Sad Anniversary
 

Not sure how many old timers are on here from the east coast but we lost a true gem 25yrs ago today.
Paul "Paulie Pail" Del Vecchio , may you rest in peace

Re: Sad Anniversary
 

He was always a great guy to say hello to. He and Rich Decola bought a car from me and my partner around 1971 or 1972. I always said hello when he was with Joe S.

Re: Sad Anniversary
 

The Pail..Friend, team mate, traveling companion..
I know it sounds cliche'd , but he was truly one of a kind..

Paulie decides to ride with Joe and I out to the World Finals at Amarillo in 1974..
Must have been East Texas, and he's getting all worked up about the cactus on the side of the road.He had never seen them.
He's looking out the window of my 64 Pontiac station wagon, at the oil derricks or pumping deals..

"Hey Joe . Those must be cactus pulling machines..Just pluck 'em out of the ground..Bowmp, bowmp, bowmp"

He never quit..
"Hey, remind me to pick up a cactus for my mother on the way home."
Joe says, "Oh that's nice. A little souvenir for your mother?"
Paulie: " No, no. When she tells me to get a job, I'm gonna tell her to sit on it"

RIP, my friend

Re: Sad Anniversary
 

Eating at Sonny's after a day at the Gatornats, Paulie Pail looks around and a bunch of the guys are having chili. Paulie blurts out "The Sheets will be flapping tonight"

Meet in CT and heading to E'Town, Joe S jumps in with me in my El Camino, I am towing my stocker. Paulie is driving Joe S's truck w trailer and someone is riding with him, maybe Joe Moon (DeLorenzo). Come across the GW bridge and a car pulls in front of me where you split for the upper and lower levels of the bridge. I got all wheels locked up and hit the car dead square , no visible damage, and the driver beats it across the bridge and I can't catch them. I don't know what my El Camino looks like, we follow paulie and point to my frontend and he looks puzzled. When we get to the toll booth at the NJ turnpike we go side by side and ask paulie how the frontend looks and he says fine. Then he says "Hey did you see that car at the upper lower split on the bridge" Joe and I, in stereo, shout back to him "Yah we hit it" Paulie's expression was unforgettable, stunned and his eyes were big as baseballs. We laugh about that all weekend

Can't believe it has been 25 years, He made his mark, so many stories, such good times

Re: Sad Anniversary
 

Was a real piece of work, always good for some laughs.

Re: Sad Anniversary
 

Rest in Peace Paulie.

Re: Sad Anniversary
 

Joe DeLorenzo was a collector of all things Crosley (as in automobiles ) .He had them stacked on shelves in his shop, like you'd do with model cars.

Anyway, Paulie decided to have Spring party at the house where the guys' shop was, in North Haven. We get there, and ask where Joe Moon is. Somebody says he's driving one of his Crosleys up from Hamden, and that'll take awhile .LOL
All of a sudden Joey pulls into the back yard, with Paulie laying up on the hood with his arms outstretched, like hood ornament!
Paulie was not a small guy..Funniest thing you ever saw..That day, anyway.