The "CRUISER" Newsletter

October 

AS THE WHEEL TURNS!

BY ROGER BEAUCHAMP, PRESIDENT

As I am now composing this at the end of September, another month has slipped by. Its seems to have been a rainy summer with more then the usual amount of events canceled because of weather.

We have completed our Drive and Dines events (more to come) and found many new places for a scenic drive and a tasty lunch. The latest being the Foothill Grill, a fun drive and a great lunch spot. I just returned home from the Burger King and the EMC Cars and Coffee. I’m open to moving to another venue, so just maybe next month will find the group at new a test location. But regardless we had a good turn out and some new cars and faces.

Last Saturday, we cruised down to the PoBoys show in Canton. Arriving early had a shaded parking spot which helped with the upper 80s temperatures. It did seem that the attendance was lighter then normal but still lots of great cars to check out. We did a quick walk across the street to Chick-Fil-A for a tasty sandwich, returned to the show to enjoy our lunch, and relax a bit.

Check out the web page for the next Drive and Dine event location. They are typical approximately 3 to 4 hour event with the drive and lunch combined. Driving these mountain roads on a fall day is hard to beat.

Roger

UPCOMING EVENTS FOR OCT, 2025

This calendar is dedicated to car events OTP (Outside The Perimeter) covering the North Georgia area.  www.ellijaymountaincruisers.com

---RECURRING EVENTS---

(Some events may be seasonal; always check with the host group)

Sunday, 5th - Caffeine and Octane Car Show. Town Center at Cobb - 9:00 AM (Recurring event-first Sunday of the month)

Sunday, 5th - WORSHIP Vintage and Classic Car Event - 1135 Woodstock Rd.,Roswell, GA. Vehicles must be 18 years old or older. 8:00am - 11:00am (Recurring event-first Sunday of the month)

Friday, 10th - Gilmer Street Rodders - Shane’s Rib Shack, 289 Highland Crossing, E. Ellijay, GA. 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm. (Recurring event-second Friday of the month)

Tuesday, 14th - ELLIJAY MOUNTIAN CRUISERS CLUB SOCIAL DINNERat El Reys Azteca. El Rays Mexican Restaurant - 6:00 PM (Second Tuesday)

Sunday, 11th - Dahlonega Car Club Cruise-In. 140 S.Chestatee St, Dahlonega,GA. 9:00am - 12:00pm (Recurring event-second Sunday of the month)

Saturday, 18th - Po Boys Cruise-In, Riverstone Plaza, 1447 Riverstone Parkway, Canton, GA. 3:00pm - 6:00pm (Recurring event-third Saturday of the month)

Friday, 24th - Georgia Mountain Classics DQ Cruise-In. 380 Progress Circle, Blue Ridge, GA. Blue Ridge Dairy Queen. 6:00pm - 8:00pm (Recurring event-fourth Friday of the month)

Saturday, 25rd - Pickens Freedom Crusiers Crusie-In, 104 N. Main St., Jasper, GA., 4pm - 8pm (Recurring event-fourth Saturday of the month)

Saturday, 25th - ELLIJAY MOUNTAIN CRUISERS CARS AND COFFEE  Ellijay, BURGER KING - 9:00 AM (Recurring event-fourth Saturday of the month)

Tuesday, 28th - ELLIJAY MOUNTAIN CRUISERS DRIVE & DINE - Ellijay, GA. Meet at the parking lot next to McDonalds-11:00am (Fourth Tuesday of the month)

ADDITIONAL EVENTS FOR OCTOBER, 2025

Saturday, 4th - Christmas For Kids Fundraiser Car Show, Philadelphia Baptist Church, 1065 Pine Grove Road, Ringgold, GA. - 10am - 3pm

Saturday, 4th - Half Dead Car Show, Miles Through Time Car Museum, 583 Grant St., Clarkesville, GA. 11am - 5pm

Friday/Saturday, 3rd & 4th - Northeast Georgia Swap Meet, Habersham Cty Fairgrounds, 4235 Toccoa Hwy., Clarkesville, GA. 7am - 6pm

Saturday, 4th - Southeast Racers Reunion RaceCar/HotRod Show & Swap Meet, 1480 Miller Rd., Dalton, GA. 9am - 2pm

Saturday, 11th - 3rd Annual Memorial Car Show, GA Mountain Fairgrounds 1311 Music Hall Rd., Hiawassee, GA. 10am - 2pm

Saturday, 11th - Rides of Christmas Past Car Show, 837 Hwy 76W., Clayton, GA. 10am - 2pm

Saturday, 11th - 11th Annual Car Show & BBQ, 1575 Harmony Church Rd., Dawsonville, GA. 10am - 2pm

Saturday, 11th - Fundraiser Car Show, 1 Friendship Plaza, Cartersville, GA. 10am - 1pm

Saturday, 11th - Gilmer Street Rodders Rods on the River, 669 North Main St., Ellijay, GA. 10am - 3pm

Sunday, 19th - Gears & Grub Car Show, Comfort Grub, 5722 US-64, Murphy, NC. 12pm - 3pm

Saturday, 25th - Chrome & Candy Car Show, Cruise-In, Trunk or Treat, 120 Gordon St., Chickamauga, GA. 1pm - 6pm

Saturday, 25th - Cruise - In, Trunk or Treat & Sock Hop, 1474 Mineral Springs Rd., Dalton, GA. 3pm - 8pm

Friday/Saturday/Sunday, 24th, 25th & 26th - 58th Annual Mountain Moonshine Festival & Car Show, Main Street in Downtown Dawsonville, GA, 8am - 5pm

Saturday, 25th - Cool Cars & Costumes at the Pink Pony, 1837 Corporate Blvd., Brookhaven, GA. 12pm - 4pm $20 donation for Breast Cancer.

Friday, 31st. - 5th Annual County Line Show & Shine/Trunk or Treat, Lumpkin Cty Middle School, 152 School Dr., Dahlonega, GA. 5pm - 8pm

5 Ways to Maximize Space in Your Toolbox

By Kyle Smith

(REPRINTED BY PERMISSION OF HAGERTY MEDIA)

A toolbox is not much more than a tool garage inside your car garage, which means it’s merely a scaled-down version of the lack-of-space problem that plagues car enthusiasts. How do we fit the 10 pounds of stuff we love into the 5-pound bag we can afford? There’s always the option of just shoving stuff in until the drawers barely shut, but all that does is make finding anything frustrating at best and time-consuming at worst. I’m not sure about you, but I don’t have infinite time to work on my old projects, so being efficient is worth a little effort.

That doesn’t mean going completely off the deep end and turning your toolbox into a spick-and-span spot that would make a boot camp drill sergeant blush. There is a middle ground, and here are five tips that might help you find the happy medium between chaos and being so organized that you are afraid to take anything out.

Use organizers

It’s obvious, but once you have a toolbox to contain your stuff, using organizers to separate tools is the easiest way to keep tools handy each time you go to grab them. Organizers have come a long way in the last handful of years thanks to the widespread availability of 3D printing. Custom-sized trays, rails, or dividers have never been easier to design using free computer-aided-design software, and can be printed by an online source or even a local library should you choose not to buy a printer yourself. The ability to put sockets or wrenches in tidy order can be truly wonderful, but it is also important to be careful and…

Don’t get carried away with organization

The other edge of the organizer blade is that having perfectly organized tools often takes up more space than things thrown haphazardly into a drawer. As an example, I used Kaizen foam to lay out a few of the drawers in my toolbox, and to be honest, it led to a lot of dead space. The drawer is visually attractive, but I could fit more inside if I didn’t so carefully fit each part and piece next to one another. It’s a balance. Just having sockets on rails to keep them together might be enough, so beware of focusing too hard on making your toolbox pretty.

Stack, but carefully

Most toolbox drawers have a surprising amount of depth to them considering how relatively small most hand tools are. With the right positioning, it’s easy to stack items inside the drawers without creating piles. This essentially doubles the storage space inside some drawers, but the downside is that it also makes it very easy for the underlying items to fall victim to “out of sight, out of mind.” In the throes of a project, it is easy to forget that the line wrenches or the second set of sockets are actually underneath my wrench organizers. I like to think I’ve got a pretty good memory for keeping track of what tools I own and when to use them, but occasionally have to remind myself there are indeed more tools than I can easily see inside my box.

Cull duplicates (of duplicates)

If you find yourself stacking and hiding tools from yourself, it might be time to take a hard look at what you’ve got and if it makes sense to retain it all. I keep my fair share of tools that I just simply cannot get rid of for one reason or another, but have also actively gone through and removed, sold, or gifted away tools that have, for whatever reason, become duplicates of duplicates. Do I really need three sizes of the same hammer? Of course not, but I’ll be keeping all my “spare” ratchets for the foreseeable future.

Admit that some things just shouldn’t live in drawers

Toobloxes are wonderful, but convenience can trump even the most organized drawers. For many years, I was not a fan of pegboard or leaving my tools out in two different places. I preferred having all my tools in one spot, even with an overfilled toolbox and having to give up a small amount of time to open drawers and get tools out. But the more work I did in my current garage, the more certain tools rose to the top. Hanging my Allen wrenches and a set of common-size T-handles right at the back of the bench has made wrenching more enjoyable and also helped free up a small amount of space in the toolbox.

Could I avoid all of this by buying a larger toolbox? Maybe. I don’t want a larger toolbox, though, as that would cost me floor space that I really don’t have even in my larger-than-average shop. Instead, these methods enable me to keep growing my skills and capabilities without forcing a large investment. Hopefully, they can help you in your shop too.

This Cruise-In Was A True “Cruise-In”

By Tom George

Recently I had the opportunity to travel with my wife, Kathy, to the Baltic Sea for a Scandinavian cruise. We had booked a trip many months ago to sail from Bergen, Norway and visit several of the countries around the sea.

We arrived in Bergen on September 6th by train from Oslo and after checking into our hotel, we decided to walk down to the waterfront to look around. Much to my surprise not only were there many vintage cars cruising the waterfront main street, but also a grouping of American iron was parked adjacent to one of the restaurants waterside.

Naturally, I had to walk over and take a look. There I found several vintage Mustangs, a 1956 Chevy, a 1955 Cadillac Convertible, a couple of Corvettes and even a late 1970s van! It was indeed a surprise to see so many American cars in one place.

There were several guys sitting on a bench and I took the chance that at least one of them spoke English (as most in the Baltics do). Fortunately nearly all of them did, at least a little bit. They told me that their car group of mostly American cars had permission from the restaurant to use this side parking lot on Saturdays to use for their cruise-in, just like we do. The fellow I spoke with most owned a beautiful 1980 Corvette and the guy next to him owned the 1956 Chevy sports coupe.

I asked if the ‘56 had a V-8 and if it was the original 265 cu in. He replied that it was a V-8 car from new, but that a previous owner had upgraded to an early 1960s 283 from a Corvette.

All the while there continued to be vintage cars cruising the waterfront; Porsche 356s and early 911s, early BMW s, Jaguar E-Types and Aston Martins. Then another American car would come by, another Cadillac, a Camaro and more Mustangs. It was really quite interesting to see.

Later in our trip one of our tour guides mentioned that 85% of cars in Norway are now electric cars and that for the first time in August, the monthly sell rate also reached 85% electric! Norway has North Sea oil drilling rigs but they don’t have any refineries, so they export all of their crude oil to other countries for refinement. They also don’t bring back much refined oil products either as the majority of the cars are electric and most of the electricity comes from alternate sources; wind, solar and a novel method using garbage.

In Oslo, there is a plant that takes household garbage that cannot be recycled and uses it to generate electricity and steam. In fact, Norway’s recycling efforts are so efficient that they do not generate enough household waste to keep the plant running. They actually import waste from Germany and Poland to keep the plant running. The building also has an unusual wedge shape that also is clad in solar panels, generating its own electricity for plant operations. Additionally, the wedge roof is covered in a synthetic material that allows people to ski down the roof of the building year-round!

The way that all of the Scandinavian countries deal with recycling and energy use was very eye-opening. It was truly interesting to see car culture in another country so very much like our own and with the kinds of cars we all know and love.

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