DO YOU LOCALS RECOGNIZE THIS GUY???

Occasionally HR&J will feature a good friend and this one is no exception....if you are from the Lakehead area...you know, .... (Fort William and Port Arthur, now Thunder Bay), you might recognize this cool dude below with his '55 Meteor.  Don't cheat....see if can remember him before you scroll all the way down. 

The first picture is taken in May of 1958 on the corner of May and Cumming streets beside Superior Bowladrome.....This is the "then" photo and the next two photos are the present day location.

Click on all photos for enlargements.

 

 Yes...this is the spot where this cool cat was standing back in 1958 - Do you know who it is yet?



 

Here is another shot of him with his "more door" 1957 Plymouth with wide whites on the front and those great cruiser skirts on the rear.  He is standing at the rear of the car hiding the fact that it has too many doors....LOL.  Do you also recognize the location by looking at the then and now photos above.  Well...it is the former Tocheri Apartments (now Parkhaven Place) on Moodie Street beside the old Selkirk High School which is now St. Patrick High School.



These are the last "old" photos I will show here.  These ones are of him and his 1958 Ford Fairlane.  The present day location is shown below on Cumming Street where he lived in those days.

 

WELL....do you know who it is yet???

 

 

 

 

 

Well, do you???

 

 

 

 

 

It's none other than your friend and mine, Clarence Merko  AKA -  Mr. "C", the Merk, and Mister Microphone ☺.

 

Always a smile, and a pat on the back, Clarence is an all round great guy that would give the shirt off his back to help anyone, and here he is with his 1956 Pink Thunderbird, that you see in the newspaper at least twice a year ☺, and at every car event in the local area for the past who knows how many years(I've lost count)...well at least since 1958.  He presently gives his all to the Lakehead Antique Car Club of which he has been a member for many years....maybe you can fill in the blank here Merk.

I have been very privileged to know him and consider him and his wife Pat very dear friends.

Hey Merk....thanks for being "YOU".