2005 Reunions

Swanzey, New Hampshire hosts a vintage race car meet, in coordination with their Old Home Days [or whatever exactly they call them] annually in July. This was the largest of its kind, in terms of the number of participants, that I have personally attended. Photos here include some guest stars and some beautifully - restored cars. Other exhibits included photo albums and model cars.

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The immaculate Bushey
coupe. [Proud owner in
orange shirt]

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Group shot from the Swanzey show. Can you find your favorite legend ? Terry Marks, one of the show's organizer and a car restorer, is at far left. Next to Marks is Harold Rounds. Sonny Rabideau is to the right of the banner, helping hold it. Buddy Bardwell is in the red hat behind the man holding a green jacket on his arm. Don Rounds is partially hidden, in front of the man in the maroon T-shirt in the middle.

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NEAR Hall of Famer
Sonny Rabideau with
his former car, the Stroker
Smith 311 - as restored
by Terry Marks.

Buddy Bardwell returned
with his familiar #13

Racing legend Don
Rounds, from
Warwick, RI

Rounds talks with Sonny Rabideau. Can you
imagine all these men
could recall ?

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Driver & owner Jean Michaud [left] with car builder Bruce Carmen, who built those #23's
for Mert Hulbert.

Barre, Vermont hosts a Thunder Road reunion vintage meet, in coordination with their Barre Home Town Days. The meet is at the Barre City Fire station. It has been held for years, but it is in danger of being cancelled because the fire station has been condemned. The firemen cannot even store their engines inside.
Various interested locals, including Barre race historian Cho Lee, set up the meet yearly and it has attracted a number of Thunder Road, Northeast Speedway, Catamount Stadium, and Dog River Speedway veterans, as well as delighted fans and history buffs like me.

The car of Norm
"The Flying Frenchman"
Chaloux

Historian Cho Lee is at
right with his back to the car.

Norm in his car.

Courtesy of Cho Lee

Norm's car entering Thunder Road. Year unknown

2005 Barre Reunion
Group Shot 1

2005 Barre Reunion
Group Shot 2

2005 Barre Reunion
Group Shot 3

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Bobby Dragon [left] and
Dick Blake at the
reunion. Blake has operated
the most famous wrecker
at T Road since the track
opened.

            A large group of veteran drivers, car owners, photographers, and other appreciators of the vintage years of racing meet every first Thursday of the month at a small diner near Watervliet, NY [I wish I could remember the name of the place]. I found about this from Carl Fink, a former driver in the region and a present - day owner of a vintage midget race car, which he travels around and displays.
            I figured I absolutely HAD to get to one of these during the summer of 2007, so I went down on July 5 and had a great time. Among those in attendance at recent breakfasts include former drivers Link Pettit, Carl Fink, Cookie Osterhoudt, Ernie Martin, Johnny Flach, Lee Palmer, Ollie Palmer, Bruce Dostal, Lou Martin, Mike Ehring, and many more whose names I cannot come up with. Among the car owners are Cliff Wright and Bob Zautner, as well as midget owner Joe Sukup. Track photographers include Les King and John Grady, and there were other notables such as artist Sam Barlow, historian Ken Gypson, and Ed Biittig, who owns a considerable photo collection, himself.
           My friend [and big Jack DuBrul fan] Bob Novak was there the week I came down. Others who signed the pad for me in June were Bruce Boyler, Bill Gonyea, Mike Kulzer, John Bichteman, John Cahill, Claude Barber, Bob Barber, and Joel File. If you are in this scene and you live anywhere near that area, it's something you ought to do. Contact one of these guys to get directions.

Conroy Photo Courtesy of Chris Companion
Two of the six guys in this old Lebanon Valley shot are sometimes at the breakfast:
Lee Palmer [second from left] and Ollie Palmer [cigar, no relation to Lee].

Bill Ladabouche Photo Photographer at Whites Beach probably Irv Conron
Ernie Martin, a regular at the breakfast. [Left] attending the lost race tracks conference
in Saratoga in April. [Right] as Whites Beach Champion.

            Cho Lee had been telling me for months about how he was putting together a special album for the 40th anniversary of George Barber's founding of Bear Ridge Speedway, a track whose main purpose was to save that most endangered of species called the flathead stock car. In 1965, Thnuder Road had begun to phase them out because of the new NASCAR affliliation, and tracks like Fairmont and Claremont were seeing more and more of the overhead V-8's in Victory Lane, as well. The new Catamount Stadium wasn't particularly interested in the flatheads either, and its size was not ideal for them.
            Barber, apparently with some help from Herb Gray, had taken some land on top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere, near Bradford, Vermont, and carved out a fairly bucolic little oval no longer than one fifth mile. Soon, about every damned coupe with a flatheaqd had been pulled out from behind the garage or barn and was running at the Ridge. The track enjoyed publicity [albeit somewhat sarcastic] in STOCK CAR RACING magazine in the early 1970's. As with all things, changes came and the track ended up with many of the more modern Troyer cars and others of that type. They kept a coupe division; although, today, most of the coupes are just modern chassis' with a very modified coupe body on top.
            The evening was very successful, giving promoter Butch Elms one of the biggest crowds of the year, and he was presented by an original poster from the track that had once been owned by George Barber. Barber himself, now in a care home, was transported to the track where he watched not only the races but also a parade of vintage stock cars including his own #46 Bradford Auto Parts car. Below are the few photos I took of the vintage car end of the program.

Courtesy of Cho Lee
The poster given to Butch Elms by Cho Lee. Sorry about the poor photo quality.

Ladabouche Photo Johnny Flach [hat with red brim]. I'm sorry I don't know the others yet.	Ladabouche Photo [From left] - Sam Barlow, Bob Zautner, Cliff Wright, and a man I don't know yet.	Ladabouche Photo Historian Ken Gypson [foreground], Les King [red shirt], and Mrs. King.
Ladabouche Photo Lee Palmer	Ladabouche Photo Link Pettit, [left] chats with another former driver - maybe one of the Martins.	Cavalcade Photo Cookie, in the day

Ladabouche Photo Doug Farrow [owner] and Johnny Gammell, with a car Johnny drove.	Ladabouche Photo Vintage coupes display. Among those in the shot: Butch Elms, Lloyd Hutchins, Harold Montandon, and Johnny Gammell.	Ladabouche Photo Vintage Row Cars include Farrow's 32, Hutchins' 46 and 12, and Zampieri's 30.
Zampieiri Collection Buddy Bardwell was there with his Hudson coupe.	Courtesy of Cho Lee George Barber, at home with his son in the 1960's.	Courtesy of Cho Lee A typical scene from the first season at Bear Ridge.