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24 | sun lakes lIfestyles | sePteMBeR 2014 | soCIal CluBs & gRouPs Cruzin' Cronies Hot rods and muscle cars have been around since before the 1920s, when moonshiners used them to outrun the "revenuers." It became a social event in the 1940, 50s, and 60s when teenagers would "cruise" up and down a main street, usually bumper-to- bumper, to show off their "rides." Some just wanted to show that they were old enough to have a driver's license. What a boon to dating for teenage boys and how worried were the parents of teenage girls! Owning a car is still a rite of passage for a young man. With a hot rod or muscle car, he can show off his prowess in modifying, rebuilding, restoring, or repainting an older car. Today, "cruise nights" occur all over the country on Friday and Saturday nights. Some happen once a year, drawing hundreds of cars to participate. Car shows pop up everywhere, some attracting thousands of cars and thousands of people who just come to look at them. Here in Sun Lakes, cruising happens in the 4th of July parade. Cruizin' Cronies presents a car show at 8:30 am on the first Saturday of each month in the parking lot of the Main Clubhouse. We then go to the multi-purpose room for a meeting, and on to breakfast together. Last month, our speaker told us about coming technologies that will make it easier for mature drivers to keep driving longer. Our club has no dues, and no fees. Info., Richard Kramer, 769-9157. Come and join us! Photo above right: Don and Brenda Day are the newest members of Cruizin' Cronies, since moving into Sun Lakes about a month ago from Redondo Beach. Don is the second owner of the 1933 Oldsmobile, pictured above, that he discovered in an old railroad boxcar when he was 17 years old living near Boston. "If you can get it out of there, it's yours," the owner told him, so that's exactly what he did. Don worked his way through Boston State College fixing up and flipping cars. Over the last 43 years, while working in his own construction company, he redid the Oldsmobile's interior, took the frame off to strip and prime its entire body, and totally rebuilt the original flathead 6 engine. It still needs some minor body work and a paint job, and then Don intends to sell it. He has a 32 Ford chassis that he dreams of building into a hot rod, a picture of which he even has tattooed on his back!