Setting the wheels in motion for charity

Car and motorcycle enthusiasts alike are setting the wheels in motion for a charitable cause.

The fourth annual Wheels On Wyandotte Car and Motorcycle Show was held Sept. 13 to help raise funds for Camp Brombal, a charity founded by the Windsor Police Services. The charity was created in 2002 in honour of Const. Nereo Brombal. Brombal was a police officer who served in the late 1920s until the early 1940s. According to Bridget Scheuerman, the executive director and chairperson of Wheels on Wyandotte, 141 people entered the event this year, up from 120 participants in 2013. Some of the cars ranged from restored classic cars like a 1929 Model A Roadster to newer models like the Dodge Charger.

“At that time period (when Brombal was on the force), Italy was allied with Germany,” said police officer Shane Renaud, a 15-year veteran in the WPS’s Community Services branch. “Unfortunately for Brombal, he was a full-pledged member of the WPS (who was Italian) and he was dismissed. Fifty years went by and we apologized to his family. Unfortunately he had already passed away and a camp was named in his honour.”

According to Renaud, the charity gives 40 children the opportunity to go camping out in the wilderness with no cost to their families. The participants are chosen through the Grade 6 Values, Influences and Peers program, which addresses topics from shoplifting to drugs. Renaud said the children are selected based on who might not have the resources to go to camp otherwise. The charity’s website states that it costs $20,000 per year to run the program, or $400 per child.

“I don’t have a problem with that (donating to Camp Brombal) at all,” said Windsor Area Street Rods President Joe McFadden. “Most of the car shows we go to throughout summer, they all donate to one charity or another. It’s just another venue for them to get money for their charities so it’s all good.”

Windsor Street Rods, which was founded in 1974, has about 50 members according to McFadden. He said most clubs go to shows throughout the region with their cars, from A&W Cruise Nights in Windsor every Wednesday to events in Michigan. McFadden said the club also has its own car show every May to help support ALS Canada.

“We just like to show off our cars and we like to come out and mingle with other friends and all the other old car owners here,” said Hugh Pillon, a member of the Corvette Club of Windsor.               According to Scheuerman, it was very important “to select a cause that was demonstrating considerable involvement in the community.” She also said this year’s event was held in co-ordination with Vintage in the Village, an event held by the Pillette Village Business Improvement Association, for the first time. She said she hopes both the Olde Riverside Town Centre Business Improvement Association and the Pillette Village BIA can work together in the near future to make a better show.

“We will be continuing to hold this event annually, making the event more visitor-friendly and attracting more cars and motorcycles,” said Scheuerman. “We will look at the success of the various events within the show and make plans for a better show next September.”

According to Scheuerman, the final total for the donations will not be made public until October, when the organization will be handing a personal cheque to the charity. The event raised $3,500 in 2013.