Greenfield car show dates back 50 years

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The car show held each year by the Greenfield Antique Car Club during the Greene Countrie Towne Festival will mark its 50th annual show during this year’s festival.

President Kenny Friedman has in recent years assumed the role of heading up the club, but he said on Thursday during the weekly Greenfield Rotary Club meeting that it was Charlie Shonkwiler that kept the car show going for nearly four decades from 1977.

Each year on the third weekend of July during the Greene Countrie Towne Festival, south Washington Street in Greenfield is lined with classic cars, antique cars and hot rods. It is the car club’s annual show, and Friedman said that in recent years they have not only attracted entrants from across the state, but from neighboring states as well. A feature of the show that Friedman said is likely unique to the Greenfield car show is the parade of the cars through the festival each year on Saturday afternoon.

The annual festival got its start in the late 1960s as a car show, and the car show has remained a part of the summer festival.

For Friedman, his interest in the car club started when he was very young and his dad was a club member. To Friedman and others in the club, he said, membership means more than who has the nicest or the coolest car. He said it is about the fellowship with people with the same interests and the stories that are a part of each car.

Friedman has a 1931 Ford Model A that he “dug out” of a barn, he said. The car belonged to his wife’s great-grandparents, who bought the car brand new. He talked about other members’ antique cars and their history in Greenfield. He said it is always interesting to hear the stories attached to the cars.

With the car show in its 50th year, Friedman said the club is planning to make this year special and it is hoping to draw in more entries for this milestone year.

He said one thing the club would like to do for the festival is tie in Greenfield’s C.R. Patterson & Sons Company, believed to be the nation’s only African-American owned automobile manufacturer, that produced cars and school buses.

Friedman said antique cars and knowledge about them is becoming harder to come by, seeming to belong to older generations, but the club is always open to new members whether they have the knowledge or are looking to gain that knowledge. Those interested in the club, whether to join or to volunteer during the July show, can contact Friedman for more information by calling 937-763-8199.

The Greenfield Rotary Club meets each Thursday at 11:30 a.m. at Catch 22 Sports Pub, 250 Jefferson St. More information about the club can be found on its website, greenfieldrotary.org.

Reach Angela Shepherd at 937-393-3456, ext. 1681, or on Twitter @wordyshepherd.

Kenny Friedman, president of the Greenfield Antique Car Club, speaks to the Greenfield Rotary Club on Thursday.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2017/01/web1_Rotary-pic.jpgKenny Friedman, president of the Greenfield Antique Car Club, speaks to the Greenfield Rotary Club on Thursday.
Town’s annual festival got its starts in 1960s as car show

By Angela Shepherd

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