Tag: ross longo

Happy 95th B-Day to Ross Longo!

Published on by corvettes

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!

What’a Week at Sebring Raceway! SLIDE SHOW

Published on by corvettes

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

Published on by corvettes

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