JOIN THE CLUB: Cars, camaraderie, and charity with Lake Area Rods and Classics
Several members of the Lake Area Rods and Classics car club during a show-and-shine event in the parking lot of Gateway Gardens senior living community in Marble Falls. Staff photo by Dakota Morrissiey
The 170 members of the Lake Area Rods and Classics club share a passion for American muscle cars, good times, and giving back to their communities.
The Rods and Classics crew has a full calendar of events year-round and much of it is built around hot rods and hot grub.
“We like to say we’re an eating club with a car problem,” said Vice President Cheryl Hutson.
She and husband Harold laughed at the short-yet-sweet description of their club, which is much more than a gathering of hungry motorheads. Beyond the car shows and luncheons, the group is a formidable charitable organization. Since 2011, members have donated over $123,000 to local children’s charities, schools, and public libraries.
“We like cars, bikes, trucks, all that stuff, but we are a charitable group,” said club President Mark Kidd. “One hundred percent of the money we raise goes to charity.”
Members gather on the second Tuesday of each month at the Marble Falls Public Library for their regular meetings. They get together for breakfast every Wednesday at Trailblazer Grille in Burnet, and they roll into Llano on Friday evenings for an Oldies but Goodies car show and social. Cruise-ins are staged on the first and third Saturdays of the month at O’Reilly Auto Parts in Burnet. And each spring, the club has a car show during the Burnet Bluebonnet Festival.
Those are the fixed events on the calendar. Members also have impromptu dinners and luncheons and constantly seek out new opportunities to get their wheels on the road. Camaraderie is an important part of the experience.
“We try to be as social as we can,” said club Activities Director West Pearson.
The many Highland Lakes members travel as far as Fredericksburg in the west to Georgetown in the east for car shows and hang sessions, but most of what they do takes place right here in Burnet County.
Pearson, a Highland Haven resident, was attending a recent show-and-shine event at Gateway Gardens senior living community in Marble Falls when he spoke with The Picayune Magazine. He and dozens of other Lake Area Rods and Classics members pulled into the facility’s parking lot one Saturday morning to visit with residents and show off their rides.
“We’ve got a common sickness with these cars,” Pearson joked. “Most of us grew up in the ’50s and ’60s, and the car culture was huge then. My dad was a mechanic by necessity to keep our cars running, and I picked up stuff from him and my grandad. I’ve loved it ever since.”
The idea of the group’s car obsession as a “sickness” is a running joke among members.
“It’s an expensive disease, but it keeps you out of trouble,” said Burnet resident George DeWitt, who drives a 1969 Chevy CST 10.
“You know it’s a sickness,” Kidd said.
Kidd was driving his 2024 Ford Mustang during the show-and-shine, but he is the proud owner of a fleet of classics from the 1950s and ’60s.
“Most of the classics are uncomfortable to drive,” he said. “Hopefully, your air conditioning works, if you even have it. It’s more about going back to your roots. Maybe your dad had a ‘57 Chevy, and you gravitate toward that, or somebody else’s mom and dad had a Ford, and they gravitate toward that. Maybe it’s the feeling of doing your own work (on the cars), and you’re proud of it. Even If you don’t do your own work, you’re still proud of it.”
Club members are united by a shared passion for pistons, but community is the goal.
“Most of us are getting older, and it’s really important to stay social,” Pearson said. “I want to get out and be around people, and this is a great way to do it.”
Cheryl and Harold Hutson agreed, adding that the group is especially fun for couples.
“It’s so much nicer than him going off and doing something and me going off and doing something else,” Cheryl said. “It’s something we can do together.”
The Hutsons, who have been together for 40 years, joined Lake Area Rods and Classics six years ago. Originally, Cheryl didn’t have a car of her own, she rolled with Harold and his 1953 Studebaker Champion. Now, she is vice president of the club and sports a 1964 Ford Falcon Ranchero.
Some single members even found a sweetheart when they joined. Jim Rugg, 91, and Clara Francis, 93, were on a bonafide date at the show-and-shine. They came in Rugg’s pristine 1933 Buick Series 57.
You don’t need a classic car to join Lake Area Rods and Classics. Just reach out to the club via lakearearodsandclassics.com or call 559-707-8962 to learn more about becoming a member.