Folks Of Interest A Father's Day Feature

Great Story! What really drew me to your story was the picture of Rod & Custom, I bought that same issue and still have it! (More than a little worn...) I started a subscription to R&C soon after that, my sister bought R&C subscription for me for several years after that as a Christmas present.

Nice tribute to your Dad!

 

Great tribute, best Father’s Day card I’ve seen. Now he’s prouder.

 

My father raced cars on the dirt track when I was growing up. I remember him pulling and replacing engines, what seemed to me, on a weekly basis. His Lincoln arc welder was always giving off a shower of sparks.

"Never watch when I'm welding" he would warn. "Always look away because it can damage your eyes."
But of course, from a distance, my 5 siblings and I would always sneak a few peeks.

My father eventually got out of racing due to cost, but those driveway builds always stuck in my mind, and shortly before graduating from high school (with $500 of grass mowing money in my pocket) I searched locally for my first car.
Some of the candidates were a pair of 57 Chevys, a forty-something sedan delivery, and a 40 Ford coupe. My father was nudging me towards the Chevys, but I had my eye on the coupe.

The Chevys and the delivery were in my price range, but unfortunately, the coupe was not. But while looking at the 40 coupe I noticed another coupe sitting in the garage, and I asked the owner if it might be for sale. It was a 38 Ford deluxe club coupe without an engine and missing a front axle. The owner eventually agreed to take $500 if I would also take a rough 36 Ford 2 door sedan (for parts).

Long story short, we towed the two Fords home and I started on my life long love of working on "old cars".

Oh yeah, when I graduated from high school my father asked what I might like for a graduation gift. Without hesitating, I replied, "A Lincoln welder."

 

Great story Joey, The blurry photo of you and your parents speaks volumes, when we as parents support our children's endeavors we get just as much out of the experience as our children.

Thank you for all the interesting features you have posted. HRP

 

Thats rad!

 

Then, as I was looking through some Chevrolet manuals of yesteryear, my dad pulled a book off the shelf next to me. Without saying anything, he casually skimmed through it. “Hey Joey, see that?” he said, pointing to the page. “I wrote this section. This was my work.” We both smiled.

How cool is that?

 

Thanks Joey.

 

Thanks, Joey! You Know I Love All your stuff, but the subject of this is Really Special. I Know your Dad is Proud, Carp.

 

Great stories, Joey, and special tribute to a very involved Dad.

 

Gave my Lincoln welder to my son, now he is using it regularly with each project.

 

Memories...great ones. You realized through your memories how much your Dad loved you, and reading your story showed me how a lot of the children respected and loved their parents. Great story thanks for sharing. I hope my son feels that Love this Father’s Day.


Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.

 

You, sir, are one of the best writers I've ever had the privilege to read. I've said it once before, but I'll say it again: Your writings always cheer me up.

Do me a favor, would you? Even though you have already, please enjoy every moment with your dad from this point forward. Even the though ones. Once he's gone, its a pain that just keeps giving.

Dad's been gone five years this year. I miss him every day.

Here's to you, Pops.

 

Good story, one of my favorite moments was "CAR MASTERS" Weekends

 

Wow you are a youngster I'm 10 years older than your father LOL. Never seeing you before in my mind I pictured you as some grizzled old tattooed hooligan.

Reminds me of my son and the 1st place pinewoods derby "WE" built way back when and he really built most of it I just "smoothed" the nails for axles chucked in a drill with some 1000 sandpaper.

 

My dad's first car after high school...No, it is not a Buick.

Hello,

As much as the old folks (different from the present OLD folks...) ways of communicating to their kids in the silent parent era of the late 50s and early 60s, i was amazed as the time we spent together in these little conversations. It was not the birds and bees, but, of some history from his time growing up in the Terminal Island and San Pedro areas. He had a liking for all things ocean and when we started surfing, he was a big time supporter of our new endeavors.

My dad has always told me of his escapades at the Rainbow Pier in Long Beach. It is not a destination surf spot, but it was paradise for some teens from San Pedro that had never seen large waves before. Sure, they had the rough shoreline in San Pedro and the Palos Verdes Peninsula coast line, but not where it was accessible to most everyone.

The Rainbow Pier paradise for young teens from San Pedro.

The photo above has one thing missing from the horizon. The long breakwater that runs from San Pedro all the way to Seal Beach, with a few openings for boat traffic. My dad told us that when that breakwater was not put in, the shoreline of Long Beach was a tremendous destination for waves of all kinds. Including some huge ones from the Southern Hemisphere.

When we used to talk about the hurricanes from Mexico or storm surges from New Zealand, he got all excited. They did not know where the waves were coming from back then, except for seasons. The above two swells were usually Summer time waves, while the Northern swells broke in a different angle along the San Pedro/Palos Verdes shoreline in the winter.

The one story he actually told me (a miracle in itself), while sitting in the living room, was about the summer morning that he and his friends went to the Rainbow Pier for a nice day at the beach. From San Pedro, one could see the swells and wave lines coming in from the South and they wanted to see what it was like at the Rainbow Pier. The above photo is misleading as the actual pier is almost a 90 degrees off. From the Long Beach shoreline, it faces more of a southwest direction, hence it picks up the swells from the southern hemisphere.

Upon arriving, they were amazed at the size of the waves. They were almost as high as the roadway pier itself and were just crushing towards the beach. Some of the big waves actually threw water over the railings and made the rides pretty “hairy.” My dad was not on a surfboard, but he did his bodysurfing thing on those huge waves. He was beaming when he told me this story and compared it to those brave souls that bodysurf the Wedge in Newport Beach/Balboa surf spot. Later on, he told me that when he went shore/rock fishing in Balboa, he always went to the WEDGE area. I am sure that those huge South Swell waves gave him some great memories of his time at the Rainbow Pier in Long Beach.

Jnaki

I was impressed that he was such a brave guy, but as teenagers, nothing in the world usually scared us, except for the nearby Cyclone Racer ride on that jittery, wooden framework.
photo Vnak... just before the complete tear down and deconstruction.

NOTE: In high school we did get some head high waves at the Southern end of the Rainbow Pier. It was from an extreme angle, South Swell from a hurricane off the coast of Mexico. The swells came through the end opening of the jetty in Belmont Shore and Long Beach. It broke on the South Side of the curved Rainbow Pier, as well as the mouth of the LA River. It lasted several days. I remember telling my dad about the unusual swell at that pier, but on the other side of the circle. He came down there, watched and he just smiled… old memories from a different era of old guys...

 

Nice tribute to your pop. Lafayette is also my favorite.

 

Brilliant! Thanks Joey.