Northland Meet Pictures

Anyone who has ever attended a PCS Northland Chapter meet knows that we pack a lot of activity into a short period of time, resulting in a great, yet fun and relaxing experience.

This weekend, June 8-10, we hosted our First Annual Summer Spectacular Meet, which takes the place of our previous Spring Extravaganza Meet that we'd held for so many years. Due to unpredictable May weather and more opportunities for classic car events in June, we decided to move our annual meet into the latter month and coordinate it with the All GM Car Show and Swap Meet at the Minnesota State fairgrounds. This year's event was a pilot-test for what will now become the annual event and - with the exception of extreme HEAT (ironic for us!) - we had a great weekend.

On Friday, we took a tour over to western Wisconsin to see the amazing Jensen car and automobilia collection in the rural Centuria / Balsam Lake area. The collection is housed on a large piece of private property that also includes a homemade "town" consisting of old-time barber shop, hardware store, Post Office, ice cream parlor, and of course, gas station. Prior to touring this collection, we had lunch at the Taylor's Falls (MN) Drive-In, an authentic place with carside service and root beer in heavy frosted mugs.

Later in the afternoon, we had the opportunity to play "Northland Pickers" as we were invited to comb through a small-town funeral home that has been merged wtih another firm. It was a step back in time, for sure!

Photos:
1. Professional cars at the Taylors Falls Drive In. Notice the (revolving) mug of Root Beer in the background.

2. Having fun at the Drive In: Mike Robison, Scott Anderson, Tony Karsnia, Larri Dirks, and Jon Wurm.

3-4. A couple views of the Jensen collection.

5. Northland Pickers arrive at an old funeral home.

(Karsnia photos)

Saturday photos

Saturday morning dawned sunny and warm as we headed up I-94 to St. Cloud, MN where we met up with PCS members Bill Carlin, Matt Mahutga (who arrived in his 1995 M-M Buick hearse), and Kurt Halverson (who drove his 1980 Chevrolet El Camino) at the Miller-Carlin Funeral Home. Bill had two of his Packards ready for us to see, one of which being a stunning 1938 Henney 3-way with working electric table, and a 1966 Superior Cadillac Crown Royale 3-way awaiting restoration.

We spent a good amount of time talking cars in Bill's garage before and after being hosted to a tour of the funeral home. Bill had to pry us away from the cars in order to make our luncheon reservation at Anton's Restaurant on the River in Waite Park. It was there that Kurt Halverson became educated on popovers (deliciously home made and served with honey butter at Anton's) and he subsequently treated the entire group to these tasty, mammoth, treats. Thanks Kurt!

After lunch, we were off to tour the mind-blowing collection of Mr. Roy Bernick, which includes an original Pan car built in St. Cloud, an all-original Cord automobile, an Auburn Boattail speedster, and the 1929 Lincoln Sport Touring bought new by the James J. Hill family of St. Paul. Roy's collection of classic cars, signs, and automobilia went on and on and we enjoyed every bit of it!

Then it was back to the funeral home for more garage socializing and before we knew it, the afternoon got away from us and it was time to head back to the Twin Cities, where we stopped at the Anoka River Run Car Show.

Special Thanks to Bill Carlin for hosting us and coordinating the Saturday events in St. Cloud!

Photos:

1. Two of Bill Carlin's Packards and 1966 Superior Cadillac Crown Royale 3-way.

2-3. The Roy Bernick collection is large and spectacular!

4. The gang at Bernick's included Matt Mahutga, Mike Robison, Gene Rafferty, Roy Bernick, Jon Wurm, Tony Karsnia, Kurt Halverson, Bill Carlin, and Larri Dirks.

5. Matt Mahutga shows appreciation for Bill Carlin's '66 Superior 3-way by getting a ride...in it...on it...? KIDS!

(Karsnia photos)

Sunday photos

Sunday dawned another hot and sunny day as we headed down to St. Paul for the All GM Show. We met up at "our" McDonald's on Snelling Avenue before heading into the show. The nice weather brought a great turnout of cars. We pretty much closed down the show and watched as most cars made their exit at the end of the day.

And so ends another fun time. Do join us for a future Northland Chapter event. You just never know what might await around the next turn! Thanks to all who attended this meet!

Oh yes, forgot to mention, we even squeezed in a side-trip to way, waay, WAAAY back in the woods to check out one of Gene Rafferty's "finds."

Special Thanks to Jon Wurm for coordinating the Friday events of this meet!

Photos:

1-2. Kim Karsnia's 1967 M-M Cadillac Paramount combination, April Warner's 1963 Superior Pontiac military ambulance (undergoing restoration), and Chuck Kramer's 1994 Eagle Buick hearse were seen at the All GM Show Sunday.

3. This "barn find" will soon be gracing the Rafferty collection!

(Karsnia photos)

Sorry I had to miss the fun! Looks like it was a great time! I attended the Town and Country Days car show in Paynesville with the 1967 Superior and had lot of fun! There were quite a few street rods that took home the awards but I did get most votes and a T-shirt at the Dairy Queen monthly car night the day before! Hope to be able to join in next year!

looks like you guys had a great time. Wish I could have made it up there for this one, what a fun filled Saturday. Bill those Packards are just stunning.

Josh

I couldn't help myself!

Tony, thank you for orchestrating this last weekend's events and also for posting the pictures! Somehow I knew that shot of me in Bill's 66 Superior would end up on here.

Bill, thank you for having us out on Saturday! I must say that table operated very smoothly with me on it! It was an excellent time! I can't say enough good things about it and I hope that this does become an annual event for us.

I finally got a chance to drive my 95 Buick MM (super sarcastic thank you to the MN DMV for the extra 2 month delay and then the fuel pump quit right before the title got here adding another delay) it was a great day to do so. I even had the pleasure of spending some time hearse-pooling with Kurt between some of our stops on Saturday.
I would really like to encourage all in the Northland that were not able to attend this year, to seriously consider next year.

1968 Limo

I recognize that 68 factory limo! That's a good buy Gene!

Is it safe to assume that the limo was originally white??

The camera probably picked up some chips in the paint or dirt as it had a thick layer of dirt on it.The picture was taken in almost complete darkness. Paint looks to be original dark blue.

Cool cars, sure looks like you guys had a great time. You can't go wrong with a 1968 Cadillac Limo--ask a guy who owns one.....LOL.

Thanks for coming to St. Cloud guys. It was very nice to meet you and I know Roy Bernick enjoyed showing off his car collection to you...I told you it would blow your mind. Not often you see million dollar cars parked next to model "A" and "T"s!