Sunday, July 24, 2016
Associated Press
BOARDMAN
Perhaps some people may have read the famous John Steinbeck novel “The Grapes of Wrath,” while riding in a car, but it’s probable that few – with the exception of Joe Valerio – carry the grapes of wine on the side of their vehicle.
“I started with a pile of lumber and stainless steel. A friend of mine came up with some drawings on paper, then we worked on them and I built the car,” the 75-year-old Campbell man and former wine salesman said in describing how he had taken more than two years to construct his vintage 1909 Ford C Cab vehicle from scratch.
It’s difficult to miss Valerio’s classic car with a 427-horsepower engine obviously because of its old custom look, but also because it carries a colorful, hand-painted mural, titled “The Wine Merchant” that depicts two wine goddesses holding grapevines. In the background is a rendering of Sonoma Valley, Calif., which is a major wine-producing area north of San Francisco that has hundreds of vineyards.
Valerio’s car was one of many such attractions that made up Sunday’s annual Bike and Car Festival at Wedgewood Fernando’s Pizza, 6200 South Ave.
Proceeds from the fundraiser, which was interrupted by a heavy thunderstorm, are to benefit United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley.
Much of the money will go toward the agency’s early-education efforts, including its Success By 6 and Success After 6 programs, noted Roxann Sebest, UW’s marketing director.
Read the full story with photographs Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com