(TWO POSTS)
So I'm hearing someone late this morning who's on a loudspeaker very near to where I live and he's yelling something about moving cars and registration, but he's much louder than a cop on his car's loudspeaker.
I look out my south window and I saw a sight I've never seen here before. The fact that it involved a church parking lot on a Sunday morning made it even weirder. Right next to the Gentile funeral home at Union and Passaic streets is a lot owned by the First Presbyterian Church for use by its members, but the lot was jammed with very-cool-looking custom cars and many more were trying to get in. No offense to the FPC, but it was a decidedly very un-church-like assortment of vehicles............and drivers.
There was no way to get all the rides of the car show entrants into that lot, so they had to park on Union St. This is what all the amplified noise regarding moving cars was about - the lot was just too small.
The show opened at 11am and registration took place at noon. Everyone was afraid that their vehicle wouldn't be judged if it wasn't in the lot, so another loud announcement went out that cars parked in the street would be judged.
Meanwhile, I'm taking a few shots from my roof of a unique neighborhood scene that I would definitely be visiting after lunch. How often do you get to shoot a custom car show within sight of your home?
When I first got there, I shot most of the best cars that made it into the lot, but space was so tight, I often couldn't back up far enough to frame things properly. Then I went out onto Union Street to shoot the latecomers. One car (the maroon '64 Chevy Super Sport [I once had one of those in white]) was parked in an entrance to the Middle School. There were also two BIG smoke grills cooking up a storm in the street. Even with all this stuff (and wandering people) in the street, Union St remained open in both directions.
One shot I had to try to get was the FPC parking lot sign with the colorful jammed lot behind it. Too bad I had no chance of elevation to capture it all.
Then I noticed someone crouched down near the sign who seemed to be sorting through some CDs. I also noticed a smaller sign advertising a locally-known Hackensack music personality. I tapped the guy on the shoulder:
"Dock?"
"Yes?"
It was my old friend, Dock Russell - AKA "Too Sweet" - whom I met FIFTY years ago and whom I hadn't seen in at least 20 years. It was great to see him again. Next time, I'll ask him to smile when I take his picture.
The heat was getting to me, so it was time to take that long (one-block) walk home.
I went right back on the roof and took 2 or 3 more shots of the event in full swing. About a half-hour after the show closed, I took some more shots of the stragglers leaving, including the guy in the Chevelle Super Sport, who came ROARING up Union St.
The last picture shows some little latecomer riding around in the lot and looking for the registration booth.
CLICKit!
