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Car club gears up for annual show
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The club had dubbed its Sunday event “Cars in the Park,” and this is the 32nd year it has sponsored the showing of antique vehicles. Posing with a 1979 Vindicator story about the club are, in front, Pete Draia of Youngstown, and in back, Joe Phillips of Boardman, left, and Dave Bayowski of Mineral Ridge.
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The event also boasts an All-County Pinewood Derby Race for children. Brothers Collin, 7, left, and Zack Schick, 9, show off their winning cars from an earlier race. They are the sons of Jon and Bobbie Schick of Canfield. The competition is open to boys and girls age 5 to 17.
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Joe Bush gets out of his 1931 Model A Ford truck, which carries the placard for the Mahoning Valley Olde Car Club car show Sunday in Boardman Park. Bush is a club member.
By DAN POMPILI
TheNewsOutlet.org
BOARDMAN
Walking through Boardman Park on Sunday, you may encounter Joe Phillips of Boardman and his 1923 Essex four-door touring car.
Or it may be the 1952 Hudson Hornet hardtop, or 1937 Chrysler four-door or even his 1934 Plymouth street rod.
Certainly, many vehicles of the sort will be on display as the Mahoning Valley Olde Car Club hosts its 32nd annual Car Show and Flea Market, simply called “Cars in the Park.”
The event, which will open at 9 a.m. and run until 5 p.m., welcomes cars — and their owners — of all years and classes.
Twenty-four classes of vehicles will be entered, with judging for 23 of them. The classes include cars up through 1929 including Model A’s, post-World War II cars, commercial vehicles through 1985, and a range of special-interest vehicles spanning 1955-85.
Street Rods, modified cars and modern vehicles are among also included along with many others.
The first 250 vehicles will receive dashboard plaques, and all owners who pre- register by Wednesday get free T-shirts.
The event includes food, door prizes, an auction, a 50-50 drawing and entertainment provided by Two’s Company Professional Disc Jockey Service.
The event also boasts an “All-County Pinewood Derby Race” for children. The strict criteria for the race vehicles can be found in the press release on the MVOCC website, mvocc.com.
The competition is open to boys and girls from ages 5 to 17. The contest is a series of double-elimination races. Prizes, trophies and a $50 savings bond from Home Savings and Loan are at stake.
The MVOCC was founded in 1978 by a few men who gathered at the Southern Park Mall to show off their old vehicles. More than 250 cars and their owners went on display at the club’s first car show in 1979.
Those members include Phillips as well as Dave Bayowski and his wife, Terry, both of Mineral Ridge. Dave will likely display his 1967 Oldsmobile Cutlass convertible.
“I was involved all my life. My parents loved old cars,” he said. “I inherited that sickness.”
Pete Draia of Youngstown also is a founding club member. The 89-year-old likes to drive a 1958 Metropolitan convertible. His daughter, Dee Tripp of Ellsworth, an organizer for the group’s events, sometimes drives the car if another member cannot make an event.
Since its inception 32 years ago, the club’s membership has grown to nearly 200.
Its mission, according to the club website, is “to promote and encourage the preservation, restoration and enjoyment of antique vehicles by supporting community events.”
Every Tuesday from June through August, owners bring their vintage vehicles to Chick-fil-A in Boardman for “Cruise Nights.” The proceeds from these evenings are donated to Hospice of the Valley.
The group’s charity also has extended to local children. For the past 10 years, the MVOCC has aided the medical needs of three local children per year, contributing a total of $50,000.
One of this year’s recipients is 2-year-old Brett Wilcox, son of Don and Sharon Wilcox of Austintown. The toddler was diagnosed last October with leukemia and is hospitalized at Akron Children’s Hospital awaiting a bone marrow transplant.
On July 23, the MVOCC organized a Brett Wilcox Outdoor Movie Night, in cooperation with the Yellow Creek Theater in Poland.
An old movie was screened and an Elvis impersonator provided additional entertainment. All proceeds went to Brett’s medical bills. Donations also will be collected at the Sunday car show.
Other activities have included group tours, driving cars in local parades and displaying the vehicles at nursing homes for the residents’ delight.
While the group agrees that charity is part of their organization, car show chairman Rich Posivakof Youngstown said the show is all about “having fun with the old cars.” Posivak drives a 1931 Model-A Ford, two-door sedan.
Other members include Art and Peg Marsh of Youngstown. Art, a 69-year-old semiretired pilot, used to own a 1951 Ford hot rod convertible, but sold it many years ago.
His wife said when he started having dreams about the hot rod, she knew it was time for him to find a new old car. The eight-year members now cruise in a 1950 Ford Deluxe, two-door sedan.
Those interested can contact the MVOCC through their website. As for the car show, entrants may pre-register or simply show up and enter the day of the event.
The NewsOutlet is a joint media venture by student and professional journalists and is a collaboration of Youngstown State University, WYSU radio and The Vindicator.