By Matthew Jackson
America is a nation of highways, and a nation of people who love to drive them. There are very few of us who don't find pleasure in the open road, but for some of us, the road is not the thrill. The thrill is the machine we ride in.
The Huntsville Cruisers have been celebrating a mutual love of the automobile for more than 10 years, and today, a small club that started with a few close friends has become a Walker County institution.
Founded in 1995, the Cruisers began with John Geer, a local car enthusiast, meeting twice a month with some friends to talk about cars.
They would gather at a now-defunct local restaurant called The Hop to trade repair advice, swap knowledge of parts and to simply share their enthusiasm.
That same year, Geer and his wife Shellie decided to reveal their small club to the community at Fair on the Square.
“It's just grown since then,” said Shellie Geer. “We just found a lot of people who love classic cars. It doesn't matter what kind of cars they are, we just like to share the love.”
As the group grew, Shellie Geer fell into the role of organizer, making calls twice a month to remind their friends about the meetings, and entering the group in the Conroe Cruisers, the nearest major car club.
“We were the Huntsville Branch of the Conroe Cruisers for a long time,” Geer said. “We would pay membership dues to them, and finally we got so many members that they said: 'You guys could be your own club. Why are you giving all this money to us?' So we opened a bank account, and started our own group.”
In 1998 the Huntsville Cruisers were officially an independent organization, and Shellie Geer took on the role of president.
Today, the Cruisers have approximately 125 members from all over the county, with cars representing every decade from the 1920s to present day.
The group has continued to hold an annual car show at Fair on the Square, and every year the event gets bigger.
To give something back to the community, the Cruisers have adopted a scholarship program branching out from their Fair on the Square activities, donating all proceeds they receive to a scholarship given each year to a high school senior planning to study auto mechanics.
Even with a number of car shows every year, including Fair on the Square, the Cruisers have never stopped holding their twice monthly meetings, though the venue has changed.
“We meet the second and fourth Friday of every month,” Geer said. “The first meeting of the month is always at Golden Corral, but the second one has moved around. Right now we're trying the Rodeo Mexican Restaurant on I-45.”
Weather permitting, each meeting brings with it a chance to see the Cruisers in action, as members roll out their finest cars for the city to see.
The influence of the Cruisers has found its way into every part of the city, and has even piqued the interest of newcomers.
John Yarnbeck came to Huntsville several years ago to take the position of Dean of Students at Sam Houston State University. He now serves as vice president of the Cruisers.
“I'd been involved with car clubs in five different states before I came here,” Yarnbeck said. “I have an interest in classic cars going back 20 years, and when I moved here I immediately got on the internet and started looking for a local club, and I found this one.”
After joining the Cruisers, Yarnbeck began lending his time to organizing Cruisers events, and eventually fell into his role as vice president.
“It just came about after helping them do things,” he said. “I have a little more flexible schedule than some of the others do, so I volunteered my time.”
Each meeting of the Cruisers is a car lover's dream, filled with enthusiastic conversation about every aspect of the clubs interests.
“We have pretty simple meetings,” Geer said. “We show videos from past car shows, we talk about coming events. If anyone has a car part that someone else needs, there's an opportunity for that. Basically we just have a lot of fun talking about cars.”
Though Geer and Yarnbeck both admit that caring for classic cars while organizing them into a club at the same time can be a trying task, they both have a strong understanding of the appeal.
“You'll find with every person who owns a classic car that they have a story for why they have that car,” Yarnbeck said. “It may have been that their parents had it, it may be that they wanted it as a kid, or it could be because their father wanted one like that. It's often a family thing that gets passed down from father to son or to daughter.”
“There's just a love there,” Geer said. “As long as I've known my husband, he's always worked on cars, and I got it from him. Now I'm hooked.”
For Yarnbeck, the reason for owning and caring for a classic car is a simple one: love of the art of cars.
“Some people invest a lot of money in art,” he said. “Well, this is like rolling art. Many of these cars are artistic in the way they're put together. So we get to roll our art out for people to see.”
Anyone seeking more information on the Huntsville Cruisers is urged to visit their Web site at www.huntsvillecruisers.com.
