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Lake Country Cruisers Christmas Cruise-In… HOORAH!!!

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Our Christmas Cruise-In Was A HUGE Success! SLIDE SHOW!

Greeting Cruisers! What a PERFECT day we had for a car show. Things started out a wee bit foggy, but by 10 am it was perfect. Although the location was a tad small, by noon we had 57 cars registered. Park Avenue slopes down and we had cars lining both sides of the street, the parking areas to the left of the Historical Society Depot were filled with cars, the grassy lot to the right of the building was stuffed with cars, and cars were parked on the hill and side yards!

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Click the above graphic to launch the Slide Show.

Cars were everywhere and at different levels. It was not your typical “parking lot” car show.

Our Feature Cars were very special vehicles. Dick and Marilyn Roddie brought BOTH of their 1931 V-12 Cadillacs. Marilyn was beautiful and looked like a 1930s Hollywood movie star. For many, it was the first time they’d ever seen anything like that in-person. Continue reading “Lake Country Cruisers Christmas Cruise-In… HOORAH!!!” →

The SVRA Sebring SpeedTour is Coming to Town!

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Clear your calendar for February 23-26, 2023!

Greetings Cruisers! The winter months here in south-central Florida are the best time of year. That’s why we have so many snowbirds fly south to escape the cold nasty stuff up north. It’s also a great time for racing and car shows!

The SVRA SpeedTour will be coming to Sebring International Raceway on February 23-26, 2023. Tickets are $50, and available ONLY by phone. Call Toni Strollo at 863-698-8620 to buy your tickets. The ticket price is $50 for ONE car and TWO people.

ATTENTION CRUISERS!!! You can get $20 off the price of your ticket by mentioning Lake Country Cruisers when you call Toni Strollo.

The discount offer is good till the end of December, ONLY.

SVRA events are awesome for two big reasons. Continue reading “The SVRA Sebring SpeedTour is Coming to Town!” →

Drone Video Tour of Rick Hendrick’s Car Collection and Racing Facility!!!

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A “Fly’s Eye” tour of an AMAZING place for car lovers.

Greetings Cruisers! It seems that whenever Car Guys & Gals get together at shows, the name “Rick Hendrick” always pops up. Hendrick has not just an extraordinary collection of cars, but his racing facility is world-class.

This video is cool because it’s a flying drone tour. I’m sure it was as much fun to record as it is to watch, although it is rather speedy.

That’s why I’m including another video that is more of a walk-and-talk.

And just a reminder that our December Car & Bike Show (for this month only) will NOT be at the Lake Placid American Legion. We will be at the Lake Placid Historical Society Train Depot in downtown Lake Placid. We will be back at the American Legion on January 14.

The Car & Bike Show will run from 10 am to 2 pm. The $5.00 entry fee will be donated to the Lake Placid Historical Society Train Depot.

This will be quite a day, as the U.S. Sugar Express Santa Train will be coming to town, the Farmer’s Market will be open for business, and that evening the Annual Lake Placid Christmas Parade will deliver miles and miles of smiles and good cheer! The parade starts at 7:00 pm.

Lake Country Cruisers will be IN THE PARADE again! If you’d like to be in the parade with up, it’s not too late to sign up! E-mail Scott at… lightoak@comcast.net. For details and maps, CLICK HERE!

As of Monday, we have nine Cruisers that have signed on to be in the parade. Continue reading “Drone Video Tour of Rick Hendrick’s Car Collection and Racing Facility!!!” →

Lake Country Cruisers Shirt Shop is OPEN for Business!

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Lake Country Cruisers Shirt Shop is OPEN for Business! CLICK HERE!!!

Greetings Cruisers! Our “Shirt Shop” has been in the works for over a year and is finally live! CLICK HERE to enter!

The Shirt Shop has 15 different designs in various styles.

All shirts start at $19.99, plus shipping. We have dark-color shirts and light-color shirts.

Sizes run from Small-to-5XL.

CLICK HERE to enter!

In 2023 we will be adding coffee mugs using the same graphics used on the shirts.

We will also be adding long sleeve t-shirts and sweatshirts.

Motorcycle shirts will be coming soon! CLICK HERE to enter!

ABOUT THE LAKE PLACID CHRISTMAS PARADE. Continue reading “Lake Country Cruisers Shirt Shop is OPEN for Business!” →

A Beautiful Day For Our Vets! – SLIDE SHOW

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Greetings Cruisers! Our November Lake Country Cruisers Car & Bike Show was a delight! A BIG THANKS to everyone that attended. We had 85 cars and bikes registered, which means we had around 120 in attendance and a few doggies, too!

Lake Country Cruisers bought 48 lunches for our great Vets! Thank you ALL for your service!

The Legion’s Mess Hall Kitchen had a great day too, serving up just short of 250 hamburgers, plus the hot dog count! You folks were HUNGRY! Between Lake Country Cruisers and Highlands County Corvettes, we bring in a lot of business for the Lake Placid American Legion.

And speaking of our wonderful Lake Placid America Legion, Post 25, a few weeks ago Commander Fred Pierce told me that at a recent Florida Commanders Meeting, many of the Post Commanders said, “We want to be like Post 25!” Many told Fred that they had sent recon teams to Post 25 to see why they are doing so good!

So, it is an honor and a pleasure to support and help Post 25! Continue reading “A Beautiful Day For Our Vets! – SLIDE SHOW” →

Happy Veterans Day!!!

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Greetings Cruisers and a salute to our great Vets!

Since today is the day our nation stops and says “Thanks!” to all that served and all those serving, we thought it would be fun to dish up a few videos about the history of America’s special day.

Tomorrow, November 12, 2022, will be our Veterans Day Lake Country Cruisers Car & Bike Show. Every Cruiser that is a Veteran that enters a car will get a ticket for a FREE LUNCH at the Legion’s Mess Hall kitchen. It’s our way of saying, “Thank you for your service!”

Also, our special Feature Vehicle for the show will be Bob Neely’s 1942 Ford-built Willys Combat Jeep with a replica .50 caliber anti-aircraft gun! Bob is part of the Convoy Advance Unit with the Military Vehicle Preservation Association, 2021 Yellowstone Trail Section Convoy.

We met Bob at last month’s show. Bob and Bill Hoppner from the American Legion Department of Disaster Preparedness were leading the Lake Placid leg of Hurricane Ian relief for Arcadia, Florida. Bob has recently relocated to Sebring. Lake Country Cruisers welcomes you Bob, and appreciates all that you and your team have done!

This is “America” folks, and we know that you know that. When disaster strikes, we set aside our differences and help our fellow Americans. Continue reading “Happy Veterans Day!!!” →

Long Live the RAT FINK!

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A Fun Documentary about Ed “Big Daddy” Roth and His RAT FINK

Greetings Cruisers! We’re all gear-heads and grew up in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. It was IMPOSSIBLE back then to attend a car event without seeing Ed “Big Daddy” Ed Roth‘s classic ANTI-MICKEY MOUSE, the Rat Fink.

While Mickey was all about cute, wholesome, family-safe fun, the Rat Fink was ugly, stinky, had pointy bad teeth, was obnoxious green, had blood-shot bulging eyes, drove recklessly, burned rubber all the time, and had flies buzzing around him that he would sometimes eat!

“You RAT FINK!!!”

The video is funny, irreverent, and has charming animations. Actor John Goodman does the voice-over of Ed telling his story. A handful of famous actors add their voices to the story.

See if your ear can spot Ann Margret!

When Ed was a pioneer in the Hot rod culture, there were t-shirts, decals, model kits, posters, and more; with Roth’s vision of the Anti-Mickey Mouse and anti-hero characters and car-toons If you do searches on Amazon and eBay, you’ll find all kinds of Ed Roth and Rat Fink vintage products. Some of the old Rat Fink comic books are surprisingly expensive. Continue reading “Long Live the RAT FINK!” →

11-12-22 “Veterans Day” Car & Bike Show Announcement

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Lunch is on US!

Greetings, Cruisers! Our next Lake Country Cruisers Car & Bike Show will be on Saturday, November 12, from 10 am. to 2 pm. at the Lake Placid American Legion. Since Veterans Day is the day before, Friday, November 11, we decided the give a special “thanks” to our Great Cruiser Vets.

Every Veteran that registers a car will get a ticket for a FREE LUNCH inside the Legion’s “Mess Hall” dining room!

Also, our Kettle Corn vendor friend, and Dave the Divine Ice Cream man will also be at the show.

Since Veterans Day falls just before our show, we thought, why not help to make it, “Veterans Day Weekend”? Continue reading “11-12-22 “Veterans Day” Car & Bike Show Announcement” →

Vintage V-12 Race Cars – Fire and Fury

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This is why we LOVE machines!

Hey Cruisers! We all love “machines”. I just found this fascinating YouTube video featuring old race cars from the teens-to-the 1940s that were powered by V-12 aircraft engines! A few are newly-built, but they all have HUGE engines.

 

I found the oldest cars to be the most interesting because these beasts were built and raced not too long after Henry Ford’s Model T came out in 1908. In 1901 Henry won his first and only “race” in a car of his own construction at the Grosse Pointe race track, in Grosse Pointe, Michigan with a top speed of 72 mph and an average World Record breaking average speed of 65.79-mph!

It’s amazing how these cars, some of which are over 100 years old are still around and functioning!

They’re all about FIRE and FURY! This is serious, BIG FUN!

 

As I was watching this I thought, “No one is going to have this much fun with electric race cars!

Just a reminder, we are still on for our visit to George Haddad’s Fabulous Restorations Hot Rod shop, in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, November 6, 2022.

It’s a fairly long ride, so we are suggesting that we carpool for the trip. If your machine is up for the trip, I know that George would love to see your car.

We will be meeting at Tabby’s parking lot on the south end of Lake Placid, on the right side of Rt. 27 as you are driving south, Sunday, November 6, 2022, at 8 am so that we can leave at 8:30. We’ll be making a rest stop in Moorhaven. Continue reading “Vintage V-12 Race Cars – Fire and Fury” →

New License Plate “Cruiser Of The Month” Awards!

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Introducing our NEW “Cruiser Of The Month” Custom License Plates!

Dateline: 10-6-22 – Greetings Cruisers! Every year before we launch the upcoming Car & Bike Show season we typically buy new trophies. This year we decided to dispense with the formal “trophies” and do something totally different.

Consistent with our Lake Country Cruisers objective of supporting local businesses, we decided to tap into Kimberly Welsh’s Heartland Crafted “Hand Crafter & Lasercut Gifts” shop on 247 East Interlake Blvd, in downtown Lake Placid to custom-make license plates for us. Continue reading “New License Plate “Cruiser Of The Month” Awards!” →

July Cruisers Meet’n Eat at Cowpoke’s Watering Hole!

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Dateline: 7.7.22 – Lake Country Cruisers has reservations for the back room at Cowpoke’s Watering Hole for Thursday, July 21, 2022, from 2 pm to 4 pm. The Watering Hole is well known for its steaks and sandwiches. Their international Cuban sandwich is amazing.

Please RSVP Scott by either dropping an e-mail to… lightoak@comcast.net, or call… 863-699-6355, so we know how many settings, feedbags, and chairs to put out! Continue reading “July Cruisers Meet’n Eat at Cowpoke’s Watering Hole!” →

Next Meet’n Eat at Beef O’Bradys, June 23, 2022, 2 pm-to-4 pm, BE THERE!

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Are you get’n hungry, or what?

Dateline: 6.4.22 – Greetings hungry Cruisers! Pete just confirmed that our next “tie on the ‘ol feed-bag” Meet’n Eat luncheon will be at Beef O’Brady’s on June 23, from 2 pm to 4 pm.

If you have never been to Beef O’Brady’s it’s easy to get to.

The Tower is on the left, just before the LEFT turn onto Tower Street.

If you are coming from Sebring headed South, the restaurant is located on Rt. 27, in between the only two traffic lights in Lake Placid. The shopping center is on the LEFT side of Rt. 27, the same side as The Tower.

Turn LEFT at the first traffic light, Tower Street, then RIGHT into the parking lot. WATCH OUT for the Speed Bumps, they are vicious! Continue reading “Next Meet’n Eat at Beef O’Bradys, June 23, 2022, 2 pm-to-4 pm, BE THERE!” →

Win a 1940 Ford Cookie Jar Full of Mini-Cheer!

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Dateline: 5-11-22 – Greetings Cruisers! Just a quick reminder and a few updates. At this Saturday’s Lake Country Cruisers Car & Bike Show we will be raffling off 1940 Ford Cookie Jar stuffed with little bottles of Cheer for just $5 per ticket! Big THANKS to Gary Pigman for donating the sweet car cookie jar.

We are still working on a possible Father’s Day Car & Bike Show on June 19, 2022.

Also, we are close to getting a date for our next Meet’n Eat luncheon event. The location will be either Beef O’Brady’s or Jaxson’s On the Lake. We’ll let you know as soon as the date and place is confirmed.

This Saturday’s Lake Country Cruisers show at the Lake Placid American Legion, on Rt. 27 in Lake Placid, Florida will be our first Car AND Bike show. So, if you have a two or three-wheeler, bring your machine to the show! We love machines!

So, bring your bike pals, bring the kids, bring the grandkids too!

The Weather Channel is forecasting a partly-cloudy and warm day this Saturday. Lucky for us we can go into the Legion Lounge to cool our heels and get some lunch and beverages.

The show starts at 11 am and we wrap it up around 1:30 with the 50/50 drawing and the runner-up prize of a local restaurant gift certificate. See you Saturday! – Scott, Pete, Ron, Christy, & George

 

Lake Country Cruisers Gets Some Newspaper Ink

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Lake Country Cruisers Community Outreach is getting attention.

Dateline: 4.28.22, Photo and newspaper article by Deborah Latter – While perusing through the April 27, 2022 edition of Highlands News-Sun‘s “Lake Placid – Local News – Your Town” section, I was pleasantly surprised to see the headline, “Lake Country Cruisers donates to SFSC Automotive programs”!

The week before, Deborah Letter, of the South Florida State College’s Office of Community Relations and Marketing, interviewed me about the Lake Country Cruisers. As you know, last March, thanks to YOUR SUPPORT, Lake Country Cruisers was able to donate $500 to the Bill Jarrett Automotive Scholarship Program. Bill Jarrett Ford is located on Rt. 27 in Avon Park, Florida.

South Florida State College’s Foundation Scholarships web page describes the Bill Jarrett Automotive Scholarship as such, “For full-time students who are a member of the SFSC Automotive Service Technology Program and/or a member of the SFSC Auto Body Repair and Refinishing Program”.

Pete, Ron, George, Christy, and I all felt this would be the perfect place for us, as “car people” to contribute to, in addition to the Veterans Council of Highlands County. This is part of Lake Country Cruisers’ community outreach effort. By the end of the year, our goal is to make another round of $500 donations to SFST and the Veterans Council of Highlands County.

When Deborah interviewed me I thought her article was just for the college’s social media, so on behalf of the Cruisers Team, a big THANKS!

The scans of the printed article are a little hard to read, so Deborah has allowed us to include her words below. When Ron and I went to the college on March 30, 2022, we thought we were going to drop off a bank check and have a quick peek of the college’s shop, and that would be that Continue reading “Lake Country Cruisers Gets Some Newspaper Ink” →

Lake Country Cruisers Donates $500 to the Bill Jarrett Automotive Scholarship Program!

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Dateline: 4-2-2022 – We are VERY happy to report that thanks to YOU, Lake Country Cruisers was able to donate $500 to South Florida State College’s Bill Jarrett Automotive Scholarship Program!!!

On Wednesday, March 30, 2022 Ron Ellerman and I went to the South Florida State College Campus in Avon Park to meet with Thomas C. Leitzel, the President of the college, Sid Valentine, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Student Services (Sid is also a mechanical engineer), and Administrator, Jamie Bateman.

Left-to-Right: Sid Valentine, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Student Services, Administrator, Jamie Bateman, and Thomas C. Leitzel, President of the college.

Tom, Sid, and Jamie gave us a tour of their Automotive Vocational Training Department. When we first met Tom and Sid, we didn’t know that we were getting the tour from the President of the College and a Vice President!

We visited the two different training programs; AutomotiveService Technology and the Automotive Collision Technology Technician. The students were in session, but the instructors stopped class to let the students know that we were from Lake Country Cruisers in Lake Placid and gave us an opportunity to talk with the students. Continue reading “Lake Country Cruisers Donates $500 to the Bill Jarrett Automotive Scholarship Program!” →