CASCADE COUGAR CLUB PROWL 2007
Story by Jim Compton, Pictures by Mike Benson, and Jim Compton

Our July 29th, 2007 show seemed different than a lot of past Prowls.  There were fewer Cougars and fewer cars, overall, than in most past years.  A lot of the cars showed up later than usual in the morning.  Some people who have always been important to this club weren't there.  There were far more than the usual number of hard luck stories.  Still, it was certainly a good show.  Dave Nashif got the planning started well; Neal Jacobson did a great job of finishing the details when Dave had to be at work out on the ocean. The weather may have had an impact on the attendance.  For the second straight year, we had rain in the morning, but not as heavy as last year.  The club deliberately set Prowl on the last weekend of July because, statistically, it's the driest weekend of the year.  Even so, it can rain anywhere on any day and we've had unusually damp weather.  It won't last.  The afternoon was pretty nice.

The number and severity of the hard luck stories were probably the most surprising part of the show.  Kim Lintott's Cougar wouldn't start that morning.  The alternator on Don and Cheryl Skinner's Cougar died at the Anders' home.  Kim arrived in her Lincoln Aviator; Don and Cheryl borrowed Judy Anders' Honda.  Larry and Linda Roehr got part way to the show and lost the brakes in their Cougar.  They came in a different car.  Roman Benoit had engine trouble on the way to the show.  Dad John driving his 1970 351C Eliminator, had to go back home to get the pickup and trailer and bring Roman's Cougar to the show.  Something must have been wrong in the cosmos because a Mustang show in Port Orchard the same day had a similar rash of hard luck stories.

Randy Lintott and Dennis Welch were very much in our members' minds at Prowl.  This was our first show without Randy after his passing last December.  Board Chairman Jim Hall presented Kim Lintott with a special trophy from the national show in Denver the previous weekend.  We had sponsored a class in the national show and requested the '71-'73 Cougars class, which are what Kim and Randy own.  The trophies for that class in Denver were named in honor of Randy.  The trophy given to Kim included framed photos of the award winner in Denver and his Cougar. Dennis is in Iraq.  In addition to collecting Prowl souvenirs for him, we also made a "We Miss You" poster and posed for a group photo with it.  The poster and souvenirs have been mailed to Mary.  We're all praying for his safe return and can't wait to see him next year.

Jim and Janice Murphy had an interesting addition to their Cougar display this year.  They located a large stuffed Cougar during the year and perched it on top of their green '68.  It looked great, if a little wet. One thing was still the same in this show.  Eric and Judy Anders took Best of Show honors with ToppCat.  Its new paint job looked great.  They also won Best of Show in Denver the previous weekend, so July was a particularly good month for them.  Next year, we should have better weather and a larger turnout.  Whatever happens, it will be a great show.  Plan to be there on July 27, 2008.