The Annual 4th of July Parade in Danville for 2010 was well attended by the Northern California Dodge Brothers and Sisters Group/Region. In as much as Gene Stadelhofer always guarantees that the 4th will always be one of the hottest days in the year, we were not disappointed! There were 9 cars in attendance this year that ran the parade route. Gene had his 1922 Roadster in running condition, but it didn't make the parade. We had Amil Gehrke's "barn Fresh" 1917 Touring car, Gene and Vicki Stadelhofer's 1918 Touring car, Mike and Suzette Sordello's 1922 Touring car, Travis and Julia Barham's 1924 Touring car, Roger and Lynne Gong's 1925 Screenside, Tom and Sharon Barham's 1926 Sedan, Tom and Elaine Gong's 1930 Straight 8 coupe, Herman and Barbara Boone's 1933 sedan and Lou MacMillans 1937 truck. Only two casualties occurred this year - the 1930 Straight 8 overheated and the 1937 truck lost its drive shaft after the parade.

Everyone arrived at the Stadelhofers by the designated meeting time of 9:00 a.m. After a bit of socializing and partaking of the doughnuts brought from Petaluma by Amil Gehrke, Tom Barham called a Drivers and Navigators meeting at 9:30. We were informed that we were going to the pre-parade staging area at the local high school. Once everyone was cognizant of the route and destination, Gene Stadelhofer led the way down Danville Boulevard a few miles to the high school parking lot. This caravan of 9 DB vehicles was noted all the way to the staging area. At that point we all began to decorate our cars and wait in the parking lot until it was time to enter the parade.

We finally entered the official parade route at about 1:30 p.m. where the parade marshals decided to split the NCDBS representation into two parts - separated by a military marching unit between us. Since the ambient temperature was rising by the minute, the 1930 straight 8 began to overheat once on the parade route. It had to be pulled off the route to cool down. It did not make the full parade. Once there was a chance to cool off and with a substantial amount of water into the radiator, the coupe was running in fine order and made its way back to the Stadelhofers. The rest of the group proceed onwards and finished the parade without any other problems. Gene Stadelhofer led us onto back streets and we formed up with all the cars on a straight away. After all the cars were accounted for we were off again back home. However, there was a small problem when the barn fresh 1917 touring car did not want to start. It was a minor problem of turning on the key and waiting until the car was no longer flooded and then it was fine all the way back to the Stadelhofers.

On the way back the 1925 Screenside was used as a taxi to pick up some modern iron and then direct that car back to the Stadelhofers. On the way to where the modern iron was parked, we ran into Lou MacMillan sitting in the shade next to his 1937 delivery van. He was awaiting a tow vehicle since his van had lost its drive train. Although Lou was in good shape, his van was unmoving.

We all finally arrived back at the Stadelhofers and were rewarded with hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salads, fruit, salad and munchies galore. A wonderful BBQ was held and everyone had more than enought to eat! We also had a mini-NCDBS meet to outline the rest of the year. There will be a 2 day tour during the second weekend in October hosted by the Barhams. In the near future, we have the Great Gatsby Festival at South Lake Tahoe in August, the Galt Old Car Festival the second week in September and the Great Gatsby Afternoon in late September for the rest of the year. We have a lot of touring to do in 2010 before the year is over!

This is Gene Stadelhofer at the staging area, the host of this event.

Here we see Vicki Stadelhofer, the hostess of this 4th of July parade event.

This is the Stadelhofer's exquisite 1918 Touring Car.

This is the barn fresh 1917 Touring car that was brought to life by Amil Gehrke. The car is in its "in situ" condition. Then entire upholstery is covered with canvas as seat covers. All of the winter side curtains are available for the car and the fit is perfect.

This 1922 Touring car of Mike and Suzette Sordello was trailered from Gilroy to join the parade. Here you can just see Suzette by the car and daughter (Laura or Alexandra?) decorating the front of the car.

Tom and Sharon Barham drove this 1926 4-door sedan in the Danville parade.

Here you can see Tom Barham is putting the finishing touches on decorating his car prior to the parade.

Lou MacMillan's van lost its drive shaft after the parade.

Travis and Julia Barham (escorted by Jennifer Barham) drove this 1924 Touring during the parade. With the open car, there is no top so there was plenty of tanning going on!

This splendid restoration of a 1930 Straight 8 Rumble Seat Coupe was driven by Tom and Elaine Gong. The car suffered from a bit of overheating as the ambient temperature was rising during the day. The car had to be shut down and was cooled down after waiting a bit. Adding water to the radiator was sufficient to bring the engine temperature down to well within operating range and it was returned to the Stadelhofers. The main mechanic supposes that the reason for overheating was that the Straight 8 has a very thin fan and it does not circulate suffient air through the radiator to keep the engine cool during static runs in high temperatures. There is talk of connecting an electric fan to provide the air flow necessary to cool the radiator on extremely hot operations.

Barbara Boone is checking out the decorations on all of the cars while we were in the staging area prior to the parade.