Springfield Independence Day Celebration Photo Gallery

Special thanks to everyone who participated in the first annual car show for this event!
It was a huge success!

Click here or the image below to view the gallery

Last Updated on Monday, 02 July 2012 22:25 Written by Jim A Monday, 02 July 2012 22:24

GOMC Cruise Ins

Pics from various GOMC Cruise Ins
Includes Lee's Drive In and Sonic on University Ave. in Hammond.

Click here or the image below to view the gallery

Last Updated on Monday, 02 July 2012 22:52 Written by Jim A Tuesday, 03 April 2012 22:35

June 2012 Cruise Night and Children's Hospital Donation

At this month's Cruise Night, we presented a check for our donation of $3000 to Roger Gorman representing Children's Hospital in New Orleans. Most of the donation was raised at our annual Cars For Kids show in March 2012.

Click here or the image below to view the gallery

Last Updated on Saturday, 30 June 2012 21:25 Written by Jim A Thursday, 28 June 2012 23:20

Jim's day with The Bandit Run (May 15, 2012)

Hi everybody. I thought some of you might be interested to hear about my little adventure with The Bandit Run 2012 when it came through town so, now that I finally have it written and the photo gallery ready, here goes... (I tend to write a lot so, if you just want to check out the pics and videos, links are at the bottom)

I knew that The Bandit Run was coming into Hammond/Ponchatoula and going to Kliebert's Turtle and Alligator Farm for lunch and tours, and that they were supposed to parade through Ponchatoula around 1:00pm, but I had no idea what route they were taking to get to Kliebert's. I took the t-tops off my Formula and left the house around 9:30am, heading for Hammond to get gas. As I was crossing the I-12 overpass on Pumpkin Center Road, I looked toward the west and did a double-take because I saw what looked to be the Snowman truck just about to pass under me! As busy as I-12 is, I thought they may try to stay off of it, but apparently not. I quickly turned around, hit the interstate eastbound, and started looking for Snowman and any of the around 150 cars that were in the convoy. As I passed by the truck scales just after I got on the interstate, there was Snowman, the Year One Bandit Trans Am, and the Restore A Muscle Car support trailer!

From there, I knew which way they'd be going to get to Kliebert's, so I headed on in to town to fill up with gas, then went to Kliebert's to check things out. I was surprised to see the Snowman truck parked in the parking lot; I didn't actually think they'd be able to get it down those narrow roads and into Kliebert's, but there it was. At this time, there were only a few cars there and I hadn't seen any trace of the rest of the convoy. There were several people standing at the end of the driveway and, as I got close, they stopped me and asked if I was with The Bandit Runners. I should have said yes, lol, but I told them I wasn't registered, that I just wanted to get a picture with the truck. They said to come on in but hurry up because they had about 150 cars just a few minutes away! So I pulled in, parked next to the truck and snapped the picture you can see in the gallery linked below. Turns out the Pareti's were there too and took a couple of pics for me also. One of the guys directing traffic kept telling me I had to hurry up and get out of the way, so I left and went to watch for the rest of the cars coming in. I drove around for a bit but couldn't find a good place to stop and watch. I did see some cars coming off the interstate, even one 4^th generation Camaro (Danny) that I know from the Gulf South Firebird and Camaro Club (GSFCC), but not enough to get any good video at that time.

Knowing how long tours at Kliebert's can take with large groups of people, I was pretty sure they wouldn't actually make that 1:00pm parade time through Ponchatoula, so I went to get some lunch, drove around a bit more, then parked and waited in the Winn Dixie parking lot in Ponchatoula. About 1:35pm, here they come! I got what video I could, but somehow ended up missing the Snowman truck as it came through. From the itinerary I had found on Facebook earlier that morning, I knew they were going to go through Ponchatoula and hit North Hoover Road heading back to the interstate. So I headed out and hit I-55 North to I-12 East, then booked it on over to North Hoover/Airport Road. I parked at the gas station there then walked across the road and waited, and waited, and waited. I had no idea what was taking them so long... or if I'd somehow already missed them. I didn't know that they were making a short stop at Memorial Park in Ponchatoula first.

I posted on Facebook where I was and that I was waiting. Another GSFCC member, Paul, replied and said that he was just getting off work a little early and was headed my way, 3 minutes out. I still wasn't sure if I'd missed them or not but, just as Paul pulled into the parking lot with his 2002 Collector's Edition Trans Am, I saw the convoy headed our way. I motioned for him to hurry up and he got there just in time to start filming! This time I made sure to get everybody, including another 4^th generation Firebird Formula (like mine) I know from the GSFCC, Stacey and her husband Paul who were the caboose in the convoy.

Once they were all through, Paul and I ran over to our cars, jumped in and hit the interstate to catch up to the rest of the bunch. I was in the lead, running pretty fast to try to catch up. Just at the end of the on-ramp, I see Stacey sitting on the side waiting for us. She caught up with Paul and I, so then we had three 4^th gen Firebirds trying to catch up with the rest of the runners. Not knowing how fast the other two wanted to run, I didn't go too fast but, when we got close to the parish line at St. Tammany, I decided I didn't want to be going more than about 74mph for fear of the cop that is often times there. I got over in the right lane and Paul and Stacey passed me, still moving pretty good. Once passed the parish line (with no cop there this time, thankfully), I caught back up with the other two... and found out just how fast they wanted to run; unknown to me at the time, trying to catch up with the Snowman truck. So here we are, three 4^th gen Firebirds flying down the interstate, t-tops off, trying to catch up with Snowman, having a blast!

We passed quite a few other runners along the way, but never did see Snowman again that day. I'm pretty sure we passed him at the rest area when we got off I-10 headed toward Waveland/Hwy 90, because we didn't stop. We just kept booking it down the road headed for Biloxi, thinking he would be there at their stop for the night. We also planned on meeting up with the other Bandit Runners in the Beau Rivage parking garage. And, when we got there, what an awesome site it was to see all these gorgeous Firebirds... 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th generation... Trans Ams, Formulas, Bandit replicas, all kinds of other special editions... all parking in one place! We counted 99 of them just in the two rows of parking close to our cars and there were quite a few others in the next row over. One of the pictures in my photo gallery is a panoramic shot I took inside the parking garage. To get the full effect of that one you may have to download the original so you can see it full-size (There is a link to the original in the bottom-right corner when you're viewing pics in the gallery. When you click that link, make sure you maximize the window that pops up.)

After meeting up with some other GSFCC folks and getting something to eat, we headed over to the beach to hang out at the bonfire for The Bandit Runners. It was getting late and I had to work the next morning, but I was having such a good time I didn't care. I pulled out of the parking garage headed back home around 10:45pm. I got home not much later than I usually stay up anyway, but I was so hyped up from the day, I ended up staying up until about 3:00am uploading pictures and video! I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted because it's one of those things where there's just so much to look at, I didn't know where to start!

This is the first time The Bandit Run's route has come this far south. They choose a different route every year to try to bring the experience to as many people as possible all over the country. I think that's a great idea, but I do hope that next year's route brings them close enough for me to join in for at least one day again. Even if that doesn't happen, this is something I'll remember and talk about for a long time to come. Many thanks to Restore A Muscle Car and the other sponsors for putting this on, and to the organizers responsible for bringing the Run through South Louisiana this year!

Thanks for reading!

Enjoy the pics and videos below...

Jim

Photo Gallery

Video #1

Video #2

Last Updated on Monday, 02 July 2012 22:36 Written by Jim A Monday, 18 June 2012 22:34