May Edition - Vicksburg Cruisers News Letter

2008

www.vicksburgcruisers.com

VCCC Monthly Events
Monday – 12 May	Monthly Meeting – At Bumpers Drive In
Saturday – 31 May	Cruise Night - Cruise to Newk’s Café in Clinton, MS
Monday – 09 June	Monthly Meeting – Sol Azteca Mexican Restaurant, Hwy 61 N, Vicksburg – 6:30 pm
Saturday – 28 June	End of the Month Cruise – Place and time to be determined

The PREZ SEZ

(Part of this should have appeared in our April Newsletter)

First I want to thank all the club members who put in hard work all year long in preparation for our Red Carpet Classic Auto Show. Car guys are hard core and no one showed signs of fatigue until it was in the books. I was not at the show this year because of an annual vintage motocross event in Texas that I attend so I didn’t get to see first hand the fruits of our labor. Even with the weather events surrounding the show we still had a decent turn out. I am convinced that if we ever get a break with the weather we will easily top a hundred cars. I am also excited that Blackburn invited us back for next year to their beautiful dealership!

A special thank you goes out to Ron Tower for making the trophy bases. Ron is a wonderful craftsman and his trophies turned out to be highly desirable. Another special thank you goes out to Pat Cashman. Pat went above and beyond with his thoughtful contributions to the club and show. Look for more info on the show later in this newsletter.

The Saturday following our show Max Polk and I went to the Rankin County Hot Rods car show in Jackson. This show was well attended with over 100 cars. We had a great time and heard over and over “we were coming to Vicksburg last weekend but the weather just would not cooperate”.

Congratulations to Max for receiving a Top 10 with his gorgeous 69 Pro-Touring Camaro!

On May 17^th there were a couple of close shows for us to choose from. After much debate we finally decided to go to the Shake Rattle and Roll show put on by the Mississippi Classic Cruisers.

This show was held at Ridgecrest Baptist Church in Madison, MS. The show included about 150 entrants and was well attended by spectators as well. Cruising over was Paul Kuzinski in his 64 Impala SS409, Max Polk in his Pro-touring 69 Camaro, Sam Hill in his 34 Plymouth and myself in my 67 Vette. The cruise over was pretty fun too and we found out that Max’s 69 Camaro was the speedster of the bunch. I tried to redeem my big block Vette by telling him my secondaries on the Holley four barrel were not hooked up for fuel conservation purposes but he was not buying it! Besides, Sam Hill already told everyone in Madison that the Camaro spanked the Vette so there was not much redemption to be had. In addition to all that it sure was nice to hear a 4 speed, dual quad, posi-traction 409 at full tilt too! I think Sam Hill had a ploy for laying back and not getting involved, he is trying to measure up the competition for his soon to debut blown-hemi 33 Ford. All in all a great day. Across the street from the show was a fly-in of antique war birds at the Madison Airport with the highlight being a P51 Mustang. He announced his arrival with a low altitude-high speed pass with the big Merlin commanding everyone’s attention. He announced his departure with two of the same later that evening. Congratulations to Max and Paul for picking up some nice awards at the show.

I hear that the other show that same weekend in Pelahatchie, MS also had close to 150 cars registered. Can you imagine what a great show if they were not on the same day!

I recently e-mailed a flyer to the club for the upcoming Corvette Show being held at Ameristar Casino in Vicksburg on June 7^th. This show is being presented by three Mississippi Corvette clubs and is a money paying, judged show so it should be a good one. If you have a Vette or know someone that does please come on out. Let me know if you need a flyer for more info.

RUMOR has it that there is about to be another Blown Hemi Mopar in the club. I don’t repeat gossip but once so this is the only mention I can give!! Stay tuned for more info…

There are many more shows throughout the rest of the spring, summer and fall so lets CRUISE!

I recently received word that Jack Browns wife Charlotte passed away on April 23^rd after a long battle with cancer. Jack is an icon to the Hot Rod and Street Rod community in the Jackson, MS area. Please keep Jack and his family in your prayers.

Don’t forget the cruise to Newk’s Café on 31 May!.

Roger Harris

2^nd Annual Vicksburg Cruisers Red Carpet Classic Car Show

The car show this year went extremely well considering the weather we had preceeding show day. We had 50+ registered cars this year and a few vendors. As always, there were some awesome cars in Vicksburg for this show. Many thanks to Mr. Billy Crabtree for providing musical entertainment and to Mr. Gene Maynord for a terrific show as an Elvis tribute artist. As was the case last year, the Blackburn Motor Complex provided a superb location for this event. Many thanks to Blackburn Motor Company!

Projects

We still have some projects going on within the Club. It would be nice if we could get back into the work night meetings and helping each other get these vehicles where we can ride in them and have fun with them.

Projects that I know about – Bill Collins upholstery for the 60 Galaxie, Ron Tower rebuilding a 62 Corvette, Sam Hill building a 33 Ford, my 66 Mustang needs reassembling.

I’m sure there are others that I am not aware of. If you have a project that you would like some assistance with, whether it be a little or a lot, please let us know. We will gather around and provide all the help you need (or don’t need) and the Club will furnish the snack or meal for the occasion.

Look for pictures of vehicles under construction on the VCCC website under Club Members Projects.

May Meetings

Our regular second Monday meeting was held at Bumpers Drive In on Hwy 27 in Vicksburg. We had a slim crowd that evening as there were other events going on in town that drew members in other directions. The Club voted to split the Secretary / Treasury duties. Richard Engel will retain the Treasurer duties and I will take on the Secretary duties along with the Editor and website maintenance duties.

The Cruisers went to Shady Lawn Nursing Home on 17 May for a showing of the Club’s vehicles. The residents were excited to see the old cars and have a chance to talk to some of the owners. A few young people had to be reminded not to climb on the vehicles, which saved Roger from having a heart attack. Pictures of the cars at Shady Lawn are available on the VCCC website.

For our End of the Month Cruise Night we will travel to Newk’s Café in Clinton, MS leaving Vicksburg at 6:00 pm from the Rite Aid parking lot on Indiana Avenue.

June Meetings

We have gotten away from advance planning for meetings and cruise nights. We need to address this in the very near future.

Our 09 June meeting will be at Sol Azteca Mexican Restaurant on Hwy 61 N in Vicksburg. At this time our end of the month cruise night for 28 June has not been scheduled.

VCCC Website

Please monitor the website at www.vicksburgcruisers.com for scheduled events. I am beginning to make some progress towards updating the website with current and planned information. Please check it out and give me some feedback.

Miscellaneous Stuff

Have a great day and as Roy and Dale used to say ~ “Happy Trails To You . . .”

Upcoming Car Show Events

06 – 09 June	Muscle Shoals Rod Run, Muscle Shoals, AL
07 June	Walthall County Dairy Festival Car Show – Tylertown, MS
07 June	Corvette Show at Ameristar Casino Vicksburg
13 – 15 June	30^th Annual MSRA Dixie Run – Flowood, MS
13 – 15 June	2^nd NAPA Southern Nationals, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Atlanta, GA. Vehicles thru 1972. 925-838-9876
20 – 22 June	Noccalula Rod Run – Gadsden, AL
21 – 22 June	Scrapin’ The Coast – MS Coast Coliseum – Biloxi, MS. 228-832-2688
27 - 29 June	3^rd Annual Nashville Nationals – Tennessee Titans Stadium - Nashville, TN
12 July	20^th Annual Greater Tennessee Valley Antique Car Show – Athens, AL. 256-773-9652
19 July	5^th Annual Jamboree benefit car show – Boyle, MS
25 – 27 July	23^rd Annual Catfish Run – Batesville, MS Pre 1949 event 662-429-7265
16 August	3^rd Annual Harvest Festival Car Show – Jackson, MS