Author: corvettes

Hungry? “Meet’n Eat” at GC Grillhouse, Thursday May 18, 2023, 2:30 to 4:30

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Back by popular demand!

Greetings Cruisers! Pete, Ron, and I were talking recently and one of us said, “Hey, we haven’t done a Meet’n Eat in a while!” So, we called our friends at the GC Grillhouse on Rt. 27 in Lake Placid (formerly “Golden Corral) and made the arrangements.

If you can break away from normal life (whatever that is!) , meet us at GC Grillhouse from 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm for lunch. GC Grillhouse has excellent Lunch Specials and their salad bar is terrific.

So, you are invited to join us, tie on the old feed bag, bench race, tell jokes, laugh, and solve the world’s problems! See you for lunch! – Scott, Pete, and Ron

PS – Our next event will be Saturday, May 27, 2023, at Dock 633 from 11 am to 2 pm-ish.

Dock 633 has been a very generous sponsor to us. Recently, owners Bill and Hillary asked us to stage a Car Show as part of the Grand Opening of their new “Sand Bar” outside tiki bar.

The new tiki bar area is under a big shade tree with tent coverings. Drinks will be served outside and lunch can be ordered from inside.

This is a Show’n Shine event, with no registration fee, but we’ll have a 50/50. Hope you can join us!

New Show Hours Start This Saturday

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We’re Starting One Hour Early This Saturday!

Greetings Cruisers! Just a short post to cover what’s shaping up to be a busy month!

This Saturday, May 13, 2023, we will start our daytime summer hours. Since it tends to get HOT around noon, we are starting and ending our show one hour earlier.

The new show time is 9 am to 12 noon.

This Saturday’s show will coincide with the procession of the remains of Second Lieutenant Pharis Weekley along Rt. 27 South while our Car & Bike show is in progress. Everyone that registers their car will get a 4” x 6” American flag.

Please take notice of the commemorative patch to the right. These patches will be available inside the Legion during the show for just $5! –>>

We also encourage everyone to bring their American flags. It’s the least we can do.

And lastly, the Lake Placid Dunkin Donuts store will be supplying four boxes of donuts and two cartons of coffee! Everyone LOVES Dunkin!

Ready to Tie On the Old Feed Bag With Us?

GC Grillhouse has been a very generous sponsor of Lake Country Cruisers. So, let’s return their generosity by having a big Meet’n Eat on Thursday, May 18 from 2:30 to 4:30. GC Grillhouse is 1/4-mile south of the second traffic light at the intersection of Rt. 27 and Interlake Blvd. In Lake Placid. We’ll be in time for their daily Lunch Specials!

Please RSVP by May 16, 2023. You can email me at... lightoak@comcast.net Continue reading “New Show Hours Start This Saturday” →

Summer Schedule Announcements!

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Greetings Cruisers! We have a lot going on as we move into the warmer months. Here’s the rundown of shows through to Labor Day weekend.

May Lake Country Cruisers Car & Bike Show at the Lake Placid American Legion, May 13, 9 am to 12 noon

Our next American Legion show will be this Saturday, May 13, 2023. Our beautiful winter weather is now behind us, so to knock off some of the heat, starting this Saturday, our summer “day” shows will start at 9 am and run until 12 noon. Entry fee is just $5.00 and there will be Door Prizes, 50/50, Rock’n Roll music, Cruiser of the month, Bike of the Month, plus burgers, cheeseburgers, and dogs on the Legion’s outside grill for lunch!

Second Lieutenant Pharis Weekley is Coming Home

Also, this Saturday there will be a special and solemn event that will take place during our show. According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), on July 12, 2022, the remains of 21-year-old, WW-II Second Lieutenant Veteran Pharis Weekley were identified. His remains will be returned to the Dana-Howard-Weekley Post 130 in Labelle, Florida this Saturday.

The police escort procession will travel south on Rt. 27 and will drive by the Lake Placid American Legion Post 25 between 9:30 and 10:30. When the procession gets close to the Legion, we encourage everyone to gather along Rt. 27 to salute Second Lieutenant Pharis Weekley coming home to rest.

We will be giving 4” x 6” flags on wooden stick-poles (“Made In The USA”) to everyone who signs in for the show!

“Meet’n Eat” at GC Grillhouse, Thursday, May 18, from 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm.

GC Grillhouse has generous Lunch Specials for $9.99 and they have a full bar for adult beverages. So come on out and hang with us. We’ll do some serious bench racing, tell jokes, laugh, eat, and solve all the world’s problems!

 

Show’n Shine Car & Bike Show at Dock 633, May 27, 2023 from 9 am to 12 noon Continue reading “Summer Schedule Announcements!” →

Two 1931 V-12 Cadillacs on the Sebring Starting Line

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The Sebring Starting Line Sure Looks Good with Dick & Marilyn Roddie’s 1931 V-12 Caddies!

Greetings Cruisers! Early last March we were happy to help Wayne Estes, President and General Manager of Sebring International Raceway with the flag pole dedication event by arranging several 1930s classic cars to be on display around the flag pole. A great time was had by all and we were happy to have on hand Lake Country Cruiser co-founder and WW-II Veteran, 95-year-old Ross Longo and 100-year old WW-II Veteran, Chester Barber.

Sebring International Raceway Gets a New Main Sponsor

What Lake Country Cruisers wasn’t fully aware of was that Sebring International Raceway’s new major sponsor is Cadillac Racing. With nearly 100-year-old, fully restored and running classic vintage Cadillacs (a 1931 V-12 Cadillac Phaeton and 1931 V-12 Cadillac Roadster) residing practically in Sebring’s backyard (Lake Placid), Estes was hoping Roddie’s Cadillacs would both be able to “take a lap” around the track. Circumstances precluded that, but the story isn’t over.

Early in April, Estes contacted Lake Country Cruisers with an offer. The track is often rented out to various racing teams and groups, but on April 13, 2023, the track would not have any racing activity. Estes asked if Dick and Marilyn Roddie would like to bring their two 1931 V-12 Cadillacs to the track for a special photo shoot on the Sebring starting line and in front of one of the “Cadillac Racing” track-side banners? The answer was, “Absolutely, yes!”

Two 1931 V-12 Cadillacs on the Sebring Starting Line

While the classic Cadillacs indeed do “run” their “roadability” is questionable, considering the speed limits of the roads between Lake Placid and the Sebring track. But there’s always a way. The Roddie’s friend, John Meyerhoff volunteered the use of his enclosed trailer and Wayne Estes sent a transport to the Roddie’s Cadillac Service Garage-themed home garage. It was a perfect Florida spring day and all the pieces were in place. Continue reading “Two 1931 V-12 Cadillacs on the Sebring Starting Line” →

Lake Country Cruisers April Car & Bike Show

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Slide Show Below!

Greetings Cruisers! The beautiful weather continues. It was another perfect day for a Car & Bike Show. We had sixty cars and bikes, and well over one hundred in attendance. The Legion had the outside grill fired up and served hungry Cruisers hot dogs, hamburgers, and cheeseburgers.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!

To take the edge off the heat, our May 13, 2023, American Legion Show will start and end one hour earlier. The May show will start at 9 am and run until 12 noon. We are also working on shows in June, July, August, and September in various locations and some early evening shows! We’ll keep you informed.

Our first Feature Car, Ron Bomburger’s 1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk

Last month’s Cruiser of the Month, Ron Bomburger’s beautiful 1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk was on hand. Ron’s classic Studebaker has had a frame-off restoration in the last few years and won 1st Place in the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) Winternations and has qualified for the coveted AACA Zenith Award!

Our second Feature Car was Dan Barr’s 1989 Corvette Challenge race car

From 1985 to 1987 Corvettes totally dominated the SCCA Showroom Stock Series. By the end of the 1987 season, SCCA kicked the Corvettes out of the series for being too fast! Then in 1988, and 1989 Chevrolet offered identical race-prepared L98 Corvettes to race in the Corvette Challenge Series. These were factory-built race cars and only eighty-five Corvette Challenge race cars were built, making them rare in the world of collectible Corvettes.

Dan Barr purchased his #9 Bosch 1989 Corvette Challenge race car at the end of the ’89 season. Since then, Dan has raced his Corvette extensively. Between 2022 and 2023 the car was refreshed and restored at George Haddad’s Fabulous Restorations Hot Rod Shop in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Even though the Corvette is a real race car, it is street-legal! I covered Dan’s Corvette in the April 2023 issue of Vette Vues Magazine.

Coming up Next Month! Continue reading “Lake Country Cruisers April Car & Bike Show” →

Happy 95th B-Day to Ross Longo!

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Ross Longo B-Day Party Slide Show Below!

Greeting Cruisers! It was twenty years ago that Ross Longo, Mary Carol Plott, and Edde King thought it would be fun to start a car club! Since Highlands County is peppered with lakes, large and small, they decided to call themselves, “Lake Country Cruisers”.

They put the word out that they would all be gathering in the parking lot behind the Lake Placid Train Depot in downtown Lake Placid. A dozen or so friends got together, enjoyed oldies music from someone’s boom box (remember those?), did a little dancing, and had a lot of fun! So much so, the Lake Country Car Show became a regular monthly happening! You can read the full story HERE.

The rest is history and Lake Country Cruisers is still going strong!

On Tuesday, April 4, 2023, around two dozen members of Lake Country Cruisers got together at the Lake Placid American Legion to celebrate Cruisers’ founding member, Ross Longo’s 95th Birthday! Birthday cupcakes, cards, old stories, and good wishes were the order of the day.

Cruisers co-founders Mary Carol and Edde ganged up on Ross to deliver double smooches!

So, on behalf of Pete, Ron, and all of the Cruisers, a big THANK YOU to Ross and Mary Carol, and Edde, too for launching Lake Country Cruisers! – Scott

PS – Just a brief reminder. This Saturday, April 8, 2023, will be a Car & Bike Show AND Swap Meet. The Swap Meet starts one hour earlier than usual, at 9 am.
For complete details, CLICK HERE!

Meet March 2023 Cruiser of the Month

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Meet “Studebaker Man”, Ron Bomberger and his Stunning 1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk

NOTE: This Saturday’s Car & Bike Show will also be a Swap Meet!

When Ron Bomberger and his 1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk rolled into the Lake Country Cruisers Show on March 11, 2023, I turned to Ron Ellerman and said, “Look at that beautiful Studebaker! I don’t remember the last time I saw one!” Studebakers are hardly ever seen and this one was dazzling! We forget, but in 1956 the Golden Golden Hawk, with its big Packard engine was the quickest, fastest car on the road.

Here’s “Studebaker Man” Ron Bomberger’s Story

“My first car was a Studebaker and I bought them until the company went bankrupt in 1967. I just always loved the Golden Hawk. Around 2012 when we were living in Pennsylvania, I found this car on eBay and got really excited. It was nice, mechanically sound, and complete, but tired. It was too good to pass up.

We were snowbirds then and would winter in Lake Placid. Then in 2016 we moved to Lake Placid permanently and brought the Golden Hawk with us. But when we lived in Pennsylvania I was very impressed with the workmanship of restoration experts at Cornerstone Automotive, in Lititz.

I kept thinking how amazing the Golden Hawk would be if it had a frame-off restoration. Continue reading “Meet March 2023 Cruiser of the Month” →

Big Car Show Event Weekend!

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Greetings Cruisers! First, sorry for the seemingly last-minute announcement, but it was just brought to my attention that this Friday and Saturday there are a lot of car show activities in the Sebring area! So, let’s get straight to it!

2023 Sebring 12 Hours of BBQ, presented by Sebring Firemen Inc.

This is a 2-day event beginning Friday, March 31, 2023, that runs from 11 am to 11 pm and continues Saturday, April, 102023 from 10 am to 6 pm. The event will include;

CAR SHOW Saturday 10am-1pm.
CORN HOLE TOURNAMENT Saturday 9:30 am-2 pm.

THIS YEAR THE FEATURED MUSIC TALENTS:

Friday 3/31
* WWOJ Live Remote 11 am 4, Harry Havery (lead singer from California Toe Jam Band) and 12 pm-3 The Outta Hand Band 4 pm-7 pmo Rye Road 7:30- Midnight

Saturday 4/1
* Keith Bass & Florida Blue Grass Express 10:00 am-12:00 pm* The Lee Alcorn Band 1:00 pm-4:00 pm* Harry Havery 4:00 pm-6:00 pm

* This is a Florida BBQ Association-sanctioned event:

For more info, visit; https://visitsebring.com/mec-events/2023-sebring-12-hours-of-bbq-presented-by-sebring-firemen-inc/

Pin Wheels 4 Kids, Downtown Sebring on the Circle. Saturday, April, 1,2023: Promoting Happy, Safe Happy Childhoods for all

We were informed of this late Wednesday afternoon when one of the organizers from the Tampa area contacted Ron to let us know that they will be bringing at least ONE HUNDRED Corvettes with a police escort from Tampa to the Sebring Circle this Saturday! For our Cruiser Corvette lovers, you’ll have an opportunity to see, and meet’n greet lots of new Corvette people!

This is a children’s event sponsored by www.ChampionForChildren.org. All FREE

10:00 am Corvette Parade

10:30 Opening Ceremony

10:45- 1:00 Enjoy the Festivities

The event will include –  cookies, Hot Dogs, Popcorn, Snow Cones, Games & Prizes, Scavenger Hunt, Face Paint, Balloons, Clowns, Easter Bunny, Cookie Monster, Genie, Pinwheels, Music, and Hats!

Want to Caravan into the Show with your Corvette and a police escort??? Here’s how!
 Continue reading “Big Car Show Event Weekend!” →

What’a Week at Sebring Raceway! SLIDE SHOW

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Sometimes in Life, “Providence moves to…”

Hey Cruisers! Yesterday we shared with you the beautiful coverage by The Highlands News-Sun from the front page of the Friday edition. In addition to the re-dedication ceremony of Hendricks Field last Wednesday, on Friday morning there was a Corvette Racing Seminar hosted by Corvette engineer Bill Tower and Stingray Chevrolet owner, Steve Hurley. Then yesterday there was the 71st running of The 12 Hours of Sebring race. A big week, indeed.

A few thoughts about how the Hendricks Field re-dedication event came together and Lake Country Cruisers involvement.

Occasionally, things seem to fall into place as if there was Divine Intervention. It certainly seemed that way to me and more than a few others. The entire event was organized and staged by Sebring International Raceway President and General Manager, Wayne Estes, and John Story, senior director of Marketing and Business Development & Communications at SIR. And no doubt, many others.

Planning, construction, and refurbishment of the Hendricks Air Field circle and flag pole, located at the north end of the track, started a year or so ago. In mid-February, we received an inquiry from Wayne Estes requesting vintage cars from the 1930s and early 1940s. The first cars we thought of were Dick and Marilyn Roddie’s two 1931 V-12 Cadillacs. We also identified Tom Baldwin’s 1939 Ford Pickup truck.

Then we connected with James “Pappy” Wright. James is currently in the process of moving his residence and collection of classic antique cars (and one C7 Corvette Grand Sport!) to Highlands County. James came on board with his 1932 Chevy, as well as retired Navy Commander Frank Jones with his early ’30s Chevy. There were three other beautiful classic cars that, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to connect with the owners.

So, we were able to pull together a sweet collection of classic cars to set the atmosphere to go with the Sebring High School Band that was playing classic 1940s WW-II era music. The VFW Post was also on hand to present the colors. The Sea Services displayed their replicas of the USS Enterprise CV-6 and the USS Samuel B. Roberts DE-413 along the roundabout circle.

And to top it all off, Lake Country Cruisers co-founder, Ross Longo and 100-year-old Lake Placid resident and WW-II D-Day paratrooper pilot, Chester Barber were two of the event’s special guests.

Meet Mr. Chester Barber!
 Continue reading “What’a Week at Sebring Raceway! SLIDE SHOW” →

Veterans Honored At Hendricks Field Memorial Park

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Greeting Cruisers! It was an honor for Lake Country Cruisers to be part of this very special event. At 6 pm on Wednesday, March 15, 2023, the flag pole in the circle in what was Hendricks Field during WWII was re-dedicated in a ceremony that could not have been more touching.

The VFW Honor Guard was on hand.

The event had two WW-II Vets in attendance. Lake Country Cruisers co-founder, Ross Longo, and Lake Placid resident, 100-year-old Chester Barber were front and center! Dick and Marilyn Roddie were there with their 1931 V-12 Cadillac Phaeton. Military Preservation Society member Bob Neeley was there with his 1942 Ford-built Willys combat jeep was there. Retired Navy Commander Frank Jones was there with his 1930s vintage survivor Chevy. And special thanks to James “Pappy” Wright for connecting with Lake Country Cruisers to be part of the event.

Highlands News-Sum staff writer, Kim Moody, her assistant, and staff photographer John Lawson were on hand to cover the event. Then yesterday, Friday, March 17, 2023, the re-dedication event was on the front cover of the Highlands News-Sun newspaper.

The story was on pages 1A and 10A. I scanned both pages and put them together as one image. To see and read a much larger version, CLICK HERE.

After you click the link, the images will come up on a separate page and your cursor will change to a magnifying glass. Click the image and it will expand to full size.

It was a beautiful Florida spring evening and a beautiful event. I took a lot of photos and will be making another post on Sunday. More to come! – Scott

Lake Country Cruisers March 2023 Car & Bike Show – YES!

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A Perfect Day For A Car Show! (Slide Show Below!)

Greetings Cruisers! What a beautiful day we had for a Car & Bike Show. It was a little cool at 9 am when we started to set up and a little warm when we wrapped up tthe show at 1:30 pm.

A big “Thanks!” to our friends at the Lake Placid Dunkin Donuts for the coffee and donuts. They sure did go fast!

We had fifty cars and around eighty in attendance at the show. The American Legion was having a regional meeting in the banquet room, so the inside kitchen was closed. But Commander Fred Pierce made sure that our Cruiser friends could get lunch, so the outside grill was fired up and by 11:30 am you could smell the burgers and hot dogs!

Our 50/50 winner was Sebring resident BethLinn Mackes and her take home was $150 CASH!

Our 50/50 Runner-Up winner was Sebring resident Pat Klynstra, and she received a FREE oil change from our friends at Highlands Complete Auto, on Rt. 27 in Sebring.

 

 

And our Curiser of the Month was Ron Bomberger and his stunningly beautiful 1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk. In 1956 this was one of the quickest, fastest cars of its day. The Golden Hawk’s styling was influenced by French industrial designer, Raymond Loewy‘s design studio. Loewy went on to design the body for the 1963 Studebaker Avante.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!

Our next Lake Country Cruisers Car & Bike Show on April 8, 2023, will also be a Swap Meet! So, the same as we did for our February Swap Meet, we will start at 9:00 am, one hour earlier than usual.

If you are looking for parts or would like to clear the car clutter in your garage and unload some old car stuff, the 10′ x 10′ space is $15 and the 10′ x 15′ space is $20. You can pay at the Sign-In tent.

Thanks to everyone that came to the show. Remember, our shows are car AND bike shows. So, if you have a motorcycle, bring it. If you have motorcycle friends, invite them! It’s a Car & Bike Party!

See ya next month! – Scott, Pete, & Ron

PS – We will be doing Car & Bike Shows throughout the year, and sometimes in different places. We’ll always let you know where and when, but be sure to check out Coming Events page.

Car & Bike Show This Saturday!

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Greeting Cruisers!

Just a brief reminder that this Saturday, March 11 we will be hosting another fun Lake Country Cruisers Car & Bike show at the Lake Placid American Legion. The show officially starts are 10 am and runs to around 1:30-ish.

The weather forecast for Saturday is good – cool in the early morning with a high of 85 degrees later in the afternoon. PERFECT weather for a Car Show.

If you have friends with motorcycles, invite them! We like all kinds of machines!

And bring your pooch if you have one! We love dogs too. Just keep them on their leash and clean up after them if they, well, you know.

See y’all Saturday! – Scott, Pete, & Ron

The SVRA Show Was BIG FUN!

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Greetings Cruisers! By all accounts, last weekend’s SVRA Show was a big success. According to show organizer Toni Strollo, there were 253 cars for the Hagerty Car Show and 136 Corvettes at the Corvette Invasion “Corvette Corral”.

The Corvette folks were not able to get out on the track at 6 pm because there was a serious wreck at the hairpin corner. One of the race cars crunched into the wall and it took over two hours to clean things up.

On Sunday a group of cruisers spent some quality time at Pete’s RV. Pete’s RV spot was halfway down the straight-away to goes into that tight hairpin right turn. Yes, the one that cars often crunch into! The view was great. The lunch menu included big FAT bratwurst, hot dog rolls, baked beans, macaroni salad, potato salad, fruit, and lots of “cold barley soup”! (beer). Continue reading “The SVRA Show Was BIG FUN!” →

Buick GN & GNX “Black Air” Documentary VIDEO

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Greetings Cruisers! Most of us came of age during the 1960s and early 1970s Muscle Car Era. By the end of the ’60s, Detroit made muscle car versions of most of its cars. Some were just stripe and trim options, others were beasts. 1970 was arguably the pinnacle of the era and we quickly saw Detroit drop its muscle cars like hot potatoes!

Corvettes and Firebirds sold very well in the mid-to-late ’70s and early ’80s. In 1984 Chevy dished up the C4 Corvette that in 1985 was the “Fastest Car in America” according to Car and Driver (clocked at 150 mph!) and Corvette totally dominated the SCCA Showroom Stock Series, winning every race in 1985, 1986, and 1987. The series pitted sports cars against sports cars.

IROC Camaros and Trans-Am Firebirds looked cool but lacked any serious grunt. However, there was one very bright spot on the performance car scene and it came from, of all car companies, Buick! The performance engine design group, headed by Tom Wallace (who later became the fourth Corvette Chief Engineer in 2006) was experimenting with turbocharged all-aluminum V6 engines. Continue reading “Buick GN & GNX “Black Air” Documentary VIDEO” →

Looking For “Lost” Lake Country Cruisers Shirt Orders

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Greetings Cruisers. Late last year we launched our Etsy Shirt Shop. For business reasons, we had to open a NEW Etsy shop that was announced on January 31, 2023. Here’s the announcement…

http://lakecountrycruisers.com/our-new-country-cruisers-gear-etsy-store/

It is a totally new shop and is now known as, “Country Cruisers Gear”.

Here’s the link to the new store…

https://www.etsy.com/shop/CountryCruisersGear

If you ordered shirts in January 2023 and did not receive your order, let me know by emailing me at, lightoak@comcast.net , or call me at 863-699-6355.

Also, if you ordered shirts and did not receive your order, please check with your bank or PayPal if you made your payment as such. If there is no record of the payment with your bank or PayPal, that means your order did not go through.

If your order did not go through and you still would like to purchase Lake Country Cruisers shirts, visit the new Etsy store…

https://www.etsy.com/shop/CountryCruisersGear

… and reorder.

We are very sorry for the inconvenience. – Scott