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Dia de los Muertos.... In English it means the 'Day of the Dead'.. and is a day set aside to pay honor to friends and family that have died. Needless to say, it is a Hispanic holiday but with the huge migration of Hispanics into this country it is rapidly becoming a common holiday for America.
Saturday Denison held a parade and other festivities for the holiday and our family joined in...
Momma and daughter Laura started early in putting on their make-up... It turned out to be about a two hour effort. Both of them painted up their faces over a base coat of white.
This is the final result when we arrived downtown. Grandson Louie almost didn't recognize his Granny and Aunt as they surprised him. Louie was part of the Denison Dance Academy's troop that put on a performance before the parade..
Immediately upon arriving Momma and Laura were placed into a contest for the best make-up... and I was prepared for either one to take top honors....BUT the judges picked the woman to the far right of the bottom photo. Evidently this was another of those elections decided by the hanging chad...
The Dance Academy put on a show to get the crowd into the act... Top photo is our niece Mikayla, who was super as usual. Bottom photo is Louie and his partner Cadence.. Both were giving a guttsy effort, Louie was feeling bad and Cadence is still recovering from a knee injury.
These girls came all the way from Gunter, Tx to be part of the festivities and told me each girl hand-made their own dresses. Colorful and extremely pretty, both the dresses and the girls.
Once the parade started forming up it was decided that the Denison Dance Academy would lead the parade down Main Street...so Momma and Laura were the first ones prancing and waving...
Some of the giant puppets showed a lot of work and investment in the final product. This top photo shows that it takes three men to operate it due to the height and weight of the puppet.
Denison has a long history with the railroads, and this mini-train gave rides before the parade....but in the parade itself it carried a Mirachi band that played music as they made their way down Main Street..
Not all of the costumes were participants in the parade... These three beauties were part of the big crowd that came to see the parade... It was a fun time and the weather cooperated with clear skies and temperatures around sixty degrees.. Thank You Lord !
Every year we have a costume contest at Texoma Harley-Davidson and Saturday was that day... Most of the staff came to work in their costumes, but members of the shop had to wear their regular work clothes... Who wants to see a Hobgoblin working on their bike?
This is just some of the staff from the Motor Clothes and Sales departments.
On the back row from the left:...Alicia, Cathy, Ashley, AnneMarie, Ron, Selina, Laura, and Sonic... Kneeling on the front row from left:.. Tiffany and Gail. Tell me if there is a better looking group at any other company in North Texas.
Tiffany, Events Manager, had the most interesting costume this year...What could have been a Yellow Jacket, turns out to be a Zom-Bee... Get it?..
Check the staples she glued on each side of her mouth.. Staff members volunteered to apply 'real' staples but she declined the offer..
Cathy was suppose to be Dolly Pardon with the obvious assets... Ashley made a good vampire...and Alicia, the witch, was just trying to 'stir up' a little trouble from the others..
Laura was joined by canine Koda in manning the 'Breast Cancer Awareness' table.. The group is still taking donations for the very best benefit that I can think of. If interested, you can contact Susan at Reba's Ranch House behind Texoma Medical Center.
Momma and I went as a Middle East couple... I told everyone I was an OPEC oil minister and she was my fav from the concubine. My outfit was made up of one of my dog's blankets, a table cloth, and a pull cord from some old drapes we found at the Goodwill Store. Momma's outfit was all custom made by her.
The outfit is good,..BUT Momma makes it that much better. Her eyes are simply dynamite... as I have been telling her since 1989.
Thanks to all who showed up to enjoy the day...
A car show was held in Sherman today and some of the cars entered were cars that I have featured in previous posts, so I may skip some of them to display some of the ones I have not seen.
The voting was conducted by everyone in attendance and I now see a gigantic flaw in this kind of decision-making. Some of the voters went for shine and chrome and not for the hard work of restoring some of these vintage beauties.. See if you don't agree.
Case in point ! This is a 1937 Chevrolet coupe...It now features a 350 cubic inch Chevy V8 replacing the 216 cubic inch straight six cylinder engine that came from the factory.
To say this was a tight fit might be the understatement of the year. I figure the engine went in before the fenders and front grille were installed since room was at a premium in this beauty.
The interior has no rolled and pleated treatment, nor button and tuck, but a simple and clean interior of black Naugahyde. It does not overpower the custom dashboard and glove box. The Chevy has a four-speed transmission, and note the starter/ignition on the far left of the dash. In 1937 the starter was a knob on the floor just to the right of the accelerator pedal.
They gave plaques and trophies to the top six cars and this car did not place in the winning. I find that completely unbelievable. This was a super entry and I understand the owner leaving a very unhappy individual. I would have been the same way.
Another car that did NOT finish in the top six was this 1933 Plymouth 5-window coupe. The car was immaculate in its presentation and was flawless. I apologized to the owner for the ignorance of the voters in not recognizing a great and clean example of hot rodding. This kind of voting made the hanging chad of Florida in 2004 pale in comparison.
The Plymouth is powered by a Chevy V-8 and under the hood was as clean as the outside. The car is for sale as the owner has another project already underway back home.
The interior of the Plymouth was done in a mauve color and really looked good against the purple exterior. That is a towel on the floorboard to keep it clean as possible until just before the judging took place. Great looking car...but not even in the top six.
Another car that did not finish among the winners was this 1930 Ford Model A coupe... but that is because the owner did not enter it in the contest. He just wanted to allow fellow car enthusiast to see where all his hard work has gone.
The flathead V8 came out of a 1952 Ford and has been bored 100 thousands of an inch. The Offenhauser heads and 3 two-barrel carburetors give this old girl plenty of pep. The fabric covered top also has a sunroof to provide an abundance of fresh air while cruising in this great ride.
Inside the Model A is as beautiful as the outside. Check all the custom woodwork on the dash, console, and window treatments. The radio/CD player above the windshield is also a nice touch. I especially liked the rear opera window. A great example of fine detail put into a car that garnered a lot of attention.
This is a 1923 Ford T-Bucket roadster... and it was one of the winners today. The wishbone front-end was completely chromed and the paint job was out of sight.
This is a close-up look at the radiator cowling to display the paint job. It was like this all over and featured flames down the side of the car.
The roadster is not only blown and injected, but also features nitros-oxide. I'm not so sure I would have mounted the tank on the wheelie bars, but to each their own taste.
1960 Chevrolet Corvette and this is another car that finished among the winners,..but other than being a clean example of that model year, what is so outstanding? The 1960 was the first Corvette to have dual headlights and other than that was almost a reproduction of the 1959 Vette.
1957 Chevrolet Bel-Air Convertible... This was one of the iconic cars from Chevy over the years and helped usher in the year of the tail fins.
1969 Chevrolet Camaro... This one featuring a 396 big block engine. Super clean Camaro and showed a lot of attention to detail. There was an abundance of Camaro and Mustang cars in the show and I am sorry I can't feature them all. It was a good show and the weather cooperated with sunny skies and temperatures in the 80 degree range. Thanks to all the exhibitors and the crowd that turned out to see them.
Through the end of the October a display of models of World War II warships is on display at the Katy Depot in downtown Denison. The display is in the same room as the Hall of Heroes..where local veterans are being honored for their service to this country.. but first the warships.
This is the U.S. Battleship Missouri within a glass case that is about three feet long and eighteen inches high. The detail of the model is extremely exact. Big Mo not only served in World War II but also Korea, Vietnam, and the first Gulf War. The documents ending World War II were signed on the deck of the Missouri in Tokyo Bay in August 1945.
An above shot of the Japanese carrier Akagi,..one of four Japanese carriers sunk in the battle of Midway... a blow from which Japanese aviation never recovered. Most of the veteran pilots who participated in the raid on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 were lost in the Midway battle and Japan could never replace them.
There are about fifteen models of various warships on display and you can inspect them at your leisure. The German battleship Bismarck is one of the models and also the heavy cruiser Shaunhorst, a member of the Bismarck's escort ships. The British battleship Hood is also represented in fine detail. The Hood became the first victim of the Bismarck, and from her crew of over 1500 men, only 3 survived the battle.
There is a lot of authentic photos from the time period taken on some of the ships represented. Along the wall in the background you can see some of the many photos on the Wall of Honor; this is a special place for veterans from the local area.
Just a couple from the many on display that caught my eye... This is U.S. Army Sergeant-Major Raymond Polk, who is a veteran of both Korea and Vietnam. The sarge is a two-time recipient of the Bronze Star and also has the Combat Infantryman's Badge.
World War II 'Ace'...Major David Williams of the U.S. Army Air Force underwent flight training at Perrin Field in Denison before being deployed to England to battle the Nazi Luftwaffe. Williams became a master flying the P-38 Lighting fighter, a twin-engine aircraft with six fifty-caliber machine guns.
...And of course there is an abundance of photos of Denison's most famous son... Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower.. There are photos of Ike from a young boy all the way to his days as President. He was the Supreme Commander of all Allied forces as they invaded Normandy on June 6, 1944. It would be the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany.
Again, the floating museum of warships will be on display through the end of the month and will be well worth your time...and there is no charge.
If you enjoy old cars as much as I do, then downtown Denison was the place to be on Saturday. It was all dedicated to the memory of Jamie Geesling, who died earlier this year. Jamie was a car and motorcycle freak and went out of his way to assist anyone else who needed a little help.
The trophy going to the overall car show winner will be receiving a guitar shaped award that was designed after Jamie's personal instrument.
This is a 1941 Ford 'Woodie' Station Wagon... and it was as clean as a pin. The surfer crowd made these vehicles popular and you can see this one has a surf board on top. Original flathead V8 engine made this truly a super car.
1936 Ford Pick-Up truck with a nice paint job. You know how much I love Harley-Davidson motorcycles, so it was a natural attraction for me. The truck has a flathead V8, but also Offenhauser finned heads and 2 two-barrel carburetors. Ford made this very engine from 1932 thru 1953.
1933 Ford 3-window coupe... The paint job and flamed front end demands your attention and the Chevrolet V8 looks like it was installed with a shoe spoon as it was an extremely tight fit.
This is an extremely rare car... A 1937 Studebaker Coupe/Truck. From the driver's seat forward it is exactly like a car, while from the seat back it was a pick-up truck. This particular model preceded the Ford Ranchero and Chevrolet El Camino by twenty years and was a real trent setter. The interior is a work in progress, but I loved the exterior of the vehicle.
1941 Buick Roadmaster... Great paint job and colorful flames on the front. Those small port-holes in the front fender would be a Roadmaster feature for years to come. The interior is all custom made and a console between the bucket seats really sets it off.
The sign says 1939 Ford Coupe,...but I would swear that is a 1937 front end on this car. The sign listed all the custom additions to the car BUT no mention of the front end. I remember the 1939 as looking more like a 1940, and the tear drop headlights were not on a 1939 model. Maybe it was such a major change that the owner decided he didn't need to mention it,...BUT it sure jumped out at me when looking at it.
1941 Oldsmobile Coupe... Chevy, Olds, Buick, and Pontiac all shared this shape in the 1940's and I loved all of them. If you are going to paint a car black, you better have all imperfections corrected since black makes them stand out for all to see. This coupe was outstanding inside and out...and thanks for the bumper stick for Daddy-O. We all miss him.
1941 Buick Coupe... This outstanding model features a straight 8-cylinder engine. Before General Motors went to V8's the straight 8 was the power engine to have, but the long crankshaft in those engines created 'wobble' at high speeds and that led to its doom. This model is painted a 'root beer' color and looks great. The interior is almost complete but still lacks carpeting in the car.
The 1932 Ford Coupe is always the iconic year for hot rodding, but I have always preferred the 1933. This 1933 3-window was really clean, inside and out. The dash is custom made and it also has air conditioning added.
I saw this car from across the street and thought it was a 1928 Ford.. but when I got closer I was surprised to find out...
it was a Erskine. I never even heard of that model car. It was clean as a pin inside and out..
It was a great car show and we appreciate all of the owners bringing out their cars for the crowd to drool over. I am sure Jamie would have gotten as big a kick out of it as I did..
