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Campfire Street Rodders gear up for holiday weekend ‘rod run’
Campfire Street Rodders gear up for holiday weekend ‘rod run’
By LINDA M. LINONIS
LIBERTY
Photo
Dick Bray of Brookfield, co-founder of the Campfire Street Rodders, checks out his 1956 Chevrolet pickup. It and many others will be on display at this weekend's car show at Church Hill Park in Liberty.
Car Show
What: Campfire Street Rodders’ 21st annual car show.
When: Starting at 8 a.m. Saturday and concluding at 3 p.m. Sunday. Entry fee is $16.
Where: Church Hill Park, located on the west side of Route 193, just south of Route 304.
Details: The club is a family- oriented organization that sponsors an annual car show and participates in area cruises. For more information, call Bill Beckinger, 330-539-4091. Visit the website cruisintimes.org, which lists car events in the Midwest, including the Campfire Street Rodders.
- Place:Churchill Park
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Belmont Ave., Liberty, Oh
Campfire Street Rodders are geared up for the “rod run” this weekend. That’s car lingo for a car show, cruise and a whole lot more.
But you don’t have to be a motorhead to appreciate the cars and trucks in the event planned for Saturday and Sunday at Church Hill Park. Vehicles dating from the late 1920s will intrigue spectators.
Larry Palm of Vienna and Dick Bray of Brookfield founded the club 22 years ago, and it’s been motoring along ever since. John Ruth of Vienna is current president.
Palm has a 1954 Ford pickup, 1940 Ford ramp-deck car hauler and 1935 Ford two-door sedan.
“Ford is my middle name,” he said.
Bray has a 1956 Chevrolet pickup and 1936 Chevy two-door sedan, and Ruth, a 1938 Chevy coupe.
“It’s much more than a car show,” Ruth said of the event that also includes a cruise at 6 p.m. Saturday to Guy Shively’s in Austintown, an automotive illustrator.
There also will be games and prizes for rodders.
“The games all relate to cars,” Ruth said.
The event will include 10 prizes as selected by judges.
Many of the participants will tow their campers to the park and make a weekend of it. This is the first year at Church Hill Park, which has two picnic shelters, playground equipment and restrooms. Previously, the event had been at Liberty Park in Girard.
Campfire Street Rodders got its name because many members also camped and talked cars as they sat around campfires.
Each year, the club uses a member’s car on the T-shirt for the car show. In 2003, Ruth’s 1930 Model A Ford was featured. This year, it’s a 1955 Buick. The shirts also feature the club’s name and a campfire.
The nonprofit organization donates show proceeds to the Warren and Youngstown rescue missions.
“To help out at the park, we painted the pavilions and cleaned up brush around the creek,” Ruth said about the Church Hill site.
The men said a lifelong love of cars drove them to be involved in the organization.
“I belong for the fun, food and fellowship. We eat very well,” Ruth said. “The beauty of this is that you can make your car the way you want it. You make the decision.”
“In this group, love of cars is what we have in common,” Bray said. “Many are a work in progress.”
Palm added, “My wife won’t let me have them unless I drive them.”
He also said the club is about friendships. Members also share their mechanical and other automotive skills with one another.
The group follows a casual meeting schedule, trying to meet monthly on a Saturday night at a garage in Warren. It depends on members’ schedules when the meeting takes place.
“We get out and support other cruises,” Palm said.