GREENE: Drag-O-Way Reunion to hoist massive flag during GCD

By Editor | August 30, 2023 |

This photo was taken last year at the flag raising ceremony. Notice the massive difference in the size of the American flags. Also notice the size of the people in relation to the flag. At 30 foot wide and 60 foot tall when hung vertically, it is roughly as tall as a six story building. (Submitted photo)

By Carmen Ensinger

On Saturday, Sept. 9, classic cars from the 1930’s through the year 2000 will be rumbling through Carrollton and Roodhouse making their way to the Annual White Hall Drag-O-Way Reunion scheduled to be held at Lions Park between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
This will be the 21st year for the popular car show that has become an anchor in the White Hall area for Greene County Days bringing hundreds of people to the North Greene area. Each year, over the last two decades, they have tried to have something special to attract even more people to their event.
Last year, that something special was a ceremony unveiling and raising a 30 foot by 60-foot American flag at noon. That same ceremony will take place again this year at precisely noon.
According to Neil Fansler, one of the original founders of the Drag-O-Way Reunion, the ceremony is quite unique for a car show.
“I have been to a lot of car shows over the last 21 years and I have never seen anything like this done before at a car show,” Fansler said. “This is a huge flag so it is very unique and it is really something to see and witness when it is raised.”
The flag was donated to the group from Alsey Refractories when they purchased a new one to fly over their business in Alsey.
“The gentleman that runs it is from Patterson and we had touched base with him a couple years ago about how great it would be if we could have a huge flag to do this type of ceremony,” Fansler said. “When they purchased their new one, they donated this one to us. We had to do a little work on it because they tether over time, but one of our members cut a little bit off the end and re-seamed it for us.”
Fansler said Farris Tree Service donates the use of two of their trucks to hoist the flag up at precisely noon while the National Anthem is played followed by Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.”
“There are comments on our Facebook page about how it brought tears to people’s eyes last year,” Fansler said. “If people want to see it, and I recommend they come and see it, they should get there well before noon because we begin precisely at noon.”
There will be plenty of cars to look at as well. It is expected that Lions Park will be full of vintage vehicles and their owners.
“Over the years, especially the last 10 to 15, we have been consistently having 275 to 300 vehicles out here,” Fansler said. “They come from all over to our car show. We have cars here from Missouri and a lot of the surrounding states.”
Fansler said the farthest person to attend the event has come from Colorado.
“Actually, the person is from Carrollton and he comes back for Greene County Days,” Fansler said. “When he comes home, he always brings his car and brings it up to the show. Then, about every three years we have this guy that comes from Boone, Mo., which is a pretty far haul.”
For those wondering about the history of the Drag-O-Way and how it got started, Fansler said you have to go all the way back to the year 1959.
“A group of young guys who had a love of cars and racing got together and formed what was then known as the Conquistadors,” Fansler said. “My brother Paul was an original member and I joined the club at a very early age.”
Then, in the early 1960’s, the Drag-O-Way drag strips came into play.
“We actually started down in Carrollton at the fairgrounds because David Graham helped us get in down there,” Fansler said. “Then, about 1961 or 62, we came to White Hall and we had a total of three drag strips up here. Two of them were dirt and one was asphalt. Then, around 1975 it got to where we were financially able to operate it and it was dissolved.”
Fast forward to the year 2002, when a former Drag-O-Way participant ran into Fansler and suggested a reunion.
“We were at a car show one day and Butch McDowell, from Carlinville, asked us if we had ever thought about having some kind of reunion and that is kind of what started putting the seed into place,” Fansler said. “So, soon after, I had a meeting at my house with about six of the original club members that are still around and we decided to see if we might try to have a reunion and see if there would be any participation.”
That first year there were about 60 cars that showed up, and the rest, as they say, is history.
“Since that first year, it has continued to get bigger and bigger every year,” Fansler said. “It’s turned out to be quite a deal.”
Not only has participation grown over the years, but so has the sponsorship, which allows them to provide the great prizes and giveaways that are handed out throughout the day to the car show participants and to the lucky winners of the drawings.
“If we didn’t have our sponsors, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do,” Fansler said. “That is all made possible from the sponsorship. Each year we have between 60 to 70 different sponsors.”
The event is totally free to the public, however they do sell t-shirts and have an auction to raise money which is all donated back to the local community through a variety of different charities.
“Over the past 20 plus years, we have donated over $68,000 back into the local Greene County Community,” Fansler said. “Last year alone we donated $8,600.”
Fansler said they have donated to the Boyd Hospital gas cards for cancer program, the North Greene Back to School Bash which buys coats, hats and gloves for the kids, several church organizations and many other charitable organizations.
While the event isn’t scheduled to begin until 9 a.m., Fansler said many cars will arrive as early as 7:30 a.m.
“It’s kind of like a dog marking his spot,” Fansler said. “They want to get there early to get the best spots. The time to remember, however, is that the flag will go up at noon.”