2014 Events

DAY TRIP TO SEE BUDDY GIVENS’ OLD TOWN IN VINEGAR BEND

On Saturday November 8, 24 members of the DSR gathered at the clubhouse and headed to see Buddy Givens’ Old Town in Vinegar Bend…The Trip up Hwy 45 was uneventful until we passed through Citronelle. At that point there was some construction and a dip in the road. The dip was enough to rupture the transmission like on a pretty little Model A pickup. I looked in the mirror of my car to see smoke billowing out the back of the pickup. I felt sorry for Foy and Judy Bobo who were following the pickup in their red roadster. Lots of transmission fluid to clean up. Of course we all pulled over and of course all the guys and some of the girls piled out to investigate. With heads under the hood and other milling around, it reminded me of a t-shirt my sister gave me that has a bunch of grey-haired guys under a hood. It says “Still Plays with Old Cars”.
Fortunately, Jim and Nancy Henderson were with the group and Jim called his shop to get Mark Glenn to get a trailer and come get the car. We abandoned the car and driver and headed to Jordan’s Catfish House across the Mississippi line. After doing what we do in restaurants (it’s often not pretty), we headed out to Vinegar Bend. DSR member Buddy Givens was quite receptive and gave us a full tour. I was most interested in the process of distilling turpentine which was stopped sometime in the 1960’s or 1970’s as it was cheaper to make turpentine in a lab. We headed out a bit early as we both had dogs waiting to be walked. As far as I know, the return trip was uneventful compared to the way up….