May 2007

The Hurricane Chapter had the privilege of welcoming to South Florida POCI's very own President, Mr. Bob Desrochers, to join us for our St. Patrick's Day Cruise-in, and a fun one it was. The morning started out at a 79 year-old firehouse in Ft. Lauderdale which is now being restored, and inside of this small, quaint building, there is a breath-taking 1928 Ahrens-Fox fire truck, fully restored to its original glory. The tour of the firehouse lasted an hour or so.

At the same time, we were accompanied by Bruce Smith, a gentleman that is putting a classic car book together and came out to photograph all our rides!

Twelve classics of ours were parked in front of the firehouse, which was the initial point for the caravan before lunch at the Longhorn Steakhouse, 8 miles away. What a sight it was to look at that rolling museum of our own going down the road on I-95, quite the traffic stopper... lots of waves and smiles from passers-by.

Bob Desrochers was behind the wheel of a 1976 Bonneville, with his sidekick for the caravan, Monica Diaz, President of the Hurricane Chapter. The Bonnie, which was named for the day the 'Presidential Limo', belongs to our very own Topless Tom, ex-prez of the chapter. One POCI President, one Hurricane Chapter President and 2 ex Hurricane Chapter Presidents - Marvin Diaz and Topless Tom Martin ... it's no wonder the Secret Service wasn't around!

Once at the restaurant, we parked our Ponchos in a circle/square, as it were, and went in for delicious food, great conversation and our usual monthly meeting where Bob also got up and spoke with us all. During the lunch and laughs and picture taking, we signed up 2 new Pontiacs to the Hurricane Chapter - a one of a kind 72 'Miami Dolphins' Ventura - painted in full Miami Dolphins colors with logos, etc, and a 65 Catalina from the Keys.

It was a beautiful, warm, sunny South Florida day! If you're in the neighborhood, contact us for all the fun at pocihurricane@att.net or call Monica at (305) 648-0623.