Austalian Street Rod Federation logo © STREET RODDER NEWS ©
Issue No. 13 April 1998

Ty-Rods Club Inc
Massachusetts USA

Skip Readio is well known to many Australian street rodders, and is a long time member of the ASRF. Skip visits Oz regularly, and has been to more ASRF Nationals than most. He also writes for several US rod and custom mags (you may have read some of his articles). Skip promised us a story as one of our "foreign" members, about his club, Ty-Rods, annual reunion run.

Organised in 1952 by a small group of hot rodders, the Ty-Rods have met on a continuous basis ever since. The Ty-rods are actually the re-organisation of the Piston-Pushers, who had a rather dubious distinction of being a bit less than law-abiding when it came to the occasional street race. In an effort to improve their image, the club was re-organised at a meeting in Carl Carpenter's barn in 1952, and the name changed to the Ty-Rods. One of the requirements for membership in the newly organised club was a letter of endorsement from the member's local police chief!

Over the years meetings have ranged from once a week, to once a month. The primary focus of the members was around sanctioned drag racing, and a number of the members participated in the New England Hot Rod Council. The NEHRC was the sanctioning organisation for most sanctioned drag races in the Northeast USA, and was made up reps from the many hot rod clubs in the New England area. As members eventually went off in to the military, aged and started families, the weekend racing died out, but the membership still met on a regular basis, thanks to the heroic efforts of Fred Steele, the club's long time President (and his sometimes ribald monthly newsletter).

In the fall of 1971 the membership, who were now holding regular meetings on the second Monday of the month, decided to forgo the normal business session of the monthly meeting, and invite a few of their racing companions from other clubs to the meeting for a general shoot the breeze session, and a slide & movie show. The Littleton, Massachusetts Veterans of Foreign Wars hall was the inaugural site, and the response from the few guests was "Gee, can you do this again?" It was from this humble beginning that the annual September Ty-Rods Old Timer's Reunion began. The first few reunions were rather modest affairs, with much good humor and friendly harassment abounding. As the focus was in renewing old acquaintances, and reminiscing about having more and darker hair, being able to fit into trousers that more often were more than a foot smaller around the waistline, and other sometimes-forgotten misadventures of their misspent youth, the event was immensely popular, and rapidly grew. When the event outgrew the Littleton VFW, it was moved to the larger Hudson, Massachusetts Lodge of Elks. Admission was charged, and out of this admission fee, pizzas were bought. Many of the original attendees fondly remember the cardboard pizza plate fights in the Elks hall.

A mailing list was established in the late '70's, and invitations were sent out to past participants, because the old word-of-mouth method of letting the participants know where the event was to be held was falling victim to occasional loss of memory. As the Street Rodding movement began to gain momentum, participants began resurrecting their old hot rods, and bringing them to the Reunion. Many of these cars would not see the light of day for years, and would be brought to the reunion and put back in storage. Soon, the focus turned to the pre-reunion car show in the parking lot. When darkness arrived many of the attendees lingered in the parking lot, while others adjourned to the hall to once again enjoy the slides and movies brought to the event by the various participants.

Along with the car show aspect of the event came the spectators. By this time, the event had outgrown the Hudson Elks Lodge, and was re-located to the Concord Elks Lodge, where the cars could be displayed better in their larger parking lot. The Ty-Rods had never "advertised" the reunion, so many of the original spectators were wives and girlfriends. Word of mouth, and mailings to participants have been the only form of communication until recently when the street rod press discovered the meet.

The inside-the-hall event was still a guys only affair. Bad language could occasionally be heard. Good natured inter-club rivalries were still keeping things lively, especially when a movie showed a memorable finish line upset, or some other race-related milestone. The event still held it's magic, while the car show grew outside. The outdoor activities began to require some policing, and eventually the whole parking lot was reserved for hot rods or customs. Late model iron was consigned to the street or neighboring parking lots. Eventually the show outgrew the Concord parking lot too. When the reunion moved back to the Hudson Elks Lodge, it was to take advantage of the large mowed lawn beside the Elks Hall. This area is large enough to accommodate 850 cars, if they're parked neatly. Many participants, still remembering the crowded conditions at the previous year's rain soaked event, came before noon, and began lining up at the gate, hoping to get a good parking spot. Unlike the three previous sites, there is no longer the intimacy of a hall to sit down and reminisce. Instead, there is an open pavilion, with a video presentation that was compiled by myself from the many slides and movies that once drew howls and jests in the smoky halls. The number of spectators has risen by orders of magnitude, many of them remembering the event from previous years. No longer is the crowd made up, primarily, of girl friends and wives. Local townspeople flock to the event in droves. The Ty-Rods Old Timer's Reunion has evolved into a car show.

The Ty-Rods still mail out invitations to all of the previous attendees who registered at the event. Participants can either pre-register, with or without a vehicle. Vehicles are limited to 1967 or earlier. The Ty-Rods Old Timer's Reunion has turned into a car show, but the real reason that it is held every year is to provide a means for re-uniting old friends (and old rivals) for a genuine good time on a Monday night.

Skip Readio

Skip's rod (& Skip)