|
Let’s have a CLC
car show in the Palm Springs area. It sounded great. Warm and
sunny weather! Now, let’s also have the car show at a Casino, with
entertainment, gambling, great food, shopping, pool & spa and plenty
to drink.
Well, the Board of
Directors agreed, so the 1st Annual Agua Caliente Casino
Car Show & Weekend Resort event became a reality. Our consultant
and sales manager - Agua’s Sally Langwell - made it possible
for all of us to enjoy our stay with exquisite rooms and all of the
amenities of home.
The event began Friday
evening with dinner and live comedy by the incomparable
Martin Short. Our orchestra seats were the perfect
location to enjoy the non-stop show of singing, dancing, and laughs.
On Saturday over 40
Cadillac’s & LaSalle’s were present for the show. All were parked
in a covered, reserved section of the resort’s parking structure.
With the assistance of Troy Howard, Agua’s Guest Services
Manager, the cars were secured by 24 hour video surveillance and
frequent security personnel stops. The guards visited us frequently
to see all the Cadillac’s and LaSalle’s on display.
We were joined by five
members and their cars from the Cadillac Kings Inland Empire Car
Club who showed us how “They Roll”. They entertained us with a
demonstration on how the air bag systems work to raise and lower
their vehicles with just a touch of a button. Hey, we might be
purists, but it was “Cool” to see the Cadillac’s perform on their
command. A group of very nice guys, we were excited to have them
join us for the day. We look forward to future participation by the
Cadillac Kings at selected CLC events.
After the car show it
was time to relax and prepare for the evening banquet. Cocktail
hour began at six in a private room with a dedicated bar. Agua’s
banquet manager Rick Gilbert handled all the details
regarding drinks, dinner, & desert, and he did not disappoint.
The banquet was
awesome as all enjoyed time spent with fellow Cadillac owners.
SoCal director Rob Leonard presented trophies to John & Connie
D’Agostino for their 1937 Cadillac Opera Coupe, Sandy
Edelstein & Scott King for their 1976 Cadillac Seville, and
Wes Hornung for his custom 1964 Cadillac. Phil &
Sandi Terry
took Best of Show with their 1954 Cadillac Coupe deVille, which also
was the long distance driver making the trip from Phoenix.
The hard luck story
belonged to fellow club members Malcolm & Nancy Royalty.
Their 1939 Cadillac overheated just a few miles shy of Agua Caliente
on their way to the event Friday afternoon. Most people would have
had their car shipped back home, but Malcolm chose to have his put
on a Flatbed and brought to Agua Caliente to enjoy the weekend and
allow everyone to see their beautiful 1939 Cadillac. Well, they
only got 10 miles on the way home Sunday and it overheated again.
The car was once again put on a flatbed and this time was taken
home. Malcolm believes that the problem was just a frozen
thermostat – we hope he was right.
Special guests
Klaus Zipp & Michael Degner from Germany attended the Agua
weekend event and at the banquet presented Rob Leonard with a
banner from the CLC Director of Germany. Other honored guests were
San Diego Region webmaster Gary Sisk and Sonoran Desert
Region director Phil Terry. I’d like to thank Craig
Chally for his endless work as Events Coordinator and Dan
Fisher & Bill Montalvo for their help during the car show.
Let’s all plan to do this again next March!
By Gary Friedman |
