Story and photos by Mark and Susan Wing (unless otherwise noted)

For over twenty years, Larry and Lorna Azevedo have generously opened their home in the pastoral Village of Corrales to the Tin Lizzies of Albuquerque to act as a staging area before the Corrales 4th of July parade and as the location of the picnic to follow. In this fast-paced and hectic world, the Corrales parade has grown in popularity due to it’s reputation of capturing the spirit of the small town family-oriented parades in our memories or imaginations.

Making an appearance for the first time was Lorna Azevedo’s 1915 speedster, the “Lorna Special” decorated like a swan! Lorna’s inspiration was a photo, circa 1905, of a parade car decked out as a swan and festooned with flowers. Lorna and Larry spent a lot of time and effort, beginning a month before the parade, to design and create the swan and solve the problem of potential overheating due to the impaired air circulation. Larry’s solution was ingenious – have Fran Gurule (Lorna’s friend and passenger) monitor a temperature gauge and activate an electric pump to dribble water on the exterior of the radiator when the temperature exceeded 180 degrees!

Tin Lizzie club members began assembling at the Azevedo’s around 8AM to begin decorating their cars prior to moving on to the parade staging area just off of Corrales Road at 9AM. This year, the 14 Model T’s followed more modern collector cars, but entered the parade before the Model A club. The parade was well attended, with a lot of children and families lining the Corrales Road parade route.

Once the parade was finished, the Tin Lizzies, the Pocos Quatros (“Little Fours” Model A Club), and the early V8 club drove the short distance back to the Azevedo’s for the picnic. Larry and Lorna provided hamburgers, hotdogs, and lemonade to the approximate gathering of 100. Picnic attendees contributed to the picnic with salads, deserts, and side dishes. The weather was very warm, but perfect as there was almost no wind or annoying insects. For the children, there was a swimming pool to cool off on this hot summer’s day.

Our thanks to Larry and Lorna for their incredible generosity in hosting this relaxing and enjoyable annual event!