VW buffs on nostalgic roll

MYRTLE CREEK — The Volkswagen Type 3 Invasion will roll into town for the Myrtle Creek Summer Festival’s Show and Shine this weekend.

The Invasion event focuses exclusively on the 1960s and 1970s Type 3 Volkswagen — the squareback wagon, the notchback sedan and fastback of the Volkswagen family, and not the beloved Beetle or bus.

“We show up to a small community, to where people may have seen one or two of these cars, but not 30 to 40 of them at one time,” said Brian Fye of Green, one of the event’s organizers.

It’s also a gathering of enthusiasts and not a car show, Fye said.

“This is as much or more about getting people with similar vehicles together as it is about the cars,” Fye said.

Fye’s own affection for the Type 3 is rooted deeply in his childhood. His first car was an old Type 3 he bought in 1985 while he attended college, he said, and he had grown up in a Volkswagen family. Although he now has seven of the cars, he has had as many as 11 and as few as three.

“Some of the cars I’ve had I’ve bought for spare parts. They don’t make spare parts for Type 3’s,” Fye said.

The Invasion event grew six years ago from an Internet-based community focused on the Type 3.

Even though a gathering is held once every two years, it has garnered such a following that people from across the country, Canada and even England are expected to make appearances at the Show and Shine car show during the Myrtle Creek Summer Festival.

“The first two times there was 31 cars and about 55 people that were involved with the event,” Fye said. “This year I already have 38 cars that the owners have pre-registered to come, and there’s always more people that don’t register that come.”

This year, organizers could corral 55 to 60 cars into the Invasion, Fye said.

The total number of cars at the car show has also increased, said Keith Schmidt.

Schmidt, and his father Ken, have sponsored the Show and Shine through their store, Myrtle Creek Auto Supply, Inc., for the past four years. The event has a 15-year history with the festival.

“The first year, in 2003, we had 15 to 18 cars, and last year we had 120. This year we’re hoping for 200 cars,” Keith said.

This will be the first year with an appearance by the Volkswagen car club, he said.

Discussions between the Schmidts and Fye to bring the car club to Myrtle Creek began after the Invasion’s 2004 gathering in Hershey, Pa.

“Brian Fye has entered our car show every year we’ve been involved in it,” Keith Schmidt said.

The Show and Shine includes an eclectic array of autos, from cars and motorcycles to pickups and 4x4’s. There is also a category for pre-1975 foreign cars, and special interest.

Although the collection of Volkswagen Type 3’s will be included in the car show, they will not participate in the trophy contest, Fye said.

Because they aren’t part of the judging but are still associated with the car show, the Type 3 Invasion group will also make a donation to the Show and Shine’s charity as part of their registration payment, along with donating money to the Ronald McDonald House in Portland, Fye said.

Money will be raised from the club’s own Invasion registration fee, silent auctions of Type 3 accessories and autographed photos, as well as donations.

“We don’t care if it’s a show quality-type car. If it’s a Type 3, we want them to bring it,” Fye said.


<b>MYRTLE CREEK SUMMER FESTIVAL SCHEDULE.
If you go . . . </b>
Admission to the Myrtle Creek Summer Festival is free.
Information: 863-3171.

<b>TODAY</b>
2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. — Missoula Children’s Theater presents ‘The Frog Prince,’ on stage.
3 p.m. to 7 p.m. — Magic Clowning by Chuck, festival grounds.
4 p.m. — Four-on-four basketball tournament, at swim pool on Bataan Street.
5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. — Tug-of-war registration and weigh-in, Pepsi tent.
6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. — Frog Prince, on stage.
6:30 p.m. — Women’s softball tournament, Millsite Park sports fields.
7 p.m. — Tug-of-war contest, Millsite Park sports field.
8 p.m. to 11 p.m. — Prestone & The Coolants.
11 p.m. — Booths close.

<b>Saturday</b>
8 a.m. — Women’s softball tournament, sports field.
7 a.m. to 10 a.m. — Methodist Church breakfast, at the corner of Second Avenue and Division Street. Adults $5, children 10 and under $2.50. Biscuits and gravy, eggs, fruit, juice and coffee.
8 a.m. to 11 a.m. — Myrtle Creek Airport support group pancake breakfast and fly-in.
8:30 a.m. — Parade registration, elementary school.
10 a.m. — Main Street parade.
11 a.m. — Booths open.
11 a.m. to noon — KCD Dance Studio, on stage.
11 a.m. to 7 p.m. — Magic Clowning by Chuck, Festival grounds.
11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. — Arm-wrestling registration and weigh-in, Picnic shelter.
Noon to 4 p.m. — Show and Shine, Creekside Memorial Park, .
Noon — Chicken dinner, Myrtle Creek Elk Lodge. Seniors 60 and over free, under 60 years old, $5.
Noon — 4x4 Rock Crawl competition, Parking lot near covered bridge.
12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. — Parade awards, on stage.
1 p.m. to 7 p.m. — Children’s events, Kid’s corner by the fountain.
1 p.m. to 2 p.m. — Face painting.
2 p.m. to 3 p.m. — Piñata.
3 p.m. to 4 p.m. — Story and Kraft with Penny.
4 p.m. to 5 p.m. — Cake Walk with cakes donated by Ray’s Food Place and Cakes by Marilyn.
5 p.m. to 6 p.m. — Kid Kraft.
6 p.m. to 7 p.m. — Treasure hunt.
1 p.m. — National anthem and a moment of silence.
1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. — 28th annual Big John Miller Memorial West Coast Lumberjack Show, Millsite Park.
1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. — Arm-wrestling competition, on stage.
5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. — Lumberjack Show raffle and quilt raffle, on stage.
6 p.m. to 8 p.m. — Borderline Disorder.
8:30 p.m. to 12 a.m. — Michael Fowler Band, on stage.
8:30 to 9:30 p.m. — Lions Club will be seeking donations for next year’s fireworks.
10 p.m. — Fireworks.
12 a.m. — Booths close.


• You can reach reporter Erik Skoog at 957-4202 or by e-mail at eskoog@newsreview.info.