TULSA Convention- 2009

photo caption- In between Bill and Joel was an Ice Sculpture of a 1955 T'bird.

REGION 5 CTCI REGIONAL CONVENTION

I still can't get that song ... "Oklahoma!"... out
of my head! The "T'Birds 'n Tulsa" Region 5
Convention ended long ago, but the memories
linger on. Bill and I took two days to drive our
little 'Bird out there, as did Joel Greenberg who
was accompanied by Ken Smizinski. We
joined a total of 98 cars in Concours, Touring
and Display and about 300 people from 27
states. Familiar faces included Bill and Sharon
Jurkonie, John and Deb Wrigley and Perry and
Alyce Anthony. The Tulsa Classic Thunderbird
Club did an excellent job of keeping us fed and
entertained. They arranged for rides to (and
free money at) the Creek Nation Casino, a nice
Western-themed welcome party, a shopping
tour fashion show, a trip to the Discovery Land
Dinner and Amphitheater production of
"Oklahoma" and a visit to the Will Rogers
Museum. Meanwhile, the beautiful array of
Thunderbirds could be seen from our hotel
window. We watched as they baked in the hot
sun and as they were drenched by the
torrential rains which marred Concours
morning. During the Final night's Awards
Banquet, the Greenberg and Werth cars
received Gold Awards and Ken and Joel
received recognition for judging. We stretched
our trip home to include a visit with friends who
live near Wichita. Had it not been for a cranky
overdrive, the trip would have been uneventful
... hot, but uneventful.
- Liz Werth

Ed. Note: Thanks to Bill and Liz for delivering
the CTCI Gold Award Certificate for BIRD-NEWS
(see cover).

BIRDS IN THE DELLS- 2008

FRIDAY. AUGUST 22-
AFTER SOME FRANTIC LAST MINUTE THURSDAY NIGHT PHONE CALLS TO THEIR SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS HOTEL, RUDY & I MET THE 48 IN 08 T-BIRD CARAVAN AT THE 1-39 AND RTE. 34 INTERCHANGE AT MENDOTA, ILLINOIS. THE THREE LITTLE BIRDS AND OUR '02 RETRO BIRD CONTINUED ABOUT 25 MILES FURTHER AND CONNECTED WITH BERT & JANE EISENHOUR AT THE 1-88 & 1-39 INTERCHANGE. OUR NEXT STOP WAS THE ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS COLLEGE. THIS WAS LUCY CLARK'S (AN ORIGINAL 48 IN 08 TRAVELER) ALMA MATER. AFTER A GREAT LUNCH BUFFET IN THE BEAUTIFUL COLLEGE CAFETERIA, COURTESY OF THE COLLEGE, WE CONTINUED ON OUR WAY TO WISCONSIN, MINUS JANE & BERT WHO HAD OTHER PLANS FOR THE REST OF THE DAY. WE ARRIVED MID-AFTERNOON TO A SEA OF BEAUTIFUL T-BIRDS AND GOT RE-ACQUAINTED WITH PEOPLE WE HADNT SEEN IN THIRTY PLUS YEARS.

SATURDAY. AUGUST 23 -

A LIGHT OVERNIGHT RAIN DIDNT DAMPEN SPIRITS FOR THE USUAL SATURDAY A.M. CLEANING SESSIONS. POPULAR CHOICE JUDGING OF SOME 40 PLUS T-BIRDS TOOK PLACE UNDER BLUE SKIES AND TEMPERATURES IN THE 80'S. AFTER AN AFTERNOON BREWERY TOUR, THE 48 IN 08 TRAVELERS DROVE TO THE STATE CAPITOL FOR PICTURE TAKING, ALONG WITH AN EXTRA 'BIRD OR TWO. THE EVENING BANQUET WAS FOLLOWED BY THE AWARDING OF TROPHIES AND GREAT DOOR-PRIZES AND RAFFLES.

SUNDAY. AUGUST 24 -

WE PACKED UP AND SAID OUR GOOD BYES. NEXT YEAR, BIRDS IN THE DELLS WILL BE IN DOOR COUNTY. WE HOPE TO BE THERE. ON OUR WAY HOME WE STOPPED AT THE POPLAR GROVE AIRPORT AT THE INVITATION OF POLLY & KEN KRESMERY FOR THEIR 13TH ANNUAL "DAY AT THE HANGAR." WHAT AN AMAZING COLLECTION: ANTIQUE CARS, COLLECTOR CARS, INCLUDING A '57 T-BIRD, ANTIQUE AND RESTORED PLANES, INCLUDING A 4-PLACE "SEA-BEE" WHICH LANDS ON WATER OR THE GROUND. IN OUR OPINION, THE GEM IN HIS COLLECTION IS A 2008 "SMART CABRIOLET" MADE BY MERCEDES IN FRANCE IT IS A 2-PASSENGER CONVERTIBLE, 8-FOOT LONG THAT GETS 41 MILES TO THE GALLON FROM A 3-CYLINDER ENGINE AND HAS ALL THE BELLS AND WHISTLES THAT YOU WOULD EXPECT FROM MERCEDES AND THEN SOME. AFTER PASSING ALL THE U.S. CRASH TEST REQUIREMENTS, THERE IS A 2-YEAR WAITING LIST TO PURCHASE ONE. WHAT A CONCEPT! DETROIT: PAY ATTENTION. WE DROVE IT UP AND DOWN THE RUNWAYS AND IT WAS QUIET AND COMFORTABLE. AFTER LEAVING WITH A HANDFULL OF FRESH PICKED CORN, COURTESY OF THE KRESMERYS, WE ARRIVED HOME ABOUT 2P.M.
-JANET BUDACH

All Thunderbird Car Show

CTCC MEMBER WINS AT ALL THUNDERBIRD CAR SHOW

On Sunday, September 21st the Chicagoland Thunderbird Club held a Car Show at the A&W/KFC in Lombard. It was a perfect day with a couple dozen Thunderbirds of all years on display. There were many spectators who were browsing around, asking questions and just admiring all the cars. Art and Gail Hascek, with the help of Laura Hascek and Mike Cielenski, had their 2005 Thunderbird and 1957 Thunderbird on display. Many came by the 1957 T-Bird and asked Art many questions, and they were in awe that he was 92 and has had the car since 1957. This was Dad's first car show and he was excited to talk to everyone about his cars. More cars showed up towards the end of the day, due to them showing at the Cantigny Show, one of whom was Club member Pete Kramer. The show drew to a close with the raffle drawings in which Gail Hascek won twice. Lucky Girl... Then the big announcement: Art & Gail Hascek had won First Place for their 1957 T-Bird! There were a few damp eyes when Art went up and accepted the trophy. On the way home, as I followed in the '05 Bird, I could see Dad ahead, holding the trophy in his lap. It was a proud moment for all of us. He is still in shock; we all are so happy for him. As I stated above, it was a perfect day!
- Laura Hascek

Geneva Concours D'Elegance

THE 4th EDITION OF THE GENEVA , IL Show turned out to be the biggest and best ot all! Blessed with excellent weather, the event ran from August 22nd - 24th, with the Concours on Sunday.

In commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the New York to Paris Great Race, the Guest-of-Honor was Jeff Mahl, the great grandson of the winning driver, George N. Schuster. George drove the 1907 Thomas Flyer into Paris, after 169 days and some 22,000 miles of travel by land and sea!

It was my privilege to be assigned as Jeff's T-Bird chauffer and guide during his visit. Jeff presented his unique program, recreating the 1908 Race as related by his great grandfather. Adopting the part in the first person, Jeff's two presentations -on Saturday and Sunday - chronicled the hardships of the Race with a most impressive series of photos projected on a large screen.

Saturday featured a 1-hour back-roads ("E"-Bird) tour to visit the fabulous car collection at the Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove. Among the countless exotics, we spotted our favorite, a Goldenrod Yellow 1955 T-Bird!

CTCC members in the Show with their T-Birds were: Larry Johnson, Lorry Kelly, Pete Kramer and Bob Lindsten. Congratulations to Bob Lindsten who captured a Trophy with his '56 'Bird!

TV STAR and STA-BIL KRUZE

This year the Annual Chi-Town Sta-Bil Kruze and Car Show lasted all week for us. We got up very early on Tuesday, May 27, and, with our ten-year-old granddaughter Georgia, drove our '55 Thunderbird into Chicago to the corner of State and Lake Streets. We were the first of four live "I Love My Car" segments during the 6:10 AM ABC Channel 7 traffic reports with Roz Varon promoting the Kruze on Saturday. While we were only "on air" for about 80 seconds, it was fun to visit the studio, meet the personalities and promote the Kruze. Thanks to the votes of friends and family, our car was voted the favorite May "I Love My Car" vehicle.

photo caption: At top, the Werth's '55 "TV" Thunderbird; middle: some of the Sta-Bil Kruze show cars; at bottom: Bill and Liz hawking Kruze t-shirts.

Saturday dawned bright and beautiful and, after meeting up with Joel Greenberg, we cruised the three mile loop which started at Buckingham Fountain and followed Columbus Drive to Roosevelt Road, turned right on Michigan Ave to Randolph Street, and then right again to Columbus Drive. One loop was enough and we followed CTCC member David Zornig to the Soldier Field south parking lot. By noon, the lot was filled with about 800 show cars. Also at the show were Bob Sroka, Pete Kramer and Larry & Karen Kelly. I worked in the show tent selling hats and t-shirts while Bill walked around, looking at cars and talking to other owners. We volunteers were treated to breakfast and lunch, but Robinson's Ribs was the featured food for the public this year. As always, Mark Giangreco, ABC 7 Chicago sports director and primary sports anchor (who has still not restored his '57 - I asked him about it) presented the dozen trophies. The event, which was free this year to the public, raised $25,000 for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana.

Following the show, we drove north to Annie and Joel's for a delicious cookout and a tour of their garage with its new resident (a yellow '55) and fancy lift.

The 5th Annual Chi-Town Sta-Bil Kruze and car show will be held, rain or shine, on Saturday June 6, 2009. It would be fun to have more CTCC members take part. So, put it on your calendar and let's get a group together to cruise the lakeshore and show off our lovely cars in 2009!

-- Liz Werth

Chi Town Kruze

Stay tuned for more information.

Mustang Club Car Show rescheduled for Oct 6th

Good Morning Bert.
An item for the Bird-News, if not too late:

The Mustang Club is sponsoring their show at Westfield Ford, hopefully; it was rained out the two other dates.

Saturday, October 6th 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.

www.StallionsGate.org for details.

-- Thanks, Len Keil

Cantigny Car Show in September

2nd Annual Cantigny Car Show
Sunday, September 23, 2007 - 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Open Classes - Over 40 Awards Presented at 3:00 PM
Limited to 500 Entries - Rain or Shine

Need a registration form? Click here.

Call (630) 260-8207 for more information or to register over the phone.

Cantigny Park
1S151 Winfield Road
Wheaton, Illinois 60187
www.cantigny.org

photo caption: Cantigny Car Show, Sunday, Sept 23rd, 2007.