AUBURN - Two big crows flew overhead and landed on a branch in a nearby tree behind Spinouts Tavern, right before Tommy Lennox put the key into the ignition of his much-anticipated crow mobile Friday afternoon.
Jon Van Nest, left, Tommy Lennox, and Spinouts owner Lance Gummerson joke around while showing off the Crowmobile, a modified Pontiac Firebird, in front of Spinouts Tavern. The car was built by Lennox and his friends, with Van Nest designing the crow head. Matthew Hinton / Staff Photographer
"They think it's their father," Lennox joked about the 1986 Firebird he and his friends have turned into a crow on four chrome Mag wheels.
The "crow mobile" made its debut Friday afternoon as patrons of the Orchard Street bar and passersby got to see the Firebird - with a large crow head on its black hood and hydraulic-run, flapable wings - for the first time.
The "crow mobile" turned heads when motorists drove by after Lennox parked it directly in front of the bar. Lennox and partner Lance Gummerson, owner of Spinouts, are using the refurbished Firebird to help promote this year's controversial crow hunt that will be held Feb. 7-8.
Shawn McCormick was so excited about seeing the finished product he ran for a disposable camera and had Lennox's son, Danny, take a few snapshots of them sitting in the front bucket seats of the convertible.
"I think they did a great job," McCormick said about the one-of-a-kind vehicle.
Lennox started working on the project about six months ago when he started looking for parts and materials that were used in the project. He and about nine of his best buddies put about 1,000 labor hours into the transformation.
Plucking down $350 for the old Firebird, they started with a rust-bucket that had sat on the side of a friend's house for almost four years. The project started at Lennox's Rockefeller Road shop and then moved about four weeks ago to the Quality Body Shop that owner Cliff Bond runs on Van Anden Street, where his crew painted the car black and added special decals of indigo-and pearl-colored feathers that mystically show up in the sunlight.
The crow's eyes on the hood light up bright red. Just like its real counterparts, this crow leaves droppings - made of windshield washer fluid and coffee creamer - that spurt out from the Firebird's rear end on to city streets.
To convert it into the "crow mobile," the team used fabricated sheets of metal to make the giant crow and wings, as well as most of the car's rust-covered body. Without volunteer labor, it would cost between $10,000 and $15,000 to refurbish the car, Lennox said.
It seems like organizers of the crow hunt are using the refurbished Firebird to send a message to the 40,000 to 60,000 crows that have taken up roost in and around town this winter. The custom front license plate reads "2Bang1," to perhaps scare the pesky birds to leave Auburn or face one of the dozens of hunters with shotguns who'll be combing the rural countryside during the hunt.
To honor the occasion, Lennox and buddy Jon VanNest dressed up in black Stetson cowboy hats, overalls and knee-length coats. VanNest, a local taxidermist, came up for the design and built the more than three-foot long head and 26-inch beak.
"We had it all figured out," VanNest said.
To increase interest, organizers have set up a web site at
www.cccrowsunlimited.com for an on-line registration for hunters. About 20 teams from the Albany area and others from New England plan to attend.
More than 148 teams of four turned out last year, when 348 crows were killed during the two-day event, which raised $500 for a woman suffering from cancer.
Organizers will again divide up the hunt's proceeds between prize money and an unspecified charity.
The crow shoot drew the flurry of animal rights activists who claimed the event was cruel. Local opponents have said they don't want Auburn to be associated with what they called a massacre.
Between now and the weekend of the crow hunt, the crow mobile can be seen periodically at the bar, around town and in a couple of parades, Lennox said.
It was going to make its first appearance on New Year's Day, the day new mayor Tim Lattimore took office, but Lennox was called out of town unexpectedly.
So it ended up debuting on Gummerson's 49th birthday, instead.
"What a better way of celebrating Lance's birthday than this," Lennox said.
The "crow mobile" made its debut Friday afternoon as patrons of the Orchard Street bar and passersby got to see the Firebird - with a large crow head on its black hood and hydraulic-run, flapable wings - for the first time.
The "crow mobile" turned heads when motorists drove by after Lennox parked it directly in front of the bar. Lennox and partner Lance Gummerson, owner of Spinouts, are using the refurbished Firebird to help promote this year's controversial crow hunt that will be held Feb. 7-8.
Shawn McCormick was so excited about seeing the finished product he ran for a disposable camera and had Lennox's son, Danny, take a few snapshots of them sitting in the front bucket seats of the convertible.
"I think they did a great job," McCormick said about the one-of-a-kind vehicle.
Lennox started working on the project about six months ago when he started looking for parts and materials that were used in the project. He and about nine of his best buddies put about 1,000 labor hours into the transformation.
Plucking down $350 for the old Firebird, they started with a rust-bucket that had sat on the side of a friend's house for almost four years. The project started at Lennox's Rockefeller Road shop and then moved about four weeks ago to the Quality Body Shop that owner Cliff Bond runs on Van Anden Street, where his crew painted the car black and added special decals of indigo-and pearl-colored feathers that mystically show up in the sunlight.
The crow's eyes on the hood light up bright red. Just like its real counterparts, this crow leaves droppings - made of windshield washer fluid and coffee creamer - that spurt out from the Firebird's rear end on to city streets.
To convert it into the "crow mobile," the team used fabricated sheets of metal to make the giant crow and wings, as well as most of the car's rust-covered body. Without volunteer labor, it would cost between $10,000 and $15,000 to refurbish the car, Lennox said.
It seems like organizers of the crow hunt are using the refurbished Firebird to send a message to the 40,000 to 60,000 crows that have taken up roost in and around town this winter. The custom front license plate reads "2Bang1," to perhaps scare the pesky birds to leave Auburn or face one of the dozens of hunters with shotguns who'll be combing the rural countryside during the hunt.
To honor the occasion, Lennox and buddy Jon VanNest dressed up in black Stetson cowboy hats, overalls and knee-length coats. VanNest, a local taxidermist, came up for the design and built the more than three-foot long head and 26-inch beak.
"We had it all figured out," VanNest said.
To increase interest, organizers have set up a web site at
www.cccrowsunlimited.com for an on-line registration for hunters. About 20 teams from the Albany area and others from New England plan to attend.
More than 148 teams of four turned out last year, when 348 crows were killed during the two-day event, which raised $500 for a woman suffering from cancer.
Organizers will again divide up the hunt's proceeds between prize money and an unspecified charity.
The crow shoot drew the flurry of animal rights activists who claimed the event was cruel. Local opponents have said they don't want Auburn to be associated with what they called a massacre.
Between now and the weekend of the crow hunt, the crow mobile can be seen periodically at the bar, around town and in a couple of parades, Lennox said.
It was going to make its first appearance on New Year's Day, the day new mayor Tim Lattimore took office, but Lennox was called out of town unexpectedly.
So it ended up debuting on Gummerson's 49th birthday, instead.
"What a better way of celebrating Lance's birthday than this," Lennox said.
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