Golden Gears Car Club puts on a show for good

Car club hopes to raise awareness of charity endeavors with free show

Tom and Mary Webber had always been passionate about cars, but surviving a head-on collision when both were on their motorcycle inspired the couple to turn their hobby into a way to help the community.

“When all this happened, it was very traumatic. You start looking at things a lot differently,” says Mary Webber, 64, of New Midway. “We wanted to do something where we feel like we can give back.”

The Webbers decided to join the dozens of other members of the Golden Gears Car Club of Frederick County who display their vehicles on weekends to raise money for local charities.

“That was the road that we wanted to travel,” Mary Webber says. Their 1982 Collector’s Edition Corvette with a Betty Boop theme and 1980s Corvette coined “Casper” for the large painting of Casper the Friendly Ghost under the hood are often a hit with the family-friendly crowds.

The club donates $8,000 to $12,000 annually to charities including Hospice of Frederick County, Alzheimer’s Association, Frederick County 4-H Therapeutic Riding Program and St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, club president Roy Green says.

“The most important thing with this car club is we’re a bunch of giving people,” says Green, 52, of Frederick.

To raise awareness of the club’s charitable endeavors, the club will hold a free public car show Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Westview Promenade, located off Buckeystown Pike and Crestwood Boulevard in Frederick. The show will feature live music from 11:30 to 3:30 p.m. by rock ‘n’ roll cover band Gary and the Groove, and guests will be able to vote on their favorite car to win one of three People’s Choice Awards.

“Everybody votes on different cars for different reasons,” Green says. He and his wife own a 1930 Model A Ford Coupe, a 1961 Ford Falcon Pro Street Car and a 1968 Ford Mustang Coupe.

With participants’ cars ranging from 1930 street rods to modern specialty cars, the club aims to bring a variety of owners together, Green says. Hosting about 25 events a year, Golden Gears Car Club shows can attract between 50 to 200 vehicles.

While most shows often have a registration fee for owners to display their automobiles, Saturday’s show is being offered free to encourage participation and to help get the club’s name out in the community, Green says.

While the club has existed since 1973 and boasts 60 members, anyone may bring their car to one of the club’s shows, or their twice monthly Cruise-Ins, which take place in the Mr. Tire parking lot near the Fredericktowne Mall.

Cruise-Ins are one of the club’s most popular activities because they are social events the whole family can have fun attending, club secretary Carla Schrimsher, 42, of Hagerstown, says.

“It’s a time for everybody to park their car and chitchat for a couple of hours,” Schrimsher says. “There are a lot of car enthusiasts, and they are always looking for places to show their cars and to meet people.”

Schrimsher and her husband joined Golden Gears more than eight years ago, when the membership was a fraction of what it is today. Their 1997 Ford Mustang GT once won a trophy, but she says prizes aren’t the reason people bring their cars to the show.

“We don’t do this for us. We do this for everybody else in the community,” she says.

While Tom Webber and his wife first came to enjoy the cars and charity work, he says the camaraderie has become even more important.

“We went totally blind to a Cruise-In, and basically we got accepted almost immediately as family,” Tom Webber says. “They’re like family members now.”

ccalamaio@gazette.net

If you go

The Golden Gears Car Club of Frederick County show

When: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday

Where: Westview Promenade, Buckeystown Pike and Crestwood Boulevard in Frederick.

Tickets: Free

For information: www.shopwestview.com, www.goldengears.org.

Mary Webber Vehicles are on display at a Golden Gears Car Club show. The club will hold a free show Saturday.