Cars for a Cause
Article by Breanna Mroczek. Photography by Darren Greenwood Photography.
An annual car show gets a new twist in 2017, as one lucky winner will be driving away in a 1968 Ford Mustang Convertible.
2017 ADF Classic Car for a Cure Tickets
Cost:
$100 each
Number available:
2,000
Where to purchase:
Alberta residents can purchase tickets anytime online at rocknaugust.com or during Rock'n August from August 8-12.
The contest closes on August 18, or as soon as tickets are sold out.
Twenty-five years ago, Todd Lesenko visited Sandpoint, Idaho and was immediately taken with its "Lost in the '50s" classic car show. As a classic car enthusiast, he preferred the retro vibe of the music, entertainment, and car displays to the typical rodeo theme found at summer festivals in Alberta and decided something like that was needed here. So, he made it happen; in 1996, the first Rock'n August car show and festival took place in Edmonton and has been held annually in St. Albert ever since.
Lesenko, who has owned Fountain Tire in St. Albert for 35 years, says that his love for cars started at the age of six when he would visit garages of friends and neighbours. When he was 13, he started restoring cars to make extra money—he would save up and spend his allowance on an old car and then borrow tools, equipment and space from friends and neighbours to work on the cars, then eventually re-sell them for higher prices.
Since then, Lesenko estimates he's done hundreds of restorations throughout his life, and he always tries to take on projects with a personal story. "I like building cars for a cause, like when it's someone's father's car or their grandfather's car," says Lesenko.
Wanting to work and spend time with like-minded people, Lesenko started the St. Albert Cruisers Car Club 25 years ago to get car enthusiasts together to work on projects, share stories, and drive around the cars in their collections. When Lesenko and the Cruisers decided to start Rock'n August, they partnered with the St. Albert Cosmopolitan Club, a men's service club and a big supporter of the Alberta Diabetes Foundation. "It was their mandate to focus on supporting the Alberta Diabetes Foundation, so it become Rock'n August too," says Lesenko.
One day, a friend of Lesenko's, a member of the Draggins Rod and Custom Car Club in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, told Lesenko the club was working or restoring a car for a raffle. "He loved this idea of adding a car raffle to Rock'n August," says Brent Brodeur, the current president of Rock'n August. "So, he bought a car and his team at Fountain Tire, along with Gary Poff and other members of the St. Albert Cruisers Car Club, did the restoration."
The car—a 1968 Ford Mustang—had been stored for 20 years and was in pieces when I bought it," says Lesenko. "There were at least ten buckets of bolts and small parts. But everything was in great shape." His team of 12 spent over 800 hours throughout eight months working on the restoration. Lesenko donated the mechanical work at Fountain Tire, while members of the St. Albert Cruisers volunteered their time to work on the assembly at Lesenko's personal shop in Sturgeon County. The restored car, which has now been appraised at $55,000, is on display at Fountain Tire in St. Albert and is the grand prize for Rock'n August's car raffle. "I think it's a tremendous opportunity for people to own a beautiful car," says Lesenko." "And just as great, all of the proceeds from the tickets go to the Alberta Diabetes Foundation."
