The Benefit for Sal Abruscato, one of the founding fathers of the Monarchs Car Club in Long Island from 1955, was a wonderfully nostalgic trip back to those glorious nights at the local drive-in movie theater (which have all but gone away in most parts of the country). The location of the benefit was the Lake Worth Drive-In Theater, and with customs and rods parked side by side, it helped recreate the era we grew up in.

Sal is in a battle with cancer, and we all came out to help support him and raise some money. He was the first to do the same for others since the 1980’s, when he came on the local scene with his custom 1950 Ford called “The Wanderer”, which was his teenage nickname back in the day. That car was a perfect period piece that showed the world what it was all about in the 50’s....customs, hot rods, and doo-wop music.

Sal’s love of music, the old Alan Freed shows in New York, drag racing a “B” Gasser at Islip, and Dion’s music have been with him all these years. His current car, a custom 1956 Olds 88, is also called “The Wanderer”.

What fun it was to see all the customs and rods in the back rows of the drive-in, just where they would have been back then....if you know what I mean. All in all there were about 68 vehicles, with 31 trophies awarded, which were donated from previous winners of shows down through the years, thus keeping the cost down. The 50/50 was won by our good friend Vivian Senior, who gave it right back to Sal, for a grand total of $700. Music was provided by “Jammin’ Jimmy” (Jim Carilo), who donated his time to the benefit, so many thanks go out to him for a job well done.

There were a couple of rain storms that blew in from the ocean, but they cleared up quickly and the movies began much to everyone’s delight. Lots of pictures were taken, and lots of hot dogs and popcorn came out of the concession stand. It was a night to remember, and put in our memory bank for all time. CN