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Ok. I'm sitting here watching the Patriots beat up on the Broncos and still smarting from the Red Sox's elimination by the Rays. I look out my window at the lake on which I live with my lovely wife, dog Koto and two cats. My Glastron power boat sits lonely and cold. The tubes and floats are still out but autumn leaves are beginning to cover them. It seems like only yesterday that I was cruising around in my Cabrio with the top down and stereo way up! Ah, summer in New England is so fleeting...the cruise nights, the rides along the Maine coast...Oh well, I guess I'll check my anti-freeze on the cars this weekend, take my Tahoe down to the launch and drag my boat out, do the get ready for winter stuff that makes us New Englanders a hardy bunch, and start dreaming about spring. Hey, Its only 90 days until pitchers and catchers report for Spring training and I'll be sure to find an excuse to hit LA and Miami in January and February. All you folks in the warm climes, count your blessings!
Jungle Jim
Tags: Summer Fall Cruisin' Cabrio Tahoe Power Boat Acura
The Sun Shone Brightly on the First Annual Littleton Rotary Appleman Auto Show Jim Barisano - Special to the Littleton Independent
 It was a perfect last day of summer as the First Annual Littleton Rotary Appleman Auto Show took to the field at Kimball Farm to benefit SEPAC, Littleton’s Special Education Parent Action Committee. Over 125 cars and thousands of spectators enjoyed a day filled with great music by Mark Crory’s band, the California Dreamers, delicious food by co-sponsor, Kimball Farm, fun raffles and automotive competitions scheduled throughout the day.
It was a day to get out in the sun and have some fun. The thousands who chose the auto show over sitting inside and watching the Patriots get pummeled by the lowly Dolphins were rewarded with a perfect Sunday, some beautifully restored, customized and maintained cars, trucks and motorcycles and colorful entertainment.
“We all worked very hard to make this charity event extra special,” said Roger LeBlanc, Littleton Rotarian and show chairman. “The club members, volunteers from SEPAC, members of the Kimball Farm team and even our family members all pitched-in to make the day a lot of fun, and it showed. It seemed like everyone there was having a ball! The Rotary Club wants to thank all those volunteers who worked so hard and especia lly Mike Kimball and Kimball Farm for making this a terrific day.”
There were three spectator events held during the day. The first was the muffler rap competition in which each competitor drives up the staging area and on the green flag signal revs up his or her engine until the checkered flag is waved. Three judges then rate the quality of the sound on a scale of one to five and hold up their scores ala the Olympics. After much noise, smoke and laughter, the winner of the muffler rap competition was Tom Troville in his 1969 Ford Mustang whose straight pipes threw off an exhaust note and smoke that thrilled the crowd and brought tears to many an eye.
 The day’s second competition was the sound explosion in which customized sound systems are blasted at full volume for the crowd’s enjoyment. Winner of the sound explosion was Ken Chaput of Chappy’s Auto Service of Litchfield, NH, in his partially restored 1956 Mercury Monterey. Chappy won with some very cool and very loud Doo Wap music, beating out various rap, funk, heavy metal and hip-hop demonstrations.
The last big competitive event of the day was the slow drags in which competitors duel head to head to be the slowest car or truck down an eighty foot track that passes the picnic tables, main stage and spectator area. Rules call for no touching of brakes or stopping. Competitors ranged from a 1924 Ford Model T driven by Bill Thompson and perennial favorite David Neargaard in his 1922 Stanley Steamer to a 2006 Ford GT driven by Ron Savenor and a 1945 Willys Military Jeep complete with decommissioned thirty caliber machine gun. In the end, Ron Savenor’s Jeep crawled last and longest to the finish line to the cheers of the jovial crowd.
 For those too far away to attend, the automotive on-line community, WheelsTV.net, did a live worldwide webcast for the full five hours. During the webcast viewers could actually chat on-line with their comments appearing next to the live video images. Messages came in from as far away is Singapore and Sweden, making the First Annual Littleton Rotary Club Appleman Auto Show a truly international charity event that showed to the rest of the world that, in addition to the great weather, it’s the people who make our part of the planet such a special place to live.
If you missed it this year, that’s OK because plans are already being laid for next year’s show. As Ken Chaput, “Chappy”, put it, “This was one of the most fun car shows I’ve ever been to! I’m already looking forward to next year!” And so are we!
Tags: Appleman Auto Show Rotary Little Cars Classics Contest Muffler Rap Sound Dr
Big Car Show Coming! I'm a member of the Littleton Rotary Club. In the late 90's we put on a classic and custom car show for a few years. It was always a lot of fun and drew about 200 show cars and a few thousand visitors. Of course the purpose was to raise money for various Rotary charities and we always did pretty well. It was a lot of work...and a lot of fun. Well..... Here we are: 2008 and the Car Show is back!_1.jpg) On September 21st, the Littleton Rotary Club will be putting on the Appleman Auto Show at world-famous Kimball's Ice Cream in neighboring Westford, Massachusetts. Kimball's has been putting on cruise nights on Thursday nights from May to September and has agreed to work with the Rotary Club to put the Sunday show in the same field where the cruise nights take place. There will be over 400 cars on display as well as plenty of motorcycles and trucks. There will be live and recorded music from the stage, burgers, dogs and ice cream and some hot competitions: A Muffler Rap Contest, Slow Drags Competition and Sound Competition. Over thirty trophies will be awarded with the first place winners in each People's Choice Award receiving their awards by rolling up to the Winner's Circle where they will get their trophies and have their photos taken. WheelsTV will be on hand to create television programming for its various network services. There will be plenty of bikes, both custom and stock, showing as well. I'm on the committee that is putting this great event together. My blog for the next six months will be on the plans for the show. So, circle the date: Sunday, September 21 (Rain date Sept. 28), bring your show car or just show up with friends! Across the street you'll find a great general store, mini-golf, bumper boats, driving range and more! See you there! Jungle Jim
Tags: Auto Show Kimball's Classic Cars Hot Rods Tuners Motorcycles Music Ice Crea
Waiting for Cruise Nights in New England... Spring is finally here in the Northeast and the snow piles are gradually melting. No sign of flowers or leaves on the trees, yet, and there could be more snow coming. 
But, for now my thoughts turn to warm evenings at the local ice cream stand and cruise-ins of some great custom cars. All across North America, cruise nights have become the place to go on a week night after a long day at work. Hundreds of cars will sometimes show up, as they do at Kimball's Ice Cream in Westford, along with many motorcycles, mostly Harleys. Sometimes, on a good night in mid-June, literally thousands of folks who appreciate custom wheels will show up. With live classic rock music, burgers and ice cream how can you go wrong? Sounds great, doesn't it? Well, now its just a matter of time... Jimbar
Tags: Hot Rods Cruise Nights Motorcycles Harleys Cadillac Customs
It's March and it's Mud Season in New England!
It's been raining for two days now...heavily. The acummulated snows from a near record winter are blocking drains and flooding streets. Last night, Route 119 in Groton, Massachusetts was flooded and the road had to be closed. When the local police detoured drivers, they were sent off into the rural back roads. As I was approaching my friend Eric's house at the end of Gratuity Road, a dead end, out of the woods came five cars. At the time I wondered what that was all about, but once I found out about the detour I had to laugh! Apparently, four fo those five cars had followed someone who they thought knew the way out of the detour...straight into a cornfield! On top of that, another friend who was coming to Eric's house was followed by someone also thinking that this person knew the way out...only to end up at the head of Eric's driveway on a dead-end street! Pretty funny! So, as the ice and snow finally start to melt and the rain beats down we New Englanders dream of sunny days in June when we can put the tops down on our roadsters and head out to the local ice-cream stand. While it has certainly been a long, cold winter, the waiting is part of the fun of living in a four season part of the country...We really appreciate the sunshine and still are able to chuckle at life's foibles.  Thanks for reading this and please drive safely, Jim
Tags: Spring Mud New England Car Washes
What Happened to Global Warming???
Winter does not want to let go of its grip on New England! As a result, everyone's cars and trucks are covered in salt and even the interiors are filling up with sand. I watch videos here at MyWheelsTVGarage and imagine what it will be like in just 90 days! By late May most of the snow will be gone, people will start driving their fun cars around again, the ice cream stands will re-open, and cruise nights will be the place to hang out on a warm evening. Meanwhile, while I am waiting for that to happen, I go to the auto shows. We just got back from NADA, are doing a story on Chicago and will be in New York next month for the NY International Auto Show. Seeing the newest iron on display is nice but I want the top down and radio up as I cruise the by-ways of Mass, Vermont and NH! Jimbar
Tags: Winter Snow Auto Shows
The National Auto Dealers Association Convention and Show was held last week in San Francisco and was another big success...especially for the folks at WheelsTV. The weather in San Fran was awesome: 60s-70s and clear sunshine! There were over 600 companies presenting at the show. The opening general assembly featured a take off on the old Ed Sullivan show complete with magic acts, dish spinners, faux Beatles and the real Jay Leno. Jay was great as usual, even if he did tell a few of his very old jokes. The crowd loved it, though. Meanwhile, on the show floor, WheelsTV's test drives and vehicle profiles were the hot topic with everyone who has a website searching for videos to bring their sites into the 21st century. With WheelsTV's award-winning videos being featured by Vehix, Chrome, DealerTrack, Reynolds and Reynolds and a few other major players, excitement was high. WheelsTV had Lehel Reeves, Jim Barisano and Collin Davis on hand. Our team was constantly either in meetings or shooting footage for a story on the show, which will be available for viewing soon on the WheelsTV Network: MSN, AOL, Vehix, Comcast, WheelsTV, MyWheelsTVGarage and many other sites. All in all, NADA 2008 was a fun, exciting and entertaining event! Next stop for WheelsTV: The New York Auto Show in March. Watch for a story on the WheelsTV network!
Tags: NADA San Francisco WheelsTV Top 200 100 On One Vehicle Profiles
Let's Salute America's Sports Car on June 30th!
Mid-America Motorworks has petitioned the U.S. Congress to declare June 30th a National Day of Recognition for Corvette - America's first sports car. The first Corvette rolled off a Flint, Michigan assembly line on June 30, 1953. As America's original sports car and still the standard by which most sports cars are measured, the Corvette represents all that is great about the U.S.A. It's fast,powerful, handles great, is reasonably priced, sharp looking, fun to drive and MADE IN USA! It is also, arguably, GM's most notable contribution to our American automotive legacy.
I want to encourage everyone to petition his or her congressional representative to pass a resolution declaring Jun 30th as a National Day of Recognition for Corvette.
All the best,
Jim Barisano
Tags: Corvette National Day Of Recognition For Corvette
Hi All, We've been pretty booked around here during a time when it supposed be quiet! Demand for our test drive videos and new vehicle profiles has been tremendous. People are discovering that using WheelsTV videos is the only way to shop for a new car! My wife, Karen, and I did have a chance to break away during the July 4th holiday and had a great time in Maine! Here are some photos of what can only happen in America! This parade in the little town of Round Pond drew thousands of area folks and hundreds of particpants. Even Uncle Sam showed up! But, to top off this spectacular vehicular salute to America's independence, an actual wedding took place as the groom rode to the bride's home, which was on the parade route, on a beautifully decorated float... When the float arrived at the bride's house, she joined her man on the float and, with a minister presiding, a bridal party and hundreds of onlookers, they were wed! So, if you are ever near the rocky shores of Maine on the fourth of July, be sure to head for Round Pond to enjoy a parade like you've never seen before! Thanks and please drive safely, Jim
Tags: Cadillac Independance Day July 4th Parade Maine Mercedes Benz Prius Round P
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