For the Medallions Car Club, the phrase "three times is the charm" fits well. That's because the club's third incarnation has "stuck" some 52 years after the original club was born.
Of course, today's club is quite different from its two predecessors. Organized by a dozen high school graduates from South St. Paul in 1956, the first Medallions (the origin of the name is unknown) were intent on promoting road courtesy and hot-rodding as a safe sport. It's safe to say that today's club, with one original member and a few from the club's second iteration (1959-62), has more mature members. And the club's mission is different, centering on socializing, cruises and Inver Grove Heights' Star City Days Car Show, which the club has organized for the last 16 Septembers.
The original club got started in an era when some people viewed teenagers and hot rods as threatening. And a few hot rodders, like today's illegal street racers, sullied the situation for the majority who behaved themselves. The Medallions were one of many loosely organized clubs fighting to reverse hot rodding's sometimes negative image.
Kirby Lawrence, the only original club member in today's Medallions, and the winner of the first club's only mystery run, says the club held regular meetings and provided free holiday dinners to needy families. Most club activities, however, were informal, he says. "We worked on each other's cars and hung around gas stations where a club member worked. And we took runs up to Porky's on University Avenue in St. Paul." Lawrence, who joined the current club after seeing a Medallions plaque at a car show, owns a 1956 Chevy Bel Air two-door hardtop, similar to the car he owned in 1956.
The second Medallions club, organized by original members' younger brothers and friends, worked on its own hot rod, but its activities were similar to the first group's. The third-time-is-the-charm group, started in 1995 by the late Art Utech, a second-club member, gave middle-aged people rekindling an interest in the cars of their youth a chance to share their enthusiasm. The club has remained small deliberately, with membership north or south of 20 couples.
Utech's widow, Diane Ubl, remarried to a club member, sponsored a memorial club run for her late husband for 10 years. She and husband Dave drive '48 and '57 Chevys, and '29 and '40 Fords to club events. Diane and Laureen Jansky, whose husband Mike is club president, note that the car show draws 150 cars in good years, with profits donated to food shelves and other charities.
For more on the club, call 651-457-6602 or e-mail laureenj13@aol.com.
