April 17, 2009
Model A & Model T Races Cancelled Tomorrow
Ben Wheeler, TX – The Southwest Speedster Rally and Hill Climb, originally scheduled for Saturday, April 18 at Arc Ridge Ranch has been cancelled due to the expected rain showers in the forecast.
The event will be rescheduled at a later date.
The Southwest Speedster Rally and Hill Climb is the only race of its kind in our area for vintage car lovers interested in Model As and Model Ts wanting to enjoy a day watching these types of autos race uphill.
Ben Wheeler Development Company and Ben Wheeler Arts & Historic Foundation will still host the event at Arc Ridge Ranch in Ben Wheeler once it is rescheduled. Autumn Trails Model A Ford Club of Winnsboro is the event sponsor.
“Even though rain showers are forcing us to cancel the rally, we are still intent on making the event happen in the future,” said Brooks Gremmels, Ben Wheeler Development founder and co-founder of Ben Wheeler Arts and Historic Foundation.
“The closest race of its kind is in Chattanooga, Tennessee and we have received a wonderful response from planned event-goers and participants excited about having a vintage auto event like this in our area,” said Gremmels. “So, the race will go on, just at a later date.”
For more information about the rescheduled date for the Southwest Speedster Rally & Hill Climb, call event coordinator, Ken Parker at 903.963.1650 or email
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
.
Ben Wheeler Development Company (BWDC) founded by Brooks Gremmels and Ben Wheeler Arts & Historic Foundation (BWA & HF), a non-profit 501 (c) (3) corporation created by Brooks and his wife Rese Gremmels are excited to be hosting the event.
The company and the foundation serve as the vehicles for reconstructing not only the new physical aspects of Ben Wheeler, Texas, but perhaps more importantly, reestablishing a sense of community to the town.
Together, the two entities are returning the southern Van Zandt County community aesthetic to the way it looked in 1935 and are working daily to bring new businesses, cultural attractions, and a new attitude to the area. The project began a year ago and will take at least two years or more to recapture the old-fashioned atmosphere with an even longer timeline for some projects.
In a community with a thousand or so nearby residents, BWDC and BWA & HF are planning music venues, multiple entertainment porches, new restaurants, new shops and various businesses. A fully restored downtown park complete with gazebos is also planned to be part of Ben Wheeler’s renewal.
Ben Wheeler, named for the first man to carry mail into Van Zandt County, thrived during the late 1800s and early 1900s as families arrived in horse-drawn wagons, rode horses, or walked to visit, get mail, buy supplies, and sell or trade goods at one of the several general stores. The community included churches, barbers, blacksmiths, tailors, saddle and shoe shop, several gins and mills, a bank, the Berry Resort Hotel, boarding houses, a movie theater, lumber yard, a garage with gas pumps eventually, cafes, a school, and even a college at one time called the Alamo Institute. Ben Wheeler shrank after World War II as many people left for large cities to find work.
For more information about Ben Wheeler Development Company or Ben Wheeler Arts & Historic Foundation, please call 903.833.1070.
Back to Media Releases
|
