Annual NIRG Picnic

Timmerman’s Ranch, Island Lake, IL

By Ken Bounds

A near-perfect summer day and a great setting provided ideal conditions for our annual picnic.  Once again this year, Don & Elaine Braun worked with their good friends Art & Carol Timmerman who were great hosts for our picnic at Timmerman’s Ranch in Island Lake.  Many of us arrived around 9:00 am to begin setting up the club tent and the tables and chairs arranged by Stan Stack.  As our Early V-8s began lining up on the grounds, we were greeted by our superb hosts.  It was nice to see and visit with Don as Art drove him on a golf car.  We were thrilled that Diane Pudelek was well enough to join us; she looked great.

We again had our volunteer cooks, Bob Sochacki and his friend Mike Sturm, doing a fantastic job preparing the brats, sauerkraut, and hot dogs.  Our thanks to them!  As the morning went on and the crowd rolled in, we were provided with a special treat by Art & Carol; they had two different horse troupes perform for us in the adjacent corral.  The performances, set to music, were exciting and the riders were quite professional.  Everyone present, young and old alike, seemed to really enjoy the presentation.

As throngs of guests arrived and lunch preparations continued, our master 50-50 raffle salesmen, Joe Kozmic and John Slobodnik, kept the $$$ rolling in to help support the picnic.  The club provided the entrée, beverages, plates, and utensils but the real abundance came from V-8ers who brought countless side dishes and desserts to share – no chance that anyone could go away hungry.  Many of the riders joined us for lunch and there was plenty for everyone.

With so much activity and so many guests present, it is hard to make note of who was in attendance.  With apologies to those I missed, we saw at least the following:  Ron Blum (40 Fordor), Ken & Carolyn Bounds (50 Convertible), Don & Elaine Braun (56 Pickup), Norm Collins (41 Mercury) with granddaughters, Ron Dopke (40 Tudor), Lloyd & Gladys Duzell (35 Tudor), John & Robin Emmering (51 Fordor), Stan Gaynor with Art Russell, Scott & Nicole Gilday (69 Mustang), John Judge (51 Victoria), Charles Kaiser, Joe & Nell Kozmic (53 Mercury) with guests Bob & Cathy Sochacki with son Dan & girlfriend & Mike Sturm, Roger & Betty Meness (51 Tudor), Jack & Jean Nikolich, Tom & Madeleine O’Donnell (40 Mercury) with son & daughter-in-law Steve & Ronnie with daughter McKenna, Dan & Diane Pudelek (53 Victoria) with daughter & son-in-law Catherine & John Pauly and their two children Jack and Isabella, John & Este Scheve, John & Barbara Slobodnik, Stan & JoAnne Stack (53 Tudor), John & Este Scheve, Joe Serritella, Bill & Marty Valters (40 Coupe), and Len & Irene Vinyard (39 Convertible).

There was plenty of time during the day to enjoy great conversation, to go out and kick a few tires checking out the beautiful Early V-8s, and to enjoy a nice equestrian presentation.  A few of the children even got a chance to ride the horses.  Before everything wrapped up, we had our 50-50 drawing.  Seemed like the fix was in; Barbara Slobodnik pocketed $191 in a blockbuster raffle while the club took the rest.  Congratulations!  Before making their way home in their beautiful V-8s everyone pitched in to take down the tent, load up the tables and chairs, and clean up the property.  It was a wonderful day of V-8 camaraderie.  Our thanks go out to our gracious hosts, Art & Carol Timmerman and to Don & Elaine Braun for making the arrangements.