From the President
August 2014
I have just returned from the Cadillac LaSalle Club Grand National Meet. This year it was at Lake George New York, which is in the middle of the Adirondack Mountains’ six million acre State Park. I was surprised to see that the terrain is very similar to north Georgia. The tallest mountain was 5300 feet just a little higher than our Brasstown Bald at 4800. Lake George’s history reminded me of Georgia’s Lake Burton, in that it was a popular destination of the rich and elite in New York City as Lake Burton was to Atlanta society.
The CLC had plenty of activities, and we made the most of them. We flew in Monday so as to take the Tuesday Adirondack Museum tour where we got all the history of the area. The next stop was Camp Sagamore, the hunting lodge where the Vanderbilts’ had hunting parties and entertained their guests royally. They even have an open air bowling alley. Wednesday was a long day as we toured Hal’s Vintage Boats where there were many classic wooden speed boats, that are truly works of art.
Then on to Saratoga Car Museum where they listed all the car manufacturers in New York and also displayed many of them such as the Pierce Arrow, Franklin, Playboy and O WE GO. They had a wonderful display of Mustangs celebrating their fiftieth anniversary. Later that afternoon, we toured the Gillette Corvette collection which consisted of over sixty Corvettes and yes he had a 1953. A Corvette lover could spend a lifetime there. Thursday, Linda and I visited an old friend and his wife that have a lovely house on Caroga Lake. It was such a charming and beautiful place, but I would not like to be there in the winter.
We also went on an exploring adventure and found beautiful Shelving Rock Waterfalls but you have to be willing to go off road & hike to find them. That evening we went on the lobster cruise aboard the Lake George Steamboat and happened to share a table with Paul and Janice Philips from Marietta. They have a restored 1941 Cadillac. We ended the night with fireworks that were doubly spectacular with the reflections off Lake George. Friday was another long day with morning tour to the Taylor Made car collection. This is one of the most lavish collections I have seen, from Model T’s to Bentleys and the most Astin Martins I have ever seen in one place.
Next, we journeyed to Vermont to Hemmings Motor News headquarters for their July Cruise-In. As you can imagine, there was quite a variety of cars and trucks Saturday was the big Cadillac LaSalle show that was awesome with Cadillacs from 1910 to present. I was a judge in team 21 which included the Allantes. It took over four hours to get our group of cars judged. It was a rewarding experience but a lot of work. Our only club members showing were Budd and Darr Neidig, but they displayed only so did not get judged. John Monzo got a first place in his ’93 Pearl Flax.. The Awards dinner that night had to be held in two halls due to the number attending, but Linda and I got the dining room with the view of Lake George .
Suffice to say this Grand National was a great event and Linda and I look forward to next year in Wisconsin. We hope too see more of our local and regional Allantes fans in the coming months and at next years Grand National Meet.
Norman Penfield - President AACC
