The Joans at the Acorn Theater

After rushing through a client meeting this past Thursday afternoon, I drove out to Harbor Country to meet with Mario to collect the Clenet. The servicing garage in Three Oaks took seventeen days to remove, rebuild and reinstall the radiator. The actual removal and reinstall was quite easy and didn't take more than a few hours. The subcontractor that re-cored the radiator took the most time. Last weekend was a huge let-down as we didn't get the chance to enjoy the car over the long holiday weekend. I was more than determined to get that car well before this weekend.

Photo Credit: G. Thomas Ward Photography at www.thepeoplephotographer.com/

Mario and I met at the service department late in the afternoon to get the car. The service manager closed out the work order from when they first took delivery of the car in early June. The total amount was nearly four thousand dollars for over twenty hours of service and repairs to get this car running correctly.

Mario and I quickly drove the car back to Ken's house and reinstalled the hood and took the car for refueling. Ken came home from his shop and we settled in for dinner. Later in the evening we decided to go see the Joans, an irreverent tribute to Joan Crawford, performing live at the Acorn Theater in bustling Three Oaks. This will be the second time we've seen the group play at the Acorn. Mario insisted on driving the Clenet and parked it right outside the front door of the Acorn Theater! Ken and I followed behind in my XK8 and were relegated to parking a good block away as the theater was filling.

The Acorn Theater is "the place to be" on most Thursday evenings with retro music videos shown throughout the night and amazing drink specials. As we entered, most of the usual Thursday night crowd were there, so we settled in with smart cocktails in hand awaiting the performance. For all of you Joan Crawford fans out there, I strongly encourage you to check out The Joans website: http://www.thejoansband.com/ and see a performance! It's true camp.

After the show, I had to get my phone out of the Clenet and went outside where Dave, one of the co-owners of the Acorn Theater was standing. I joined him for a quick conversation just as the band was approaching along with their manager/photographer. They inquired about the car and asked if they could have their photo taken next to it. Of course I obliged as the car could easily be considered to be just as campy as a tribute band to Joan Crawford!

Now that the Clenet is back on the road and we are enjoying it and needs to be named. Our 1967 Cadillac has been christened "Priscilla, Queen of the Prairie" back in '94 when we found her at the Iola car show and swap meet in Wisconsin. My former Maserati that dear friend Jeff found up on Milwaukee was named "Aldo" and was equally butch in "Stormy Sky" blue/gray paint and caramel suede/leather interior.

We are soon off for a Sunday dinner at Mario's Lakeside home with friends and I'm sure after a few glasses of wine we will come up with a suitable name for the Clenet.

Happy motoring!
-Ron Zarantenello