Rogue Valley Street Rods

2011 poster child Ethan

Our poster child for the 2011 Southern Oregon Rod and Custom show is a thirteen year old Grants Pass boy named Ethan. He will be entering high school next year. Meeting Ethan yesterday was a heart warming experience for Linda and me.

We visited with him and his grandmother who is his legal guardian. We took pictures and chatted about his school and the help he has received from the efforts of Rogue Valley Street Rods. When he was younger he needed a special bicycle which would not tip over. We provided the bicycle. He has outgrown the bike and passed it on for another kid to enjoy. He has received a laptop computer to complete assignments and to make notes. He has very little use of his hands so writing was a slow process.

His grandmother said he was timed writing a sentence and typing a sentence into the computer. His writing was timed at 3 minutes and 30 seconds. Typing the same sentence took only 36 seconds. The computer is equipped with voice recognition software which makes it possible for him to speak into a microphone and have the computer type his words. Another help to him is a Netbook. It is a smaller and lighter version of a laptop. The Netbook is much easier for him to carry to and from school in his backpack. Both of these are linked to a wireless printer in his home. For reading assignments he has a Kindle. The Kindle allows him to read books from a small hand-held device. His disability makes it hard for him to hold a book and turn the pages. With the Kindle he taps a stylus on the screen to turn pages. In addition, he has a pen which contains a recorder to assist him in taking notes during classroom lectures. He can use “key words” to locate portions of the lecture and listen to them again. The greatest thing about all these pieces of technology is that Ethan can attend the same classes as other kids his age.

Ethan and his family are very aware of where the funds for these devices come from. They speak so thankfully of the car club. His grandmother noted that the help we provide in Southern Oregon is help that is not available in the northern part of the state.

Ethan is proud of his grandfather’s Chevy truck and was excited to have his picture taken with it. His smile was a mile wide when I told him he would be a guest at the car show and would be able to award a trophy for his favorite car.

We enjoyed being reminded what a wonderful cause our donation to CDRC is and thinking about how many kids are helped in the same way as Ethan. It sure makes the work on the show much more meaningful.

RVSR show promo cruise  ’09 Rod & Custom Show All City Cruise

At a previous Comm. Mtg. Troy suggested we get some club members to bring their cars to a pre-arranged site, equip them with magnetic door signs and cruise through the neighboring communities to promote the show. Even
though all attending agreed it was a new idea and worth a try, the weather would be the deciding factor. From the beginning of this week, the outlook was for rain and more rain, so most of us forgot the plan.

Wednesday morning my phone rang and it was Diane  (you remember her, the ‘Guiding Light’ of the ‘Deuce Day Runs’ hosted by her and significant other, Scotty) calling to tell us to get our car out, our jackets on and we’re goin’ cruisin’!!! For the next 2 hours, I prepped the car, loaded it and our dog cage, put their jackets on (cause the top was down and I never raise it un-less it rains) while Charlotte primped and preened, donned her fur coat then red hat and gloves (thin Ca. blood eh?). It was a balmy 62F. not a cloud in the blue azure sky as we drove over to Pilot to fill up. By 2pm, we had 8 cars in the Expo lot ready to run.

Al  brought his ’37 Ford Cab., Don & Jan  in their ’32 Ford sedan, Roy & Katy  in a ’39 Ford coupe, Troy in his ’52 Chev p/u, Dan & Jean  in their ’32 Ford cab., Herb  in his ’40 Ford coupe, Scott & Diane  in their ’48 Ford coupe and Charlotte and I in our ‘46 Ford (top down) conv. Just after 2pm, Scotty lead us over to Central Point and we tooled slowly ( you have to due to several lights and crosswalks) down the main street to Hwy.99. Here we turned left to follow it all the way to the Rogue Valley Mall. We slowly motored around the perimeter lanes, waving at the people we passed and yelled out our mission.

From here, we went over to the Medford Center, did the same circuitous route around all the stores there and headed for downtown Medford. Turning south we again followed old 99 and took a left into the Winco strip mall. All along the way, we were cheered by onlookers with ‘thumbs-up’s, waves, hoots and a lot of toots from passing vehicles. A left on Barnett took us all the way out to the Larson Center for a well deserved ‘Pit-stop’ not only for our crew but also all the pups on board.

From here, we cruised down a back route into Phoenix and turned onto the freeway south. At the last Ashland exit our entourage slowly made a trek through that town with a short stop at a Safeway parking lot. It was a good place for those caught by the lights to catch up. Char and I were met by a local who ran up and was so excited with our ride as it was the same as the 1st car he had ever owned, even the colors were identical. We had a nice chat and then all of us proceeded north through downtown Ashland, up the old 99
2.
to Talent, on to Phoenix, into south Medford and all the way to north Medford to ‘Jaspers Diner’ where owner John was waiting for us. This small roadside burger joint who caters to car guys, serves a great array of Ca. style fare, offers daily specials, uses only quality foods…was ready to give our gang a discounted dinner of ‘Gourmet Burgers’, fries, 16oz. drink, with all the trimming’s at a $5 price. Char and I had Bacon/cheese burgers and they were delicious.
By the time all of us had downed our dinners, it was time to say ‘Ta-Ta’, thank John (one of our major show sponsors) and call it another day in the actions of the RVSR street rodder club.

Everyone,

Please keep your eyes peeled for our beautiful 1959 18 footer that was stolen off our property this morning. I’ve checked the local craigslist and on ebay with nothing so far. We did a total frame off restoration this year with a polish only a year old. It is gorgeous, serial number 18D0106, Wa license plate 9730SY.

If anyone sees this trailer, please pm us. Thank you!

Ryan and Katie Weber

Cash for your Clunkers

UPDATE

The 166 members of Rogue Valley Street Rods wish to thank the Southern Oregon public for attending our 2008 Rod & Custom Show. We had 100 great vehicles for their enjoyment, as well as many fine vendor displays. Our thanks, also, to the folks who brought their cars, trucks, and motorcycles out in the middle of February to make this annual event possible. Without their help, there would be no show.

George Bailey
President
Rogue Valley Streetrods