PORT TOWNSEND — The Rakers Car Club translates a love of vintage cars into community support.
“We put on a car show every year to support a lot of things, providing for various charities and providing scholarships for high school students in Port Townsend and Chimacum,” said club member Mike Hinojos.
About 150 cars are expected to trickle into Port Townsend on Saturday morning, arriving at Memorial Field, 550 Washington St., to participate in the annual event that begins at 9:30 a.m.
It’s not actually a parade, Hinojos said, but an informal procession of classic cars, hot rods, custom cars and dragsters that ends up at the exhibition.
Admission is $5. It is free for active-duty military and children younger than 12.
Rakers club
The Rakers Car Club was started in 1957 by Port Townsend High School students Vic Olson, Gary Ried, Glen Benton and Jim Seastone.
It disbanded in the late 1960s, when many members had either gone into the military, moved away, married or started a family, but reassembled in 2001.
Membership is approaching 100, with members located in Washington and Idaho.
“Right now, we have teachers, retired Realtors, drivers and mechanics,” Hinojos said, adding that the 80 local members have about 230 cars between them.
“There are a few women, and the age ranges from people in their 20s to people in their 60s.”
It is all about the cars.
Hinojos recalls being at a Puyallup show where he saw a 1930s Ford “and it sent chills down my spine.”
Scholarship fund
The scholarship fund is supported by participant entry fees and the admission fee.
“We expect 300 to 400 people, so we can make a considerable amount,” Honojos said.
“Back in the ’50s, I never would have imagined how popular those old cars would become, and that’s one reason car clubs are so big again,” said founding member Olson on a blog.
“Working on old cars is a disease, and no doctor has the cure.”
For more information, go to http://tinyurl.com/pdn-rakers.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
