Drag Days

The Mission: To research, record and preserve the personal histories of the young people from here in the Fox Valley, the Midwest, who played a vital role in merging land speed racing and hot rodding creating modern drag racing. And simultaneously noting the positive benefits that accrued to the lives and avocations of these young people by the very nature of their activities and labors at the track. Jay Thompson

The young always have the same problem - how to rebel and conform at the same time. They have now solved this by defying their parents and copying one another. - Quentin Crisp 1908 - British Autobiographer

Welcome to the Official Home & Headquarters

The Era of the Oswego Dragway 1955-1979

An on-going documentary project

2nd Annual Drag Strip Days

Oswego Drag Days "ERA' Exhibits & Info Center

Visit us at the Oswego Antique Market

Friday thru Sunday September 14-16, 2007.

"ERA" of the Oswego Dragway

Drag Strip Exhibit & Pinstriping demonstration

Friday September 14 at Oswego Antique Market

"ERA" of the Oswego Dragway Vehicle & Tent display

Video taping interviews with racers and spectators

Saturday & Sunday September 15 & 16th

DariHut's Main Street Parking Lot

2nd Annual Drag Strip Days Car Shows

Saturday 4-11pm (Registration 1-3pm)

Sunday Noon-4pm (Registration 8am-Noon)

Cars Pre-Register at Oswego High School

Welcome to the home of my project to record and preserve the history of drag racing right here in the Fox Valley. I am trying to gather all of the people involved and record their personal recollection of the events that assimilated hot rodding and land speed racing that became modern drag racing.

I want to say thanks again to all the wonderful and enthusiastic fans of the dragway with whom I have worked since starting on my documentary in 2005 on its 50^th Anniversary. And to the folks who made time for me to interview and record their stories I say, like Bob Hope, thanks for the memories.

I would not have been able to offer family-friendly, interactive, multi-media, public exhibits without the support and cooperation of The MACOM Corporation and John Eldredge, Becky Posten and Paul Lehman with whom I have worked for over a year, John & Jeff and rest of the great crew at Pro Body & Paint in Montgomery, Mike & Rita at Ground Effects for continued support and advice, and other latest sponsors like Terry Peshia & Family, The Tillers, Hett’s Auto Sales, ALLSTEEL Credit Union, Wholesale Tire, TLC Carpet Floors & More, and Keith's Car Care.

And I want to thank our host for this ‘The ERA’ event at the drag days, Jay at Valbert Cabinets and Sue Wilhelm, and for help from Kathy Farren at the Ledger-Sentinel, Margaret Greiner at the Oswegoland Park District during the last two PrairieFests, and event planning done in coordination the people at the Oswego Drag Strip Days Festival Committee, the Village of Oswego’s Community Relations Coordinator, and the Cultural Arts Committee and the Historic Oswego Downtown Business Association.

A partial list of others to thank includes Denny King know for the ‘Barbarian’ and for flying in from California, Bob O’Brien from Arizona, Andrea Skiles, Pat Finley, Jim ‘Woody’ Woodrow, Dale and Darold Cutsinger, Paul Sandmann, Bill Modesitt, Jerry Klein, Willie Hyer, Ed Brady, Sam Casino, Jake Dykstra, Ken Nelson, Jim King, Mitch Gawlik, Jim Likeness, Mick Raab, Kert Keroson, Bill Stearns, Anthony Hornyan, John Gudenas, Mike Wilkerson, Jerry Tvrdik, Animal Jim, Bob Thompson, John & Jenette Holmes, John Samuel, and both Rich Logue’s and on and on for lending priceless mementos and home made footage etc. over the last year.

And to Don Baker, Gary Collie, Kelly Thompson, Norb Locke, and Al Thompson for persevering and helping me inject some history into the festivities by displaying dragsters and vintage wheels outside our ERA exhibit at Valbert Cabinets where we had as many visitors per hour both Friday and Sunday per hour as we had did on Saturday.

And for some of you trying to reach me by phone, I made a long late-night boo-boo on some of the biography forms. My phone number is actually 630.532.3770. Thanks to Bill Modesitt for letting me know. To all the folks to whom I gave away free custom kitchens over the weekend, I'm not really Jay Valbert but Jay Thompson.

Watch the Ledger-Sentinel or visit www.OswegoDragway.com to learn about the next “Era” event.

And in the mean time to join us Tuesday evenings from 5-7 PM at the Oswego Family Restaurant downtown Oswego. And in the fall we’ll try Sunday mornings from 9-Noon. Whew!

The ‘Era’ Exhibit at the Oswego Drag Strip Festival, Downtown Oswego. Fri 4 - 8pm, Sat 12 - 8pm, Sun 12 - 4pm, September 15-17, 2006. The next “Era” event will be held in conjunction with the 1st Annual Oswego Drag Strip Days that is September 16-17, 2006. The “Era” is an interactive, multi-media, guest racers, volunteer-enhanced exhibit recalling the 1950’s when young people from Fox Valley played a vital role in the evolution of land-speed racing and hot rodding to create modern drag racing. In fact we now believe that the Oswego Dragway is either the first, or one of the very first, privately-owned, purpose-built drag strips in the U.S. Note that for convenience the “Era” exhibit will also be open 4-8pm on Friday in addition to the Saturday and Sunday of the Drag Strip Days Festival in the middle of all of the Drag Days activities.

1st Annual Official Village of Oswego Drag Strip Days Festival Official t-shirt & Oswego Seneca Reunion Events. Call or email for more details.

1st Annual Official Village of Oswego Drag Strip Days Festival Official t-shirt & Oswego Seneca Reunion Events. Call or email for more details. 1st Annual Official Village Michele Bergeron Cultural Arts Committee of Oswego, IL Drag Strip Days Festival Official t-shirt Village Hall Oswego, Illinois Official home web Site Seneca Reunion Events 1st Village of Oswego website Drag Strip tshirt 1st Annual raceway Days Festival t-shirt Strip t-shirt event website home web site home website Events Oswegoil Cruise cruises car show The ERA Valley Track draglist Michele Bergeron headquarters Hall Youth Oswegoil draglist ledger-sentinel little white school house museum top twenty Days Festival Community Relations Coordinator Cultural Arts Historic Downtown Business Association Seneca Reunion nostalgia gasser gearhead dragstrip dragster dragsters downtown Oswegoland Park PrairieFest Fox Valley James Dean Al's speed shop racing hot rods NHRA John Force Wally Parks SCTA PrairieFest June 15 - 17, 2007 Oswegoland Park District Legend Michele Bergeron Cultural Arts Committee headquarters Oswego East High School Official Car Show Date ERA documentary project Fox Valley Midwest land speed racing hot rodding creating modern drag racing Events drag strip Seneca Reunion nostalgia gasser gearhead dragstrip East auto club Oswego East High School Auto Club Fundraiser Car Show