HISTORY
The History of the Central Jersey Volkswagen Society - Art Neary
In spring of 1989 I had the chance to work at the only
performance VW supplier
around, Mid-State Performance in Manville NJ. I was to
run this parts shop during the day, normally Mid-State was only open
in the evenings so this was a major step for a small store that only
sold VW and Truck parts. I think I worked there about 6 months and
the business was just not there during the daytime hours, most customers
stopped by on the way home from work not in the middle of the day.
The people I met during that time would create the beginning of CJVWS.
I started compiling a list of local VW owners interested in forming
a club.
Over the winter of 1989 the time had come to contact the VW enthusiasts
I had met in my Mid-State days. I sat down with my friend Derek Diaz
to see what we could do to start a NJ based VW club called Central
Jersey VW 
Society. We decided to meet in Green Brook at the Sunset
Diner. Derek did have a gavel and we tried to take role at the first
few meetings but a role call and a gavel was not the laid back format
we were looking for. The first meetings averaged about 15-20 members
including Rich Borchers, Dean Lowrie, Bill Egenton and Phil Pinella
to name a few. Over time CJVWS meetings were moved to Felix #9 Diner
in Bridgewater.
In 1990 Billy Egenton got me a job at Princeton VW in the parts department,
again meeting more VW owners interested in a club. 1990 would be the
second year Billy would have a VW show at PVW and the first year CJVWS
would help run it. I think the club doubled in size that day! When
PVW was sold, Billy and I along with alot of other people lost our
jobs and a place for our show.
CJVWS
did hold 4 annual “Club Day Picnics” at Duke Island
Park in Bradley Gardens. Dash plaques and trophies were made, event
t-shirts were also made with two of them being pictures of club cars,
Phil’s VW rod for #3 and my Baja for #4. Every one brought there
own picnic lunch, the club bought a volley ball set just for our picnics.
This was our own car show, sometimes we would pull some outsiders from
Pa, but the furthest distance ever traveled to a club picnic was when
Tay Woykowski drove up in his super beetle from Manassas Va. We also
had members travel just to get to meetings, I think the furthest points
would be Lou Hodi from Old Bridge, Pete and Carol Hollish from West
Windsor, Phil Pinella from Clifton and Nelson Cedeno along with Carl
Kastner would lead the Elizabeth crew.
As the club grew the diner meetings were OK but it always seemed like
we didn’t order enough food for the table space we were using,
management was not very happy. A new location was found at the Somerset
County Bridgewater Library in the community rooms at the front of the
library. This worked right up until CJVWS s
tarted
to go stale sometime around 2000. I had done it for 10 years and just
didn’t have
it in me to go to every show, greet people with a smile and just promote
CJVWS the way it was meant to be. Members still showed up even though
it was more a gripe session on my part, new blood was needed and quick
if we would continue and/or improve.
With a little push again from Billy Egenton, Mike Buckholtz was talked
into getting the mailing list from me and 
seeing
what interest was still out there for CJVWS. The meetings were moved
to the Chimney Rock
Inn and Bucky woke this club from the dead. He started the web-site
and made new club shirts. The way I see it Bucky set the stage for
the next generation of the club. A few years later, Bucky’s
school was demanding more time and he felt the club would suffer from
this. In 2003-04 the baton was then passed to Jeffrey Hicken who came
in with more new ideas, a new look and feel for the club and with
his help
brought
the
club
where
it is
today. The Central Jersey Volkswagen Society is now are the premier
air-cooled club in New Jersey and one of the most represented in the
North East. Under Jeffrey's watch the club has helped reestablish the vibrant vintage VW scene in the north east. The club sponsors five major events each year, starting with the Paul Goerz Memorial Mustache Ride in June, the Spring and Fall VW Classic Show-n-Go at Raceway Park in Englishtown, an annual BBQ/show-n-shine at Foreign Car Werks in Boundbrook, and the premier north eastern two day vintage VW event, the All Air-Cooled Gathering in Flanders NJ. These club events, and many members cars have been featured in Hot VWs and UK magazines like Ultra VW. With over 100 members, the club continues to grow and helps define what it means to be a vintage VW enthusiast in the northeast.
Finally, lest we forget those early members that we have lost. Kevin Brown,
Pete Hollish, Phil Pinella and Dean Lowrie. These men as with many
of the members that have been involved with the club have left a
positive mark on the history of Central Jersey VW Society. - Arthur
Neary