I went to this show with a little hesitant attitude.  I wasn’t sure how big a crowd the show would draw because the admission prices were so steep.  The total program lasted from Thursday to Sunday.  Jay Leno was the featured host and other car notables like Donald Osborne were in attendance.  There was a cocktail party Thursday, a dinner Friday, car displays in front of Bellevue Ave. Mansions, a drive over the Newport bridge and around Aquidneck island, manufactures displays from Aston Martin, seminars and a look at the new mid-engine 2020 Corvette, a Ford F40 race car and much more.
 
So, what would all this cost you to see?  A ticket for all events went for $1,200 with about 80% of that amount going as a donation to the Audrain museum.  I got the cheapest ticket I could find, $50 for a seminar moderated by jay Leno and Donald Osborne on Sat. Afternoon.  The subject was about auto styling today with the current head of the GM design studio as part of the panel.
 
For me, the best part of the day was unexpected.  All of the cars that would be in the concours show the next day (Sun) had driven over the bridge and around the island Saturday morning.  At the end of the drive they were all parked in front of the museum and the Tennis Hall of Fame on Bellevue Avenue and then they blocked off the street.  This was not mentioned in the program AND anybody could see them.  You didn’t even need a ticket.  For me this was Heaven because I could get within 6 inches of a Bugatti 57C, gull wing Mercedes, Rolls, Cord, Bentley, and Packard.  If keys had been in the ignitions I was sorely tempted to try and take a spin.
 
As for the show, I was pleasantly impressed with the turnout.  There were small crowds everywhere and lots of folks walking around with hand tag badges.  How many of them were paying customers and how many industry guests I couldn’t tell but it sure looks like the show will return next year.  Now, if I can just figure out how to get in while still keeping an arm and a leg it’ll be perfect.
 
Gerry Lynn

Below are a few photos of the event. Additional photos are to be found in our Gallery section.

Club members Charlie Nash and  Michele Nash, Vickie VanHorn, Ken Carr, Bob DeGousey, Dennis DeGrave, and Bob Sundman went on an outing Saturday, January 13, to the Vintage Radio and Communications Museum of Connecticut.  We all gathered at the Rte.184 restaurant meeting place “Somewhere in Time” at 9:00 AM. We took three cars on an hour and a half ride through the countryside to the Radio Museum in South Windsor, Ct. Great morning for a little jaunt and the weather cooperated.  
 
We arrived at the museum at 9:30 and amazingly no one got lost. Our tour guide, Bob Allison, greeted us. Our guide proceeded to bring us through a “tour of yesteryear.”  He started the tour with the introduction – “Can you imagine the world without radio, television, or computers. Our world would be completely different than it is today. Here we show visitors the history of electric communications and how it has changed our lives.  We’re a hands-on museum. You can tune 80 years old radios … talk over candlestick telephones… listen to 100 year old records… tap out your name in Morse Code… See what early television looked like in the 1940s.  It’s all here at the museum.”
 
The museum has fantastic displays of radios, TVs, motion picture projection equipment, phonographs, tape recorders, typewriters, teletypes, and telephones. Also, there was a small video viewing theater, a library, and a sound effects room. Bob Sundman took pictures of items of interest and also got lots of ideas for school science projects for his eleven grandchildren.
 
They have a large storage area with radios and related equipment that is either waiting for restoration or is for sale. Charley Nash purchased a 1930’s vintage tombstone Crosley Radio. After three hours of touring the museum we were getting hungry, so Charlie Nash made a restaurant recommendation--Union Street Tavern. So off we went to an absolutely great lunch.
 
The Vintage Radio and Communications Museum was an informative, fun, and exciting place to visit. John Ellsworth, the museum Founder and President, invited our Club back to stage an event on the lawn this summer.
 
Bottom line – We all had a great time and several of us want to return to check out the sale items in the storage area.
 
Bob Sundman
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