Ready to Roll
They've restored the cars — a '67 Ford Mustang, a '70 Chevy Nova SS, a '57 Chevy Bel Air — to mint condition, sometimes taking years to finish the job.
Now they're on the highway every chance they get, traveling to meet other car enthusiasts or maybe just back to a time of drive-in burger joints, classic rock 'n roll and 24-cent-a-gallon gasoline.
They're cruising, and the Butler Rodfathers car club members are bringing up to 2,000 of their friends with them to this year's Cruise-A-Palooza June 23 on Main Street.
Rodfathers Vice President Dave Landis of Butler said the event keeps growing.
“We started with 200 cars,” said Landis. “Last year, we had between 1,500 and 2,000. It's one of the top five events, according to Cruisin' Times.”
“It's just outrageously big. It's one of the largest. They had 2,000 cars and four DJs,” said Jim Shapiro, owner and editor of Cruisin' Times magazine based in Rocky River, Ohio.
“It's all about cruising, shows and car enthusiasts,” Shapiro, 65, said of his publication.
Shapiro called the Butler event one of the largest in the tri-state area of Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Asked to explain the allure of car cruising, Shapiro said, “Basically you are reliving your high school years when you were 16 in the 1950s and '60s, when you were cruising the drive-ins looking for girls.”“It reminds them of when they were back in high school, the most favorite, most happy portion of your life,” he added.“Nowadays with the baby boomers, the families have grown up and they can go back and get that toy that made you happy when you were 16. The kids are out of the house and they are like 16-year-olds in a 60-year-old body,” Shapiro said.“It's like in the movie 'American Graffiti,' the exact goings on at that drive-in, that's what we did,” he added.“I try to take it out two or three times a week if I can. I just get in and go for a ride,” said Rodfathers member Ed Schnur of Butler, who drives a '57 Bel Air.“I prefer older cars. I just like the style. It was a simpler time and they are easier to work on,” said Schnur.“We worked on cars and we drove around in cars and it kept us out of trouble,” Schnur said of his own high school days.
John Malinski of Butler, Rodfathers president, said he has always been fascinated by cars, perhaps because his father owned a garage.He has four vehicles: a '65 Pontiac GTO, '67 Mustang coupe, a '68 Mustang convertible and a '68 Mustang California Special. “They were only produced for three months in California, there are very few of them,” he said.Malinski takes his vintage cars out cruising.“I try to,” said Malinski. “We go to other car clubs in New Castle and Grove City. Or we just go to get something to eat. If the wife says so, we take them shopping a lot of the time.”But you can spend a lot of time with your car off the road, too. It takes a lot of work, money and time to get some vintage vehicles rolling again.“Some of the cars, with the conditions that they are in, I've fallen asleep underneath mine,” said Landis, “and my wife would ask me if I was going to sleep under there all night.”Landis owns a '68 Chevy Camaro Rally Sport.Ed Michael of Butler, Rodfathers activities director, said he rescued his '70 Nova SS from a barn fire.“I bought it off a guy and totally redid it from the ground up. I replaced all the sheet metal except for the roof and the trunk,” Michal said.It took three years to get the Nova back on the road.
“I take it out as much as I can. A lot of us are retired now, so we just do whatever,” said Landis.Shapiro said there are a lot of car cruisers out there. His magazine lists 400 events a month just in the tri-state area.Some people go to three or four events a week, he said.Shapiro said there is not one specific era or make of car that qualifies as an official “cruiser.”“Hot rods, muscle cars, classics, anything that has four wheels and makes noise,” said Shapiro, who said he owns an '80 Chevy El Camino, a '55 Chevy Sedan Delivery and a '29 Ford Roadster.Owning a special or antique vehicle is a criteria for membership in the Rodfathers,.“We don't want social members. We want working members,” Malinski said.But even if your restored cruiser is like something straight out of the 1950s, the 21st century can still intrude.Dan Cunningham of Butler, Rodfathers director of publicity and website manager, owns a '66 Mustang with a vinyl roof that was only made in San Jose, Calif.He's had it for four years, and it is the fourth Mustang he has owned. And while he's proud of the redone cream-colored leather interior and the unique vinyl roof, the vintage car gulps down the present day $3.55 a gallon gasoline.“I don't think about the gas mileage,” said Cunningham. “It gets about 12 miles to the gallon.”
But with a high-performance engine and other modifications, it's a lot of fun to drive, he allowed.“I get out in it as much as I can,” said Cunningham.And staging the Cruise-A-Palooza hasn't always been a smooth ride.“Every year we have new headaches. It always changes to accommodate the vendors,” Malinski said. “People don't understand. We got started on planning in January. The food vendors call in January. They want the same spot every year,” he added.The event raises money for various charities, Malinski said, adding in its history the Rodfathers have donated $40,000 to various groups, including eight last year that received $250 each.“It's a good thing for Butler, too,” Malinski said. “With the crowd we bring in. We have people come from two states over, they come from Canada. People get to know what Butler is.”Asked why the Rodfathers had added the Extravaganza II event, which will be Aug. 17 this year at the Butler Farm Show grounds, Landis said “There was a demand for it. It's a big area out there, and it works out well.“The members go out of their way to do this stuff. I'm proud of what they do and this organization,” Malinski said.
<b>IF YOU'RE GOING</B>The Rodfathers of Butler car club promotes cruise gatherings, venues for car enthusiasts, vendors and crafters to meet.This year's schedule includes:✓ 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. June 23, Cruise-A-Palooza, Main Street in Butler.✓ Noon to 8 p.m. June 29, Beans and Cream Cruise, Route 8, one mile north of Clearview Mall✓ 5 to 9 p.m., July 13, Debbie Lee Cruise, Debbie Lee's DeLight, Route 68, west of Butler✓ 5 to 9 p.m., July 27, another Debbie Lee Cruise, Debbie Lee's DeLight, Route 68, west of Butler✓ Noon to dusk, Aug. 17, Rodfathers Extravaganza II, Butler Farm Show grounds
