open at 7:30am) on a gravel road just to the left of the main entrance. My shop is on the back row (you can't see it from the highway, at the very south of the property. Look for one of the classic cars to guide the way in. 405-4006-3730
Science fiction has arrived on HARLAN'S HOTSPOT......a youtube video of the TESLA plant......click below to jump there:
Two weeks ago at the THUNDERBIRD CASINO car show, the casino donated $1,100 of the registration money to a critically ill Little Axe high school student, Rachel Scott. Wayne Lewis donated his $400 door prize winning in the name of the club. A total of $1,500. we received this email from the Scott family this week. Make you proud to be a cRc member.

"Just wanted to thank you all for your kindness shown to our daughter, Rachel Scott, at the car show at Thunderbird Casino. You all made a young ladies day, by allowing her to buy some things that will help her for her next hospital stay of about 6 or 7 weeks. Please share with everyone our gratitude.  I am also sending Rachel’s latest newsletter in a separate email. Thank you."

Bryce and Cindy Scott 
Wednesday evening, 11/13
I received an email from April Heiple of Food and Shelter this afternoon, thanking the club for their more than $1,000 donated to Food and Shelter in the name of Harlan Butler. Our club continues to demonstrate generosity and kindness in the face of tragedy. The Butler family, Kelley and Casey and now little dog Maddie also thank each contributor for their kindness.

We have been carefully sorting through the items at Harlan's shop in Noble. Sorting and occasionally discarding, but keeping most. What remains is a wide variety of shop items, including: A motorcycle trailer, a motorcycle jack, several 2 ton+ hydraulic jacks, sets of jack stands, some signs and flags and model cars, a number of large electric motors, a number of gallons of 
Mobil-1 motor oil as well as other brands, a good selection of body shop tools, a sand blaster plus sand, full face mask and apron, a vise, various air powered tools, a number of large pipe wrenches, towing equipment, several sets of tires and wheels, mostly for vans, several tool chests, assorted tools, 2 creepers, an assortment of automotive supplies such as brake fluids and 104 Octane power booster, some stand light, a high velocity fan, various nuts and bolts (typical shop items), a bag of welding gear including welders mask and other tools, gloves and such, auto weatherstripping and insulation, and other items which we plan to sell. (Similar to the Saturday coffee we held at Curtis's shop). We will modify our coffee call in 2 Saturday's and will host coffee and treats at Dave Saunders shop, which is next to Harlan's shop. 

Members will be able to come and enjoy our Saturday morning fellowship and then go next door, picking and choosing the items they wish to purchase. We will be accepting reasonable donations in Harlan's name for Food and Shelter.  These are Kelley's wishes. As an example, Mobil 1 sells on sale at O'Reilly's for about $28 a jug. We think $15 for a jug is an appropriate donation. Tools will go for $1 to $2 each depending on the quality and size (you decide the fair price, not us).

Kelley is interested in giving up the shop by the end of 2019, so it all must go one way or another. Our target date is November 23 depending on the start time of the TCU-OU game. If it is an early game we will wait a week or so. Keep a close eye on the calendar page to watch for it.
cRc hats around the world.......(Mayor) Bob Thompson proudly displays his cRc hat while on a cRuise up the Rhine River in Germany. If you have a unique spot where you were wearing your cRc hat, email a photo to crccarclub@aol.com and we will put it on the website! We know everyone sleeps with them on!

Posted Wednesday, 11/13/19  cRc member Dan Haggerty gives Norman Mayor Breea Clark a ride in his 1962 Chevy for the Norman Veterans Parade......another "give-back" to the community by our members.

Posted Wednesday, 11/13/19 CRC gifts $1,100 to Veterans. The "gang of seven"  which earns club funds by putting on all the cars shows voted this week to gift $1,100 to the Veterans Centers for a specific purpose------to help the morale of Oklahoma Veterans who have no known family. This fund, available to Veterans throughout the state who are housed in the 7 Veterans Centers, pays for things like a birthday cake, maybe a small Christmas present, or a Valentine's day card. Little tokens to let the Vet know he or she is not alone in this world.

Another tip of our hoods to the gang of 7 who work so hard to make our car shows the best around. By the way, the club is taking over sponsorship of the 2020 Norman Veterans Center car show, a great venue and show that has lots of potential, but has slowly been neglected for a number of years. Just another reason to be proud to be a canadian RIVER cruiser!
Cars for sale:
cRc member Bill Amis has decided to sell his 1951 Riley sports car. It is posted on the cars for sale page. This IS NOT just another daily driver for sale.

Likewise, Kelley has made the decision to sell Harlan's 1969 C-3 Corvette. This is a numbers matching 1969, 427 with 3 deuces and 400 H.P. The original headers are included along with a number of parts, including the original red line tires (not currently on the car). More information to follow as we determine a price for this fine classic. If you want to see the car, call Dave Saunders 4005-406-3730 and I will arrange. Photos are on cars-and-parts-for-sale.php . Click the green link. 


Who we are:
We are a community service club: The cRc is not just another car club. No car club does more community interest projects in the area than the canadian RIVER cruisers. We are currently planning a large presence at the lub annual pancake breakfast, contributions in the name of Harlan Butler to Food and Shelter, a $400 contribution from Wayne Lewis to the very ill student at Little Axe high school, various and many contributions of club members to the City of Norman Veterans Parade, including the parade, the organizing committee (Terry and Roger) , food and refreshment donations from cRc member (Midway) Bob Thompson, and Emeritus cRc member Ed Paulus leading the group in the pledge of allegiance. This morning, for example club members (Mayor) Bob Thompson and Dave Saunders visited Adams and McKinley schools and picked up two thousand pounds of canned goods (ugh!), and delivered them to the Cleveland County Christmas Store.? Did you know that Vince Letta volunteers much of his free time to the Christmas store?
Most of these  things go unnoticed by the public as we work quietly in the background, trying to do good things for our community, sharing our cars, our time and our contributions. Together we DO make a difference. Proud to be a cRc member.
The club would like to welcome BJ Longenbaugh from Noble and his patriotic inspired 1936 Chevrolet custom Coupe. Under the hood is a right sized Chevrolet 283. BJ joined the club during the 2019 Veterans Day celebration in Reaves Park. 

Coffee grounds: A really beautiful morning and very well attended coffee call at La Madeline French Restaurant, where we learn that someone has another little bird......

Little Axe cheerleaders did a great job on the 50/ 50 pot at THUNDERBIRD
they sold over 1000 dollars in tickets.... ThunderBird Casino donated $1000 to them in the name of the Canadian River Cruisers. cRc member Wayne Lewis donated his 400 dollar winning to the cause to go to the family of one of the cheerleaders that has Leukemia - talk about being proud of a club.......
Stepping up: Following the unexpected passing of key club member Harlan Butler, several members stepped up to insure a successful Thunderbird car show for both the Casino and the club. First, special recognition to our fantastic car show team. These guys just made everything run like a top, smooth as silk pie. Next, special thanks to Kelley Butler who has gifted Harlan's sound system and generator to the club. We will accept donations for this system (the place for donations at coffee call will be announced in the near future). The donations for the sound system will be donated to Food and Shelter in the name of Harlan Butler.

Well, we have not decoded the sound system yet, but Swap Meet Dan stepped up and provided great music and a P.A. system, and did all the work on Saturday for us - thanks Dan we really appreciate it! We did get the generator of Harlan's running and used it at Thunderbird to provide power to the system.

We had in excess of 140 cars at the show and this was a great turnout from both the club and the community for a show in late fall. Thanks to everyone who came out with a car, or worked the show.

The cRc would like to extend a big welcome to JERRY CAMP, his 1973 white Corvette and his unknown other number of completed cars and work-in-progress vehicles. He signed up this last weekend at the Thunderbird car show. WELCOME JERRY!
Now what we have here.......is a little opportunity for some fun. Which of the photos IS NOT like the others.
This is a long standing cRc club member.....a charter one at that!

We are not exactly sure what this member is trying to do, so maybe the membership can help. Send your clever ideas about what he is doing to: mailto:crccarclub@aol.com
            
       " He is hanging out until the Thunderbird Car Show this next weekend"
       " He is cutting off a limb that will result in more than a shoulder injury."
       " He is gathering nuts for the winter!"
       " Is there another person in that tree? Standing on the limb to the right?"
       " What happened to my ladder?"
       " Which of the photos is the cRc member?"
       " I know that squirrel took my bag of peanut M&M's"

Posted Sunday, October 19th a note from member John Houchin:
Hello all! 
I was wondering if anyone in the club might have some ideas for some long term storage space for multiple cars.  Probably 5-6 cars.    I’d heard of some space in Moore, but would prefer to be closer to central Norman. 
I might want to use it as an actual workshop too. 
Thanks in advance.
John Houchin
Johnhouchin123@gmail.com
cell: 405-255-4639
Posted, Sunday 10/19, Norman Oklahoma Crop Walk

It always makes me smile when we get a big turnout for one of or community events, and so it was today we had a bakers dozen new and vintage vehicles in Andrews Park on display for the citizens to enjoy as they prepared to raise money by walking 3.1 miles for Food and shelter and a national organization known as crop walk. We made a short video of the event for you to enjoy. The weather was perfect.

Thank you to all the members who made an effort to come out today!
The club would like to welcome Todd Compton and his 2019 White Corvette. We hope to see more of Todd and his ride in the near future.

A new member to the club could be a challenge to the longest car...this is a gigantic 1970 Cadillac......more information to follow.

We would like to welcome JOHN CARTER and his 1970 Cadillac convertible, a photo which is shown below. AS well as the Hoffman's buick - it will be interesting to see in 2020 how this comes out. Stay tuned.

               THIS?                                                             OR OUR CURRENT CHAMP?



Below is the article on Zac the younger.......and his cute 1941 Oldsmobile.


Photos of this past weekend "longest car contest" held at Rudy's. To see the large version, simply double-click on the thumbnail photo.
COFFEE GROUNDS, RUDY'S BBQ, Saturday August 24th.......ahhh what a difference 3 inches of rain and a drop in temperature of a dozen degrees 

makes! A very enthuiastic group of cRc members began gathering at Rudy's beginning around 0730 and the parking lot was crowded by 8:30. Today was our annual "who has the longest car in the club?" That dear reader has been a subject of warm debate ever since we launched the contest, about 4 years ago.

We had 10 entries, some of which we we recruited only for measurement practice. Cars in the 206-210 inch range probably would not win, since we knew we had cars in the 220 inch range.

Before we began, we received a number of protests........

Would a continental tire kit be allowed? Yes, if was installed on the car....

Would fender feelers be counted if they were pointed forward and backwards and lengthened the car. Yes, if you had to resort to that to win....

Would Dave be allowed to open the trunk on his Model A Ford and count the additional 16 inches? Maybe, because he couldn't win anyway.

Was Lani's ranchero a car or a truck? Yes.

Would we accomplish anything by measuring Wayne's Smartcar? No, but we measured it at 107.5". Two Smartcars end to end would still be short.

Would Bill Mcbee be disqualified with his Rivera if he showed up late? It was 8:53 and the final measurement was to take place at 0900. Maybe, depending on whether or not he brought a homemade fruitcake for the judge. (Sadly he did not but arrived within the given time)

 If I put 3-foot-long tail pipe extensions on my car will I qualify? Get serious here...

And so on and on it went and the results are below....

Big, but not quiet long enough were Kim Dewbre's 1993 Cadillac at 205.75", Billy Henry's 1966 Thunderbird at 206.75", John Peace and his 198.5" 68 Chevelle, Michael Fain in BIG M, his 1956 Merc at 206.0" and Gary Lumow's Pontiac at 208.25".......and now for the biggest or the big.....


Lawrence Terry's 1957 Chevy with fully extended continental kit was 215",

Lani's 1975 Ranchero measured 218" and she ws in the lead for a while.

However.......


A low rumbling (a stomach perhaps) was heard up on Chatauqua as Jim and Carol's 1975 Buick came gliding up to the measurement point........224-3/4" and took the lead. Shannon showed up but his Superbird was not with him so there was no rematch there. Roy Sherry had a contender with his Pariseanne but decided not to drive it, so we will not know until next year how it stacked up.



Several members tried to talk Lani into a remeasure with her tailgate down, but she would not hear of it.  And at 8:53, Bill and Joyce drove up in the biggest challenge of the day. Carpenter's right angles were brought out of nowhere and the semi-precise measurement began......223-3/4" ......later, the winner of the $25 Rudy's gas or food card was declared: 1st place again to Jim Hoffman with Bill McBee winning a $5.00 gift card for O'Reilleys. Special thanks to Philip, Van, Lawrence, and others who helped with the measurement. As always, the club proved again what a fun time we have at Rudy's.

Well of course there will be a smallest car contest a bit down the road......


The City of Norman and the cRc are in a partnership to provide the city with a first class Veterans Parade on Sunday, November 10th. One of our remaining Korean War club members who can still fit into his uniform (there are more, but they can't) will lead the visitors in the pledge of allegiance. Parade Coordinator Extraordinaire and Supreme Community Leader Terry O'Dea reports that we have a dozen Vets signed up so far. We need far more than that. Get out those pocket calendars gang and see if you can do something good for the city. On Saturday at Boomerang there will be a sign up sheet....well, what are you waiting for? We need the names in very early August because each car will have a specially prepared sign.