CLASSIC CAR CRUISE-IN 2009

By
Maryann Miller

People love classic cars. Not just the ones who restore them, but folks who like to take a trip down memory lane and recall that 1957 Chevy they hotrodded as a teenager, or that Mustang that was their pride and joy in the 70s.

There were plenty of "memory nudgers" at the Depot in Winnsboro on September 5th for the Annual Classic Car Cruise-In sponsored by the Winnsboro Rotary Club. There were about 100 vehicles registered for the show and competition, plus a few vehicles that owners drove in just to show off.

A couple of hundred visitors took advantage of a pleasant day to look at all the cars and trucks, and this orange 1955 Chevy Cameo Tri-Five owned by Buddy Horn of Mineola got a lot of attention. Especially when he pointed out the state of Texas appliqued on the underside of the bed cover. Buddy said it took him five years to modify the truck. "I've been doing this since I was about 14, and I've restored or modified about 10 vehicles over the years," he said. "But this is the first full custom modification. Every part of this truck has been reworked, inside and out."

Buddy has a 1957 Chevy 2-door sedan that he wants to modify next. "If I live long enough," he joked.

He is retired from Union Pacific Railroad and joked that "I don't do anything till noon, then I rest." But in all seriousness he said he is as busy now as when he was working, but did allow that sometimes he's having more fun.

Another vehicle that got a lot of attention was a 1967 Pontiac GTO owned by Kerry & Sharon Priddy from Diana, Texas. It is a fully restored car and was displayed with numerous trophies from other shows. Kerry said he has only been showing the car for two years and joked that maybe it has won so many trophies because it looks so good.

Kerry, who is a maintenance supervisor for Heritage Nursing Home in Longview spent 22 years as a construction engineer with the army, and he has been restoring cars for 30 years. "I've always liked working on cars," he said. "Started when I was real young fixing them and selling them."

He said he built this one for his son. "When I get tired of it, I'm going to give it to him... for a price."

One of the special features of his car was the interior wood that he cut by hand and installed. He also took great care to apply layers of lacquer that he hand rubbed between coats.

There were lots of tigers at the Cruise-In, especially on another GTO owned by Neil & Saundra Kinn from Tyler. There may be one or two readers who do not recall the classic GTO ads that featured a tiger running with the car. Saundra said that they feature the tigers because of that, but also because it is the mascot for Louisiana State University. The couple are originally from Louisiana and are great fans of the LSU Tigers.

The cat on the roof of their car had a real attitude, as if to say, "It was nice of you all to come and see me, but don't get too close."

The Kinn's GTO is a 1970 model and this is the third car the couple has restored. They did all the work themselves and have taken the car to lots of shows in Texas and Louisiana where they have won trophies. They don't go to shows really far away because the car does not get good gas mileage. "It's hard to do anything coast to coast with the kind of mileage we get on this," Neil said. "So we stay within a radius of a few hundred miles."

A few of the vehicles on display were for sale, including this 1979 Camero Berlinetta owned by Denise Miranda of Winnsboro. She bought it new in 1979 and drove it as her primary car up until a few years ago. "When I was the Main Street Director for Winnsboro I was doing a lot of traveling throughout Texas and I didn't want to put a lot of miles on this car, so I retired it," she explained. "Now I either have to restore it or it needs to go to a good home."

The car is priced at $4,500 and Denise can be reached at 903-629-7471

Cars and trucks were not the only vehicles there. Jeff Bailey of Mt. Vernon Casino Choppers Shop had a custom Chopper on display. He is a friend of Joe Wayne Reynolds, the president of the Winnsboro Rotary Club.

Joe Wayne was cooking the "Road Kill" barbecue and students from Winnsboro schools, who are part of the local Interact Club, were helping sell food and drinks. The young people, easily spotted in their bright red shirts, were also helping in various other capacities from assisting with registering cars to running messages to the folks tallying the votes for the show.

The Interact Clubs are sponsored by the Rotary for young people to learn leadership skills and gain a deeper inderstanding of the value of individual responsibility and hard. work. There are about 30 student in the local Interact Club and members complete at least two community service projects a year. In addtion to the local focus, the Interact Clubs take part in international service projects, and there are more than 10,700 clubs in 109 countries and geographical areas.

The Cruise-In is an annual fundraiser for the Winnsboro Rotary to raise money for local commmunity causes. They donate part of the proceeds to the fire department, as well as funding scholarhips for graduating seniors and sending members of the Interact Club to Youth Leadership Camp.