11/19/05

CONNECTING R.O.D.S. NEWSLETTER

MEMBER CLUB

2005 #5 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

Note: RODS Run Date Changed

Please mark your calendars and accept our apologies: The Ramblin Oldies will be hosting our next run May 5-7, 2006 at the Holiday Inn South in Baton Rouge. The original May date we had planned ran into problems with the Houma Run. And we found out how hard it is to schedule a rod run in the Spring, cause the Knoxville Mini Nats and Tupelo are both on the same weekend. But if you are looking for some real fun in South Louisiana, we promise Baton Rouge will be the place to be May 5-7th!

Just think, in 28 years we have had some awesome rod runs and some really nice grand prizes. In fact, it would be worth your while just to come and get some bbq and one of our world famous printed-on-both-sides t-shirts!

The Holiday Inn South is very convenient to area restaurants and other nearby attractions including Celebration Station (go-karts). For reservations call (225) 924-7021 and ask for the special $69. rod run rate. Or go to www.ichotelsgroup.com to pull up a virtual tour of the Hotel.

The newly remodeled Holidome features a huge “rain proof” atrium with a restaurant, bar, beautiful rooms and 3 swimming pools! Come early Friday for the free bbq and welcome party, then on Saturday we will supply a free shuttle to The Mall of Louisiana. Later that night you will be treated to “Hot Rod Drive In Movies” just like the old days! Add to that more and new games to keep you busy, our awesome prizes... oh yeah!

***Please note the RODS club is no longer associated in any way with the St Francisville “Cruising in the Country” car show. ***

Put it in “D”

The September club meeting was a road trip of sorts... all the way down to Danny Frederic’s house in Prairieville - and right after the hurricane it was a 1 hour drive in all that traffic!!! Danny hooked us up with delicious spaghetti and some huge cookies. We started forming committee’s for the ‘06 R.O.D.S. Run and talked about rodders that were hit hard by the hurricane. The week after 12 club members traveled over to Hammond La. to help fellow RODS member Louie Galy and his family move to a new shop (with a house attached). With half a dozen pickups, several trailers and a big U-Haul we did the whole thing in only 2 trips! *Notes for future reference: don’t stand behind Lee when he is backing his big diesel up, and keep your wife’s underwear drawer away from certain RODS movers! Heh heh heh

The October meeting was at Marvin Miller’s new shop. Nice place - right in front of his son’s house. Got to get your priorities straight! A couple of Corvettes were being assembled for our viewing pleasure. Marvin and Diane are now living on the grounds while planning their OWN house.

In November we went down to Lee Laurent’s shop in Prairieville for more spaghetti, Janice’s Rum Cake and lots of sweets! We talked about the rod run and finalized committees, then talked about places to go with our street rods.

TECH DEPARTMENT

CORRECTION: Seems I really mis-quoted Danny Varnado. R-12 does not separate and you can ‘top off’ with no problems. But the new “hotshot” replacements bleed off lighter gasses first so you have to purge the system before refilling if it gets low. Also, you don’t need to replace the dryer unless air (moisture) gets into the system.

Rachel Ray has nothing on the RODS club; our resident homemaker, Marvin Miller says if you want to keep an opened bag of chips fresh just stick it in the refrigerator! They will stay crisp for a couple of weeks!

Ever talk to your car? Well at least LISTEN to it! That’s right, fight the urge to pop in that AC/DC cassette and listen to what your street rod is trying to tell you. From a lose fan belt to a leaking exhaust flange, to something rattling and about to fall off! Pull the wheels off every so often to check brakes and bearings too.

JUST CRUISIN' by Bobby

We are celebrities! That’s right, lowly street rodders. While some people are famous because they act, model or sing, others are just born rich and hang with famous people. But I think creative talent like the kind it takes to build street rods is even better than some of the above. Sure our cars get the attention, but that’s a reflection of the artist’s (builder’s) skill and imagination! So unless we do something really stupid, that is what makes us cooler than the average celeb. (Unless of course, those x-rated home videos happen to surface!) LOL

Possibly the biggest threat to street rods has just hit the road; hot rod VW beetles. For a fraction of the cost you can build a beater Volkswagen that has the stare value equal to a Boyd Cottington creation. No lie. Www.vwstreetrod.com

PSA announcement: Hurricane’s Katrina and Rita have displaced many street rodders, and others in the hobby want to help. Larry Teal and Kenny Angelo (NSRA) with help from Lee Laurent and others have started a Hurricane Relief Fund to help rodders living in disaster areas. They are getting a bank account and all donations will be accepted. The committee will then review any requests for money on a case by case basis. For more information call Larry Teal at (225)665-6961 or check out the link on our website - www.streetrods.org

Doug Entrekin and Jimmy Meyers evacuated to Baton Rouge after the hurricane and attended several RODS breakfasts and club meetings while in town. Both were in the club years ago and it was really great to have them (although not under those horrible circumstances). Fortunately both West Bank rodders suffered only minor damage to their homes.

Speaking of old rodders, Benny and I ran into THE Don Furnish at Home Depot the other day. It was great talking with him and although he doesn’t have a street rod anymore he is building a shop, so who knows?!

One last thought - it is sure nice to be connected. I mean the RODS are constantly communicating through e-mails and via our weekly Saturday breakfasts. Some weekends we decide at the last minute to all cruise over to a Sonic Drive In for supper, and the word gets out quickly. Too cool!

Remember: He who dies with the most friends... Has already

won! Cruise Safe

Cruises

Every Saturday Morning:R.O.D.S. “Cruise Breakfast”, Rick’s Drive Inn - Florida Blvd. At Flannery Rd, Baton Rouge 7:30am

Second Saturdays: Golden Oldies Cruise Night - Hwy 190 in the Hobby Lobby parking lot, Hammond La. BBQ & Burgers, 50/50 and wall to wall spectators...

Third SUNDAY Dec.18th: “Super Cruise Night” sponsored by Gerry Lane Enterprises; Tanger Outlet Center in Gonzales La. Next to Chili’s. Sound system, 50/50 & door prizes, $1.00 entry fee.

Last Saturdays: Walker Cruise Night, Walker La. off I-12.

.060 OVER

King Hardeman, our club treasurer for a good many years has

recently decided to hang up his pencil and green visor to help out more in the community. In fact Habitat for Humanity was mentioned in his “retirement” speech at the October meeting. Both his ‘34 and t-bucket are for sale if anyone is looking for a killer turn key street rod... We all want to thank King for his tireless work with and for the club, and we wish him all the best in future endeavors.

Watch out for ladders! I fell off one a week ago and broke my right foot and left hand. Try to drive a streetrod with a huge boot on your foot and cast on your hand!

Last but not Least

Speaking of Bruce Broussard... he returned from the Nationals with a ‘40 Chevy coupe and that thing is bright RED. Said he needs to put a cruise control in it though, cause the thing wants to run on the highway! Doug Miller added another streetrod to his stable this summer, a 1936 Ford Panel truck. From what I hear it is another fine automobile. He loves those commercials!

On a sad note, long time antique car collector John Copes recently lost all of his cars in a warehouse fire. In addition to some very rare vintage stuff, the fire also destroyed all of his papers and a lot of memorabilia. I know we all are sorry to hear of his loss. He is liquidating what’s left of his collection so if you’re interested in some neat stuff call his helper, Bob McCarron at 225-610-9048 for the complete list.

Club member Wilson Shaffer is recovering from recent heart surgery he had in Ohio. Please keep him in your prayers.

I’m gonna have to give the “Dukes of Hazzard” a thumbs up. I mean 90% was awesome car chases and 5% was Daisy Duke! On top of that the ‘must have’ soundtrack included ZZ Top, The Allman Bros, AC/DC, The James Gang... I’ll buy it!

And check out the November issue of “The Baton Rouge Journal” for an article on vintage cars with pics and an article on your’s truly. Oops, getting that big head again...

The next R.O.D.S. club meeting will be Tuesday December 6th. We usually start gathering about 6:30 for supper, and the meeting starts at 7:00. Visitors are welcome to come out and see what we are all about. Call Lee Laurent 225)673-8562 for details.

R.O.D.S.

P.O. BOX 61

DENHAM SPRINGS, LA. 70726