CONNECTING R.O.D.S. NEWSLETTER
MEMBER CLUB
Fall 2009 LFOCC - NSRA - GOODGUYS - SSRA
The Connecting
R.O.D.S. Newsletter, is sponsored by the Ramblin' Oldies of Denham Springs, Inc. to promote street rodding,
and the construction and preservation of pre 1949 street rods. Articles do not reflect the opinions of the
R.O.D.S. members or its officers.
Classified ads are free of charge:
R.O.D.S., P.O. Box #61, Denham Springs, La. 70727 or call (club secretary)
- NEWS -
How can I not start out the newsletter without mentioning that THE Norm Grabowski is scheduled to appear
at our 2010 Rod Run?! This is like
unbelievable – and promises to be a lot of fun.
Come on over to visit with Norm and be sure to get an autographed poster
while you’re at it!
A close second in newsworthiness is that
What a great season of cruising fun!
And in addition to all the fun events, we as a car club have also been
very active in charity work. RODS
members have raised thousands of dollars for the Hospice Foundation of Baton
Rouge at our rod runs. But we also donated
$300+ to sponsor Diane Miller in the
local Alzheimer’s walk. CG found a “Pillows for Patriots”
benefit over at the Texas Motor Speedway and we chipped in $200+ so that military
personnel would have neck pillows to make their long trip overseas more
comfortable. Support the Troops!
In October the RODS club went to the
On top of all the rod runs and cruise nights, our club members and their
wives get together several times a year for private dinner cruises to Hilltop and
Madisonville; often stopping at Louie
and Charlene Galy’s for dessert
afterward!
I would like to mention that the Ramblin’ Oldies of Denham Springs is a
member of the
“ROD RUNNING”
Got an email from Jack Brown
over in
Boy, what a year of cruising:
RODS members have attended the
Winnsboro Festival Car Show, Picayune MS, Marksville (CG in Top 25), the
1st Annual Live Oak Concours in Baton Rouge, Walker Lion’s benefit
and the annual “Back to the Beach” benefit in New Orleans where they actually cut off the entries at 500!
Randy Wilson’s Red Neck
Nationals over in
At the Bad Boys show in Vidalia our club picked up 4 Top 100 and 2 Top
25’s as well as Best Paint. And with 14
members in
Eight RODS were at the Swamp Pop Festival Car Show at Lamar Dixon, 5 in
the Top 30 and
There was a good crowd of old cars at Barry Falgout’s annual Pot Luck Picnic in Amite La the first
weekend in November. That replica gas
station he built is too fine. They even
had straw and sand down to compensate for a downpour the day before…
I followed Danny and Dana Varnado over to
We ate at the famous “Shed BBQ” in Gauthier and Danny got some exercise
when we heard heavy rain on the tin roof and he realized the top on his Chevy
powered MGB convertible was down!
On Saturday in Ocean Springs Danny was interviewed and filmed by Dennis Cage for a TV segment to air
next year!
-32nd Annual RODS Run –
Wow; 2010 and we have been doing this for how many years?! I remember when the Ramblin Oldies first
formed. We really looked sharp in our
red bowling shirts with the white outline of
Our club has remained active all through the years, going from about 4
running cars to well over 20 now. Just
look at the lineup in the grass under the Holiday Inn South sign next February
when you come to the run – those are all R.O.D.S. club member’s cars!
Oh, before I forget; we will have a couple of new additions to the run
for twenty-ten. In addition to the usual
vendors, Joey Hutson will be down
from
Note: the swap meet will be free
again, and we will have RODS members available to watch your stuff for
you! Now how can you beat that? Call
And appearing at the 32nd
Annual R.O.D.S. Run will be famous actor and hot rod legend NORM GRABOWSKI! That’s right, Norm will be our special guest
for the weekend, signing autographed posters and displaying some of his awesome
hand carved skull gearshift knobs. Those
works of art are real collector’s items too.
Add to all this more cars… and that equals MORE
Check out our website www.streetrods.org for a flyer
and pictures of past R.O.D.S’ runs..
- SAFETY MATTERS -
Folks, I don’t care how cool it looks,
You can bring plastic headlights back to life by polishing out the
“frosting” with a buffer wheel and chrome polish. Then clear coat with automotive catalyzed
clear (
Make sure you get your street rod
inspected by an NSRA Safety Team member!
They can spot problems (like unadjusted neutral safety switches and
dry rotted 4-bar bushings) that may just save your life. You don’t have to belong to a club, and it’s
I’m pretty good about changing the gear oil in my rear end and manual
transmission, but I’m really lazy when it comes to replacing my brake
fluid. The recommendation is to flush
the entire system every 2 years, as moisture accumulates in the fluid and can
rust out steel lines and brake cylinders from the inside. Hey, anyone up for a “brake bleeding
party?!”
In talking with fellow street rodders at club meetings and cruise nights
I have come to find out that not only do these talented guys build bitchin
cars, but they carry that quality work ethic over to everything they do! Some have put down tile floors in their
houses, done remodeling projects, and I know at least 2 guys who built their
own swimming pools!
It is a real pleasure to hang with talented guys of this caliber and
really encourages me to go that extra mile on my own beater. As the saying goes, “anybody can impress Joe
Public but it takes a lot more to impress your fellow street rodders!”
Blasting back to the past: the year is 1979 and the Ramblin Oldies of
Denham Springs are having their first rod run at the Holiday Inn South in
Also going on that year – the Pensacola Rod-Tiques 5 Flags Rod Run, The
NSRA Mini Nationals in Tyler Texas, the Memphis Street Tiques Charity Rod Run… Those were the days!
-SO, LET’S CRUISE!-
Every Saturday Morning: We all meet for breakfast at Rick’s Burgers -
Classic Chevy Club Cruise
Nights:
First
SUNDAY, Sonic Drive In,
Sherwood Forest Blvd. @ Old Hammond Hwy
in Baton Rouge, 4:00-7:00
Third
SUNDAY - at the Sonic on Coursey Blvd.
.060 OVER
Even
with the tight economy several RODS members have found a way to make some extra
cash while attending rod runs by getting their street rods ‘wrapped.’ You know the whole car decals that advertise
one product or another? At $500- $900 a
month just to cruise around town it might be worth looking into!
I see Don Brannon FINALLY
sold his blue Model A sedan! After how
many years on the market?! The new
owners have been spotted at breakfast and several cruise nights with big smiles
on their faces. Same with Al Campbell’s old ’29 Model A
Last but definitely not least is news that our own Homer Thornton did a photo shoot with his big Dodge Sedan with Sherman
“George Jefferson” Hemsley! Homer was
wearing a dark suit and fedora with a Tommy gun and Olga snapped a lot of
pictures. I can’t wait to see them!
Till
next time!
Bobby
The next R.O.D.S. club meeting will be Tuesday Dec. 1st at Doug Miller’s Toy Box off