CLAREMORE, OK — When Ken Broostin drives down the highway, other drivers stare.
Some point, while others laugh and wave.
But, when you’re driving a motorhome that looks like an enormous Tweety Bird, attracting attention is to be expected.
“This is ‘Tweety’,” said Broostin, of Foyil, sliding the side door open on the bright yellow motor home. “Come on in.”
From the outside, yellow and aluminum, Tweety looks just like its namesake with wheels. From the inside, it has all the comforts of home — stove, sink, bed — with a few Tweety Bird throw pillows, just to make sure you don’t forget where you are.
There are Tweety Bird dolls, mugs, and even a Tweety Bird keychain to help start the classic motor home.
But it was hardly love at first sight for Broostin.
“My wife, Doree, and I were looking to buy a motor vehicle a few years ago, when we saw ‘Tweety’ at a lot in Catoosa,” he recalled. “At the time, we both saw it and kind of went ‘ Ugh! We don’t know about this ...’ but it eventually grew on us, and now, Doree doesn’t want us to ever get another one — she says ‘Tweety’ is her favorite.”
Doree isn’t the only one who’s taken a liking to “Tweety” — the family dog, Grizzly, accompanies the Broostins on every roadtrip and “Tweety” isn’t the kind of vehicle that blends into a crowd.
“Wherever we go, it always attracts attention,” Broostin said, a smile crossing his face. “We get a lot of people giving us thumbs up and honking at us — we’ve had people follow us for miles on the road to get a picture of ‘Tweety’ before. It’s a lot of fun to drive.”
As “Tweety’s” owner, Broostin belongs to several motor home organizations — the Family Motor Coach Association and the GMC Lunch Bunch of Tulsa among them — many members of which he sees on the road.
“We recently went to Natural Falls by the Arkansas border, and there were about 10 local coaches there,” he said. “We love to go to Padre and Aransas Pass in Texas, but wherever we go, we always enjoy running into other people with motor homes. There’s a real kinship among them.”
Broostin also had sentimental reasons for purchasing “Tweety.”
“Back in the late 1960s, I was employed at Oren-GMC, and designed the generator for these motorhomes,” he said, “so, I remembered working on these (motor homes) when I was younger.”
Broostin and Doree are “semi-retired” from Stonebridge Garden Center, and he’s looking forward to being fully retired so he can spend more time behind “Tweety’s” wheel.
“We’ve got (grown) kids all across the country — a son in Minnesota, a daughter in Kentucky, and two sons in Tulsa, so when we go see them, we don’t have to worry about putting them out or getting a hotel — we bring one with us,” he said. “Plus, the grandkids love ‘Tweety’.”
So, if you’re on the road and happen to see a canary yellow motor home with the distinctness of Tweety Bird, after you do a double take, wave and know that Broostin, his wife and his dog are taking another road trip.
“You know, I suppose we could get another motor home, a bigger one, if we really wanted to, but this one’s got everything we need,” he said, “and I’m sure another one wouldn’t have the character that this one does.”
Tom Fink writes for Claremore (Okla.) Progress.
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