Car show raises money for Basic High School JROTC program

By Jeff Pope

Saturday, April 4, 2009 | 11:32 p.m.

Greasers and dolls brought out their classic cars and hot rods Saturday to have a rockin’ blast and raise money for the Basic High School Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program.

The 10th annual Greaser’s Rod and Kustom Reunion attracted 125 cars and many more chrome and rubber junkies nostalgic for big block engines and fuzzy dice.

The show’s organizers, Greg “Greaser” and Patty Bashaw, said every dime raised from fees and raffles goes to Basic’s cadets.

The Henderson couple started the car show when their son, Danny, was a cadet in the program. At the time, cadets sold candy bars as a fund raiser. Danny said he wasn’t a door-to-door salesman and other cadets weren’t thrilled to sell candy, either.

So the Bashaws approached the program’s director, Lt. Col Doug Montgomery, who jumped at the idea because the car show would generate more money.

The show has, so far, raised more than $35,000 for the JROTC program.

“About two or three years after they started the car show is when we took a gigantic hit in the budget,” said Montgomery, a retired Marine. “After 9/11, my budget got cut almost in half. So in order for us to sustain our level of activity, the money that they raised from the car show filled in the void that the government funds took away from us.”

The program has 150 cadets, about a third of whom worked the car show as part of their community service commitment.

The Bashaws said their reward is the pride they feel helping teens participate in JROTC.

“Whether they go in the military or not, what these kids bring away from ROTC stays with them the rest of their lives,” Patty Bashaw said.

Danny Bashaw graduated in 2001, joined the Army and served in Iraq in 2003 and 2004. Both he and his father, a Vietnam veteran, are members of the VFW Post 3848. They also built a custom 1955 Ford Crown Victoria together.

Mystic Lodge and Casino, 920 Boulder Highway, hosted the show for the third time and provided the snacks and drinks. The lodge also donated a portion of the food and beverage sales to the JROTC program.

Some of the items auctioned included a quilt made up of T-shirts from previous shows with this year’s logo airbrushed on it and a cooler with airbrushed art.

The artist was Shawn Ealy, a member of Basic’s class of 1988. He runs a custom artwork company, Shawn Ealy Designs, and recently painted the school’s new mural.

The show is a chance for him to show off some of his work and have fun with fellow car enthusiasts.

“The people are great. It’s like a big family,” he said.