Lake Placid Florida 2023 X-mas Parade, Best Ever

Published on December 27, 2022 by corvettes

Lake Placid Christmas Parade Slide Show Below

Greeting Cruisers! We hope that everyone had a delightful Christmas and is planning a fun New Year’s Eve.

December 10, 2022 was a BIG DAY for Lake Placid. We had our Lake Country Cruisers Car & Bike Cruise-In at the Lake Placid Historical Society Depot; Santa came to Lake Placid on the U.S. Sugar “Santa Express” (yes, Santa has his own train!); and Lake Placid hosted their annual Christmas Parade.

Also, the Santa Express had been parked at the depot overnight and departed promptly at 12 noon; WHAT’A SIGHT! If you’ve never stood next to a steam locomotive as it is departing, you have been missing a unique experience!

Oh, What Fun!

I have been attending the Lake Placid Christmas Parade since 2017 and we have to say, it doesn’t get more “Small Town Americana” than this, folks! “Oh, what fun!” In 2021 Lake Country Cruisers had eight vehicles in the parade, this year we had 15 street machines in the parade! (let’s make it 30 next year, guys and gals!)

And the Weather Was Perfect!

That is more, the weather was perfect “jacket weather” somewhere around 60-degrees, the sidewalks were packed, and the curbs in the street were lined with happy residents. After the parade, a small group of Cruisers met at the GC Grillhouse for eats.

In closing, the Lake Placid Christmas Parade was the perfect ending to a happy day! Lake Country Cruisers will definitely be back for the 2023 Lake Placid Christmas Parade. For all of the Cruisers that participated in the parade, a BIG THANKS! – Scott, Pete, & Ron

PS – We want to let you in on something, we are already making plans for the 2023 Christmas Cruise-In and it’s going to be big! Details to come.

Click any of the images to launch the slide show.
Then just click the arrows to the right or left!

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

Published on December 17, 2022December 17, 2022 by corvettes

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!

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!!!” →

All Aboard! The U.S. Sugar Express Train No. 148 is Coming to Town!

Published on November 24, 2022November 25, 2022 by corvettes

Here’s the Story of the Restored U.S. Sugar Express Train!

Greetings Cruisers and Happy Thanksgiving!

Last Sunday we told you about our December 10 Car & Bike Show that will take place, only for December, at the Lake Placid Historical Society Depot, located at 12 Park, Avenue in downtown Lake Placid, Florida.

Our Special Guest Star for the show isn’t an automobile, but it does have wheels (14 of them) and can move people and big things from here to there. U.S. Sugar Express Train No. 148 is a local historical artifact. Instead of the 102-year-old “static” display piece, this slice of history still works and sells rides!

Here’s some interesting info about the U.S. Sugar Express Train No. 148 from the Wikipedia page for the locomotive…

“No. 148 was the eighth member of ten 4-6-2 Light Pacific class 141 steam locomotives built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Richmond, Virginia in April 1920 for the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC).

It was assigned to haul passenger and freight trains on the FEC’s Overseas Railroad between Miami and Key West, Florida until 1935 when the Labor Day Hurricane destroyed many of the route’s long bridges and the FEC permanently closed it down due to the Great Depression.

During that time, the FEC began to retire most of their older 4-6-2 locomotives for scrap or selling them to other railroads in order to recoup their financial losses.[4][5] No. 148 remained in service with the FEC until June 1952, when it was sold to U.S. Sugar Corporation (USSC) in Clewiston, Florida, where it worked alongside its sister locomotives Nos. 98, 113, and 153 to haul sugarcane trains from the harvest field to USSC’s sugarcane mills.”

So, what that means is that our “Guest of Honor” is 102 years old! Continue reading “All Aboard! The U.S. Sugar Express Train No. 148 is Coming to Town!” →

Lake Country Cruisers Christmas Cruise-In

Published on November 20, 2022November 20, 2022 by corvettes

December 10, 2022, at the Lake Placid Historical Society & Depot Museum

Greetings Cruisers! This might seem a little early, but we want to get ahead of this special event!

Our next scheduled Lake Country Cruisers Car & Bike Show is on December 10, 2022. It just so happens that there’s A LOT going on that day in downtown Lake Placid!

To be part of the day’s festivities, the Lake Placid Historical Society & Depot Museum invited the Cruisers to have our December Car & Bike Show at the museum. Here’s what’s going on in downtown Lake Placid that day.

The fully restored U.S. “Santa” Sugar Express will be arriving at 12:00 Noon and departing for the south later in the day. If you have never seen a steam locomotive before, this will be a treat! These giant machines “breath” and sound like beasts “resting”.

Our December show will be in the Historical Society’s parking lot and side yard. And while you are at the show, the U.S. “Santa” Sugar Express will be coming into the Lake Placid Train Depot/Historical Society Museum!

The Toys For Tots folks will be there, so bring a toy if you like. Continue reading “Lake Country Cruisers Christmas Cruise-In” →

A Beautiful Day For Our Vets! – SLIDE SHOW

Published on November 17, 2022November 19, 2022 by corvettes

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!!!

Published on November 11, 2022November 11, 2022 by corvettes

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!!!” →