Kids throughout the years have always dreamed of a certain toy or special item that they greatly desire and try to find some way to earn and save up enough money to one day own.  Often times, this item is a certain new bike, skateboard, or go-cart that will give the kid his "wheels" to roar with the wind and find freedom and adventure around his neighborhood streets.  In the 1950s and 60s, the twinkle that shined in many childs' eyes was a Cushman scooter.  To be specific a Cushman Eagle.  The Cushman Eagle was a gas-powered, motorized scooter that had the shape, style, and appeal of a motorcycle, but typically was only available with a 5 horsepower or 8 horsepower engine.  Larry Olsen, was not unlike most of these kids who saw the Cushman Eagle and knew he wanted one badly.

     Larry was born and raised here in the Rio Grande Valley, in McAllen.  He spent his fair share of time playing with neighborhood kids and their toy cars, skateboards, bicycles, and other homemade vehicles, however when he saw a Cushman Eagle, a spark was lit and he knew he wanted one.  He watched as his cousin, who lived near by, got one and that fueled him even more to have one of his own.  He worked delivering local newspapers, earning pennies a day and saving up, looking forward to owning his own Cushman.  In 1959, at the age of 14, he finally went to his parents and got a loan and brought home a Cushman Eagle of his very own.  To Larry, it was the greatest thing he had ever owned.  It was an all black 1959 Cushman Super Eagle.  He rode the scooter all around and used it for his paper route, still saving up money to pay back the loan.  The scooter was equipped with the 5 horsepower engine. At this time, this was the largest size scooter someone of his age was legally allowed to ride.  There was a seat mounted on the rear box that was often occupied by his little brother. 

     As Larry grew older and went on to high school, he graduated up to driving cars, particularly his family's 1937 Dodge sedan.  Larry's class was the last graduating class at the old McAllen High School which was located where the Chase bank tower now stands.  He later would purchase his first car, a 1954 Chevrolet, which started a never ending love with Chevrolet vehicles.  For those of you who know Larry, you know the diehard Chevy fan that he is.  Though he owned and drove cars now, he still kept the Cushman scooter.  He went on to college in Minnesota, where he met and married his wife, Linda and moved to east Texas to attend more school.  Though he had gone through a number of various cars up to this point, he still held on to the scooter.  His wife "nagged" him to sell the scooter as it wasn't being driven anymore and it was just taking up space.  I can use the word "nagged", as yes, she is my mother.  Larry eventually agreed and sold the Cushman to another college student. 

     Years went by and Larry and Linda eventually moved back to McAllen where they have raised three kids and now have a couple of grandchildren.  The passion that was started in Larry as a child with mechanic work and love of cars that his father passed on to him has never left.  He continued to appreciate and enjoy working on and collecting various old cars.  He particularly enjoys the very early Chevrolets of the 1910s-30s.  He enjoys the Chevrolets of the 40s and 50s as well, as they bring back memories of the times when he grew up as those were the cars that were around at that time.  And they are a whole lot easier to work on.  Over the years he has owned and collected some various old cars, all Chevrolets of course, he actually still owns the 1956 Chevrolet that he had when he and his wife were married, but something inside still seemed to be missing.

     Yes, you guessed it, the Cushman Eagle.  Though he didn't say too much about it or give his wife too much grief about how she had convinced him to sell it all those years ago, she knew that he missed it and that he would love to have it back.  Her conscience was weighing on her.  =)  The opportunity or chance of finding his original scooter was all but gone, but Linda told him one day that she wanted him to go out and find a scooter again.  Her only stipulation was that it had to be like the one that he had before and it could not be a project, it had to be ready to go.  For those of you who know Larry, know he has plenty of projects already.  Having the green light, Larry did find another scooter and brought home a shiny red 1959 Cushman Super Eagle.  Red is his favorite color.

     The red scooter is very similar to his original scooter but it is equipped with the slightly larger 8 horsepower engine and is not equipped with an extra rear bolt on seat which his original scooter had.  When he hopped on this new scooter and rode for the first time, you can only imagine the smile that stretched across his face.  His days of youth had been revisited and he whizzed down the street on an adventure back in time.  All the years that had been spent without his scooter seemed to melt away and his eyes lit up like the kid with the twinkle in his eye dreaming of riding the roads.  Of course reality sets back in when the brakes stick or don't grip and he realizes it is now an "antique" bike and doesn't have quite the same comfort of a newer one.   -- L. Olsen