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Car Show Revs Up To Help Feed The Hungry
By Keith Hagarty
Get your motors running!
From Model-T's to hot rods and other rumbling legends, the First Annual Wheels For Meals classic car show will put the pedal to the metal this Saturday, from 4 to 9 p.m. outside the Chick-Fil-A restaurant in the Lowe's Shopping Plaza on Route 9 South, as part of the parking lot-wide "Chick-APalooza" event.
The show is expected to feature classic cars from the early 20th century up through 1987, with special interest vehicles up to the present day.
All proceeds from the event will go toward the Howell Food Pantry.
The show is hosted by the Blue Moon Kruizers, a local classic automobile enthusiasts club formed a couple years ago as a "jacket club" who got together for the weekly classic car cruise nights held the last few summers outside of Chick-Fil-A.
"As time went on, we started to help out a lot over there and eventually took it over," said John Lebrio, one of the founders of the Blue Moon Kruizers. "It started out as just a casual, get-together at a cruise night at Chick-Fil-A, and eventually, it blossomed into what it is today."
With 30 active members from the Blue Moon Kruizers leading the charge, the cruise nights have grown by leaps and bounds, drawing participants and interested onlookers from all areas, some as far away as Pennsylvania, Staten Island and Southern New Jersey.
"We had 222 cars there last Saturday, and that's just on a regular cruise night," said Lebrio. "We started out a few years ago where we were only at like 30 to 40 cars there on a Saturday, and we've blossomed to where we're now breaking our records each week."
A long-time classic car aficionado since he was a little kid, 57-yearold Lebrio said there's a reason the car shows keep packing them in.
"It's the memories, the camaraderie of sharing the same hobby and interest of cars and just a matter of them taking care of their cars, such as some who build them from scratch," said Lebrio. "Some build it from a rust bucket to something you would see on the classic car auctions on TV that go for a lot of money."
The event will feature games for the kids, music and entertainment, with registered participants eligible for over 100 trophies and awards, courtesy of the event's numerous sponsors.
"Chick-Fil-A has been our main sponsor," said Lebrio. "They've been wonderful with us. The cooperation that they've given us, as far as anything we need or supplying us with anything we need to be able to function and run a car cruise night or a car show, has been fantastic."
Some of the other local sponsors include: Lowe's, Pep Boys, Stop & Shop and Carino's Italian Restaurant.
Collections of non-perishable food items and donation money have always been encouraged at the cruise nights hosted by the Blue Moon Kruizers.
"Last year, we made an announcement and collected money at a couple of our cruiser nights before, and we were able to get enough money together to buy Thanksgiving dinners for families of four- 20 of them- for the hungry in Howell through the food pantry," said Lebrio.
While they have held numerous cruise nights in the town, where classic car enthusiasts get the chance to meet and socialize with their peers, Saturday's First Annual Wheels For Meals car show is their first official fundraiser, according to Lebrio.
"I would love to collect as much money as we can to be able to feed as many families as we can for Thanksgiving," said Lebrio. "I know there's over 80 families in Howell who can't afford to buy food. That's why we adopted the food pantry cause, and hopefully from this particular car show, we'll be able to feed well over 100 families this year."
While donations are encouraged, the show is free for all attendees. For classic car owners looking to include their automobiles in the Wheels For Meals show, the event requires a mandatory $10 minimum registration/ donation fee.
"I'm expecting at least 200 cars there," said Lebrio, who is excited to have two of his own classic cars front and center at the event: a 1985 Corvette and a 1958 Chevy Bel Air, a tribute to an almost identical car Lebrio fondly recalls from his teenage years.
"As far as the '58 Chevy goes, I had the same exact car that I have today back when me and my wife were dating back in high school," said Lebrio. "It brings back plenty of memories … I remember going to proms in that original car and everything else."
The '58 Chevy Bel Air holds a special place in Lebrio's heart, when after a bout with cancer two years ago, he and his wife knew life was too short not to have some fun.
"It's garage kept, and every opportunity that the wife and I get, we'll take it out and go for rides down the shore and go out for ice cream and stuff like that," he said, "just like we did when we were back as teenagers."
A rain date for the event is scheduled for September 1. For more information about the event, call Lebrio at 732-938-7342.
"The only requirement (for those looking to include their car in the show) is for them to come up to the registration desk (at the venue), give us their name, year and make of the car, and we'll give them a card to put on their windshield, judge their car and give out trophies," said Lebrio. "We really don't turn anyone away. It's supposed to be a classic car show, but anything from 20 years or older, we consider a classic car in our cruises, and anything that's younger than 20 years, we consider it a special interest vehicle."
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