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09/13/2017 08:30 AMSome people will be looking at the lines of the classic cars at the third annual Cruise, Blues & Brews fundraiser on Saturday, Sept. 30. Clyde Hartson will be looking at lines, too, but of a very different kind: chalk lines of the ground marking the space that each classic car should occupy. Clyde, a member of the organizing committee, is in charge of setting up the field for the event, held at the Chester Fairgrounds on Sept. 30 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“I’m a hands-on type of person, and I know how to get things done. That’s why I got involved, because I thought I could help,” says Clyde, who lives in Chester, where he runs his own contracting business.
“Clyde is a stalwart,” says Bill Guerra, who has been overseeing the event for a decade.
Cruise, Blues & Brews benefits the At Risk Boys Fund, which supports organizations in Middlesex County that provide a variety of programs include mentoring, improving relations between young men and police authorities, and providing guidance on living independently for those aging out of the foster care system.
As many as 250 cars from vintage classics to muscle cars of the l950s and ‘60s will be on display, along with a selection of beers from Thimble Islands Brewing Company of Branford, food from local vendors, and some six bluegrass bands.
For Clyde, the fundraiser is not only about the entertainment. To him, the event is about helping the young men.
“My father was killed when I was young, 10 years old, and that was not an easy time,” he says. “That’s the reason I do things to help kids. It can be a very cold world out there and people don’t know how lucky they are.”
At Risk Boys started as fundraiser for the young men who lived at Mount St. John’s, when the school was a facility provided psychological and educational services to young men assigned there by the juvenile justice system after they had problems with authorities. Clyde once took a student from Mount St. John’s as a trainee.
“He worked out well,” Clyde says.
Now, Mount Saint John’s has transformed itself into a clinical day school.
As Mount Saint John’s mission changed, the fundraising group decided to broaden its reach to support organizations helping vulnerable young men throughout Middlesex County. Clyde is on the committee that decides what groups will receive grants through the fund, which is administered under the umbrella of the Community Foundation of Middlesex County.
When At Risk Boys was looking for a fundraising idea three years ago, Clyde was enthusiastic about doing a vintage car event. He recalls suggesting the group contact Wayne Carini, a venerable figure in the world of vintage automobiles, both for his own collection and for his cable television show, Chasing Classic Cars. Carini lives in Portland. Guerra said he had been invaluable in setting up the first event and has continued to offer advice.
Still, cars aren’t Clyde’s major interest. He loves motorcycles. He recently combined his passion for his Harley Davison CVO 2015 with a major event, the total solar eclipse visible in many parts of the United States, by riding with a group of motorcyclists to Sparta, Tennessee to view the spectacle. He admits that for him, the ride was as important as the eclipse, but the drama of the moment impressed him.
“It was totally black; the wind was blowing. It was incredible,” he says.
Clyde says he has been involved with motorcycles all his life. He rode a mini-bike as a youngster, and recalls his first long ride, when he was in his teens with his brother on a Yamaha RD250. The pair went to Montreal.
“It was a real butt buster,” he says, acknowledging the realities of spending hours on a motorcycle saddle.
Clyde has done motorcycle fundraisers, among them the annual Blessing at the Beach, put on by the New London Motorcycle Club at Ocean Beach. Funds raised at the event benefit the New London Covenant Shelter, serving the homeless, and the Waterford Country School, which serves special needs children.
“So many people ride [motorcycles], you can pull a lot of funds together that way,” Clyde says.
Clyde would like to see classic and antique motorcycles added to the vehicles on display at Cruise, Blues & Brews in the future.
Though the At Risk Boys Fund didn’t participate this year, in other years Clyde used his carpentry skills to build a Scream Machine, a booth where entrants let their lungs go and have their screams recorded by computer and emailed to them to save. His Scream Machine was an At Risk Boys Fund fundraiser at Terrificon, an annual comic convention held at Mohegan Sun.
But Clyde was not a screamer. He just made the booth; he didn’t try it out.
“Maybe next time we do it,” he says.
When Clyde gets a moment to view the car collection at Cruise, Blues & Brews, he likes to see vehicles that are not perfect.
“I like the cars that are more natural looking, like someone just drove them,” he says, not “all polished and fixed up.”
For Clyde, the event is a no-lose proposition.
“You can come, listen to music, get involved looking at the cars, have something to eat, and be part of a community helping people,” he says.
Cruise, Blues & Brews
Cruise, Blues & Brews, a Benefit for the At Risk Boys Fund, is on Saturday, Sept. 30 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Chester Fairgrounds, 11 Kirtland Terrace, Chester. (Rain Date: Sunday, Oct. 1) Tickets ($5, under 12 enter free) are available at www.atriskboysfund.org or at the gate.