NOVEMBER 5 – NOVEMBER 18, 2024
SANTA YNEZVALLEYSTAR.COM
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Motor buffs admire fancy wheels at Solvang car show Vikings of Solvang in their second year of running the town’s annual automobile extravaganza
INSIDE
By Mike Chaldu michael@santaynezvalleystar.com
Spotlight | Pg. 12 Local deep sea diver has real-life tales to tell
oming to the Viking Charities Classic Car Show, one is expected to see a wide variety of cars and other vehicles, mostly of the ‘classic’ variety, but sometimes you come across something a little different. So it was as this reporter was going down Copenhagen Drive in Solvang shortly after arriving, and someone stopped to ask me where the “rat-rods” were. Not only didn’t I know where they were, I didn’t know what they were and I politely told the person I hadn’t seen them. However, after walking just half a block, I found three of the so-called “rat-rods” parked right next to each other, and the owner of one of them, Ray Venegas from Chino Hills, was more than happy to enlighten me. “In the 1940s and ‘50s, people were putting together and racing jalopies,” Venegas explained. “But then that died out, and so the ‘ratrod’ guys came along, the cars with big engines and they put their own stuff on it.” Venegas used as an example
News Briefs . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 2 • VFW to hold Veterans Day Program on Nov. 11 at Solvang Veterans Memorial Hall
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News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 3 • Mayoral candidates Baker, Brown take part in Solvang voters forum Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 6 • COMMENTARY: Israel-Hamas conflict: There is a better way Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 8 • SYHS Theatre Group to perform ‘Little Women’ this month Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Pg. 10 • Santa Ynez High girls golf team wins second straight CIF title Community . . . . . . . . . . . .Pg. 16 • Veterans receive essential care and support at Veterans Stand Down event in Santa Maria
A row of rat-rods is shown on Copenhagen Drive in Solvang during the Viking Charities Car Show in Solvang on Oct. 19. Photos by Mike Chaldu
the cars they brought to the show: “If you want to put a cat on [the front bumper] you can. If you want to show off a gold-plated engine [pointing to another rat-rod] you can do it. You can do whatever you want with it.” Mark Goodacre of Temecula, who along with Venegas belongs to
a Southern California car club called the 5150s, elaborated on the rat-rod concept. “It’s just everyone doing something a little different with their car; with rat-rods there are no two completely alike,” Goodacre said. “And there are no big rules to follow; in fact, I call my car ‘Defiance,’ because
I’m defying the rules.” And so it was on this October day as everyone seemed to have a story about their car, and enjoyed hearing others. This was the second year, the annual car show in Solvang was put on by the Vikings of Solvang, a noted CONTINUED ON PAGE 22
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