Event Update 1

Editors Note: Our CTR final cruise of 2009 was to Gillette Castle. (Photos of the event are on the Photo Gallery webpage.) At the cruise we ate lunch at the picnic grove, and I got to sit next to original CTR club member Dennis McKinley. He told me that our club’s first cruise was also to Gillette Castle, and he was there! I asked if he had any photo’s of the event and he said yes….they are posted below with a 1981 Newsletter article that Dennis also sent to me. Thanks Dennis for all this Club history…...

CONNECTICUT TRIUMPH ASSOCIATION

On Sunday, April 26, 1981 the day dawned bright and sunny. More than a touch of spring was in the air. Tops went down, spirits went up as the Connecticut Triumph Association embarked on its first run in its infant existence. Fourteen Triumph cars, some new and shiny, others old and creaky, and a few in between, met in the center of Middletown for the trek to Gillette's Castle and Devil's Hopyard State Park.

The cars moved in single file for the 13 mile trip. First a few short miles on the highway, then off into the small towns and winding back roads that make up such a large part of Eastern Connecticut. Over the Connecticut River they drove and passed the century-old GoodSpeed Opera House. Here, the roads became narrow strips of blacktop that cut up through farmland, small towns, and woods whose trees were just beginning to bloom. Perfect roads for the cars.

After a short stay at Devil's Hopyard, where they picked up two more cars, it was back on the road again. Fifteen minutes later, they drove into the shadow of Gillette's Castle, a rock fortress built by William Gillette, an actor who became famous for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes. As they drove into the parking lot, they met with cheers and handclaps from persons attending a Contours involving the Ford Shelby Mustang.

They climaxed with a picnic and cookout. CTA even picked up two new members along the way. The day could not have been more successful.

— Fred Vollono, CTA Newsletter Editor