MONTHLY CRUISIN’ with the Mass Cruisers Auto Club

“CRUISIN’ AT THE SPEED OF FUN”

We’re on the Web

www.masscruisers.com

And Facebook

June 2015 Volume 25 Issue 6

Cruise Night April 30, 2015. Is that Cruiser President Buchanan, 132nd from the right?

Above, the weather was a little on the

cool side for our April 30, 2015 Cruise

Night so only about 500 cars showed up.

(most clubs would be ecstatic to get half

that many). Low turnout or not Tom

Baker’s 1932 Ford Roadster, below right,

would be a winner at any cruise night. Details

on page 10. Left, Steve Vining’s 1985 Monte Carlo

getting a complete free polish offer by the

S3 Fusion no-wax. Can you say “Noblis

Oblige”? Seekonk on page 7. Jack & Cheryl Alaimo’s ‘49 Merc took home

the honors on May 14th for obvious reasons.

Check in out on page 11.

MONTHLY CRUISIN

Our clubhouse is located at 124 Main Street, Norfolk, behind the Dunkin Donuts shop and across the street from the

police station. For more information please call: 781 551-0520. Visitors, guests and those interested in joining the

Mass Cruisers Auto Club are welcome to attend one of our monthly meetings held on the third Tuesday of

each month in Norfolk.

We’re on the Web!

www.masscruisers.com

Club Officers

President– John Buchanan

Vice President—Diane Thornton

Secretary—Patrick Touhey

Treasurer—Wayne Lestan

Webmaster—Steve Vining

Newsletter Editor—Paul Saulnier

Facebook Admin. – Patrick

Touhey

New Member Liaison—Dole Cole

Sgts. at Arms—Rick Lawlor &

John Sturniolo

Charity Coordination –

Frank Bryant

By-Laws – Roy Rossman

MAAC Representative— John

Buchanan

Special Events

Cruise Night—Steve Huntington

Car Show—Rich Armando

Club Events Calendar – Marcia

Silvestri

Advertising Rates Business card space…….$25.00/yr

To advertise in the Monthly Cruiser, please send a business card and a check for $25.00 to

Mass Cruisers Newsletter P.O.

Box 217, Wrentham, MA.

02093

Directory 2

From the President’s Tail Pipe; 3

Car Shows and Events 4

Weekly Cruisin

5

Seekonk Show and Go 6

Seekonk Show and Go 7

Lady Cruisers Pages

by Marcia Silvestri 8

Searching for hot rods in Thai-

land. By Frank Bryant (sort of). 9

April 30, 2015 Cruise Winner

1932 Ford Roadster

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - May 14, 2015 Cruise Winner

1949 Merc Lead Sled

10 - - - - - - - -

11

Page 2 Contact us by snail mail:

P.O. Box 217, Wrentham, MA 02093

Or by email:

HO350@comcast.net

From the President’s Tailpipes Monthly Cruisin Page 3

With all the great CRUIZN weather this past month,

I’ve been attending at least two or three other cruise venues each week to pass out flyers and schmooze. Because most of my cruise selections on any given day are spur of the moment decisions, usually after yard work got the better of me or I made a deadline for one of my other on computer projects, these have been mostly solo cruises. It turns out each CRUIZ or weekend show event has been great experience. I pull out my latest CRUIZN sheet and look for a new cruise venue to head for. The bi-weekly Wednesday cruise in North Attleborough at the Elks Club Pavilion this past week is one that I’ll try to attend regularly, not because it’s close to home, not because it’s got a great loca-tion on the Falls Pond and not because it reminds me a lot of cruises we used to hold at Pete’s Dream in Walpole, but mostly because the cruise organizer Don Achin his family (Achin’s Garage) and friends are doing it for a great cause, “Friends Helping Friends” CANCER SUCKS””. This effort was created to help local families in need to help with those expenses associated with a loved one fighting cancer. It isn’t so much the amount of dollars that can be provided as much as it is that their community is in there helping to support them with this battle. So, get out there as often as you can with your car and find a cruise or car show that shows our communities that auto hobbyists care and want to help their cause. And, don’t forget to bring those car show flyers with you, because our own cruise and car show sup-

ports worthwhile charities too. John

**************************************************************************************************

Valve cover racing was back at our May 14th cruise night at Bass Pro. Get your ride ready

for the East Coast Nationals on June 12, 13 and14.

Monthly Cruisin Page 4 Car Shows and Events

Monthly Cruisin Page 5

Monthly Cruisin Page 6

Steve Vining’s 1985 Monte Carlo getting a complete free polish offer by the S3 Fusion no-wax, no silicone, no

petroleum based nano-technology polish product vendor left him with a big smile on his face and comment-

ing the Monte has never looked this good.

2015 Seekonk Show and Go

Monthly Cruisin Page 7

Seekonk Show and Go

Best of Show Winners

George Schneider of Attleboro Mass with a 1957 Chevy Belair color is Sierra Gold

Bob Lundell of Hanson Mass with a 1967 Chevy Camaro color is a Candy Brandy Wine

Rocco & Marilyn Taddeo of Attleboro Mass with a 1970 Ford Boss 302 Mustang color is Calypso Coral

Lady Cruisers Pages

by Marcia Silvestri

Monthly Cruisin Page 8

It’s fun to wander down Memory Lane once in a while and laugh at some of our old escapades in the Mass. Cruisers. I invite you to join me at: Shoot-out at the Cruisers Corral, Bouckville, New York, 1997. It started innocently enough, when I decided on a theme for the Club dinner I planned at a hapless restau-rant, after a Friday and Saturday show, in a tiny town in upstate New York. Since we were a ways west of our hometowns, the “Wild West” sounded like fun, so I hit the Dollar Store, and bought bandannas and squirt guns. Club members filed in for dinner, and found them next to their plates. Observing the furtive glances were worth every penny spent on the guns, but even funnier was the fact that no one mentioned, or touched them at all! We donned the bandannas as do-rags, neckerchiefs, and armbands. And waited for someone to make the first move. We had a lovely dinner, dessert, coffee, and the glances began again. In my mind I heard, “Oo-we-oo-we-oo, wah, WAH, wah!” Then Eileen Cecca went to the ladies’ room, taking her pistol with her. She came out blastin’, and all heck broke loose! People ran to any water source, to lock and load. Perfectly prim Cruisettes (as we called ourselves back then) transformed into Annie Oakleys, and the guys all became Clint Eastwoods. Old scores were settled, new ones were created! Huddled in a corner nearby, the twenty-somethings wait-staff stood, wide-eyed, mouths hanging open in horror, at these no-longer-juvenile delinquents turning their restaurant into a bath house. The few remaining patrons at other tables vacated the place faster than Billy the Kid could draw his six-shooter. The fake ficus trees (that needed washing anyway) provided some cover for the gunslingers, and a few tenderfeet hid under the banquet tables. They were easy targets. Rocky Silves-tri had an entire pitcher of ice water poured down his backside. Jean and Bruce Waite, both seasoned gun club members, were a deadly duo. When it was over, there wasn’t one dry Cruiser left, nor one standing, be-cause we were all rolling around, laughing hysterically! We double-tipped the servers. Then we had to slosh our way, shivering, into the cold night to our cabins. Another wild tale for the campfire was created! I hope you’ve enjoyed this little bit of Cruiser history. If you have a favorite memory to share, let me know.

Monthly Cruisin Page 9

Searching for Hot Rods in Thailand

by Frank Bryant (sort of)

Never one to miss an opportunity to add to his

collection Cruiser Frank Bryant brought Neringa to

Thailand on vacation. Between sightseeing and

being measured for an extension, Frank kept his

eyes open for a good deal “No American cars in

Thailand. I just saw only two new Chevys... Very

very, very HOT. Thanks for that insightful report,

Frank.

April 30, 2015 Cruise Winner

1932 Ford Roadster

by John Buchanan

Monthly Cruisin Page 10

The April 30 cruise was a bit cooler than our opening cruise on the 16th and as a result only about 400 – 500 cars

braved the easterly breezes atop the Patriot Place hilltop location for our 2nd Bass Pro Shops cruise of 2015. The

Epiphany School in Dorchester www.epiphanyschool.com was our featured charitable 50/50 drawing recipient.

The best cruise car, selected by Bass Pro Shops Marketing Associ-

ate Bob Berkowitz, was Tom Baker’s 1932 Ford Roadster. Tom’s

roadster was a previous cruise selection several years ago and was

also a Street Rod & Custom Top Pick award winner at our 2014

AutoFest Car show. Our practice at these Bass Pro Shop cruises is

that the car selected not be a Mass Cruiser member’s car or a pre-

vious cruise selection in the past two years. Well, Bob’s first pick

was club member Frank Bryant’s 1940 Ford Sedan street rod. After

he was told it wasn’t eligible because it belonged to a club member,

he went out again and found Tom Baker’s Deuce Roadster. Tom, at

first, told Bob NO, he was picked before and that he should go out

and select another car. When it was explained to Tom that his car

was eligible at more than 2 years and, in addition to getting the

beautiful Vintage Motorsports recognition plaque, selection includes

two free entry adult passes to The Hall at Patriot Place Museum, a dinner for two at the Blue Fin Lounge and a fudge

sampler from Uncle Buck’s Fudge Shop, he reconsidered and said YES! I think it may have been the fudge that tipped

the scales, although his eyes did light up after hearing about the free passes for The Hall and dinner at the Blue Fin

Lounge.

Tom’s 1932 Roadster is the real deal steel Henry Ford original, rumble seat and all, that was transformed by the Paul

Gamache’s Rod & Custom Works in East Freetown 27 years ago. The 20 coats of Porsche Red lacquer with Larry

Hook applied custom pinstriping and graphics looks as fresh today as it did 25 years ago when Tom purchased it. The

Steve Pierce Mercedes Bamboo leather also gives the cabin and rumble seat area a luxurious look and feel. It has the

reliable Chevy 350-358 V8 topped with triple carbs in an engine compartment filled with chrome bling and an engine

turned firewall. The Muncie 4 speed tranny with overdrive along with a 350 posi rear end is perfect for those long road

trips and Tom drives this street rod everywhere without a lick of trouble. It is always a pleasure watching this Deuce

roadster driving into our cruise, top up or down and packed away.

See all the action in the video: https://vimeo.com/127515481

May 14, 2015 Cruise Winner

1949 Merc Lead Sled by John Buchanan

Page 11 Monthly Cruisin

Fresh off their May 2 & 3 “Best Lead

Sled” Award win at the “Rhinebeck

2015” Annual Car Show held at the

Dutchess County Fairgrounds in New

York, Jack & Cheryl Alaimo drove a

much shorter distance from their Can-

ton, MA home in their 1949 Mercury

Lead Sled to pick up another award as

the May 14 Cruiser of the Night.

Bass Pro Shops Associate Garrett

Briggs loved the old school look and

stance of the Merc as he toured the

lot and on closer examination knew

this was his favorite car at tonight’s cruise. The Merc’s Commercial Blue and Early Mercedes Cream paint scheme set

off by the 1953 Buick trim molding, 3 ½ inch chop, custom fender skirts, wide white radials with Dodge Lancer hub-

caps, Frenched headlights, 1953 DeSoto front bumper, 1953 Chevy grill, triple lakes pipes and full air ride suspension

ride giving the car a perfect stance that catches everyone’s attention. The car was built 12 years ago by an Indiana

builder for his father-in law. Jack bought it 2 years ago following the owner’s passing and he and his wife Cheryl have

been enjoying it ever since. The reliable Ram Jet 350 V8, Turbo 350 tranny, Caprice rear end and Fat Man IFS with the

full air ride suspension, matching color leather interior, a/c and custom dual-cup holder console make this ride a com-

fortable long distance cruiser. Video: https://vimeo.com/129025149

June 2015

Member meetings are held the 3rd Tuesday of each month at the Norfolk MA clubhouse.

P.O. Box 217

Wrentham, MA 02093

Monthly Cruisin Last Page