BRIDGEWATER INDEPENDENT
WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 2007

Staff photos/Paula Donnelly

Car club a real classic
Charitable group displays its wheels

By Paula M. Donnelly (Pdonnell@cnc.com)

Mike Venisky always had a vision of driving down the street in a classic car - with his son at his side. It happened five years ago.

"I always wanted a (classic) car, but mostly wanted it for my son. He has CP (cerebral palsy)," said Venisky, who lives in Avon. "I wanted something to enjoy cruising with him."

He spotted one of those cars on the Internet - a '73 California dune buggy. Venisky bought it, put in a lot of work on it, and hit the streets.

He found that he wasn't alone.

A friend told him about the Wheels of Time, a non-profit group that meets every other Thursday in the parking lot of Southeastern Regional Vocational School in Easton.

"This is the best organized car club I had ever seen," said Venisky, who is the club's secretary. "They have nine board members, a vice president, treasurer and secretary.

"The 75-man group enjoys two things: antique cars and community service. Sporting maroon member jackets, the South Shore group recently celebrated its 18th year in January, with president Jim Gallagher at the helm.

Gallagher, who said he has had a passion for cars since he can remember, has been a member of the club since three months after it first began - and he doesn't see himself leaving anytime soon.

The group prides itself on closeness with one another and the community service that it takes under its wing to give the group a positive purpose.

The men began a recent meeting at the Citizens Club in Bridgewater by reciting the group prayer: "Dear Lord, thank you for the fellowship we all share."

Once the moment of grateful observation is over, the group burst with voices chattering with witty banter and amusement as the meeting was called to order.

While it is officially a car club, a member doesn't have to own an antique vehicle, but simply have a willingness to be involved in many of the countless yearly fundraisers the group throws.

The group is passionate about taking many food pantries under its wing during the holiday season. Gallagher said that he was surprised last year when many of the pantries requested paper goods and coffee rather than the typical turkeys that are donated. Regardless, he said, club members are happy to oblige.

The group also donate to Handi-Kids, Dana Farber, Toys for Tots, Helping Hands and Gift from an Angel.

But monetary donations aren't the only way the Wheels of Times helps the community. It is flooded with calls to donate its time to drive cars to senior homes and other special locations so people can get a special glimpse at the past.

The group has a rigorous application process that takes up to three months for approval. That allows the applicant to understand how organized and serious the club takes its practice. It takes a majority vote to allow a newcomer to sport the title of member.

Twice a month, members who do have antique cars will drive them during Cruise Nights. The club is allowed to use Southeastern Regional's massive parking lot and, in return, raises money for the school's scholarship fund.

On good nights, Gallagher said, the parking lot will hold up to 300 antique cars parked in the lot for the public to see. The nights are free to attend and depend solely on concession sales to raise money for the cause.

While the club itself always has been a gentlemen's club, wives of the members take their turns to help their husbands. The women all take turn running the concession stand at the events. The club purchased a huge trailer and turned it into a traveling kitchen - the Hot Rod Café.

Gallagher finds it challenging which one of his three treasured cars he should display. He owns a 1965 Park Lane Convertible, a 1966 Buick Skylark Convertible and a 1933 Plymouth Rumble Seat Coupe.

He said his favorite car over the years was the car he was driving when he met his wife - a 1958 Chevy convertible.

Members of the community are invited to bring their own antique cars, free of charge, to display, provided that they mind their manners and rules of the road.

The group isn't designated to one particular area, with members coming far and wide across the South Shore to attend meetings, with one even coming from the Sagamore Beach area.

The next Cruise Night will be held Thursday, April 26, from 4:30 p.m. to dark.

To donate to the cause or for more information about where cars can be seen, visit www.wheelsoftimema.com

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THE ENTERPRISE
THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2007

Easton Wheels of Time Donates $3K
to Southeastern District

EASTON — Jack Dacey and John Ferron of the Easton Wheels of Time presented the Southeastern Regional School District a check for $3,000.00 to be added to the school's scholarship fund. Dacey and Ferron, who both graduated from Southeastern in 1971, spoke about the great education they received at the school. The Wheels of Time organization uses the school grounds every other Thursday for an antique car show. This year's event begins April 12, 2007.

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THE ENTERPRISE
THURSDAY, MAY 4, 2006

           PARKING FEE: David Brown of the Easton Wheels of Time let the Southeastern Regional School District know just how much his group appreciates being able to use the school's parking lot for its car shows. Brown recently presented a check of $3,000 to school officials to be used towards scholarships to graduating seniors. The Wheels of Time have used Southeastern's parking lot for their car shows for a number of years.

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THE ENTERPRISE
JULY 9, 2006

THE WHEELS OF TIME or REFUSING TO GROW UP

There’s a story every Monday in this column and it makes for enjoyable reading especially if you are from the Brockton area. All the authors enjoy being able to take folks down memory lane. We are fortunate to have a car club with Brockton roots that can take people back to that simpler time every other Thursday from April to Septem-ber. You will understand the reason for the two titles of this piece as you read on.

            In January of 1989 a group of aging hot-rodders met at Kenny Beal’s business, L.D. Plastics, to discuss the feasibility of forming a car club. Now there has been car groups since the Model T and, in fact, there were several in the area that some of these men had belonged to in their teens and twenties. Most had been busy with careers and raising families and had left their car crazy years behind them, or so they thought, until they started telling old stories. Now in their later years they were in a position in their lives to be able to afford to go back and buy that 40 Ford, 50 Merc, everyone’s dream car, the 1957 Chevy, or any of the millions of models that had a special memory.

 All of them could remember buying old vehicles for fifty dollars that were drivable and sometimes even raceable, not that any of them ever raced the quarter mile that was marked out on Reservoir Street. Actually, that did stop because as the cars were built faster and faster they needed a longer slow down space and it wasn’t available there. Of course, there were the legal drags at old airports like the one in Sanford Maine or Charlestown Rhode Island. That’s where local legend, Les Lussier, who still runs North Main Service Center in Brockton, raced his Cadillac powered 1950 Ford with great success. However, when the automobile factories started building cars that couldn’t be matched even by a genius like Les, then the day of the home-built hot rod started to fade and the ‘409’ Chevy and the ‘406’ Ford accounted for a great surge in new car sales.

The Chrysler Hemi’s kept pace but in the past several years has surpassed anyone’s wildest dreams in value. If you watch the Barrett-Jackson auctions you know what I’m talking about with a Plymouth Superbird fetching $375,000. When new it was less than $4700. Which brings me to my point, finally

Beginning April 27th and every other Thursday until September 28th, the Wheels of Time puts on the best cruise nights in the area. What is a cruise night? It’s where car enthusiasts gather to talk about and yes, to show off their rides. I was passing out flyers for the cruise one year and a woman wanted to know where to get the boat. There is no boat but you can cruise in your family wheels to Southeastern Regional on route 106 in Easton and get to see millions of dollars worth of cars, trucks and motorcycles that will get your memory racing. Everyone will enjoy the factory muscle machines, customs, older stock cars, bikes that rival American Chopper, and yes, there are still hand-built vehicles, because some people can still do it.

There are a lot of great cruise nights now so what makes this one rank at the top? The accommodations they have for the spectator. The club has a wonderful relationship with the school, with plenty of parking for both the car person and the curious and they allow use of the school restrooms The spectator is treated royally because somewhere down the line he or she might give in to wanting to own a piece of the past The school allows the club to sell hot dogs and burgers at very reasonable rates and lets them store the Hot Rod Café on their property. In return, the Wheels of Time is very proud to be the largest contributor to Southeastern’s scholarship/toolship program

 Besides the school, the club contributes to a host of worthwhile organizations: local food pantries, Handi-Kids, S.H.A.R.E., Make aWish, and The Carney Memorial, to name just a few.

The Wonderful Women of the Wheels of Time run the Hot Rod Cafe and give the very best in friendly service. This is an all-volunteer work force that takes great pride in making all the customers feel welcome. A familiar refrain is often heard, “It’s cheaper than MacDonald’s and better for you”.

There is a great deejay that helps guide the tour into the time tunnel and every cruise also features a giant 50/50 raffle that produces a great payoff for some lucky spectator or car owner. The ticket is drawn at the end of the night by a couple of kids, the smallest one pulls the number and the older child reads it to the crowd. They are thrilled to help and the winner often tips them, which adds to their enjoyment. It’s exciting for everyone that is there. In the thirteen years the club has been doing this, only once, had the person left and they had to call a second ticket. Even if you don’t win it’s a thrill to be part of the evening and the profits go to very worthy causes.

It costs nothing to attend, you can feed the family on the cheap, you could win a big jackpot and you get to enjoy a tremendous family oriented time. You can show your kids the cars you saw or owned in your youth. Be careful though, there have been many spectators that have become car enthusiasts once again, as a result of coming to this great affair. The cruise night runs from 5PM till dark.

Joe Dutcher
772 Union St.
E Bridgewater, MA 02333