-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Ben Odegaard, of Fairmont, Minnesota, poses next to his 1928 Ford A sedan and custom casket trailer at the annual Cruise to the Woods car show on Sunday afternoon at Lizard Creek Ranch.
KELBY WINGERT, Reporter
‘Pieces of art’
WC Cruisers host annual Cruise to the Woods
More than 1,200 classic and custom cars cruised in from every corner of the state for the annual Cruise to the Woods cruise and car show hosted by the WC Cruisers Car Club at Lizard Creek Ranch on Sunday.
Cars of all kinds covered nearly every flat surface on the Lizard Creek Ranch property — from 1950s Chevrolet Bel Airs to 1920s Ford sedans to 1970s Plymouth Barracudas and more. Thousands of cruisers, spectators and car enthusiasts milled around checking out the show.
Bruce and Peg Peterson, of Rolfe, drove their 1975 Volkswagen Baja Bug to the event. In a sea of bright colors and chrome, the Bug stood out with its electric green paint job.
The Petersons like to call it “four-mile green” “because you can see it for four miles,” Peg Peterson explained.
Bruce Peterson bought the car from a doctor about nine years ago. He also has a 1971 Chevrolet Nova that he likes to bring to car shows as well.
-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Tina and Jimmy Stewart, of Spencer, admire some of the cars at the annual Cruise to the Woods at Lizard Creek Ranch on Sunday afternoon.
“I just like old cars,” he said. “There’s some unique cars here.”
He also likes meeting other car enthusiasts while at car shows.
Seeing the older model cars also brings some nostalgia to the Petersons.
“We like coming to car shows to see more or less the cars of the 70s and the ones he drove when we were dating back in the day,” Peg Peterson said.
A few rows over, Ben Odegaard, of Fairmont, Minnesota, sat next to his sunshine yellow 1928 Ford Model A sedan, which was towing an unusual object behind it — a matching yellow funeral casket mini-trailer.
-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Bruce and Peg Peterson, of Rolfe, stand near their 1975 VW Baja Bug at the WC Crusers Car Club Cruise to the Woods at Lizard Creek Ranch on Sunday afternoon.
“I needed a trailer to haul all my chairs, cooler and junk and I wanted something different,” he explained. After talking with a friend who runs a funeral home, Odegaard was connected with a funeral casket factory and was able to purchase a retired visitation casket that had fallen off the back of a truck and was in rough shape.
After doing some custom restoration on the casket and adding it to a platform and wheels, he had his unique trailer to haul his junk around with.
Odegaard first got into classic cars when he got a 1933 Ford when he was in high school. It wasn’t running when he got it, but after putting some elbow grease into it, he got the car road-worthy.
Odegaard rebuilt the 1928 Ford about 20 years ago.
Peg Peterson enjoys seeing all the work and time the owners put into restoring their cars.
-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Ben Odegaard, of Fairmont, Minnesota, made a custom trailer out of a funeral casket to tow behind his 1928 Ford A sedan.
“They’re pieces of art, really,” she said.
-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert More than 1,200 classic and custom cars cruised into Lizard Creek Ranch on Sunday for the annual Cruise to the Woods cruise and car show.
