Did you know that our club began life as the Northwest Cougar Club? Well, it did. A female Cougar enthusiast by the name of Judy Rittenhouse got the club started way back in 1985 with fewer than twenty members. After a few years, interest waned until there were only four members left, but a resurgence came along in the late '80's with a name change to the Cascade Cougar Club and "under new management" of John Benoit. (I'm still trying to gather more information on the early years between 1985 and 1987 so if anyone has newsletters or details on events from that period please notify chairman@cascadecougarclub.com and I will update this section.)
1988
On March 18th a club meeting was held at Lewis & Clark Bowl in Seattle, where club business was supplemented with good-natured rivalry on the lanes organized by Erik Aarnes.
On April 1st it was no joke when Judy Rittenhouse discovered her 67 XR-7 had been stolen. Her cat was later recovered in an attempted robbery when a bystander witnessed the event and shot out one of the tires. (The thieves got away.)
A run to Cougar, WA on May 15th was organized by David Brost, and another cruise to Arnold and Sandy Dickinson's cabin in Packwood was set for May 21st. This was a potluck affair with the Dickinsons providing a spaghetti dinner and guests bringing the balance of the meal. Rather than leave everything totally to chance, guests with surnames starting with A through M were to bring salads and those starting with N through Z were charged with desserts.--Interesting.
Mustang Roundup, Bellevue Community College, July 24th: In the Judged class, John Benoit took 3rd place with his 68 Polar White XR7-G and Bill Conn placed 2nd with his blue 67 XR-7. Jim Boucher placed 2nd in the People's Choice category with his modified maroon 68 XR7-G. Congrats!
Prowl III, July 31st, Mud Mountain Dam Project, Enumclaw, WA: There were 47 Cougars on site for this year's show with the West Coast Cougar Club of Vancouver, Canada taking the Club Participation award. The Grand Prize of two nights stay at the Sea-Tac Marriott was won by Lisa Van Damm. Way to go, Lisa!
Three G's at Enumclaw
Meeting place choices were quite inventive over the coming years. For example, the August 13th meeting was held at Chateau Ste. Michelle in Woodinville. I wonder just how much business got discussed there.
The first annual Can-Am Picnic was held on September 17th &18th at Fort Casey. The club provided hot dogs and salads with (again) surnames A-M bringing chips and N-Z desserts. 10 Cougars participated in this first effort.
1989
This was a tough year. Meetings were held at the Puget Power & Light Auditorium in Renton. With membership and participation way down, the club nearly folded. A bowling party was arranged on March 4th at Lewis & Clark Bowl but only four members and their spouses turned out.
Mustang Roundup, Bellevue Community College, July 23rd: Jim Boucher took first place in the People's Choice category for his maroon G and in the Street Show category, John Benoit placed 2nd with his white 68 G and Steve Redwine finished first with his gold 68 XR-7
Prowl IV, July 30th, Mud Mountain Dam, Enumclaw: On this 50 degree day, 17 cars (including 2 from Canada) came out. Two of the top awards (John Benoit's 68 G and Monty Lish's 67 XR-7 GT) were declined as the cars belonged to club officers.
Other Prowl winners were: 1st Place--Jay Coleman, Vancouver, BC, tan 67 XR-7 2nd Place--Ron Hopkins, Lynnwood, 71 XR-7 3rd Place--Brian Greer, Ellensburg, blue 68 standard
Cat Scratch Fever, September 3rd, Surrey, BC: 4 of the 20 cars on site belonged to Cascade members. The show featured free hot dogs and sodas but most notably awards for John Benoit, Arnold Dickinson, and two for Frank Trevino.
25 cars attended the 2nd annual Can-Am Picnic on October 8th at Fort Casey. Awards went to Steve Redwine, John Benoit, Brad Trumball, Deanna Miller, Shelly Telfer and Ron Hopkins. Nice to see the ladies winning some of the hardware.
1990
After the sever decline in membership last year, things were looking up with increasing numbers. Meetings were still moving around (Denny's in Kirkland, Taco Time in Bellevue) but there weren't many club events reported.
One event of note was Prowl V held in Kirkland on July 15th. 41 cars came out to enjoy the 94-degree temperatures and 16 Cascade members came away with top honors in their respective classes.
The Mustang Roundup at Bellevue Community College on July 22nd boasted 37 Cougars, 12 of which belonged to our club members. But only Arnold Dickinson, Steve Redwine and John Benoit were winners.
An August event called Canterbury Faire was held in Kent and 4 of our Cougars were there to mark the occasion.
The 3rd annual Can-Am was held on September 9th at Hovander Park in Ferndale. 21 members attended, 7 of which won trophies.
5 members set up shop on October 6/7 at the Monroe Swap Meet. There's no record if they had success, but they had a good time.
We closed out the year with a pot luck holiday party at the Puyallup home of Del and Nancy Wiggins in December.
1991
We began 1991 with 51 members on the roster and finished the year with 88. With over 20 members attending meetings, we soon outgrew our space at Taco Time so moved to a new venue at Puget Power Auditorium in Renton.
In May the Bodvins hosted a BBQ and tech session at their home and Cascade became part of the DOT's Adopt-a-Highway clean-up program
On June 1st, 5 Cougars attended the Lynden Car Show while 9 others made the trip to the All Ford Show in Hillsboro, OR
Of the 67 Cougars at the CCOA West Nats in Denver, CO on July 4-7, 8 were Cascade members
The annual Mustang Roundup was held at Bellevue Community College on July 21st. 25 Cougars attended and we had three winners: Brian Greer, John Benoit and Steve Redwine.
The 4th Can Am Picnic was held on September 7th at Hovander Park in Ferndale. 23 cars competed in 4 classes then went to a post-show BBQ at Ruby & Jerry Klug's.
Prowl VI, July 14th, Kirkland: 58 cars competed in 7 classes and Steve Redwine won Best of Show.
The winners at Kent's Canterbury Faire on August 17th were John Benoit, Steve Redwine and Bob Barker.
September 8, Vancouver, BC, Indian Summer All Pony Roundup: 7 Cougars made the trip from the U.S. There was no Cougar class, but Dana Wilcox took 2nd place in "Non-Mustang Ford".
The year ended with a Holiday Potluck at Del & Nancy Wiggins' on December 7th.
There were no events of note to report until July 3rd when 7 Cascade members were part of the 110 cars at the CCOA West Nats in Santa Clara, CA.
1992
We began the new year with 82 members. Meetings started at the Puget Power Auditorium, then moved to the Pavilion Mall Parking Annex, then Coulon Park, the Burger King and Kennydale School in Renton.
The Mustang Roundup on July 19th in Bellevue saw 18 members join the 32 Cougars on site.
Prowl VII, July 12, Pavilion Mall, Tukwila: There were 93 cars on hand but the list of winners got lost.
