Posted Thursday July 9th at 7PM - a CELEBRATION OF LIFE for Van Harrington will be held this Saturday, JULY 11th at HOLLYWOOD CORNERS beginning at 3PM. Official Air Force services will begin at 4PM and the service will conclude at 5PM. Come and raise a glass to our dear and departed cRc member Van. If you have a Corvette, please drive it as it was Van's favorite vehicle.


Posted Thursday July 9th - it is with deep sadness that we report the passing of Van Harrington. Van passed yesterday about 4:30 PM. A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing Van for our "meet your members" page. I have copied most of my interview below for your enjoyment....our hearts and thoughts go out to Nancy and the Harrington family.


Interview with Van Harrington: Just about as certain as there is to be coffee on Saturday, members will find one of Van Harrington's Corvettes parked at coffee call and Van inside visiting with other members.

Born in Orange, Texas in 1953. (He notes with pride that he and the Corvette were born in the same year, 1953) . His dad was a school principal in Orange. At age 14 the family moved to Waco, Texas where Van attended and graduated high school. At age 15, he bought his first Corvette - a 1961 Vette.

"Dad had one and my brother had a '63, so I just fell in love with them. I drove both my 1961, and also my brother's 1963 all over the area, putting thousands of miles on them. I consider my brother's Vette to be my 2nd Corvette."

Van graduated from high school in 1971 and went immediately into the U.S. Air Force and following recruitment camp, was stationed in Wichita Falls at Sheppard AFB where we worked as a mental health tech. His 1st son was born while he was stationed at Sheppard and his 2nd son was born while he was at Norton AFB in California. In 1978, he changed from hospital care to data systems and was stationed at the Air force data systems facility in Montgomery, Alabama.

A relocation to Germany brought a top secret security clearance, Nancy his wife and a 3rd Corvette. This one was a 1979 model, the Corvette, not Nancy.  Returning stateside to Langley, Va. a first daughter was born. Additional assignments in data intelligence , in the D.C. area afforded a stint at Andrews AFB where Air Force 1 is based. While at Andrews, a third son was born. Van retired in 1991 and he and his family (Nancy was also career Air Force) moved to Biloxi for her final assignment) and then in 1996, they came to Norman, Nancy's home.   Meanwhile, a 4th Vette had been purchased, this one a 2000 year model - unfortunately it was totaled in Norman in 2005.


Van and Nancy live west of Norman in what is known as the nine mile flats. A 5th Corvette was purchased , but Van did not like this 1996 C-4 and sold it shortly after buying it. Then there was the 6th Vette - a 2005 and a 7th Vette, a 1971 C-3 (which was the year of Van's graduation from high school).  Van got his mechanical ability by the well tested "trial and error" method.

Some of the interesting things you probably do not know about Van are:

- He has his hang glider license.

- He learned to water ski at age 6.

- His favorite sport is NASCAR racing.

- He likes to race ATV vehicles and has raced on the National ATV racing circuit. He even built an ATV track at his house in Virginia.

An active member of the cRc, Van joined the club about 2012.




Posted Tuesday July 7th - on Monday, July 6, cRc member Van Harrington suffered a serious heart attack and is currently in ICU at the Norman Healthplex. Please join in sending good thoughts and prayers for Van to his wife Nancy and the Harrington family. He is currently not able to have visitors beyond the family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA from RUDY'S BBQ in Norman, OKLAHOMA:

We celebrate Ed's 92nd birthday, wave the flag, visit a vintage tow truck and more!

CRC member Brent brought his vintage tow truck for us to enjoy.

CRC girly gEarhead Kaye Cook gets us in the 4th of July spirit 

with her great red, white, and blue theme.


Saturday was "Drive something with a flag on it" and so we did!
Happy 92nd birthday to the senior member of the cRc Eddie Paulus. On Saturday at Rudy's BBQ, the club members enjoyed ice cream and cake as Ed's son John came with him to coffee call. 

Ed, a Korean War Veteran will again kick off the City of Norman Veteran ceremonies on November 8th with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Now what we have here..........................is the coolest thing on Ken's new Chevy pickup. Got your hands full of concrete blocks? No problem.


And finally, it was good to see Barry (left) and Mike (right) at coffee call again. They have been working to get a 1929 Hupmobile engine started. And they got it going last week. This Hupmobile is an ongoing restoration project. The vehicle is, or will be for sale, so if you are interested in seeing it- contact Mike McCorkle at 405-203-9446     You might have seen it sitting on a trailer at last fall's Norman Swap Meet.
The restaurant report: Ozzie's at the airport seems to be closed. So does Legend's on Lindsey. A new Sam's Southern Restaurant is going into the old Pizza Hut in Noble and will open soon. Try their catfish.
Reposted with changes, July 2nd - 

Posted Tuesday, June 30 - the year is half over (thank goodness)

THE CRC CAR SHOW HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR 2020

THE CRC CAR SHOW HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR 2020

THE CRC CAR SHOW HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR 2020

An update about the cRc -Food and Shelter car show. As you know, our July 25th show is still appearing on the club calendar. Whether or not we actually have it - remains up in the air. 

1. We have contacted both the city of Norman mayor's office as well as city council members to seek their advice. We want to be sure that we remain in compliance with city directives, and THERE IS SOME UNCERTAINY HERE. Hopefully we will receive guidance this week as this will be an item to be taken up at TONIGHT'S city council meeting. Cases of COVID are rising in many parts of Oklahoma and throughout west, and the city just canceled their 3-day music festival scheduled for August.  THIS SHOW HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR 2020

2. Until recently, we knew of no cRc members who had contracted COVID - but that is no longer the case.

3. There are some car shows which are being held. The reports are that they are well attended. The reports also are that people are desperate to get out of confinement. Social distancing is encouraged but not enforcable at these shows. Some people do, some don't. It is certain to be like that at our show. Some would be careful, others not so much. We cannot enforce social distancing behavior at our show. THE SHOW HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR 2020

4. The club does this show as a community service for Food and Shelter, who would be the biggest losers if the show were cancelled. Over the years, we have donated almost $100,000 to Food and Shelter. We will figure out some way to raise some funds for F&S in the fall of the year. 

5. Thunderbird Casino, our largest car show partner just closed their casino again, for "DEEP CLEANING". They have not contacted us about rescheduling the spring show or even the fall show. Things remain too uncertain.

Dave Saunders


Posted June 27th- coffee call from RUDY'S BBQ in Norman, Oklahoma
PONY CAR day at Rudy's BBQ and wow did we have some fun. We had 7 Mustangs and 6 Camaros at one point, not to mention Vettes, T-Birds and Chevelles. A good morning with lots of conversation about engines, suspensions, paint jobs and the like. We wish to welcome new member STEVE WALDRUP and his very sweet 1966 Mustang GT fastback, an uncommon example of a very nice driver. Not to mention the stroker 302 V8 that sits under the hood. (first photo on left)
Koy Floyd is selling his beautiful 1936 Ford flathead V-8. It is an all original with 65,000 miles on the engine, on its. first repaint job, again the factory color. He is asking $28,000 for this beautiful classic humpback. We did a video of the car and you can see it by clicking below, or just navigating over to the cars for sale page. Contact Koy at 405-706-2626

for-sale.php

A great youtube video on the robotic manufacturing of a Tesla....thanks Jock for sending this in.
We resumed coffee call on Saturday June 20th and it was hot rod day. Shown below, left to right are Marshal's Dodge, his Plymouth, Wayne's and John's...all fun cars.


Posted Saturday June 20th - we're sponsoring a July birthday cruise as shown below. A signup sheet will circulate at coffee call. Looking for 20 cars. Tuesday, July 14th an evening cRc  BIRTHDAY CRUISE for a 6 year old in NEWCASTLE....line up on south side of Dillard's at Sooner Mall and play follow the leader's Jim and Carol Hoffman over to Newcastle to let this young "kar-kid" enjoy our cars as a birthday present. Return to Norman about 8pm.


Posted Thursday June 18th - the cRc is proud to announce that for the second year in a row, Eddie Paulus has been asked to open the Veterans Day ceremonies by leading everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance.



Posted Wednesday June 17th - we have a date of November 8th for the annual Veterans Day Parade. This is always a great event and the crc does a super job with the parade. Thanks Terry for representing the club in this. The date is posted on the club calendar.


ROSE ROCK, round 3....we have a new date for the rescheduled ROSE ROCK FESTIVAL! It will be Saturday August 8th both the car show and the parade. The festival runs Friday thru Sunday. Stay tuned for more information. Congratulations to a determined city of Noble!



WANTED-GOOD VINTAGE CARS FOR SALE!

Posted June 12th - the club received a call from Travis Simpson of Norman-Edmond, Oklahoma who owns a wedding photography business. TRavis is interested in purchasing one or more 1910-1950 era vehicles to use as props for his wedding photography business. Here are his needs as best as I can gather: The vehicle needs to be able to run, but hopped up engines and tricked out with chrome are not needed as we are photographing brides here, not gearheads.


Likewise the interior needs to be nice. The bride must WANT TO SIT IN IT because it is a cool LOOKING car. The interior could be vintage but needs to be in good condition. The car does not need to be perfect, but it does need to photograph well.

The paint needs to be serviceable. Travis is not looking for 16 coats of hand rubbed lacquer, but the body needs to be free of dents and the paint can take and hold a shine. A convertible would be great, or an old Continental or Merc with suicide doors - something vintage cool. Lawrence Terry's cream yellow convertible comes to mind. also Zack's the younger's Oldsmobile. My 1931 Model-A Tudor. One of those porthole T-bird convertible hardtops of Billy and Mary's is a great example. Of course Charlie's 1955 Chevy convertible would be a great car but these are just club cars I am using as examples. The club has dozens of such cars, but none to my knowledge are for sale.

If you have something you feel Travis might be interested in, give him a call, introduce yourself and talk with him. He is at 405-210-5756. We typically don't like for club cars to LEAVE the club, but perhaps we can convince Travis to join the club and that way everything will be peachy-keen.


Posted June 12th - for veterans: Here is a list of places who have the form you must fill out to have your name inscribed on the Cleveland County Veterans Memorial in Reaves Park.

You may pick up a form at one of the following places and simply fill it out:

THE NORMAN TRANSCRIPT on Comanche Ave.

MIDWAY DELI on Eufaula Ave.

MASTER TECH AUTOMOTIVE on 24TH

RUDY'S BBQ on Hwy 9

Terry O'Dea is trying to get 200 new names engraved on the war memorial. 

You can see more specifics about his project on the Veteran's Page by clicking here: veterans-corner.php

Posted June 9th - Marilyn and I will be back from Woodland Park, Colorado (8,400 feet) later this week, but this is what we woke up to this morning.....about 4 inches of beautiful snow. It arrived in the night and was completely gone by 1pm! What a treat! See you soon,

Dave

Posted June 9th- The link to an estate auction with cars and shop tools galore is featured on the FOR SALE page on our website. Click the green link below which takes you to our internal page, once there, click the internet link to take you to the auction company to view everything.  How hard did I make that!    for-sale.php


Posted June 4 - we are looking for a few good men and women, 200 130 that is, who have a connection to Cleveland County and served in the Armed forces - to have your name engraved on the memorial wall at Reeves Park. For more information please contact cRc member Terry O'Dea at 405-641-7718. There is more information about this program on our Veterans Corner page.....click the button below to go there:

THANK YOU! The cRc would like to thank the Harris family and Jennifer in particular for sewing the cool cRc facemasks. While there may be a few orders at my house that have not been processed (I am out of town), we are completing this project. I looked at the construction of these masks and there is even a little nose clip inside that you can bend to contour them. Very professional indeed. I hope that everyone is sure to thank Jennifer the next time we get together at coffee call - which, if the city of Norman COVID plan holds, will be at RUDY'S on the 20th of June! 

(photo: Top left to right..Jennifer and Abigale, bottom right - Amanda)

Posted Friday May 29th - some good news for the club. If the cases of Covid remain on a downward slope, on June 15th, the City of Norman will move to the next phase of reopening, which includes gatherings of less than 50 people.....which means (drum roll please) we will at long last resume coffee call beginning on SATURDAY June 20th at RUDY'S for those who feel comfortable doing so. It will be HOT ROD day. They should all be running well and highly polished since you have had nothing better to do! 


Please notice that the club calendar is now showing our routine rotation for coffee call starting mid June.  The exception may be Midway who is still not open inside their restaurant, but we will work something out by then.

Posted Thursday, May 28th - the club would like to welcome Tony Fisher and his very sharp 1971 Olds Cutlass Supreme. Tony retired from a career in the U.S. Air Force. Tony, the club thanks you for your service. 


Posted Tuesday May 26th - slowly, slowly life is beginning to return to a more normal pace. Hollywood Corners has seen a little classic car activity on thursday evenings and our fabulous and "COOPED UP LIKE A CAT" car show czar has found The Southern Thunder car show in OKC which is posted for this Saturday on BOTH the home page and the car show page.....and the NOBLE ROSE ROCK PARADE will also take place on Saturday. So things are moving in the right direction because if we stay at home much longer, we will have polished all the paint off of our cars, weeded all the beds in the yard (heaven forbid) , cleaned out that back closet for the third time, and have forgotten what our friends look like except with a mask. 


Speaking of masks, Jennifer is still in mask production so if you have not received your yet but have ordered it - please be patient. Elastic is VERY scarce right now. 


We have been fortunate as a club - I have heard of no cases of Covid infecting our membership. For the most part, we are an "at-risk" group with many members over 70. I think the membership has done a very good job in following the guidelines for the parades and other activities we held in first quarter. As we resume a more normal life, I would urge you to continue to safeguard yourself and others, by continuing to do many of the things we have all be practising the past several months. Keep you mask handy and we have all learned to talk louder and from a distance. It would be such a shame to lose a valued club member to Covid near the end of this thing....food for thought.

I think we WILL BE ABLE to show off those recently waxed cars at the end of July during our cRc annual Food and Shelter car show, so stay ready for that one! We will have learned a few things about how to keep folks safer also which we will try to apply.

Enough for now, I have to go to the shop and apply a fresh coat of wax to a car!

Dave


Posted May 24th - HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND - BE SURE TO CHECK OUT OUR cRc TRIBUTE TO OUR CRC VETERANS ON THE VETERAN'S CORNER PAGE...and by the way, the club has met our goal of collecting $600 for the Norman Veteran Center picnic table and umbrella fund. Thanks to everyone who dug down during this tough time and made a contribution. We are going to take a break from the collecting business for a bit. Stay home and stay safe!


Above, the Vets await the classic car parade.......right: Dave practices extreme social distancing with Ray as he accepts the final $150 for the Veteran Center picnic table and umbrella fund!
POSTED MAY 23RD - AN UPDATE ON MASKS FROM JENNIFER....if you have not yet received the mask(s) you ordered, please be patient. cRc members have ordered more masks than she had material to make them and so she had to backorder additional material. We will be back in the mask business as soon at it arrives. Thank you for being patient and we hope you enjoy them! BE SAFE EVERYONE!


Posted May 22 - This thank you note received yesterday from the Norman Veteran Center. We are still collecting money for the Center, so if you would like to contribute, please make your check out to the Norman Veteran Center and mail it to Dave Saunders, 438 South Lahoma Ave. , Norman, OK. 73069 and I will get it to the Center. Thank you cRc members for your support of our Vets.
Good sunday morning, May 17 something.......and for your morning coffee and ham biscuit, we present two youtube videos of very unique, sometimes concept cars, sometimes production cars, and sometimes one of a kind cars. All were oddities that were ahead of their time.  Sit back and sip that coffee and enjoy.
And now a rather oddly computer voice narrated series of very interesting cars. The odd little computer guy sort of enhances these vehicles.
Bored little cRc hats wander around in Wyoming.  DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU CRC HAT IS? If it is wandering about, take a pix and send it to the cRuisers, we love to post where they are!
How 'Ten Sleep' Wyoming Got its Name. Down through the West canyon of the Big Horn Mountains on Highway 16. ... The  story claims that Ten Sleep came from the Indians' reference to a ford across the creek, on the old Bridger Trail, as being 10 days (sleeps) journey from Fort Laramie, or maybe from Yellowstone. Population 254 and two hats.


The cRc would like to welcome Shelley and David Helms and their beautiful 1969 Chevelle. The Helms participated in our NOBLE USA appreciation parade last week and for some strange reason, liked us and wanted to join! We hope that we can see them sometime without facemasks! Speaking of facemasks, be sure to check out our very cool NEW CRC FACE MASKS which are available to order - how to do this is on our home page! (of course the cRc has a facemask)


Posted Sunday, April 26 a little bit of COACH RILEY and some OU SOONER MAGIC - Midway Bob received the challenge from Lincoln Riley, Head Coach of OU football - find several 1969 era muscle cars and have them at Owen field on Saturday evening about 5:30 for a Sooner football shoot. And so the search began. 


As you can see from the photos and video below, we found EXACTLY what OU was looking for. Lincoln Riley took time for a photo op with each of our members and his staff was well prepared for the cars. Imagine having your classic photographed in Owen field! As your watch the video, listen to the sound for those exhaust pipes on Mel's Chevelle....sweet music!

Shane Vice is going to prepared a little video that explains what OU was planning to do with the photo shot. maybe w will see some of it this fall during football season.


Saturday night, April 25 - Norman, OK. A parade of 37 cars, some older, some newer, split 2/3 cRc cars 1/3 guest cars. We were worried that with the various postings on Facebook, that our parade might be difficult to manage - but we were proven wrong. Everyone did a good job of just parading, following the traffic signals, and in general, creating a good time for everyone. Another tip 'o the hood to our parade coordinator Terry O'Dea for all the prep work that he puts into these.....it is appreciated by all. We also drove past Floyd's house and gave them both a shout-out. Photo is below.

A BIG THANKS TO ALL THE CRC CLUB MEMBERS FOR THE CRUISE BY MY HOME.   IT WAS GOOD TO SEE ALL THE CAR AND THANKS TO TERRY O'DEA.  , Floyd and Lavanda Yates


APPRECIATION PARADE FOR NOBLE, USA

The cRc put 30 classic cars in and around Noble on Thursday afternoon, with police escort. A great day and people really enjoyed seeing out cars. We went past the police and fire stations, zig-zagged our way across town, and drove past their retirement home before returning to U.S. 77 and disbanding. special thanks to the Noble police department for the 2 cruisers who sptooed traffice and led the way. Also thanks to cRc member Waylon for the use of the noble hardware parking lot as a staging area.

This is a video of going down Main Street in Noble. It is not easy to steer a 1926 model T Ford with one hand, work the iPhone with another hand, honk the horn with another hand, wave with another hand, adjust the 2 speed gearbox with another, rich and lean the spark lever with another hand, and adjust the gas throttle with another hand. That's at least 5 too many hands. If I had only been an Octipus, it would have been easy.

April 15th - We parade in front of Food and Shelter to show our appreciation and support 

for all they do in our community.

It was as much about getting out and letting anyone see the cars. People stopped cutting their grass and watched as our long line of classics rumbled past. Once again, everyone stayed in their cars and maintained more than perfect social distancing requirements.
It was a beautiful afternoon for our second appreciation parade. The video below was made in the parking lot at Arbor House. We also drove past two Norman Fire Stations, but didn't get any response (the email didn't get there) , and then made two passes by Food and Shelter. We had a good variety of cars and a good response from the citizens all around town. We will plan another for next week, likely to be in Noble. Stay tuned.

The cRc is pleased to welcome new member AL HARRIS. We will have more information about Al and his ride(s)in the next few days.

The cRc is pleased to add the name of club member Ed Braly to our list of Veterans. Ed served in the United States Army. Ed, we all thank you for your service.
Posted April 9th - to keep you busy today we have posted a few new things on different pages. To access the newest postings, simply click each of the boxes below and you will be taken magically to that page. Aren't we clever!


cRc COMMUNITY PROJECT #3

Posted February 14th - first, let me wish everyone a Happy Valentine's day. The club successfully completed Community Service Project #3 for 2020 by providing a "James Bond" style Austin-Healey 3000 for the norman Regional Health Foundation's Gala at the Embassy Suites Hotel.  Shown in the photo are cRc members Chuck and Dana Anderson. Thanks for helping make this a special event for this important local and regional charity.






Navigate over to the VETERANS CORNER PAGE and read the writeup about the Norman Veteran Center drive-by parade and watch the video either below or over there.
Congratulations to cRc member Doug hill and his 2005 Saab 92X hatchback for being this month's  Norman Transcript "DIG MY RIDE"......a nice example of a man who is a true "SAAB-HEAD" and a great example of an uncommon modern day vehicle, likely the only survivor left in the state if not the region.


CAR SHOW NEWS FLASH!!! 

The car show committee just revealed the club trophies for our upcoming shows, including the COVETED "BEST OF SHOW"........thanks gang for making these quality trophies available. With trophies like this, the club should literably be able to "WIPE UP!"


Coffee grounds - Midway Deli - Leap year 2020

Sadly we had no leap year birthdays to show this morning, so no free breakfast. We welcome Mike Raymond and his work in progress 1935 Ford pickup. Mike joined the club today! 

We also welcome Abigail Harris' new 1959 Apache pickup. Abigail joins Amanda and her VW as our two youngest members who own classics. Their cars are side by side below.


Remember that 1948 Ford that was on the website several months ago? The photo showed clusters of mice nests where the motor should have been......well Lawrence went out and bought that car.........and here it is.......

The turnout was great, the parking lot full, and everyone spent a good bit of time outside as we always do when at Midway. 





Congratulations to the following, who received recognition from the transcript as "BEST OF NORMAN as voted by readers of the Transcript."

FOOD AND SHELTER - Best Community Service

RAY'S BBQ = Best BBQ

MIDWAY DELI - Best Deli

MIDWAY DELI - Best Lunch

MASTERTECH - Best auto repair

HOOPER PRINTING - Best printer

All of these Norman businesses the club works with in one area or another. If I missed any of our members or friends, please accept apologies.

COFFEE GROUNDS, BOOMERANG DINER, February 22nd- 

HAPPY MARDI GRAS DAY!


Over the 12 years the club has been alive and well in Norman, coffee call has morphed into an early session and a late session...and they have different personalities.  The early group arrives with the sun, often sitting in their cars and trucks about 10 minutes BEFORE the door is unlocked. When the restaurant lights flicker to life, the early-birds rush the door and arrive as if they had not eaten in days. No time is wasted on scanning the menu, these  members know exactly what they want. No hesitation.

About 8:30, a more "sedate hour" by those who come then, the other half of the coffee call group arrives, but spend some time visiting. The early birds have finished feeding and are ready to visit. It all works well. 

A number of members, are swithc-hitters arriving early and staying late. 

It is always fun to see what classics are in the lot, who is considering another car "Like OREO cookies, you can't just stop with one."

And now the news:

Good luck Abigail, as the Harris family were heading down enmass to Dallas to look at a sweet 1959 Chevy Apache pickup with a 235 6-pack in it. Abigail will get her lisc in April or May and won't that make a fun addition to the club. Light blue. Let's pull for Aligail on this one.

We have decided to hold the club Christmas party in 2020 on a FRIDAY EVENING in December, likely December 4th but we will let you know, specifically to NOT COINCIDE with the norman Christmas Parade which is on the 5th. Everyone arrives together for the concert and food. This year the CLYDESDALES will lead the parade program.

The club continued cRc community service project #5 for 2020 with collection of various magazines for the Veteran Center. I will take them over on Monday. Keep 'em coming gang!

 And last but not least, our weekly video is above.
 
 

cRc hats on the move........Posted February 18th - this cRc hat was photographed by Wayne Saunders in Ogallah, Nebraska.... are you going on a trip?  Take your cRc hat and send us a photo...

POSTED Sunday, February 16th- COFFEE GROUNDS - Rudy's BBQ


It was the cRc chapter of Valentine's Day and our girly gEarheds in attendance all received roses from Gentleman Roy, a complimentary breakfast , and a piece of candy. Shown to the right are Jennifer, Abigale, and Amanda with their cRc roses:


Austilene, sporting her roses and a smile.  --------------------------->>>>>


And then there was Wayne.....


Oklahoma being, well Oklahoma...had a number of kind people stopping to offer help, including cRc members. Next week we will crack into the engine to see if the camshaft has stripped the phenolic cam timing gear, which is highly suspect.

Gentleman Roy, to the left, with small red hearts adorning his club hat, was jolly on the spot whenever a lady arrived, wishing them a happy Valentine's day, presenting the rose and candy, and explaining about breakfast.


The morning had an inglorious ending for some of us, as a major breakdown occured on my way down to the shop in Noble requiring a tow......the Papparazzi are everywhere!

Coffee grounds - Hanger 1948, Norman Oklahoma Feb 8
The background for this message (white fades to blue) is supposed to represent the wild blue yonder. Special thanks to Terry O'Dea who set this morning up, brought donuts, and to Lani who through extreme dedication, dragged herself out of a warm bed and worked the coffee table. For those of you slugs who missed it, we had one heck of a time this morning, touring and enjoying the several antique aircraft that are stored, maintained, and flown regularly from Hanger 1948. Let's take a look through photos and youtube.....


We could not tell if this was Snoopy or the Red Baron, but it sort of looks like Ray Waldron, who, appears to have a change of clothes for every occasion. We are interested to see how he dresses next week for Valentine's day at Rudys BBQ.


We interviewed Jeremy Moore, one of the owners of Hanger 1948 about the beautiful 1941 Steerman, and here is what Jeremy told us -------------->>


Ino on the Jeep appears below, click the photo 
to enlarge.
The 3 big recipocating engine aircraft in the hanger were all T-6 Texan trainers. Info on them is below:

Naturally we had a good turnout for this event and we managed to drink slightly less than 100 cups of Maxwell House and eat about 45 donuts. A good morning's effort by the club. Around 42,000 calories, but when looking at antique aircraft, one must keep their strength up. 


We watched them move one a T-6 out of the hanger, prep it, start it, and up, up, and away it went. The video speed makes the prop look like it is just idling, but I assure you it is not.



Below, Pilot Jay tells us about his unique Czech-Russian jet and exactly how he came to own it. Enjoy the video below and also the walk-around video around to the right.

These folks were super-nice to share their hobby with us this morning. One final video shows some of the specialized equipment they have, a TOW-BOT which is a remote controlled tug, which can move their planes in and out of the hanger.

Posted Thursday February 6 - 

Check out the new and improved Gene Paulus 1956 Chevrolet. The classic recently was sidelined after having body work done and a spiffy two tone paint job, same copper and cream colors as previously. 

It looks show-ready for the spring and certainly will be a benefit to the Chevys in the upcoming annual battle of :
CHEVY vs FORD, 2020 Edition, currently scheduled for Saturday March 6th at Rudy's, weather permitting. In 2019, the Chevy team ran away with the trophy and the Ford team was forced to regroup. Will the Fords make a strong comeback this year? Be there at Rudy's on the 6th of March and participate. the count will be made in the parking lot at 9:00 AM. The car must be a Chevrolet or a Ford classic car or pickup to be counted. Corvette and Mustang, Fairlane and Chevelle or Chevy II, Falcon or Corvair do not count, these are full sized irons only. Any year before 1995.
Coffee grounds and other exciting news:
We had a great turnout at  last Saturday at Midway Deli and enjoyed 4 orphan cars. Here's the video:

Below are photos of "most" of our orphans, as one of my pix didn't turn out:



The first shot is of Gary's Pontiac, which is a nifty made-over Pontiac body with all new goodies everywhere else.







Second up is Chuck Anderson's restored Austin-Healey 3000 Mark II, which is going to be featured in this week's Norman Regional Foundation Gala.





Next up we have Michael Fain's Classic 1956 Mercury Monterrey, a beautiful example of a lovingly restored original. This car has been in the Fain family for decades.






And Roy Sherry drove his mammoth Pontiac Parisienne, which has completed in the part of our longest car in the club award.

In other club news, we are pleased to report that Harlan's spirited 1969 427 Corvette sold this week and NEWS FLASH: STAYED IN THE CLUB! The proud new owner is Marshall Mays. When interviewed about the purchase Marshall said "Well I have always wanted a blue one!" Below are a couple of pix that Kelley gave to me to give to Marshall, very cool indeed. The one on the left is Harlan decorating his car for some event, and the one on the right is as he tests it out at Thunder Valley.

JOB WELL DONE - we collected 51 backpacks for Food and Shelter, completing community service project #2 for the year. 

Community service project #3 will be completed this week when cRc member Chuck Anderson attends the Norman Regional foundation Gala with his Austin-Healey 3000. They have a 'James Bond" theme going and Chuck's Healey is perfect for their event. 

PROJECT # 4:  Identify  4 Veterans who are in need of 2 free used hospital beds and two free used electric mobility chairs. These come to a Veteran in need, courtesy of the Dale Graham Foundation. If you have a possible match for these items, please let Terry O'Dea know. The recipient must be a Veteran.

PART NEEDED: Amanda Harris needs a 1966  window crank for her little blue VW. If you have one, please bring it to Midway next week......if Amanda is not there, give it to Dave Saunders and he will get it to her.
COFFEE GROUNDS: Boomerang Diner, January 25th - it is Pony-day and we enjoyed 4 Mustangs. From top to bottom: Lawrence Terry and Steve Rudy, and bottom row Walt Gage and Juan Villareale. Thanks everyone for participating in PONY-DAY.  Next week at MIDWAY we are enjoying ORPHAN DAY. If you have a car that is no longer a marque that is in production, (Think Hudson, Packard, Studebaker, and many others) this is your special day to drive it.



Today was sell 'em-cheap-day and any remaining hats, t-shirts, and 10th anniversary posters were on sale for $5 - until they sold out. Next week at Midway, all of this will be on sale for $4 each. This is called a "Dutch sale" and the price will continue to creep down until all remaining items are sold. You decide how long to wait until you make your purchase. If you wait too long, it may not be there.

To the right, Ray Waldron and Dan Haggerty enjoy their coffee as our fun coffee call continues. Thanks to Nicole and her BOOMERANG staff for their great service.
To the left: Anatomy of a meal in the cRc......everyone loves the food and the service at BOOMERANG DINER.....we always have a great turnout and we wish their parking lot were twice the size. To the left is a photo of Ron Borum who looks VERY PROTECTIVE of his 2 plates of breakfast (seriously, it would not fit on one plate.) Ron seems to have barked at Ken Dewbre, on his left, (perhaps for asking for a slice of bacon) who appears not to want to talk with Ron about cars while he is feeding. 

Photo to the left are Ron's two plates. He was willing to show us the plates, as long as nobody tried to take a slice of the remaining bacon. One of the plates was licked clean. The bacon strips will be gone in 30 seconds. Interestingly, Ron never acts like this when Austilene is having breakfast with him. He is cordial and engaging! 

COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT #2 for 2020 -the backpack report - we donated 39 backpacks you collected to Food and Shelter. 
We are still collecting and we need about 11 more to achieve our January goal of 50 backpacks.....if you have one to donate, please bring it to MIDWAY on Saturday and give it to Dave Saunders.

The cRc would like to welcome new members GAYLA and JACK WieSel and their 1967 Ford Econoline and 1977 Dodge PowerWagon. We look forward to especially adding another MOPAR to the club. Please look for them at the next couple of coffee calls and introduce yourselves.
We started off slowly but ended up with a very nice crowd of about 40 cRc members. It was too cold to congregate outside, so most everyone stayed in Rudys and just visited.


We had also sent the call out for anyone who might have some fun license tags to give to Ken Dewbre for his new shop wall. Lani responded, and is shown gifting Ken a bunch of out-of-state tags for his new shop.

Thanks everyone for a fun morning. See you at BOOMERANG next Saturday where it will be MUSTANG DAY.
Coffee Grounds: RUDY'S, Sat. January 18th - Ray Waldron's 1957 Chevy is one of several who braved the cold and the wind to bring out a classic on "CHEVY DAY". 
A Chevelle and a Corvette came in and added to Chevy day. Today was the beginning of our "collect backpacks community service project" for Food and Shelter and we are pleased to report that we are almost half way to our goal of 50 backpacks for the homeless Veterans and citizens who find comfort and help at our adopted charity, FOOD and SHELTER.
We added our first auto electric company to our recommended supplier page - C&P auto electric in Moore. click here for more information: Supplier-Index.php

Posted January 14th - the cRc would like to welcome our first new member of 2020!  Welcome to Dale Page and has 1972 Chevy C-10 pickup. We look forward to meeting Dale and his C-10 in the months to come.




Ken has room to spare in his new shop.
Posted January 8th - congratulations to cRc member Gary Emery and his hand built 1057 Arnold race-car, who was selected for this month's Doug Hill DIG MY RIDE. Gary and this car were prominent in last year's July Food and Shelter charity car show, parked just on the right as you drove into the park. Gary's is a fascinating story of racing, and his car is a one-in-the-world hand built beauty. (phot credit to Norman Transcript)

Mechanical engineering 101: If you put an adjustment knob, screw, bolt, or tolerance specs on something, some people will immediately fiddle with it. If you mark it DO NOT TOUCH everyone will mess with it.


Posted December 24th - No, that is not Lake Thunderbird with OGE windmills, it is Holland and that is a cRc hat atop the noggin' of member Jon Forman. Jon and Lani just returned home from a fall trip to the Christmas markets of Europe. If you have a photo of a crc hat in some far flung part of the world, be sure to send it to us for publication. Welcome home Jon and Lani.
Coffee grounds, RUDY'S BBQ, Saturday December 21st:
Welocme to the shortest daylight day of the year with only 9 hours, 46 minutes. That didn't stop a dedicated group of cRc members from gathering for coffee and breakfast burritos at Rudy's. 
We winner of the best Christmas grab went to Charlie Lunsford with his "JUST A FEW BUCKS FOR CHRISTMAS" tie......We wish everyone a safe and very Merry Christmas with friends and family......
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CRC CHRISTMAS PARADE TEAMS WHO WERE JUDGED BEST OVERALL PARADE ENTRY FOR 2020. A CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT TO A GREAT YEAR FOR THE CLUB. BE PROUD OF WHAT YOU DO.

In the photo below, Charlie Lunsford and his son Tom transport  a smiling Santa at the Norman Christmas Parade in Charlie's classic 1955 Chevy Bel Air.
WELL, YES INDEED THERE WAS A CHRISTMAS PARTY HELD ON DECEMBER 14TH AND COMMENTS AND PHOTOS AND VIDEOS WILL APPEAR HERE AS WE PROCESS THEM. IN ADDITION, THERE ARE MORE PHOTOS AND VIDEOS ON THE CHRISTMAS PARTY PAGE. LOTS OF COUPLES PHOTOS. THEY APPEARS AS THUMBNAIL PHOTOS BUT TO VIEW THEM, JUST CLICK ON THE PHOTO AND IT WILL OPEN TO ITS FULL SIZE FOR VIEWING.
TO GO THERE, JUST CLICK THE BOX BELOW.
Posted too early on Sunday morning, December 15th - the morning after our party. We came, some paraded while others listened to our steel drum band, we conversed, we dined on turkey and brisket, we donned earplugs to hear the Dipsticks sing, we played games and some won prizes, Abilgale winning almost $400, we sang Christmas carols together, we cleaned up and we were done by 9pm. We are not a late night crowd and that's a good thing. Below, our steel drum band gives you an idea of what you might have missed if you were not able to attend. I thought the party was slightly smaller than in previous years. We had seating for about 100 in the Legion Hall's meeting room, and most seats were filled. Seems like we counted about 120 in previous years. The American Legion Post 88 in norman was a good substitute for our year off from Mastertech. Our plans are to return home to Mastertech in 2020, after giving Gene adequate time to recoup from his radiation and chemo.

Delicious is the only term to describe some of the pot luck items that are brought by the members of the club. Midway Deli (Midway Bob and Maricha Thompson) did the brisket and turkey, and we had all the trimmings. There was no lack of food.

Some of the pot lucks were absolutely outstanding, as evidenced by the sturdy plates we buy for the party.
And what cRc party could be the same without those Keystone Cops of music, the loveable cRc SINGING DIPSTICKS! Their lyrics (for those of you who couldn't figure out what they were singing, is posted along with their performance, on the Christmas Party page ===>       christmas-party.php
Saturday, December 14th - OU mascot SOONER dons a cRc hat or two to display loyalty to the canadian RIVER cruisers at the annual Kiwanis pancake breakfast. cRc supported this community event in force today. More photos below.
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?

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......