Mike Meinke loves to show off his motor scooter

NORWALK — Mike Meinke loves to show off his 1947 Cushman Motor Scooter. His grandfather gave him the scooter in 1957 and he had it restored about 15 years ago. Meinke has taken the scooter to some antique car shows and he says he won a plaque at one of them. He's also taken his scooter to Cushman rallies and to the Cushman Motor Scooter Museum, which was located in Concord, N.C. before it closed. Meinke's wife, Joyce, jokes her kids may fight over the scooter one day. "Most of our stuff is going in the dumpster, but I think they'll fight over this," she said with a laugh. Meinke loves to take the scooter out for drives around the neighborhood. He likes all things classic — he still owns the Schwinn bicycle that he got when he was 10. The Cushman Scooter Company started in 1903 in Lincoln, Neb., according to Wikipedia, and the company incorporated as Cushman Motor Works in 1913. Cushman began making auto-glide scooters in 1936 as a means to increase the sale of its Husky engines during the Great Depression, according to Wikipedia. One famous Cushman was the model 53, a military model from the World War II era. Designed to be dropped by parachute with Army Airborne troops, it became known as the Cushman Airborne, Wikipedia says. Other models were used on military bases for messenger service. The most successful model of Cushman scooter, the Eagle, was in production for approximately 16 years. It resembled a motorcycle with its exposed engine and top tank. Other Cushman models, like the post-war "turtle back" Model 50 and 60, or the economy Highlander, used a step-through design common for scooters. The step-through design and ease of operation made it popular with men and women alike. If you have a classic car or vehicle you would like featured in the Reflector, email briangott@tandemnetwork.com.