The Grumpy Pete

TGP - Third Place Winner

Pride and Polish held their inaugural truck show at the Charlotte MotorSpeedway on Oct 8th & 9th, and although fewer operators attended, the show was a success in true Pride and Polish style. The standard of equipment was simply amazing, in particular the Pete’s from Clean Slate Environmental and SRS (both from CT) who weren’t part of the judging side of the event. A big thanks to both companies for bringing their trucks 850 miles to Charlotte to support this event.

The Grumpy Pete Team are very excited at their unexpected 3rd place result, especially  considering this was the first truck show for the Peterbilt 379 EXHD. Judges were impressed with TGP’s dark and grumpy look complete with eyes as headlights, but marked down the truck when they looked under the chassis and in the engine bay. The TGP Team as first-timers, learnt a lot about what’s required to seriously compete with the pro’s and plan to be back in 2011 with an even more impressive TGP.

In TGP’s “working bobtail” division, 2nd place went to Mitch Broderson and his hot looking 2007 Low Max Western Star, and 1st place went to Brent and Dianne Greer and their 1996 379 EXHD Peterbilt. Mitch also won the “best lights” competition but failed the “picture-taking” competition – sorry Mitch. The Greer’s took out an amazing 6 awards– best of show, best working bobtail, best paint job, best motor, best interior and 3rd place in the lighting competition. They travelled all the way from Renfew Ontario and truly deserved their awards; simply an outstanding example of dedication and attention to detail. Well done Greer’s and a big thank you to the event organizers. Looking forward to next year.

The Greer's 1996 Peterbilt

Mitch Broderson's 2007 Low Max Western Star

Brent & Dianne Greer and Awards

Mitch Broderson and Awards

The Light Show Begins

Saturday Oct 23rd is the day for this fun-filled event – first 100 children will receive a toy truck!

The event runs from 12:00pm to 4:00pm and will be at the parking lot in front of the Parker Damon Building. All proceeds go to Acton Public Schools Preschool Music where children experience a weekly Music Enrichment Program. Taught by Oren Rosenthal, a Certified Music Therapist, the program has had a dramatic impact on the growth and development of children at the Preschool.

In collaboration with the teachers, Oren creates a developmentally appropriate music/skills program that moves each child to a greater appreciation and understanding of music. Each week new ideas and concepts about music are introduced, building a comprehensive music foundation. Using music as therapy allows him to transcend speech or developmental barriers and reach out to all children in a cooperative setting.

Through learning fundamental music skills such as rhythm, playing together and separately, and appreciation of different instruments, children are receiving a profound impact in developmental areas such as: teamwork and cooperation, confidence building, group participation, rhyming skills, memory skills, gross motor planning and imitation, auditory discrimination, following directions and concepts such as fast/slow, loud/soft, backward/forward.

For more information on the Acton Preschool Music Program click this link.

For the Touch-A-Truck flyer click on this link.

For directions click on this link.

The Acton 9/11 Memorial Fund fundraiser and comedy night promises to be a great night. Along with the night of laughs, guests get to participate in an auction to raise much-needed funds for the new memorial – prizes include a  ride to school  in a police cruiser & fire truck plus a 30-minute ride in  The Grumpy Pete.

The event is on Friday October 29th at the Holiday Inn 242 Adams Street Boxborough MA and begins at 8:00pm – make it a date.

Who is the comedian/writer/actor that the Los Angeles Times calls “… quite likely the funniest entertainer you’ve never heard of… yet”?

Paul Murphy spent over ten years as an assistant district attorney supervising several of Massachusetts’ busiest courthouses before becoming a successful criminal-defense trial attorney. The unexpected twist to this story is that, under the pseudonym Paul D’Angelo, Paul was simultaneously becoming one of the nation’s top stand-up comedians.

Paul was a national finalist in the 1989 Johnny Walker Comedy Search; a national finalist in the 1999 San Francisco International Comedy Competition; a national finalist representing Boston in the 2003 ‘Laughs Across America’ comedy search; a national finalist in the 2005 Sierra Mist/Improv ‘Next Great Comic’ search; and was named ‘Boston’s Best Comedian in 1994 and 1995 by Boston Magazine.

Paul has opened for over sixty internationally known acts, including Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Tom Jones, Tony Bennett, The Beach Boys, Chicago, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Jerry Lee Lewis, Huey Lewis & The News, The Righteous Brothers, Lyle Lovett, George Carlin, Joan Rivers and Dennis Miller.

Paul has entertained hundreds of prominent corporate clients all over the country, such as Ford Motor Company, Sony Music Corp., Hewlett-Packard Corp., Nike-Bauer International, Fidelity Investments, Bike Athletic Corp., CVS/Caremark Inc., American & Delta Airlines, NFL Charities and the Burger King Corp.

Paul is currently co-starring in the soon-to-be-released feature-length stand-up comedy movie, ‘Godfathers of Comedy’, directed by Rocco Urbisci.

For more information go to: www.pdangelo.com & http://www.acton911memorial.org/Events.php

For directions go to Google Maps at: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

Thanks to all of the enthusiastic parents and children who attended, the annual Westford Elementary School fundraiser at Kimball’s Farm in Westford raised a record amount of funds for the school. Over 500 people came out on a beautiful Fall day in New England to see some very big vehicles including landscaping and construction machinery, police cruisers, fire trucks, motor coaches and big rigs.

The Grumpy Pete was again a big attraction, and thgis year proved as intersting to all of the big kids (aka parents and grandparents) as well as the little ones. Most seemed fascinated at the sheer size of the vehicle and the fact it contained a mini-motorhome complete with bunk beds, refirgerator, TV and coffee maker –  a real home away from home.

For those who missed the Westford event, TGP will be at the Acton Touch A Truck on Saturday Oct 3rd.

Over the Labor Day long weekend thousands of truck racing enthusiasts gathered in Saint Joseph de Beauce Quebec for the annual big rig Truck Pulling and Acceleration Competition. Trucks raced over a 900 feet course up a 10% incline – loaded and bobtail. The crowd was treated to two days of amazing racing and one of the biggest truck parades in North America – it took a full 2 hours for all trucks to pass through the town of Saint Joseph with thousands of fans lining the streets. For those hard-working truck drivers who spend most of their working days alone, seeing thousands of  fans waving enthusiastically made it all worthwhile (well almost).

Highlight of the event was the “Coga 3″ Peterbilt 379 driven by Nicholas Cagnon – apparently the truck has a 3,000hp C-15 CAT, develops 80psi of boost and runs a 4,000rpm tacho. Any truck that can ‘wheel spin’ the driving axles with 40 ton on board, is definitely a powerful truck.

The 7th annual Berube’s Truck Show was another success in what’s becoming a New England tradition. Trucks came from CT, ME, MA and New Hampshire (of course), and there was a real mix of old and new – ‘B-Model’ Macks from Skip McLean and R.J.Loiselle, W-9′s and 379′s from W.L French and some very ‘Large Cars’ from Mark Hoyt and Dean Croke (both had 379′s).

The entire Berube Family and Staff worked tirelessly from sun-up cooking the spectacular array of pork ribs, burgers, steak and hot dogs. Of note was the rib cooker complete with dual chrome stacks from Berube’s – Vinnie also  looked a treat in his cowboy BBQ hat. Also on hand was Mr & Mrs Berube (founders), Don Jnr, Dick, Dave, Shawn plus lots of other staff and friends (sorry, can’t remember all of the names).

The entire day is all about Berube customers and we were told before coming, “it’s the only time you can come to Berube’s and not spend money” – and they were right! Free food, drinks, t-shirts, hoppy houses for the kids, crane rides and thousands of dollars in giveaway prizes were all provided.

For all of the hard work that goes into making the big rigs shine, having other hard-working truckers admire the work of their peers is reward enough, but to have the crowd line each side of the road and cheer on the ‘LargeCar’ exodus is definitely the highlight of the day.  At least it was for first-time attendee The Grumpy Pete who had a smile on his face all the way back to Boston MA.

I guess today will be a very quiet day at Berube’s in Bow NH – New England’s premier one-stop shop for truck accessories.

Every truck and machine your child has ever dreamed of…all in one place! Bulldozers, excavators, backhoes and dump trucks from K S Carroll & Daughter, wreckers from CBK, police cars from the Littleton Police Dept, fire trucks from the Littleton Fire Dept., steam-powered cars and big rigs including The Grumpy Pete  were at the Littleton Parks, Recreation and Community Education Department Touch-A-Truck event.

It was a perfect Saturday Spring morning and even though the event only lasted 2 hours, there were hundreds of children and parents enjoying the spectacle. The Grumpy Pete had 70 children plus parents all take a turn at looking inside the big rig – the biggest hit was the “Cars” movie bed linen on both beds. Yes, there’s two beds, a refrigerator and coffee maker for that home away beds from home. Even some very big kids (aka parents) couldn’t wait to take a turn and marvel at the size of this classic American LargeCar.

And to think everything in your home arrives on the back of a truck. Until next year…TGP

The weather was perfect for a fabulous day of fun for

Acton locals and the many passers-by (who just happened upon the fun event). Along with the huge number of trucks, fire engines, earth-moving equipment, wreckers and EMS vehicles, there were many  very interesting emergency response vehicles for all to learn about. The SWAT-type truck was a big hit as was The Grumpy Pete – over 50 kids had a chance to sit (and play) in the big black Peterbilt, and for some it was a dream come true. There were even some much older “kids” who got to sit in the drivers seat and wonder at how they might see over the extended hood and around “Grumpy” the hood ornament.

There was even a dunk-tank with Acton police officers gladly offering their services to get wet in the name of fundraising for the 10th anniversary of the tragic 9/11 event.

The 9/11 Memorial Fund needs to raise $20,000 for the new memorial and the fundraising effort don’t stop with this wonderful event. Donors can buy a “brick” for $100 each and put their own custom message on it, and of course all other cash donations are more than welcome. A big thanks to all of the organizers including Jon Stackhouse and Brian Richter.

The Grumpy Pete was a huge draw card for a very successful event hosted by the Elementary School in Harvard. For 4 hours straight the big black shiny Peterbilt had a line of visitors – often 10 deep at times. At last count over 100 people got to see a big rig up close, and little and big kids alike loved the tour of the trucks sleeper cabin and driving compartment. The most exciting thing about the LargeCar was the “Cars” (the movie) bed linen on both bunk beds. Lightning McQueen and Mater are certainly huge favorites of Harvard MA families.

To help kick-start the fundraising effort for a new Acton 9/11 Memorial, the Acton 9/11 Committee are organizing an exciting day out for the family on Sunday, May 23rd. The “Family Fun Day” will include lots of fun things to do for both kids and parents,  and of course The Grumpy Pete LargeCar. Fun begins at 9 am at the Acton Car Wash on Rt 2A, so mark your calendar now and help our town honor those who lost their lives on 9/11.

The new memorial is being constructed to mark the ten-year anniversary of 9/11, and will use two pieces of structural steel salvaged from the World Trade Center  – the steel has been offered by the  The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for use in public memorials.

The new design will incorporate the existing memorial into the new one and will honor the victims in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. The memorial is estimated to cost $20,000 and will be paid for by donations and fund-raising.

For more information go to http://www.acton911memorial.org/Home_Page.php