NSRA Nats North - Kalamazoo

September 11-14 were the dates of this years National Street Rod Association Nationals North Plus in Kalamazoo.  Ten CSRA members were in attendance at some point during the weekend with six of us entering our cars.  Four of those six made the GR to Kazoo trip daily while Steve drove his car down on Thursday and stayed in a local hotel through Saturday night.  Five of us traveled together on Thursday afternoon to pick up our credentials.  We arrived shortly after the gates opened on Friday morning after driving in some rain.  The temperatures were in the 40's so we had very little competition for a prime parking spot.  We set up our awning with club banners on Friday and left it in the same spot throughout the weekend.  Nice to know the event is secure and folks can be trusted to not disturb someone else's stuff!  Saturday was still chilly and we had a few sprinkles early but the day brightened to a beautiful sunshine.

This was taken Saturday morning before Pete arrived.  Left to right are the cars of Phil, Jon and Steve with Jim's yellow roadster behind Phil's 57 and Rick's yellow pickup behind Steve's coupe.  We had two events to celebrate during the weekend.  First was the first anniversary of our club.  The CSRA was formed just a year ago and the announcement was made to our former club on the Monday following the Nats North.  The second event was much more exciting!  Our own Jim Banfill's 1932 Ford roadster was selected by the Michigan Safety Director, Roy Drumm, as his Safety Pick Award!  Jim was in shock all day Sunday and into the following week.  Here's the 32 in the staging area for the award winners. 

And here's Jim accepting his award from Roy at the conclusion of the Street Rod Nats.

All in all, a fantastic weekend!  Congratulations to Jim on his selection and to all the CSRA members for making this first year a memorable one. 

Red Barns revisited & a new member

You may remember the Red Barn Spectacular coverage from the first of August where four of our members garnered Top 50 recognition.  Pete, Paul, Rick & Jon were pictured at that time holding their plaques.  Well, we were baffled that Jim wasn't also selected for his 32 Ford roadster.  Jim's car was constantly surrounded by people that day and something seemed amiss.  Some email and phone call exchanges with the sponsoring club resulted in a recount of the votes for Jim's car.  We are pleased to report that he placed 16th in the Top 50 and will be receiving his plaque soon.  Here's Jim's 32 sittin' pretty!

 

Prior to the NSRA Nationals North, we welcomed a new member to the ClassiX Street Rod Association.  Mark & Vicki Olafson own this beautiful 1938 Nash Lafayette coupe.  We now stand at 13 members with 19 cars.

 

 

 

Where did the days go?!

Hard for me to believe it's been over 6 weeks since I last updated this blog!  August and September were busy months in the world of cars.  Aug 8 was a first time show in downtown Grandville.  The Friday night get together saw about 60 cars in attendance while four of those are ClassiX SRA members.

Left to right are Phil's black 57 Chevy, Paul & Sharon's 48 Ford coupe, Jon & Cathie's 34 Chevy Vicky and Steve's 34 Ford coupe.

The next day, Sat. Aug 9, was the annual Del Shannon Show in Coopersville.  The Hansen brothers, Chip and Jon made the short trip and joined over 600 other entries on a beautiful, sunny day.

Following the Del Shannon show was a small show at a couple of North Blendon churches.  Jon stopped by for the show and a great chicken dinner provided free by the churches.  A new friend, Mark Olafson, also stopped by after the Del Shannon show.

Jon's 34 Chevy above and Mark's 38 Nash coupe below.

Sunday, Aug 10 was a great day for a cruise south to Allegan and a show at Deano's Pizza & Ice Cream.  Jon made the show and picked up a class win in the early Stock class.  Good friends Arnie Goldberger and Mark Olafson also made the show with Arnie picking up the class win in Pro Street with his awesome 41 Ford Pickup. 

Arnie's 41 Ford Pro Street pickup above and Jon's early stock class winning 41 Chevy.

Four shows in one weekend made for a busy weekend!  The following Friday, the club got a call requesting cars for a promotion event on a local TV station, Fox 17.  Six club cars and three club friends along with the car hauler from Downs Custom Performance Automotive provided a great backdrop for a brief interview with Gregg Howard, the coordinator for 28th Street Metro Cruise and club member Jon Hansen.

Left to right, Mike Spicuzza, Gregg Howard, Jon Hansen, Ron Willit, Ron's wife, Paul Dishaw, Rick Nielsen with his grandson Cameron, Pete Derridinger, Chip Hansen, Steve Melville and Alan Wright.

"Testing, 1-2-3."  Audio check as the crew gets ready to interview Jon & Gregg.

Apologies to Mike Spicuzza and Paul Dishaw for not being able to include their cars in this photo angle.

The week following the Fox 17 shoot was consumed with activities centering around the 28th St. Metro Cruise.  This year marked the 10th anniversary of the event and our club was heavily involved in the activities.  Thursday, Aug 21 was the first annual Pre-Cruise Party at Downs Custom Performance Automotive in Wyoming.  The weather was threatening and many reported rain all around us but we stayed dry at Downs.

Club cars lined up in the front parking lot.  Jon's 34 is missing as it was inside the building adding to the display of Downs bodied cars.

Thanks to Tom of Downs for including the CSRA logo on the Pre-Cruise banner.  We were listed as hosts on all the promotional literature.

Friday afternoon was the opening activities for Metro Cruise and our members were once again called upon to furnish the cars for the Pin Up Girl Contest.  Each lady was driven from the Rogers Plaza building to the stage for the opening ceremony by one of our cars.  A friend was also asked to assist and we have to say "thank you" to Andy Behro for helping fill a spot on short notice.   Saturday morning at 7am, most of the CSRA members gathered in the Rogers Plaza parking lot to line up our cars and erect our awnings for the day's activities.  Keeping tabs on my two cars and four more from Downs left little time for taking pictures.  This is the only shot I have.

Much more happened following the Metro Cruise but I'll start a new page for the rest of the fun!