Sunday, August 1, 2010

Car Show a Huge Success!

The Ninth annual Cruisin for Kids was highlighted in an article on LoHud.com this morning:

By Jane Lerner • jlerner@lohud.com • August 1, 2010

THIELLS — There was a cherry red 1966 Pontiac GTO, a canary yellow 1970 Oldsmobile and even a royal blue '55 Chevrolet Delray.

But the real stars of a car show held Saturday in Thiells were three disabled children whose families will be the recipients of money raised at the event.

"It's just a beautiful day," said Joseph Seeley, who was at the event with his family, including his son, Nicholas, 7, who has multiple disabilities and is one of the three youngsters who will receive a share of the proceeds. "It's so great that so many people out like this."

Hundreds attended the ninth annual Cruisin' for Kids car show, held in the parking lot of North Rockland High School.

"We get to combine our love for the cars and our dedication to the community," said Bob DuBois of Stony Point, who serves as president of the Neighborhood Cruisers, which puts on the show every year.

Each year the show raises money to help local families pay the medical expenses and related costs of children with disabilities or diseases.

In addition to Nicholas Seeley, who lives in New Rochelle and has a sister living in Stony Point, the other children are Nicole Green, a 7-year-old from New City who has autism and other medical problems. Her family is hoping to buy her a new system to help her communicate.

Alexa Castellano, 5, of Valley Cottage, was born with Down syndrome and had many medical problems. Her mother, Anna, died of breast cancer in November and her father, Frank, is raising her on his own.

The families attended the show and joined the crowd admiring row after row of cars and motorcycles.

Jack Capalbo of New City was there with the 1968 Ford Mustang convertible he spent a decade restoring.

"It looks great now," he said as people stopped to admire the car.

Thiells resident Scott Ludwig and his son Michael, 5, were both admiring a 1970 Chevrolet.

"This is a perfect restoration," Scott Ludwig said. "It looks like it just rolled off the assembly line."

Other cars were more unusual.

Carl Jones of Stony Point salvaged a miniature replica of a Model T Ford from a junkyard in the Kingston, N.Y., area several years ago.

He and his grandson, Charles C. Castro III, 10, of Stony Point, worked together to rebuild the car, which was likely used in an amusement park in the 1950s.

Charles proudly showed off the restoration to visitors at the car show.

"The best park was working on it with my grandpa," he said.

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