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                                                                    North Central Chapter Grumpy Old Men Tour 

   On Saturday June 13^th, the North Central Chapter assembled a four car caravan at the main gate of the Minnesota State Fairgrounds to begin the Grumpy Old Men tour. The parkways in and around St. Paul, MN were the locale for this city-based car cruise. We traveled from the fairgrounds through beautiful Como Park, passing through The Como Zoo and Majorie McNeely Conservatory. The Como Zoo has roots extending back to the 1870’s when land was purchased for a park. The Como Park Conservatory was built in 1915 and was renamed Marjorie McNeely Conservatory in 2006 following the McNeely’s family’s generous multi-million dollar gift which helped to fund an expansion and renovation.

   In passing The Conservatory, we had to wait for a wedding party to cross the street. The bridesmaids were in blue and one club member commented on what a coincidence it was, that they all appeared to be pregnant. We next circled Lake Como, which is about 1.7 miles around. The lake was named Como back in 1848 by a local farmer named Charles Perry. The lake itself is only 9 feet deep and at this time of year already one quarter of the surface is weed covered. Leaving Lake Como, we traveled along Arlington Ave. where there are three or four houses that are set back 75 to 100 yards from the street. All of these houses are rather large in size and I wonder if someone was attempting to create a swank neighborhood in the mold of the Summit Avenue area, sometime in the past. We then picked up Wheelock Parkway and descended the windy hill passing behind Linder’s Greenhouses. For those of you who watch Kare11, they are the sponsors of Bobby and Belinda’s gardening spots.

   Wheelock Parkway is a tree-lined road that winds its way through the North side of St. Paul. We took it as far as Edgerton and headed North to circle Gervais Lake in Maplewood and Little Canada. From there we proceeded to circle Lake Phalen and near there stopped to take a closer look at the Grumpy Old Men houses. The two Grumpy Old Men movies used locations on the East side of St. Paul where the three houses that are so central to the movie are located. While we were checking out the houses a woman came over asking “Who are you people and what are you doing here?”.  Amy is a local home owner who actually lives in the house that was the setting for the scene where Jack Lemmon had the heart attack in the first movie and where the Halloween scene was shot in the second move. Amy mentioned that her husband had a couple of Traction Avant’s and asked if we would be interested in looking at them.

   Now folks, you can ask me if I want another piece of pie or if I want free beer. Every once in a while I’ll turn something like that down. I have never, ever turned down the chance to look at someone’s old car. These two pretty French cars are front wheel drive and though one was a 1951 and the other a 1955 model, they featured the same basic body design that came out in 1934. Amy explained that the 1955 four door model has a removable rear seat and a rear hatch that opens widely. The French farmers used this set up to haul produce and such to market. The black two door car had actually experienced a mechanical failure the previous evening, so it needed a bit of work. Joel, Amy’s husband reconditioned both cars and the black two door was purchased by Joel’s dad back when he was stationed in Berlin while in the service.

   Amy was also gracious enough to share some of her pictures from when the movies were filmed.  They had moved into their house between the filming of the first and the second movie. She did get to appear as an extra in the second movie along with the family dog and though she was only about 2 inches high in the scene, she was paid $300 for her efforts. After leaving the Grumpy Old Men houses, we headed to The Dairyette drive-in on Minnehaha Avenue. The Dairyette has been an East-side landmark since I was a kid. I myself enjoyed an Italiano Sandwich. All in all it was a pretty enjoyable outing. We did have 10 folks in attendance. The weather was pleasant and so was the company.                                                                           JAZZ

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