After I first moved to Cleveland about two years ago, I wasn’t exactly enthralled with the local automobile gatherings. Any of the massive cars and low type events got overrun with revving supercars, kids in search of TikTok clout, and hooligans attempting to turn it right into a sideshow. Many of the cruise-ins are certified boomer bait, complete with “look but don’t touch” signs, restoration documentation in a photograph album, and a crew of oldies in lawn chairs mean mugging anyone who drives a four-cylinder. I knew we could do higher.
In talking with friend of the location Myron “Junkman” Vernis, we each knew enough people in the realm to establish a low-key weekday morning gathering that might deal with friendliness and funky cars. We’ve each experienced quite a lot of automobile culture, and had inspiration from our collective time on the west coast. We put our heads together and got here up with a method to bring a few of that west coast chill vibe to the midwest. Explicitly inspired by the incredible Good Vibes Breakfast Club, a weekly Friday morning gathering up on Angeles Crest Highway, we set the stage for our own show, dubbed Valley Vibes.
Meeting every Friday down within the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, we hold the gathering from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. There’s an appropriately sized parking zone on the train station round the corner to the visitor center, and so long as we aren’t selling anything, charging admission, or causing trouble for other park visitors, the park rangers have been greater than pleased to allow us to do our thing. The park is an exquisite place to fulfill up, and these are the one real good driving roads inside a 3 hour drive anyway.
Inclusivity is the secret, inviting anyone and everybody (who isn’t a dickhead) to come back out and luxuriate in the mutual company of other enthusiasts. We don’t care what type of automobile you’ve, where it was made, how much it cost, or what stage your ‘construct’ is in, it’s welcome. Within the 18 months that we’ve been hosting this weekly gathering, we’ve seen every thing from brand recent Aston Martins to vintage racing Alfas to a $3,000 Volvo C30 and an $800 Oldsmobile dustbuster van.
Every week is a roll of the dice. A few weeks ago someone showed up in a brand new Hummer and showed off the crab walk feature. The primary time a Corolla GR showed up, it got a ton of attention. The customs, the racers, the vintage, the fashionable, it’s all here. You never really know what’s going to point out up at Valley Vibes.
Every Wednesday I make a number of social media posts and send invites to a number of of the regulars. On Friday mornings I stand up an hour sooner than usual and brew a carafe of high-test coffee. Myron brings the donuts and we set them out on my little camp table. That’s it. That’s all of the prep it takes, and the show never fails to assemble 20 to 30 cars each Friday morning. (Unless it rains. Ohio people think their cars will melt in the event that they get wet.)
You and your automobile friends can expand automobile culture in your community. Hopefully that is the push you have to kick off your individual vibes-based show. If you happen to put aside a few hours every week to only stand around and discuss cars and life, put your phones down, welcome everyone, and keep the dickishness to a minimum, not only will it improve your individual life, it’ll improve the community. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
So in the event you’re within the Cleveland/Akron area and have a cool automobile and a superb attitude, stop on out to our little event one Friday morning between 7 and 10. It’ll be value your time, obviously. We’ve had visitors from as distant as Detroit and Pittsburgh, and even they said it was value coming out for. It’s definitely more concerning the people than it’s the cars or the coffee and even the donuts (though the donuts are superb.)
Come on down and feel the vibes.
This Article First Appeared At jalopnik.com
