Dale Edwards, Jan. 1, 2011

We had eleven Lizzies in the December Laguna Niguel Parade under cool, crisp, clear skies. It was great and most of the Lizzies were decked out in Christmas wreaths and garlands looking very festive. Four were new members in borrowed Lizzie cars, and Captain John was all prepared with “student driver” license plates for each one. As they had never driven one before, he gave them a brief Driver’s Ed course at the unload point, and they were sent on their way. A couple of them had trouble learning to ease out the clutch to not stall the engine, but all of them made it to the parade formation area intact.

Only Captain John had a problem, as he had loaned his car to one of the new guys and he drove the car belonging to Larry Griffin who had a scheduling conflict with this parade. On the way from the off load point to the parade formation area, John’s borrowed car broke a drive belt and he had to coast back down hill for repairs. Most of the belt driven cars carry a spare and he was able to replace it in time to get to the parade start in plenty of time. During the parade, new Lizzier Mike Selix’s borrowed car broke its drive belt as well, and he had to be pushed through the parade by Nick Villasensor rather than hold up the parade to replace it. During the parade, new Lizzier Skip Moore made too sharp of a turn going a bit too fast and rolled a rear tire off the rim on Art Paris’s borrowed car. But he was able to limp to the finish line under his own power by driving slowly down the sidelines on the bare rim. All the other Lizziers made it through with no problems, including Bill Walls who towed a good looking custom made Santa’s Sleigh full of toys behind his Lizzie.

The Lizziers also had a great Christmas Party during December, held at the Tartan Room restaurant in Orange. We had over 30 people in attendance and feasted on Prime Rib and holiday cheer, and Captain John eagerly passed the gavel on to Larry Griffin for the upcoming term.

As the holiday season winds down at this writing, we look forward to the first Friday in March when we will again put on the famous Tin Lizzie Western Dance and Steak Fry at the Shrine Center. The tickets are available from any Tin Lizzie member for $25 per person for dinner and dancing to the music of Gary Myers, who now leads the band previously led by Sammy Masters. We hope to see you there. In the meantime, if you are looking for fun on a more long-term basis, you might consider joining our happy little group. Just drop by one of our monthly meetings around 7 PM on the 2^nd Monday of the month at the Shrine Center, or give a call to our new Captain, Larry Griffin, at (714) 273-0220, or our new Lieutenant, Bill Walls at (562) 594-6232 to get more specific information.