Dale Edwards, Mar. 1, 2012

We had eight El Bekal Tin Lizzies in the Indio Date Festival parade, plus six more from San Diego Al Bahr that paraded with us for a total of 14 noisy little cars cluttering up the streets and entertaining the sideline kids.  All except one Al Bahr car started the parade without incident and enjoyed a nice day.  It arrived with a dead battery and no manual engine crank provisions, so it got pushed for the first part of the parade.   But there were so many stop and waits in the progression of the parade that he and his buddies were able to get out and successfully swap out the battery from his bubble blowing machine during a couple of the lulls.  After that, everyone moved along and finished under their own power.   But it was touch and go for our brand new Lizzier, Rick Hardage.   He had bought Joe Miranda’s old Lizzie and it was his first parade after a cursory work-up that apparently missed finding one of the clutch brackets that would sometimes scrape against the centrifugal clutch housing while making a hell of a racket.   The clutch was eventually destroyed but he finished the parade under his own power, so that was a win.  Anyway, it was nice weather and no silly string from the sidelines, so all in all it was a good parade. 

By the time you read this we will probably have just finished our annual Tin Lizzie Western Dance and Steak Fry.   Lots of work by lots of Lizziers goes into that event and we are proud to put our name on it each year.  Sorry I can’t yet relate how it went, but we do want to thank each of you who bought tickets and supported our event.  

So now that the major effort for the year is behind us, you slightly lazy Shriners that don’t belong to a unit can come join us without encountering a lot of work ahead for the balance of the year.   We have lots of fun and the Lady Lizziers join us in many of our activities.  Just give a call to our new Captain, Bill Walls at (562) 594-6232 for more information.  If he is busy putting away our Western Dance decorations, call our new Lieutenant, Ted Segerstrom, at (949) 640-1615.

Mar. 2nd 2012 Steak Fry

We had eight El Bekal Tin Lizzies in the Indio Date Festival parade, plus six more from San Diego Al Bahr that paraded with us, for a total of 14 noisy little cars cluttering up the streets and entertaining the sideline kids. All except one Al Bahr car started the parade without incident. It arrived with a dead battery and no manual engine crank provisions, so it got pushed for the first part of the parade. But there were so many “stop and waits” in the procession, that he and his buddies were able to get out and successfully swap out the battery from his bubble blowing machine during a couple of the lulls.  After that, everyone moved along and finished under their own power, but it was touch and go for our brand new Lizzier, Rick Hardage.  He had bought Joe Miranda’s old Lizzie, and it was his first parade after a cursory work-up, that apparently missed finding one of the clutch brackets that would sometimes scrape against the centrifugal clutch housing, while making a hell of a racket. The clutch was eventually destroyed but he finished the parade under his own power, so that was a win.  Anyway, it was nice weather and no silly string from the sidelines, so all in all it was a good parade.

We also had a great time at our annual Westen Dance and Steak Fry on March 2.   Lots of work by lots of Lizziers goes into this event and we are proud to put our name on it each year.    We set up fewer tables in the main room this year so people had more room to move around, so it was even more enjoyable.     The attendance was almost overflowing, the band was lively,  and the food was plentiful.   We do want to sincerely thank each of you who bought tickets and supported our event.

So now that our major effort for the year is behind us, you slightly lazy Shriners that don’t belong to a Unit can come join us without encountering a lot of work ahead for the balance of the year.   We have lots of fun and the Lady Lizziers join us in many of our activities.  Just give a call to our new Captain, Bill Walls at 562- 594-6232 for more information.  If he is busy putting away our Western Dance decorations, call our new Lieutenant, Ted Segerstrom, at 949- 640-1615.

Dale Edwards, Feb. 1, 2012

As this is being written, the Lizziers and getting ready for the parade and festivities of the February President’s Day weekend in Indio.  It’s the first parade of the new year, but will be history by the time you read this.

So we are also busy organizing and preparing for our annual Western Dance and Steak Fry coming up on the first Friday in March at the Shrine Center.  It’s a big undertaking, but we enjoy doing it, at least that’s what we say after it’s over.   We use it both as a fundraiser and as an opportunity to showcase our Shrine activities to not only our fellow Shriners, but also to friends and neighbors.  In fact we try hard to sell many of our tickets outside the Shrine family in order to target outside sources in our fund raising efforts.

This year we will also try harder to limit the number of ticket sales so as to not crowd the chairs in the dining area.  But that means you need to get your tickets early so as not to get left out.   Call any Tin Lizzie member for tickets, not the Shrine Center. There will be no tickets sold at the door.   See the flyer elsewhere in this El Bekalan for details and the phone numbers of ticket sources. 

And if you are a new Shriner or otherwise aren’t affiliated with another unit, consider joining the Lizzies, or buy some Steak Fry tickets to get to know us.   Just give a call to our new Captain, Bill Walls at (562) 594-6232.  If he is busy inventorying our Western Dance supplies, call our new Lieutenant, Ted Segerstrom, at (949) 640-1615.

Dale Edwards, Sept. 1, 2011

In late July, we had six Lizzies drive up the hill and participate in the almost annual Big Bear Parade. I say almost annual because it didn’t happen last year due to what I understand was financial issues. So this year the parade was on a different weekend than it was in previous years and was shorter in length, but the weather was great as usual. Most of the Lizzies went up the night before, stayed in the Robin Hood Inn Motel, and after dinner played cards until the wee hours.

On Saturday morning, the Lizziers drove their cars past the formation area to the local Masonic Lodge facilities where they partook of the offered breakfast and showed off the Lizzie cars. After getting there without incident, Mike Selix’s Lizzie towcar failed to start and had to be towed to the formation area where a shorted out sparkplug was diagnosed and repaired. The parade itself went smoothly with all Lizzies starting and finishing under their own power. After the parade, several of the Lizziers loaded up their cars and zipped back down the hill to attend the wedding of our Captain, Larry Griffin, at the Orange Grove Lodge.

In August we had 15 Lizziers show up for breakfast at Arthur’s Coffee Shop before the La Habra parade and 12 lizzies took part in the parade. A couple of the members had other commitments that kept them from parading, it was not from a lack of available cars. Everyone made it to the beginning of the parade without incident and all made it through the parade without trouble except John Lake who had to get John Edgmon to tow him when his throttle linkage came apart about halfway through the parade. We also had a new Lizzier parading with us, Ted Segerstrom, and he made it through the parade without problems and said he had a lot of fun doing it. Of course he has a brand new factory-built 2011 model Tin Lizzie which he pretty much expected would survive the parade, even with the famous “Student Driver” license plate hanging on the front bumper. The parade went well, even though we had a lot of forward motion hold ups which results in the Lizzies doing a lot of “circling in place”.

If you are not currently a member of an El Bekal Shrine parade unit, you too should consider joining the Lizzies. For more information, come to one of our regular business meetings at the El Bekal Shrine Center on the second Monday of each month. Give a call to our Captain, Larry Griffin, at (714) 273-0220 for specifics. If he is busy recovering from his recent wedding, call our Lieutenant, Bill Walls, at (562) 594-6232.