Dragontown Thunderfest

Vince’s 1952 Chevy Fleetline 1967 Chevy Camaro

Photos & Story by Joe Secka

DRAGONTOWN THUNDERFEST NILES OHIO

Photos and Story by Joe Secka

Niles is a city of about 18,000 residents located in NE Ohio near the PA border. Niles may be best known as the birthplace of William McKinley, the 25th President of the United States. A reconstruction of McKinley’s birth home and the McKinley National Memorial are located downtown on Main Street.

The Niles McKinley H.S. Red Dragons football team recorded a regular season 48 game winning streak from 1959 to 1964 and they were Ohio State Champions in 1961 and 1963 with Glen Mason as head coach. The stadium is named after Robert “Bo” Rein. Rein was a Niles multi-sports star in the early ‘60s and a two-sport athlete at Ohio State before eventually becoming the head FB coach at North Carolina State in 1976. After the 1979 season he was hired to be the head coach at LSU. However, a plane crash after a recruiting trip killed him and ended a tenure for the Tigers before it ever started. Niles is just about in the middle of the Mahoning Valley, the Youngstown and Warren area, which has an overflow of gearheads. I don’t really know if you can have too many car fanatics though. The plus side of this is the high number of car shows/cruises you can attend within a 20-30 mile radius. Anyway, the Niles Football Moms believed a show at the High School would be a great fund raiser for their organization. The parking lot is huge and easy to access. Food vendors were on hand to help quench the thirst and hunger of those in attendance. The day was a bit of a “smoker” as the temps shot up into the high 80s. The oak trees in the side lot and several canopies were getting a lot of use for the shade they provided. There were awards, food vendors, 50/50, a basket raffle and music by DJ Big Rick.

Cars and trucks began pulling in well before the starting time of this 2nd Annual event and continued arriving well into the scheduled show hours. This years show is planned for June 4th. That’s all I have - Joe

Clayton’s 1930 Tudor “A”

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