Walk of Fame 2015
By Chris Murphy
The Walk of Fame is the latest addition to the Modesto Historic Cruise Route celebrating our “Legends of the Cruise”. Permanent sidewalk markers honor each of our “Legends. The first cruise marker was presented to George Lucas during his appearance in Modesto for the Kiwanis Cruise Parade in 2013. In 2014 nine other markers joined George’s in a new special designated “Walk of Fame” that begins in 10th Street Plaza and will extend each year as new inductees are honored.
These are our hometown heroes. They shaped the lives of today’s generation, and thanks to them, Modesto, USA, is known worldwide for being the birthplace of American Graffiti. This is just the beginning, and the Historic Cruise Route is just getting started. More events, Legend inductees, monuments, and visitor experiences will be added each year for Graffiti Summer. New designs for a “retro 10th Street are being developed to make our Graffiti Story and benefit our local economy. Hopefully, we will have a Graffiti USA Museum soon.
The 2015 Legends of the Cruise Walk of Fame will be unveiled on June 10 during the Mid Valley Chevy Car Show on 10th Street. The car show starts at 5:30, and the presentation event will begin at 6:30. The 2015 Inductees are the late Gerry Ramirez and Bennie Furtado, along with Wendell Reed, Dennis Wilson, Charlie Reynolds, and the speed-shattering car club, the Century Toppers, represented by Gene Winfield, Bart Bartoni, and Pete Hischier.
The Century Toppers
The Century Toppers Auto Club, founded in 1947, was Modesto’s first hot rod club. It was started by a handful of local hot rodders, with Gene Winfield, a well-known customer car builder, as one of the local hot rodders, with Gene Winfield, a well-known customer car builder, as one of the founders, and Robert Bryant as the first secretary. The club’s objectives were to promote auto safety and to improve the image of the sport of hot rodding. The club quickly expanded to include members from surrounding cities like Riverbank, Ceres, Turlock, Patterson, Tracy, etc. In 1949 they put on one of the first auto shows held in northern California. This show was at the local Ford garage, “Griswold & Wight”, December 10-11, 1949 and featured custom cars hot rods and motorcycles. The club also worked very closely with the California Highway Patrol. The club’s early meetings were held at the MJC Machine Shop. As the name implies, Century Topper cars exceeded the 100 MPH century mark. Club members Pete Hischier and Bart Bartoni were induced individually to the Walk of Fame in 2014.
The mission of the Walk of Fame is to highlight the character and history of Modesto and educate and illuminate these stories to citizens and visitors alike. The 2015 markers were donated and created by Chris Murphy, ModestoView, Sierra Pacific, and the hard work of Colin Sparkman and the DecoStone Concrete team, and United Signs and ColorCoat. I especially want to thank the City of Modesto, particularly Andy Johnson, for making it easy to create these events and team with the city to change our downtown positively.
