CRC member Philip Scott, 4th from the right, presents the JD Mccarty Center a check for $25,000. The cRc made a $300 contribution to the Norman Bicycle League's event.
Thursday evening, September 21st - the CRC gathers to assist Norman High School with transportation of their Homecoming court. 1left column: Sheri's new 1957 Chevy. Right column, Roy's Pontiac Parisienne, Then Flo in the Ford and finally, James standing in front of ROXY, the Gasaway's 65 Mustang.
9/21 There will be a cruise-in this Saturday night, 9/23 at 6:30PM at the SONIC drive-in at the corner of Lindsey and McGee...those driving classic cars will receive a free burger and small rootbeer float. How's THAT for a nice fun event. Thanks Terry for arranging this.
The Cleveland County Free Fair Car Show- CRC......
This from April Dosher: One of the speakers at our lunch yesterday spoke about his experiences with Food and Shelter. This is the text of his speech below.
I was born and raised here in Oklahoma. I was raised by loving parents with brothers and sisters I love. My parents are still married. I was not abused. I was not neglected. I’m not a drug addict and I still became homeless.
After high school I enlisted in the army. I went through basic training at Fort Sill. I spent my life serving in the army. I got married and had children like a lot of men do. I never expected to get a divorce and after getting a divorce I had nowhere to live. I found myself homeless at the age of 46 years old. That is not something I would have ever thought possible. I did not want to be a burden on my parents so I just slept in my car or anywhere I could sleep. I realized I could not do this much longer because it got really cold so I looked for someone to help. The only place who said yes to me was Food and Shelter.
Those people saved me. Not only did I have a place to eat and shower but they gave me a place to live. My case manager helped me find the resources I needed to leave the shelter and get on my feet.
During that time I lived in the cottages, Food and Shelter started opening the dining room as an overnight winter shelter. They offered me a chance to work as a shelter monitor. It gave me such happiness to be able to help people out who were like I was before. I have worked at Food and Shelter now for six or more years. Now I work at "A Friend’s House".
I love my job. I love getting to help provide a safe place for people to sleep at night. But we also have some fun there too. I get to know the men and women there and be a friend and support to them.
Staying in the cottages gave me a chance to feel hopeful again. Working at Food and Shelter lets me give back to my community that helped me when I was at my lowest. I am glad to be able to help people who are in the position I was once in. I’ve learned with God all things are possible. I believe hope means never giving up. I don’t think any of us are any better than anyone else. The guests at A Friend’s House are good special people. I’m proud to work there.
Update on status of CRC tiny house: The city of Norman has been working to acquire the land adjacent to Food and Shelter from the state. Food and Shelter was assured last week the city would be successful and then F&S will begin the process of the new cottages starting with 10 cottages and a larger overnight shelter. Once F&S gets that piece completed they will assess the potential for an additional 10. The CRC cottage will be the FIRST ONE BUILT!
All-Saints Catholic School was THE PLACE TO BE this morning as the CRC heavily participated in their annual grandparents day program. With about 40 cars shined up and ready for inspection, the school released the grandparents and the children, and as the youtube video shows, a wonderful inspection and appreciation of all of our cars was the result. To my knowledge, there are NO CAR SHOWS as rewarding as seeing hundreds of lively children and their grandparents excitedly looking at each and every vehicle. The video captures the spirit of this event!
Winners included KAY COOK and her beautiful 1939 Pontiac as Father Fullor's pick, Terry O'Dea and his 1941 red/black Chevy Pickup as the Vice Principal pick, Denver Saxton and his 1966 Ford Fairlane as the Principal's pick, and Dave Saunders and his 1926 model T pickup as the Grandparent's pick.Kids Pick-
VW Beetle
Betsy Gunn & Don Kash......The event began at 7am and was over by 10:30 - now THAT is a great way to roll!
A big thank you from the club and the school to all those who came out to shine and display their vehicles for all the future saints to see. Thanks to CRC member Nikki Pattison for her hard work in coordinating this event, smooth as silk! Winners received Auto-Zone gift cards as their prizes.
Check out Dan and Flo's cool new wheels!
Rumor has it..........that Sam and Sheri are the proud new owners of a very sharp 1957 Chevy Bel-Air. Ooop! There it is on the right, joining our other crc 57's........
Kaye Cook's lovely Pontiac Businessman's Coupe is the subject of a Doug Hill article in the latest issue of the Norman magazine.
October 14th - in Oklahoma City, the CRC has been in invited to do a parade involving a pow-wow for Native American children. It will be a morning parade and we are looking for both 10 convertibles to transport the court, as well as other classics to be a part of the parade. It will be in downtown OKC and start at 0830. We will have coffee and donuts available there. We will be passing a sign-up sheet around in the next few weeks to register folks. This should be a very interesting and colorful parade.
Sheri Klatt - 57 Chevy
Bill Harris - 57 Chevy
Marilyn Saunders - 57 Chevy
Lawrence Terry - 57 Chevy
Ray Waldron - 57 Chevy - no photo available...
Glenn Mallory- 57 Chevy
CRC member James sent over these shots of this weekend's VILLAGE CAR SHOW. Thanks James.
Terry O'Dea (405) 641-7718 is the number to text if you want to register for the All Saints car show coming up on Friday September 8th.....it is a great free show and shine. Send Terry your name and make and year of your classic so we can get it registered. We already have more than 30 cRc cars registered and are looking for about 15 more. This is Nicki's show at All Saints so we really want to support this show.
Mr. Van, housed at the Norman Veteran Center, passed away a week ago at age 104. And we also received a thank you from the GRADY county Veteran Center for our donation to them for their Veteran Recreation Fund. Thanks to everyone who contributed by attending one of our car shows.
Photos from this weekend's Mammoth Baptist Church Car Show in Meeker, OK....photos by James.....
This positive exchange took place following the car show between Dave Saunders and Mayor Larry Heikkila:
Mr. Mayor, Thank you for taking the time to come to the CRC car show and make the mayor’s pick. The recipient was proud to be chosen. Our club was able to donate $7,070 to the Food and shelter Veteran housing fund. We will do it all again in 2024. Next up, the Norman Veterans Day parade- see you there. Dave Saunders
Thank you Dave. I had a blast wandering around looking at cars and jaw jacking with folks. Great job on the donation! Heck yes on the Veterans Parade. Looking forward to it. Did you notice that the street north of the memorial is now Warrior’s Way? And the speed limit is 11 mph. We put in two speed signs so.... 11-11 😃 Larry Heikkila
[The date 11-11 is the date of Veterans day and the club membership will be able to point out the subtlety of the speed limit signs....Dave]
CRC member Philip Scott is our interface with the Norman Bicycle League. The CRC does a modest co-sponsor of the annual Norman Conquest Bike Ride. Proceeds of the ride are given to JD McCarthy Center.
In another community service event, 4 members of the club....call them Richard, Terry, Todd, and Dave....did a small show and shine for the Eastside Pioneer Library 5th birthday party.........
Saturday, July 15 - at HallBrooke Clubhouse (thank you Kelley Butler) the club had a great turnout for our "sometimes annual" CAR-B-QUE with a great mix of club members and interested guests, young and old members, and some great classic cars like Ron's amazing 1956 Desoto which is perfect in every detail. Even the factory clock which is set where a horn button might be in lesser cars, was showing the correct time. I can't heap enough praise on this car - and hopefully it will be among our club cars in Andrews Park next Saturday.
We had about 70 people an attendance and pre-registered 20 or so CRC host cars for the Food and Shelter show. As everyone knows, to be fair to all who participate, our club cars are not eligible for class trophies at this show. All money received from this show will be given to Food and Shelter for their Veteran Welfare Fund.
@Pats catering )The family that provides the food for the Veteran car show) did out catering and the cRc members brought some good sides!
Photo above shows JoNell and Gary on the left, heading down the stairs to line up for burgers, while cRc member James Kinchen comes up to the clubhouse with his hot dogs.....Roy Sherry on the right heading down.
Above, our new CRC banner (thank you Sam and sheri Klatt!)
"When I was a child, I dreamed about being in the Army or Air Force.......not about being homeless in America after serving my country for 5 years....it is personally humiliating."
From Food and Shelter....helping homeless Veterans.......Thomas came to us after having been evicted from his little apartment not far from downtown Norman. The landlord sold the units and the new property owner decided to make some renovations and afterwards raised the rent significantly. Thomas could not afford his rent and found himself homeless. He spent several nights sleeping in his barely working station wagon. When he finally figured out he could not survive in his car, he found his way to Food and Shelter. We took Thomas to A Friend's House, our shelter in downtown Norman. When he arrived, all bottom bunks were taken and the only option was for Thomas to climb to a top bunk. Being a retired veteran, he didn't complain but it was clear he physically, at the age of 75, could not make that climb up. In a beautiful effort, four different men jumped off the bed and offered theirs for him. It's so sweet how our shelter guests take care of each other; especially older people. Thomas was grateful and kind and fast to make friends. He told fun stories only a 75 year old would tell. Our case workers at A Friend's House worked fast to connect Thomas to the VA so he could be assessed for benefits and housing. In a short stay, Thomas was able to move into a senior living apartment complex.
I had not seen Thomas in about two months until yesterday. I happened to be working at our shelter and he came by to say hello. He looked amazing. His smile was so bright. He was clean shaven and his hair was combed. It was such a special reunion for all of us. When I asked him how the apartment is, he replied, "it's a dream. I have a bed that sleeps well and a pool outside." I replied, "that explains your amazing tan."
Without Food and Shelter and A Friend's House, I assure you Thomas would have suffered a long while. Because we place such a strong effort into housing veterans, Thomas did not have to live homeless long.
Here we are giving the money away
$500 Sulfur Veterans Center and $500 Claremore Veterans Center
$500 Norman Veterans Center and $500 Clinton Veterans Center
$500 Lawton Veterans Center and $500 Ardmore Veterans Center
$4000 DAV - Veteran's transportation fund
plus 2 checks we took in at the show one for $25 and one for $100
both went to the Norman Veterans Center
Total 7125.00 to the veterans as a result of the kindness and generosity of those attending our car shows and the hard work of our CAR SHOW TEAM!
CRC members at the FULL CIRCLE SHOW AND SHINE......
Lani's Midget II was awarded the vehicle to cause "JOY" at our SHOW 'n SHINE Thursday at the Full Circle Adult Center off Flood Avenue in Norman. We had a great turnout and it is always rewarding to see the nice job these folks do.
We arrived at the makeshift disaster coordination facility and were first assigned cleanup in a city park that had been hard hit. Dave Saunders remembers what we did..."They assigned us to a city park on the east side that was devastated. Along with many other people, we began to pick up debris and pile it on our 18 foot trailer. Pieces of roofing, tin, wood, shingles, clothing, almost anything you could imagine was in that field...and we picked it up and hauled it off to a central place and unloaded it." The club worked all the first week cleaning debris, including a few elderly citizens' private yards. People who had made it through the tornado, but were too old to do the cleanup - we cleaned and raked for them.
Using the trailer, we distributed cases of food and water to different parts of the city. Saunders remembers one pile of clothing we were assigned to remove. "This was along a busy east-west street. The more trailer-loads we removed from that pile, the more that people put debris into it. After five or six large loads, the pile was larger than when we started. We kept after it and finally we made it disappear." All in all, club members worked to help the citizens of Moore for about two weeks straight. We all felt a part of the community and that we were making a difference. Harlen marveled the first day...."We pulled our trailer all over the park and hauled load after load of shingle pieces and chunks of 2X4 from houses. There were roofing nails everywhere. I kept expecting us the have multiple flat tires on that trailer, but we never had a single one. I don't know how that happened."
Ken remarked about the cars... "it was like the cars were made from Coca-Cola cans. There was nothing straight on them anywhere. First responders had been to each of the cars, checked them thoroughly for people, and then spray painted the doors and trunk with words like "all clear" to let others know there were no people trapped."
Just one of the many things our club and its members have done over the years...10 years ago this weekend. Be proud of the many good things we have done over our 15 years as a car club.