Wheels of Time' hot

MACUNGIE, Pa. — At least 11,000 people are expected to attend the 44th annual Wheels of Time Rod and Custom Jamboree in Macungie Park on Saturday to see cars — and to relive memories.

And a good deal of them were at the show Saturday.

It's a car show open to models made in 1993 or before, though one organizer said the most common era for cars they see is the 1950s or '60s, also known as mid-century in the antique world.

The festival, put on by the Wheels of Time Street Rodding Association, headquartered in Breinigsville, runs through Sunday, Aug. 27.

From proceeds, the organization said it donates more than $40,000 to local charities, as well as a scholarship fund for students who want to pursue a career in the automotive industry.

Organizers say attendance was slightly down last year, with the total entries hitting around 10,000 — but on first glance of the day's traffic, the same organizer said they are likely in the 11,000 range this year.

The show's promotional material advertised two famous cars: the Red Barron, and KITT, from the TV show "Knight Rider."

The cars are on tour with an organization called TV Show Cars, which acquires or borrows cars made famous by TV shows and exhibits them at car shows around the United States.

Part of how they make their money is by offering attendees to have their photo taken with the cars for a fee.

The man who takes the photos and travels with the cars, Tom Jeron, said Saturday his job comes with a sense of honor.

"Well we're not really a company, as much as people who care very deeply about Hollywood movie cars, television cars, and preserving and promoting the love of them, and keeping them going," Jerrod said.

A few vehicles in its rotation: the Batmobile, Monkeemobile, Munster Koach, and the very first DRAG-U-LA— completely restored.

Jeron said he sometimes is amazed — but not surprised — at the deep level of connection and love some fans have for these cars.

He told a story of this that he said especially stands out in his memory:

"I was in a show in New York State, and we had the '66 Batmobile there, and a gentleman came up and he was crying," Jeron said. "And he said, 'I saw this when I was a young man in this very room with ["Batman" actor] Adam West.'

"And then this is what got me, and I started to cry — he says, 'I am dying of cancer. I have six months to live. And one of my last wishes was to be with this car again.'

"Wow, how do you respond to that? But those things happen."

Jeron said he believes the cars are sort of a vessel for memories, and that could be why they mean so much to some.

"They touch a chord in our lives of who we are, what we came from, what we want for our kids," Jeron said. "The special memories, and that's what this is about. The cars are part of it. But really the memory is everything."

Most of the 1,400 cars on display at the show are in pristine condition, with car enthusiasts making sure their engines purr like the day they were bought, and the wax polished so cleanly you can see your reflection in it.

One of the guests decided to go a different route.

Laurie Baney and her husband, Rick, showed up with a lime green 1928 Ford Roadster, decorated with about 40 Kermit the Frog toys.

If that wasn't enough, the Baneys also added props and signs to create an imaginary world in which the Roadster is Kermit's official presidential campaign vehicle, and he is deep in the trenches of his bid for president of the pond where he lives.

"Our theme right now is Kermit, and he's running for president," Baney said, trying not to chuckle. "We have a fundraiser on the side for $50 slices of pizza to help, and you can sign up to volunteer with his campaign."

The pizza slices, much like the rest of the Kermit campaign, are fictional — Baney set up a plastic toy pizza to illustrate this part of the display. (No word on the legitimacy of the cocktails, however.)

Baney didn't stop there. She said Kermit has a whole platform on which he's running — she clearly put a lot of thought into it.

"He wants to clean up the pond," Baney said. "He's gonna make it so there's no more graft, he doesn't want hardly any money, he just wants to fix stuff in the pond."

Asked for Kermit's stances on immigration, Baney said he is open to everyone, though he's not a fan of flies.

"You can see over there they have the green frog fly-swatter to wipe out the flies," Baney said. "They're not a favorite." (The photos show a frog-shaped swatter by the rear-left tire.)

Baney said she came up with the idea for the Kermit theme the instant she saw her husband bring the green Ford Roadster home for the first time.

"Well, my husband brought the car home, and the color green it is — I was like, 'Hey, that's the same color as Kermit,'" she said. "So we started buying up frogs, and then I bought patterned doll clothes.

"We had 'Frog does Bermuda', where it was all that theme, then we did 'Bon appetit with Chef Froggy,' there were like 10 different kinds of chefs and cooks.

"And now just a few weeks ago, Kermit decided to run for the presidency, so we figured out everything to do, to be able to have him try to get his dream."

Wheels of Time's final day opens at 7 a.m. Sunday. Tickets are $10, and free for those younger than 16 or active-duty military with ID.