BLUESMOBILE CRUISES FOR `ANIMAL HOUSE' BASH.

Byline: Mark Baker The Register-Guard

They were on a mission from God.

If you've never seen "The Blues Brothers," the 1980 film that starred John Belushi, of "Animal House" fame, as Jake Blues, and Dan Aykroyd as Jake's brother, Elwood, then you have no idea what that means.

But Belushi fans know.

And Creswell's Don Ehrich (Elwood), and his son, Dan (Jake), of Eugene - they know, too.

It was the father-and-son team's mission Friday to spread the news about today's third annual "Animal House Celebration" and toga party in Cottage Grove. And what better way to do it - since this year's bash has a "Blues Brothers" theme - than by fixing up a cop car, just like the one Jake and Elwood drove in the movie, and dressing like the brothers, too, while cruising around Eugene, Creswell and Cottage Grove.

They delivered their message with a Jakelike accent that boomed across downtown Eugene like the voice of, well, God.

`(Saturday night) only ... The New Blues Brothers Rhythm & Blues Review ... at the Animal House toga party ... at Trailhead Park, 10th and Main ... in Cottage Grove ...' blared Dan Ehrich's voice from the loud speakers affixed to the top of his father's 1995 black-and-white Crown Victoria. Ehrich rode shotgun as his thunderous message startled pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists on East 11th Avenue in Eugene. Heads turned, eyes popped and jaws dropped. Sort of.

"You, on the corner ... one night only," Dan Ehrich said into the microphone as a young man walking across Willamette Street at 10th Avenue gave a Hawaiian "shaka brah" sign and screamed, "Yeaaaaahhhhhh!"

The first version of Cottage Grove's "Animal House Celebration," which set a world record for the largest toga party ever (2,166 sheet-wearing revelers), was held in 2003 on the 25th anniversary of the release of "Animal House." The event commemorated where the film's parade and final scenes were shot. This year is the 25th anniversary of "The Blues Brothers" release, also a John Landis film by Universal Studios, and party organizers have not only adopted a "Blues Brothers" theme, they've invited the Chicago band The New Blues Brothers to play at tonight's toga bash.

"It's got cop shocks, cop tires, cop suspension and the motor was made before catalytic converters so it runs good on regular gas ...,' said Dan Ehrich, mimicking a line by Elwood in "The Blues Brothers."

Don Ehrich, a member of the Creswell school board, bought his former cop car for $1,350 on eBay from the state of Oregon's surplus property site in Salem. Lloyd Williams, the brother of Cottage Grove Mayor Gary Williams, kept seeing the car as he drove by Ehrich's property near Highway 99 in Creswell and asked him if he would deck out the car like Jake and Elwood's "Bluesmobile" to promote this year's "Animal House Celebration."

Of course, "Animal House" and "The Blues Brothers" are not only connected by Belushi and Landis - they're also linked by local legend. As the story goes, Belushi got the idea for "The Blues Brothers," which he and Ackroyd first performed on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" in the late 1970s, from longtime Eugene bluesman Curtis Salgado.

Belushi was hanging out at the Eugene Hotel in 1977 during filming of "Animal House," watching the Robert Cray Band (Cray had a bit part in `Animal House'), which Salgado was in at the time. Belushi and Salgado supposedly hit it off and discussed the idea after Belushi became enamored of Salgado's shades-wearing persona and his knowledge of the blues. The original "Blues Brothers" album has the words "Dedicated to Curtis Salgado" in tiny print on the back cover.

Salgado now lives in Portland and will perform at this year's Eugene Celebration, as he often does.

"It's 22 miles to Cottage Grove, we've got a full tank of gas, a half-pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses," Dan Ehrich chirped into the microphone.

"Hit it!" Don Ehrich said, as the Bluesmobile pulled away from the front of the University of Oregon's Johnson Hall (Dean Wormer's office in `Animal House').

Again, they were mimicking one of the lines from "The Blues Brothers" - it actually began, `It's 106 miles to Chicago ...' - and faces along East 13th Avenue were smiling.

`You on the bicycle ... (Saturday night) only ...' Dan Ehrich said, before he involuntarily started coughing into the mike, as the rig headed south on University Street. Another smile.

"It's OK, Jake," Don Ehrich said. "We'll get you some water."

One of the reasons the Ehrichs were sent on their mission Friday is that celebration organizers want to top the toga party record again. The "Guinness Book of World Records" officially recognized their 2003 record this year, but the Canadian town of Port Dalhousie, Ontario, unofficially broke it Aug. 15 when 2,631 toga-wearing revelers partied to the sounds of "Louie, Louie." Two other American cities - Rome, Ga., and Live Oak, Fla., - have events scheduled this fall in which they'll attempt to break it as well.

Sounds like a mission from you-know-who.

THIRD ANNUAL ANIMAL HOUSE CELEBRATION

What: Yearly toga party to celebrate where the parade and final scenes of 1978's "Animal House" were shot

Where: Downtown Cottage Grove

When: 10:30 a.m. to whenever today

How much: $15 for toga party that starts at 2:30 p.m.

CAPTION(S):

Don Ehrich and his son Dan, dressed as Jake and Elwood from the 1980 movie `The Blues Brothers,' park in front of Johnson Hall on the UO campus in their `Bluesmobile' cop car, to promote the third annual `Animal House Celebration' today in Cottage Grove. The celebration has a `Blues Brothers' theme this year. Thomas Boyd / The Register-Guard