1/15/05
CONNECTING
R.O.D.S. NEWSLETTER
MEMBER
CLUB
2005 #1 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 necessarily 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) Bobby Spann at
(225)275-9868/E-mail: bobbyspann@aol.com
NEWS
& STUFF
The “news”
as some of you probably know by now is that we have moved our Labor Day Weekend
R.O.D.S. Run! The Lamar Dixon Expo
Center most likely will close down after March, and with all the
planning that must take place for a show of this magnitude we can’t be dragging
our feet. But think about it a minute -
for 26 years now the RODS club has given street rodders a little ‘extra’ when
they come to our run. Whether it’s the
free feeds, live bands or the awesome 2 sided t-shirts! So just trust us to give you a truly cool
2005 R.O.D.S. Run.
The new
location is in St Francisville La, abut 30 min North of Baton Rouge. The limited number of rooms at the “St
Francis Hotel on the Lake” (Best Western) are going fast, but there are http://www.stfrancisvilleovernight.commany neat places to stay
around town, from the 50's styled “3V Tourist Courts” to the historic St
Francisville Inn to the “haunted” Myrtles Plantation home! Check out our website link for additional
lodging options.
Friday
night will be our traditional free bbq next to the hotel’s scenic lake. Then Saturday it’s a show and shine at a
beautiful oak lined park right in the middle of town! Games, poker walk and a live band... After lunch we will cruise over to nearby
Jackson La. to meet up with some Corvette & muscle car people for steam
engine train rides and tours of the local winery. At the Jackson Museum you will see civil war
dioramas, antique cars, a huge cotton gin and one of the few pneumatic pipe
organs left in the country!
On top of that the Saturday night “live band
at the hotel” is back! Ha! Pack your dancin’ shoes and make plans today
to attend one of the most unique rod runs in the country.
MORE
NEWS
mailto:bobbyspann@aol.commailto:bobbyspann@aol.com The NSRA Safety program is gearing up for 2005. The La. State Inspector, Kenny Angelo is
requesting each car club get with him and schedule an “Inspection Day” where
they can do all the rods at once. That
way he and his team will be free to inspect ‘independent’ cars at rod
runs. The safety inspections are free,
and it’s a win-win situation for us all.
“Ramblin
Oldies of Denham Springs” Yep, that’s what you will see on the side of our NEW
TRAILER! We have recently purchased
a 6 X 10 enclosed rig to haul all our club stuff. Well, Homey’s sound system and the BBQ pit
and easy up canopy we plan to get!
It will make a great “Headquarters” for our club at area rod runs as
well as the Nationals! Now if I only had
that hot rod schoolbus to pull it with...
Speaking
of club stuff, we want to thank Lee and Janice Laurent for hosting the
RODS Club Christmas party. Everyone had
a great time at their house, and the food was unbelievable! And of course the gift exchange was very...
spirited.
Thanks
also go out to Doug Miller for letting us trash the “Toy Box” each
month, oops, I mean hold our club meetings there. Heh heh heh And thanks also to Sidney, Al and Lee
for cooking the food for our “boy’s night out!”
JUST
CRUISIN' by
Bobby
Watching
some of Doug Schaubhut’s old 1970's rod run movies, one in particular sticks in
my head - Chattanooga. Street rods
cruising up and down the scenic mountain enjoying the sights... If this sounds good to you, or if you’re just
tired of the same old parking lot run then check out our rod run this
year. We have centered everything around
a small town nestled in the hills of the beautiful Feliciana’s. It is filled with antique and craft shops,
historic buildings and restored homes - all surrounded by cypress trees and
huge mossy oaks. In the main ‘downtown’
area there is a well kept park, town hall, an old Ford Dealership (still
selling Henry’s cars), few quaint stores and the famous “Lola Blues” and “Magnolia”
Cafe’s. We did a one day ‘test’ show
last year and it went over really good!
And wouldn’t
you like to really treat the wife for once?
There is nothing more peaceful or romantic than staying at one of the
many bed and breakfast’s in the area, and most will even cook your first meal
of the day! Got an RV or tent? The Green Acres Campground is less than 10
minutes away. Why not come up a day
early or stay late and visit nearby plantation homes or maybe one of the
historic churches. (Grace Episcopal still has patched up Civil War cannon ball
holes in the brick!)
In addition
to the show and shine in St Francisville, after lunch on Saturday we will take
a short scenic cruise over to nearby Jackson Louisiana for some real fun. There you can ride a real steam locomotive,
tour the civil war era museum or do some wine tasting at Feliciana Cellars
Winery. You can take some pictures of
your car from their bell tower, next to “Bob’s Drive In” or even by the “Southern
Belle” streamlined train car.
Take a
chance, treat your wife and come have some fun with us on May 20-22 in St.
Francisville Louisiana. For more info on
the lodgings available click on www.stfrancisvilleovernight.com Or check out www.streetrods.org for even more options. And you know, I think they still do the
Chattanooga Run... on the Labor Day Weekend!
LETS
CRUISE:
January 21-23 - Southern Who 13th Winter Run,
Diamondhead, MS. Ramada Inn pre-49! Yeah!
228-452-3584
January 21-23 - World of Wheels, New Orleans Superdome
February 25-26 - Cars for Kids Show, Lamar
Dixon, Gonzales La. Bands, vendors,
indoor spaces 225-294-3782
March 18-20 - Singing River Rod Run, Biloxi 228-392-6134
April 15-17 - Red River SRA Super Run, Shreveport,La.318-949-9117
April 15-17 - Rod-Tiques Sunny Beaches Rod Run, Pensacola, FL
<49
(The huge
Pensacola British Car Show is the same weekend)
April 22-24 - Dixie Street Rods 23rd
Rod Run, Days Inn - McComb, MISS.
<49! 601-783-5202
April 29-May 1 - 3rd Annual Blue Suede Cruise,
Tupelo MS.
800-533-0611 www.bluesc.com
May 6-8 - NSRA SE Nationals, Knoxville TN. <49!
May 6-8 - Cruisin Natchez Open Show, Vidalia MS
601-442-5841
May 13-15 - Mardi Gras Street Rods 8th
Annual Parade of Rods, Houma La.
985-537-7656
May 20-22 - 27th Annual R.O.D.S. Run “Cruising
in the Country” St Francisville, La. 225-275-9868 Pre-49!
http://www.streetrods.orghttp://www.stfrancisvilleovernight.comhttp://www.stfrancisvilleovernight.com
Every
Saturday Morning: R.O.D.S. “Cruise
Breakfast”, Rick’s Drive Inn - Florida Blvd. At Flannery Rd, Baton Rouge 7:00am
till about 8:30 or 9:00. Good
food too!
Second
Saturdays: Golden Oldies Cruise
Night - Hwy
190 in the Hobby Lobby parking lot, Hammond La. 7-11:00. Burgers, 50/50 and wall to wall spectators...
TECH
DEPARTMENT
Build it
cool, but build it safe! Everybody knows
that Boyd fired ‘Bluebear’ for not boxing his frame, and unfortunately there
are a lot of backyard builders still doing stuff like that. You don’t want to compromise safety just to
get an old timey look. An recent
editorial in a rod magazine summed it up:
The only reason kids drove ‘beaters’ or ‘junkers’ back in the 50's is
because that’s all they could afford!
Young guys were working with very limited money and tools, not to
mention primitive technology. They all wanted
a top notch rod, but had to settle for what they could do themselves - even if
they weren’t good at welding or fabrication.
Today however, there is no excuse to build an unsafe car... unless you
plan on putting it in a museum!
Put
it in “D”
The Ramblin Oldies practice what they preach -
cruising in our street rods to promote the hobby. Every Saturday morning a dozen hot rods may
be seen parked in front of Rick’s Drive in, and can I tell you we had over 20
people turn out New Year’s Morning for breakfast! Out rubbing shoulders
with guys still wearing lampshades on their heads from the night before; now
that’s dedication. And just about every
nice weekend we meet at a local Sonic Drive In to sit and talk about everyone
who’s not there! Ha! http://www.geocities.com/~bikerodnkustom/spandex.html
.060
OVER ST FRANCISVILLE
The “3V
Tourist Courts” are the oldest ones of their kind in the state - dating
back to the 1930's. Kitchenettes in the
middle of town at the traffic light... (225)635-5540
The St
Francisville Inn is next to the Park by the show-n-shine. Listen to Bruce on the P.A. from your
room! (800)488-6502
WoooOOOoooo
Haunted! The Myrtles Plantation home and restaurant is less than a mile
from the show (225)635-6277
Old
Centenary Inn, Jackson, La.+10 mi (225)634-5050 Over in Jackson La, most well known for the big
Veteran’s Home, mental hospital and location of Dixon Correctional Institute.
Best
Western Hotel, Hwy 19 in Zachary, La.+15mi (225)658-2550 Closest B.R. hotel to the run, about 20
minutes away.
The
Lodge at the Bluffs on Thompson’s Creek is a luxury 40 unit hotel, golf
course and up-scale residential area about 8 miles away. Special group rates avail. (888)634-3410
The other B&B’s
mentioned on our web site and link are all top quality places to stay, some
right downtown! Check them out online or
give them a call...
http://www.streetrods.orgR.O.D.S.
ON THE INTERNET
Few people
know this, but the Ramblin Oldies of Denham Springs, Inc. were probably the
first street rod club in the world to have their own website! Yep, Benny Spann was on the ball when
the world wide web was invented and got us set up from the get-go. (We would have had a ‘hot rod’ in our
Internet address, but the porn sites had already taken them all)
Anyway we
want to thank Benny for his many years of work keeping the website up. We have recently transferred the task over to
Mike and Cathy Lewis, and they are doing some neat stuff to it. Check it out when you get a chance at: www.streetrods.org
FOR
SALE
For Sale: 1936 International Pickup,
purple/white. 23 pt NSRA inspection,
350TBI/700R4, Must II $18K David 225-622-0872
For Sale: Red Coke Box Rod Trailer. $1,500. Danny 225-622-2403
mailto:bobbyspann@aol.comThe next R.O.D.S. club meeting will be Tuesday February 1th at Doug Miller’s “Toy Box” off Siegen Lane. Visitors are always welcome to come and see what we are all about. We usually start gathering about 6:30 for supper, and the meeting starts around 7:00. Call Homer Thornton (225)686-0260 for details.