Shore Thing 3 article

[DEF]

The nice folks from the Record were covering our event this weekend. They had a great time with us!

Here's the article: http://www.chatarea.com/GardenStateCrewzers.m1453855

[DEF]

If the article didn't link, do a find on

CASTRONOVA

in the search area on left.

[DEF]

Hmm doesn't seem to link on PTE.

You can try here if like: http://www.chatarea.com/GardenStateCrewzers.m1453855

[Nova69]

Great Article - Thanks for the link, Bob.

[PopsPT]

The reporter must have been a rookie, friends.
He had some great observations, but got a lotta stuff wrong.
(Sorry, folx: I couldn't help going into my journalism mode.
I taught English & "J" @ Clemson some years back.
For what it's worth.)
Wish we coulda been there; it looked like a great time was had by all.
Thanx
Pop

[DEF]

Originally posted by PopsPT
The reporter must have been a rookie, friends.
He had some great observations, but got a lotta stuff wrong.
(Sorry, folx: I couldn't help going into my journalism mode.
I taught English & "J" @ Clemson some years back.
For what it's worth.)
Wish we coulda been there; it looked like a great time was had by all.
Thanx
Pop

But at least these folks actually show up to our events to report on them.

Not really fair to comment on some really nice folks who said some nice things about us.

Is my grammer OK?

[GOLDMEMBER]

glad to hear it was a good time

[bigjim]

One warning ,When you go next year ,be very careful of what you order in the restaurant's for breakfast. They have the largest order's of home fries thatI have ever seen. I tried two differant places ,both the same. And The size of the omelets. Wow

[NSCR FAN]

Cruisers with the (P)ersonal (T)ouch



Sunday, September 14, 2003


By EMAN VAROQUA
STAFF WRITER




LONG BRANCH - There's the skull edition, the Ill PT, the all-chrome version, and
even Casper the Friendly Ghost Flames.

Hundreds of adoring PT Cruiser fanatics gathered Saturday with their cars at Seven
Presidents Oceanfront Park to pop their hoods and swap secrets.

"You get so many ideas coming here," said Ed Hiecke, of Old Tappan, who came
with his son, Daou.

Chrysler released the car in 2000, and it's become a cult favorite, partly because it
is easy to modify. Saturday, more than 150 cars lined up with their owners from 16
states and Canada. Owners range from letter carriers to pharmaceutical managers
to electricians.

"The cars brought us all together but we're all really great friends," said Bob
Castronova, the organizer. "It's just something about the person that buys this car:
they're really fun and have a great sense of humor."

Castronova, of Sea Bright, is the owner of the skull edition. The shiny black car is
equipped with a silver skull stick shift, skull door locks, and airbrushed skulls on
the back. He attributes the design to his "heavy metal days" when he was
younger.

This is the third year the group, the Garden State Crew-Zers, have held the event:
Shore Thing. The past two years it rained so hard they had to hold the tents down.
This year, the group enjoyed a windy but dry day.

Judy Alfrets' car looks like it came straight out of a candy shop. Alfrets' nickname
is Bubbles, and her trunk is full of bubble gum, champagne bottles, and bubble
wrap. She has little hearts and stars stuck to the body of her candy apple red
Cruiser. She also had a bubble machine on top of her car, but the others made her
turn it off as the bubbles were landing on their hoods and spoiling that just-waxed
shine.

"Well, they burst my bubble," laughed Alfrets, of Buffalo, N.Y.

The Prells, of Little Falls, brought a burgundy Cruiser with iridescent purple flames
and roses. The hubcaps have a windmill effect so when the car stops, the silver
frames keep twirling.

Hans Prell bought a standard Cruiser for his wife Sandra as an anniversary gift two
years ago.

"She kept dabbling with it, trying to keep up with our three sons who constantly
modify their cars," Hans Prell said with a laugh.

Members of the group keep in touch through e-mail and message boards on
www.newjerseycruise.com. There are more than 1,000 registered members.

"Hey, Bob, do you know where the guy from Indiana is? I talk to him all the time
online. I'd love to meet him," asked Michael Antonelli, of Staten Island.

Antonelli's Cruiser, which he calls Gold Dream, looks like it was dipped in gold.
Actually, he had everything under the hood dipped in chrome. (And added a horn
that sounds like a locomotive train). Antonelli spent $15,000 on top of the cost of
the car - which runs around $20,000.

"The good thing is that each car has its own personality," Antonelli said. "We all
do something different."

Anthony DeBellonia, of Pennsylvania, drew the most attention by far. He's the
owner of the Ill PT - a red Cruiser that looks like a dragon. We're talking doors that
open upward like a Lamborghini, a 340 horsepower engine, four televisions, and a
Sony PlayStation. And everything is controlled by remote.

DeBellonia said he spent $81,000 in modifications. It would've been more, but the
electrician does most of the work on his own.

And as DeBellonia made his car dance through installed hydraulics, in walked
John Smith with a one million-dollar bill.

"I'd like to buy this car from you sir," Smith said handing the bill to DeBellonia.

Smith, of Washington D.C., is the owner of Hercules Blues - equipped with dolls of
a dancing saxophone player and a singing James Brown in the trunk. (Oh, the
million-dollar bill turns out to be Smith's business card.)

As everyone laughed, Castronova said, "We're like a bunch of big kids."


Great story, DEF. Very good publicity.

[lisa]

I am confused-Were the Garden State Crew-zers the ones who put on Shore thing 1 and Shore Thing 2? I thought it was strictly DEF and Judy's thing. It doesn't really matter, I guess. I was so sad that I had to miss the event this year-I loved the boat ride the last 2 years and I had so much fun last year at dinner with Reese and his family (among others that were at my table). Looks like a good time was had by all. I sure wish I could have seen Gold Dream again-looks like there is even more CHROME than there was last year!!