History Roarin' 30's of Missouri - 50 year Anniversary

If my memory serves me correctly, he bought that one from Elaine Mutert quite a while back after her husband passed away. Elaine still plays with cars and drove her '34 Cabriolet down to the Gathering at the Roc this year.

 

I took these pictures of Rodger’s 34 at this years Midwest Roadster Run in Alton IL. One of my favorites at the event!

 

And captured him visiting with another former Roarin' 30's member, Dale West!

 

Bret. Wonder how far your Dad had to chase that guy for those pants. Killer nostalgia shot.

 

Yeah, those were something else. Jim Tucker found that pic in his collection and mailed it to me.
As far as I know, though, he never had a cool John Deere hat and long hair like one of the guys who joined the club a little later. ;-)

 

(for illustration purposes regarding the comment about the long haired guy with a John Deere hat)

Back in September 2021, I reached out to Cal Tiefenauer to find out what the long term plans were to keep the club going since they were celebrating 50 years in October 2021. He said that the next time he and I could get together, he'd give me the club briefcase. A week ago, I made the trip over to Caledonia, MO to make that happen.

We have a Roarin' 30's Members, Alumni, and Friends picnic scheduled for April 23, 2022, in Wentzville, MO for those who would like to come. I know that Rick's T Delivery won't be there, as he sold it a LONG time ago, and he may be in Austin for the Roundup, but either way we're planning on chili and hot dogs for lunch in the tradition of the old Roarin' 30's Fall Color Tour picnic.

 

Did ya stop and say hi to my ex? She lives there

 

No, but I did notice that they must not like Methodists there. As I drove into town they had them buried on both sides of the road.

 

I don't know if they are on both sides of the road or if they just paved over the middle.

 

Some real beauties there. Here are a couple shots of his '34 roadster that I took at the '79 Nats in St. Paul. I'm usually a full-fendered guy, but I think that thing looked totally badass without 'em.
Congrats to the Roaring 30's crew on one heckuva milestone.

 

Trying to make up my mind if you and @bchrismer are Baptists or not? Nah, can't be. You guys have a sense of humor

 

The Roarin 30's guys had some mighty fine cars back in the day, (and some cool pants for the day too) and looks like they still do! Congratulations for 50 great years guys!!

 

I may be wrong (and I might be) but that’s actually NSRA president Vernon Walker’s (yes, that Walker) ‘40 which he drives a lot ( and I mean a lot). Did I mention that’s the man himself sitting behind the wheel?

 

I can answer that question for Bret...and you are correct.

 

Actually, that's one that I believe Bruce's Rod Shop did for a customer, then Jim Smith at Hot Rod Garage, in Sand Springs, OK, had it. It's now owned by Roger Ward, in Kansas.

That's Roger, standing next to the car and the sticker in the window is from the Stray Kat 500, over in Dewey, OK.

But, applause to Vernon (which I hear he prefers to be called Walker), for regularly driving his '40 Sedan.

 

Gary Opitz passed away a few years ago, but he was always a fun guy to hang out and talk with. His '40 deluxe coupe was always one of my favorites at the Roarin' 30's events. The small block under the hood had a noisy gear driven cam in it and was like music to my ears the first time I heard him fire it up. This pic from 1982 was recently posted on FB by Dennis Parks, and sports the Roarin' 30's bronze club plaque up front and the shiny American 5 spokes that were a huge improvement over the light yellow Chevy Rallye wheels with Police caps.

One of the things that always impressed me was that while I would only see Gary every couple of years, and I was a "kid", he ALWAYS greeted me by name. I try to carry that on towards the kids I meet at hot rod events, as I believe that is the kind of stuff that make huge impressions on the next generation of hot rodders.

 

These fellows have wonderful taste. We should all learn from them what a hot rod done right should look like.

 

This is a pic from the 2nd Annual St Louis Area Hot Rod Hundred that has my coupe, Roarin' 30's Member Ed Martin (@VF-1), and Butch Lindsey's '40 pickup. For years, Ed kept asking me if I would sell him my '40, and I kept telling him "no" so he went out and found a cool '40 deluxe coupe for himself. ;-)

Sadly, Bob, who hosted the dinner at Bob's Gasoline Alley, passed away and all his goodies were auctioned off.

 

Great old picture, Bret! Thanks for sharing! I think I detect those bitchin running boards on your old ‘40! So sorry to hear of Bobs passing. What an outstanding venue Gasoline Ally was!

We are all looking forward to the Roarin’ 30’s 50th Anniversary Picnic on April 23, 2022 in Wentzville, MO Quail Ridge Park. The Roarin’ 30’s welcomes Current Members, Alumni, and all other Car Clubs. Come One - Come All! Look forward to seeing everyone & your hotrod at the 50th Anniversary Picnic at Quail Ridge Park in Wentzville, MO.

 

@VF-1 Sadly, I wound up swapping those boards out for some new Drake boards. They took a ride up to Des Moines, IA, with David Hay. I think he was going to straighten out the rough spot on one of them and recover them. My rear fenders have all kinds of "impact marks" from where chunks of rubber would pop off and ricochet off of them going down the highway.

 

HEY!-----Is ol' "CRAZY" Kelch still kicken?. I spotted a LAR plaque on that '34 roadster.

 

His card #166

 

He sure is. I talked to his son, Chris, and he said they were putting new tires on the roadster to get it back out on the street this summer.

 

I saw Gary Kessler's name on there, too. I haven't seen him in a while, but he's still kickin, too.

 

Yep, I spoke with Gene Kelch a couple weeks back. He’s always been the Roarin’ 30’s Historian, and one of the original Nasty Nine. A wealth of knowledge, and has one of my favorite roadsters (Frequent Flyer)! If I recall Cal did the redo on it years back.

 

The Roarin’ 30’s 50th Annual Picnic is next Saturday April 23, 2022 at Quial Ridge Park in Wentzville, MO. Open to all - Current members, alumni, and all other car clubs. Come and help us celibate our Silver Anniversary Picnic! Mark your calendars & and dust off your hotrod! I look forward to seeing everyone!

 

Today we were bless with beautiful weather for the Roarin’ 30’s 50th Anniversary Picnic. Gene Kelch opened with a brief run down on the history of the club. Gene is a wealth of knowledge, and one of the original Nasty Nine members that formed the Roarin’ 30s.

 

just a few of the current member, and alumni hot rods!

 

It was a great day. Beautiful cars.